Dwight Robinson's Credibility an Issue with Tettemer Appointment

Dwight Robinson is still going to bat for developers, still paying them back for helping him get elected to the Lake Forest City Council and, indirectly, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, thereby giving Robinson a seat on the oversight agency that directly impacts his business that operates on the Long Beach Pier.

Sweet gig.

Robinson’s latest bow to special interests took place on July 17 when the Council selected its first Traffic and Parking Commission. This must have really hurt Robinson; although traffic in Lake Forest is stressful, parking problems persist, and it takes a maddening amount of time to reach the 5 freeway, Robinson made clear during the 2016 campaign forum that he thought an Arts Commission was more important than a Traffic Commission. And for good measure, his “running mate,” Francisco Barajas, agreed! The message: Lake Forest doesn’t need more traffic flow, it needs more local theater and sculptures in parks.

Could Robinson be any more disconnected from the City’s needs?

Yet Robinson eked out a victory by 99 votes over Adam Nick following a two-year smear campaign that he, Voigts and Andrew Hamilton helped fund. Robinson seemed humbled at the time of his narrow victory, but apparently the gloves are off on the 2018 election. He’s back to playing politics, and basically admitted as much at the meeting when the Council discussed the City’s general plan for the next 20 years: any appointment made by a Council member would have politics injected into it, he said.

So how did Robinson repay the developers who have played such a crucial role in Lake Forest politics? Robinson’s appointee to the Traffic and Parking Commission was Mark Tettemer, a developer-backed councilman who served Lake Forest from 2005-12 and whose votes in favor of home development helped the City reach the point that it needed a Traffic Commission instead of an Arts Commission.

Mayor Jim Gardner said Tettemer’s inclusion on the new Commission was analogous to having a fox in the henhouse. No question, there is irony with Tettemer working on traffic and parking solutions that benefit the residents instead of the developers, whether they be residential or commercial; Tettemer will, politically, be biting the hand that feeds him – but only if he stands up to the developers. Instead, the more likely scenario is that Tettemer will be an advocate for the developers’ concerns. While a councilman, Tettemer approved all the developments that came before him, never showing the kind of courage it takes to push back against someone in the room. Robinson, in Tettemer’s defense, said that Tettemer didn’t agree that the Foothill Ranch Auto Centre should have been rezoned for residential; if that’s true – I don’t know that Tettemer ever made that opinion public, although he may have told Robinson in a private conversation – it’s still irrelevant. Whenever Tettemer had to make a decision when the chips were down, he always sided with developers. It’s easy to call your shot from the peanut gallery, or over a beer, or anonymously online. Or when you're trying to get an appointment from another developer-friendly buddy.

Next: Robinson's power play.

Photo: Dwight Robinson by Martin Henderson