Dwight Robinson: What He Says, and What He Doesn't Say

Dwight Robinson has a flier that’s making the rounds, and it provides a wonderful opportunity to examine “campaign rhetoric.” This is the message that Robinson is solely responsible for, and unlike his candidate statement, there’s no 200-word limit he can blame inaccuracies on.

This is everything he wants to present to the voters of Lake Forest, which makes you wonder why there’s no mention of his support for Orange County Animal Care, the notorious oft-cited, high-kill animal shelter that all but two South OC cites severed ties with.

See how examining campaign rhetoric works?

Robinson’s flier is basically broken into three pieces, but has some additional rhetoric that doesn’t fit under an actual subhead.

“Effective Leadership for an Exceptional City” – Everyone likes to believe they live in an exceptional city, but Lake Forest isn’t the happiest place on earth. There are:

• Parking problems throughout the city
• Traffic congestion has become a major concern
• The City Council majority (Robinson, Andrew Hamilton, Scott Voigts) shows no interest in slowing or controlling the rate of development
• Citizens have a general distrust of their city councilmen and can’t unconditionally believe anything most of them say
• There’s a perception among other cities that Lake Forest is difficult to work with
• More residents signed a petition to recall the mayor than voted for him two years ago (and the same would have happened to a third councilman had the recall gone another weekend)
• Residents who attend Council meetings don’t feel they’re being respected or heard
• There is an appearance of corruption, collusion and cronyism at City Hall that most reasonable persons could recognize
• The city is the only one in the county that doesn’t have its own City Hall, nor does it yet have a senior center

Robinson is part of the majority leadership. Some think he’s the leader. If he wants something done, he has the wherewithal, both in Council votes and political connections, to get it done. Is he representative of “effective leadership”? No. He brought none of his verifiable 2012 campaign promises before the City Council for consideration, and when Councilman Adam Nick brought Robinson’s promises up for discussion, Robinson didn’t support them.

The flier states at the top of the back page, “As our Mayor and Councilman, Dwight has listened to residents and worked effectively to make Lake Forest one of Orange County’s premiere communities.”

Lake Forest may be a premier community, but it most definitely is not a “premiere” community. Given the extraordinary level of consideration he gave his 2016 candidate statement, you’d think he would have used the word correctly. He did not.

Lake Forest lacks entertainment options, fine dining options, and upscale shopping options. It does not have a mall, unlike surrounding communities Irvine, Mission Viejo and Laguna Hills. However, it does have some major corporations such as Oakley and Kawasaki, and Saddleback Community Church is one of the most influential in the nation.

The real question here is whether Robinson has “listened to residents.” There were four major issues during Robinson’s first term as councilman in which he had an opportunity to listen to residents.

• There were plenty of residents opposed to the rezoning of the Foothill Auto Centre, and there was a City staff recommendation against at least one of the proposed residential developments on the site. Robinson voted for the rezoning and the project; he had received financial support to his campaign from the developers, who had waited until after the election to bring the project before the Council.

• Residents spoke at a 2015 Council meeting that the arterial road that ran through their community was going to get someone killed, but Robinson did not agree to put the matter on the Council agenda. However, he was served with recall papers shortly thereafter and had a sudden change of heart and acted in favor of the residents. He didn't even stand by his earlier convictions.

• Residents universally condemned Orange County Animal Care, but Robinson voted to remain with the high-kill animal shelter despite the financial commitment of nearly $1 million to build a facility (with no equity stake) and unknown operating costs, but about $500,000 annually, though Councilman Jim Gardner presented an alternative.

• Village Pond Park is still not completed. Within the last couple of months, Robinson argued that seeking a second legal opinion on the matter – as Nick and Jim Gardner lobbied for – would slow down the process; instead it speeded it up. Robinson voted for the second legal opinion only because Councilman Nick had shamed him into doing so, reminding him that a week earlier he had written that expediting the restoration of the park was a campaign promise he had just made.

THE QUOTES

There are two people who are quoted on the flier, Lisa Bartlett and Andrew Hamilton.

• Bartlett, chair of the Orange County Board of Supervisors: “I’m proud to support City Councilman Dwight Robinson. He’s truly dedicated to serving the people of Lake Forest.”

• Hamilton, mayor of Lake Forest in his second year on the Council: “Dwight is a person of integrity and a leader who’s truly making a difference in our community.”

Bartlett is part of the good ol’ boys network that runs Orange County and it benefits her that Lake Forest remained with the county agency, Orange County Animal Care. When Robinson voted to stick with OCAC, he won Bartlett’s endorsement; if OCAC was such a good move, why doesn’t Robinson have it listed anywhere on his campaign literature? Certainly, Bartlett’s credibility could be called into question upon examination of Robinson’s track record (below) but the endorsement appears to be solely political in nature.

Perhaps no one, not even Robinson’s wife, loves Dwight as much as Hamilton. Robinson’s quotes from the Council dais leave Hamilton speechless, and the mayor would do anything to protect him. That’s one reason Hamilton has begun writing a political blog on the Patch under the name “James Ross” to ensure Robinson remains in office.

THE BIG PITCH

Below are the three elements Robinson wants voters to take with them into the polling booth.

A Legacy of Success

Safe Neighborhoods – “His strong commitment to Law Enforcement has kept crime rates low …” Robinson is taking an abundance of credit for being a supporter of OCSD. Many things impact crime – he has said so himself – but whether or not Robinson has a strong commitment or not to law enforcement is not one of them. All councilmen have the same commitment to law enforcement –the only difference is that some want a greater return on their investment, which Robinson doesn’t.

