Council Summary for Nov 1

Tuesday night’s Council meeting brought some interesting information, but not before six disgruntled residents came before the podium to complain about the behavior of all members of the "Gang of 3". The complaints included –

· Scott Voigts lying about the meeting at Lake Forest Elementary (Click Here)

· Dwight Robinson lying about his role in “eliminating” Mello Roos (Click Here)

· Dwight Robinson lying about just about everything else (Click Here)

· The Gang of 3 vote to continue with the high kill disgraced animal shelter (Click Here)

· Dwight Robinson’s support for the racist and slanderous “Lake Forest News”

The most dramatic moment came when long-time resident Martin Henderson challenged Mayor Hamilton to say whether or not he was the anonymous Patch blogger “James Ross” (Click Here). Ross, for those of you who did not follow his brief career, blogged false and misleading information about Councilman Nick, most of which was exposed by Henderson and I (Click Here and Here). Yet Ross went beyond mere lies and was downright racist and slanderous, all hidden by a false name. James Ross is not a registered Lake Forest voter nor even a Lake Forest resident, but he does write in a fashion very similar to Hamilton, makes the same claims Hamilton makes, and perseverates on the same issues.

Hamilton refused to respond. He tried to shuffle Henderson off the podium, but Henderson stood his ground and insisted on his allocated 3 minutes, to allow Hamilton to respond. Hamilton never did.

Week after week, month after month, residents show up to our City Council meeting and complain about something the Gang of 3 did: usually their votes, but also their behavior. In the past year there have literally been dozens of individuals who live here who are deeply unhappy with what the Gang of 3 is doing.

CITY MANAGER TO RETIRE

During “City Manager Comments”, Mr. Dunek announced that he would be retiring shortly. He worked in the public sector for 42 years, 21 of them as City Manager in Lake Forest.

VETERAN’S HOUSING ASSISTANCE MOVES FORWARD

The Council unanimously agreed to move forward with Councilman Nick’s suggestion that we actively pursue ways to assist veterans in need of housing. Staff will report back to the Council with a plan to announce funding opportunities and solicit input.

14% CUT IN IRWD WATER BILLS

According to the IRWD spokesman at the meeting, once the sale of Serrano Summit (the 608 homes project on 82 acres adjoining the Civic Center) is completed, profits from that sale will go towards a 14% decrease in the water rates for Lake Forest residents.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be in November at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.