Councilmen Called 'Local Symbols of Hate and Cruelty'

Ken Woolf has a fear of public speaking, but the 25-year Portola Hills resident stood before the Lake Forest City Council last week and put the city leaders in their place. Three of them, anyway.

With a recall petition under way against Mayor Andrew Hamilton and council members Scott Voigts and Dwight Robinson, Woolf stepped to the podium and in his best matter-of-fact presentation, leveled claims against the three that their tactics to rebuff the recall—by attacking councilman Adam Nick—are “vicious and racist attacks” that are “disgraceful” and “reflect poorly on the city.”

The audience applauded as the mild-mannered Woolf finished by pointing out how “bizarre” it was that Hamilton’s “City of Kindness” initiative was on the agenda while at the same time the three were becoming “local symbols of hate and cruelty.” You can see video of his comment here.

It was just one barrage against the three, whose tactic of fighting the recall has been to point a finger at another councilman, Nick, either calling him names or telling lies in an obvious smear campaign.

Nancy Cagley and Leah Basile also spoke and made their points, also to applause.

The three council members also heard from residents who lambasted them for not giving more consideration to policing options beyond the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, which has had a steadily growing cost; their $1 million support of embattled Orange County Animal Care despite its high kill-rate; and an anti-recall marketing piece disguised as a newspaper called the “Lake Forest News.”

• Adam Nick's voting record
• Citizens to End Corruption in Lake Forest
• Analysis: Mayor Perpetuates Lie Against Nick
• Council's 'Gang of 3' Under Fire for Voting, Decisions

Voigts was among the targets of resident Andy O’Connor, who held up a copy of the fake newspaper.

“You’re directly responsible for this," he said of the council, "and here, talking about the youth of the community, that they had to go to Irvine and Mission Viejo to play Little League is a flat-ass lie" because they have never had to go to Mission Viejo or Irvine to play. "Stop the baloney, stop the deceiving stuff. I travel in south Orange County. You think, Councilman Voigts, that the sports park is the Taj Mahal. I got news for you, it’s the biggest joke in the baseball community. You spent $100 million on it and don’t have one 60/90 field. But all you’re happy about are your two soccer fields for your daughter.”

A 60/90 field is major league baseball regulation size with a pitching rubber 60 feet 6 inches from home plate and bases 90 feet apart. Voigts' affinity for soccer is well-known, and he even suggested the Whispering Hills Park location become an indoor soccer field rather than something along the lines of a community garden or dog park.

Nancy Cagley, whose husband, Col. Tom Cagley, finished a few hundred votes shy of Hamilton for the final seat on the city council in 2014, also spoke of the smear campaign against Nick in response to allegations of their corruption, cronyism and collusion.

“You’re trying to divert the attention from the real issues, taking money, voting as a bloc, you’re not representing us as citizens, you’re looking out for your own political behinds, and I think it’s disgusting,” she said.

Perhaps no one embodies the voice of the disenchanted more than Leah Basile, the Portola Hills resident who started the recall effort because Hamilton, Voigts, and Robinson blew off the community’s continued concerns about Saddleback Ranch Road last October.

“I can’t make this stuff up,” Basile said as she began her comments. “Here we have the mayor of Lake Forest, who uses his title to intimidate and harass residents trying to prevent them from signing a recall petition and harass our people gathering signatures. By the way, that’s a violation of the California elections code and you’re in violation of my civil rights.

“We have Mr. Hamilton and Robinson going around town making foolish videos, without consent (of the subjects), which is a misdemeanor, and posting it on YouTube. We have Mr. Voigts, who campaigns inside City Hall, then goes down to the local high school and targets children and tells them to go ahead and tell their parents not to sign the recall petition. I do commend you on one thing: You three have successfully alienated every single voting population in the city.”

She then recounted council decisions that went against seniors and the Meals on Wheels program, calling out Robinson in the process (“What did you say, Dwight, ‘It was too much trouble’?”); alienated animal lovers for the council majority's support of the high-kill Orange County Animal Care; alienated the Foothill Ranch and Portola Hills communities (“the only reason you took us serious is because I handed you recall papers”); and alienated anyone who’s an immigrant or who has changed their name referring to the “racist newspaper … insulting another member of the council for changing his name to become more American.”

Basile concluded by saying, “You guys need to have a better attitude, your behavior is deplorable and unbecoming of elected officials.”

As if to prove her point, Hamilton ended the meeting abruptly in the middle of discussion about his own City of Kindness initiative. Rather than addressing what was yelled from a resident, “Fire David Ellis,” Hamilton stared down the offending resident before banging the gavel and walking away.

David Ellis is the controversial Newport Coast political consultant hired by the political action committee that created the Nick is Nuts campaign to divert attention from the candidates being recalled, and is responsible for the racist nature of the fake Lake Forest News newspaper that spent nearly every article criticizing Nick based on half-truths or outright lies.

By ending the meeting the way he did—making the decision on his own for the five-man council—Hamilton failed to complete the city's business: There were still three discussion items to be decided.

As Basile said, conduct "unbecoming of elected officials."

Photo: Ken Woolf spoke before the city council and called their actions disgraceful.

About the author: Martin Henderson won several Los Angeles and Orange County press club awards while an editor at Patch in 2012-13.