Sound Financial Management – “Under his leadership, Lake Forest has paid off its employee pension liabilities and built the highest ‘rainy day’ budget reserve in Orange County.” This is simply not true. Nick broached the subject of paying off pension liabilities and Robinson turned a blind eye to it; a year later, Hamilton brought it up and Robinson was a supporter. At best, Robinson was a follower. You have to ask yourself: Is it a sound business decision to build your neighbor a house and not get any equity? That’s the sound financial management Robinson is espousing. As for the “rainy day” budget, the City had a huge budget when he took office in 2012 because the City had not spent anything toward the City Hall and Civic Center. Additionally, where politicians are concerned, “sound financial management” usually means spending the taxpayer money as if it were his own; Robinson signed off on nearly $1 million to the notorious Orange County Animal Control to build a facility that Lake Forest would not have one iota of ownership, not to mention agreeing to service costs in the hundreds of thousands that were unknown at the time.

A Better Quality of Life – Robinson says, “He opened the city’s new Dog Park and Sports Park. Since last year, Lake Forest property values have increased by $1 Billion.” Robinson happened to be mayor at the time the dog park and Sports Park opened and attended those ceremonies, hence “he opened the city’s new Dog Park and Sports Park.” The increased property values are largely due to the new homes built in Lake Forest, the third-fastest growing city in the state; it doesn’t necessarily reflect the increased value of your home.

A Vision for the Future

Helping Homeowners – Robinson again insists he “worked with County leaders to eliminate costly Mello-Roos fees” and now “he’s working to remove Mello-Roos in Foothill Ranch and reduce fees for all residents.” This is a reiteration of his candidate statement, and it’s incorrect. None of the affected homeowners paid anything less than what they were supposed to pay, hence no one had any fees “eliminated” as Robinson claims. The tax was dissolved because it had been paid down to nothing. If you wrote a letter to the White House after 9/11 and asked the president to catch the SOB responsible for the terror attacks, then you can make the same claim as Robinson, that you worked with government leaders to bring Osama Bin-Laden to justice.

Completing Our Civic and Senior Centers – Robinson says he’s “working to expedite” the construction the proposed facility. He’s correct, although that “rainy day budget” mentioned above (see Sound Financial Management) is going to take a hit when the City pays for it.

Supporting Civility at City Hall – “Dwight believes all residents should be treated with courtesy and respect. He will insist on the highest standards of ethics and accountability for all city officials.” That’s not the way Robinson has conducted City business. Robinson voted against proposals by Nick for tougher ethics and increased transparency within the Council. Robinson got into an altercation – at least a verbal one, if not physical – with a grandmother and her children while the woman was distributing fliers for Council candidates Robinson did not endorse. Robinson financially supported a smear campaign against Nick during the recall that even he admitted was “over the top,” but didn’t admit it until after the recall deadline ended despite many opportunities to do so; that campaign included calling recall supporters thugs and pedophiles. Robinson failed to set the record straight when a Planning Commissioner went before the Council seeking clarification on quotes that were attributed to them. Robinson failed to hold Councilman Scott Voigts accountable for the many lies that he has made, including those from the Council dais. Robinson failed to admonish Hamilton for secretly videotaping citizens (at least once Robinson accompanied him), for creating copycat Facebook sites with the same name as existing sites in order to deceive residents, for abruptly ending a Council meeting in a tantrum, or for using an alias to write Council-related blogs on a local news site whose primary function is to assassinate the character of Nick and candidate Leah Basile. When a anti-recall supporter was knocked to the ground outside Stater Brothers, rather than waiting for the facts to emerge, Robinson immediately condemned pro-recall supporters and empathized with the “victim”; however, the facts, including video, showed the woman he claimed was the victim had actually been the attacker and had thrown the first and only punch.

A Lifetime of Service

Dedicated Family Man – I assume Robinson is being honest here, and I don’t doubt the love he has for his family. However, I fail to understand why he continued to post photos of his children on the internet while he maintained they were being targeted by recall supporters, or why he never insisted Hamilton remove the screenshot that included the names of the schools Robinson’s children attended after it was posted onto Hamilton’s copycat Facebook site; there does seem to be a double standard there, claiming there’s a threat but acting as if there isn’t a threat where your kids are involved. Is he a bad dad or an opportunistic politician, or both -- because he can't be neither.

Active Community Volunteer – I don’t doubt that Robinson was involved in the activities he says he is, but he’s not elected councilman for what he does in his spare time, but what he does on Tuesday nights. Perhaps his involvement as a Little League coach explains why the baseball fields at the Sports Park are Little League fields and can’t host travel ball tournaments for Pony, Colt, etc., thereby bringing in money to the City and collateral income to restaurants and hotels.

Local Business Leader – Robinson uses the same terminology from his candidate statement regarding the number of people he employs; however, he claimed during a Council meeting that the location of his comma meant that he was telling the truth, whereas here, the comma is missing. He says he’s “a Lake Forest business owner who employs nearly 100 people.” Robinson never mentions he has a business on the Long Beach Pier that actually employs almost everyone of the people he references; his home-based business employs two.

SUMMARY

The adage “actions speak louder than words” exists for a reason. Robinson has been a champion of nothing, except to marginalize Nick or any person he deemed morally inferior who wasn’t on his side. The flier says what Robinson wants you to hear, but what it doesn’t say is important too: Supported the high-kill animal shelter, supported development that has led to increased traffic issues, supported the smear campaign against Nick and residents of Lake Forest. There is a truth and trust issue that's clear as the nose on his face.