Dwight Robinson's Meltdown - Part 4

Yesterday we looked at errors in Councilman Robinson’s Facebook comments. We found that

• · Robinson was wrong when he said I claimed that North cities had a lower cost per capita.
• · Robinson was wrong when he gave the per capita costs of police services in Stanton.
• · Robinson was wrong when he said that Lake Forest does not have the problem of an imbalance in reciprocal services (like the one that Laguna Hills has with Laguna Woods).
• · Robinson was wrong when he claimed that the figures offered by OCSD are true figures.
• · Robinson was wrong when he said that I did not explain the charter for the ad hoc committee.
• · Robinson was wrong when he implied that a budget was necessary in order to form an ad hoc committee.
• · Robinson was wrong when he implied that 2 Council members can solicit bids from cities to replace OCSD as our contract Police department.

Today I want to deal with more general issues. Once again, the italics refer to Robinson’s remarks and the bold is my response.

MIND-READING

ROBINSON SAID - “I don’t believe Councilmen Gardner and Nick did not know about these possibilities prior to their vote…”

It must be nice to be Councilman Robinson. He knows what people are thinking. Unfortunately the rest of us have to rely on evidence.

PLAYING POLITICS

ROBINSON SAID - “I believe they were playing politics with the safety of our community. In an extension or month-to-month situation, the Sheriff’s Department can decide that they will only provide essential services.”

First, there was no “month-to-month extension”. Second, I asked Mayor Voigts to continue the discussion after the break so that there was no risk. Voigts refused. Third, after the meeting I asked him to re-convene a Special Meeting, but he refused again. So who is “playing”?

ROBINSON SAID - “So here we are, no contract, hanging on via extension, and we will take another vote on this contract on July 21. Hopefully, they will come to their senses and realize that a contract is in the City’s best interest at this time.”

Neither Councilman Nick nor I said that a contract with OCSD was not in the best interests of the City “at this time.” What we did say was that we wanted the discussion of the ad hoc committee to continue and not be given the “bum’s rush”.

Both Councilman Nick and I, independently, asked that the contract be put on the next meeting, which is July 7. Councilman Robinson wanted it placed later so he could milk what he anticipated would be outrage against our actions. Instead, both Nick and I received universal acclaim for watching out for the taxpayer’s money.

FWIW – Shortly after the meeting I e-mailed the City Manager (with copies to the Council) because I was concerned that I hadn’t heard back from him on this issue. I asked – “What is our best course of action? I know that the contract provides for a 2 month extension, but under the circumstances do you believe we should call a special meeting to meet the June 30 deadline, or exercise the 2 month extension?” Councilman Robinson replied – “Your behavior has been reckless and I assume you are the one who is feeling the political pressure and thus in need of a special meeting to cover your butt. I don’t feel any pressure whatsoever.”

So who is playing politics? On the one hand Councilman Robinson wants you to believe that he is upset about the decision and is so nervous about what’s happening. But privately when I am trying to resolve the problem as soon as possible, he says he doesn’t “feel any pressure whatsoever.”

TAKING MONEY FROM VESTED INTERESTS

ROBINSON SAID - “To my knowledge, none of the council members have received contributions from the Deputy Sheriffs Association (DSA). And I don’t recall any of the council members being endorsed by the Sheriff or the DSA…but I could be wrong and I’m sure someone will point it out if I am. No independent expenditures have been made to support or oppose any of the current Council Members in the past. So, to think the argument regarding contributions for or against any council members has anything to do with this discussion is a red herring at best.”

I never made that argument, so its inclusion here is a red herring. Councilman Robinson has accepted tens of thousands of dollars from vested interests and then voted in favor of giving these vested interests city contracts, zoning changes, etc. But to my knowledge none of these vested interests were from the Public Safety sector, which is why I never made this claim. So why is Robinson attacking me for a claim I never made?

DISCUSSIONS ABOUT SPENDING

ROBINSON SAID - “I believe we should have a frank discussion about spending as an entire council…not just 2 individuals in some ad hoc fashion. We should discuss our opinions regarding percentages of the budget coupled with our service level expectations…”

During the recent budget discussion I urged exactly this discussion. Councilman Robinson shut it down. He disparaged me for worrying about cutting $7,000 from the City Council budget and did not support me when I asked the Department Directors to make cuts to their budgets. Had they followed my lead, as much as $2,000,000 might have been cut from the budget. His plea now in light of his past behavior seems disingenuous at best.

TRENDS

Do you see the trends?

Council Robinson in his comments calls for “frank discussion about spending as an entire council” but when he had the chance to do that a few weeks ago, he refused.

Councilman Robinson publically frets about the delay in signing the Police contract, but privately he argues to extend the time for what he believes is his political advantage.

Councilman Robinson criticizes Councilman Nick for his “completely incorrect” data and then provides no data of his own, and instead quotes data from the OCSD which is incorrect. Then he completely mis-understands the results of the Laguna Hills study, provides no data except the assurance that he knows the Council members, and inaccurately reports the results.

SUMMARY

Councilman Nick and I tried to get a conversation started about looking more closely at the high costs of Police services, and exploring bids from other cities as well as the possibilities of forming our own JPA. Councilman Robinson was bitterly opposed, made personal attacks on me during the meeting, and had to be calmed down by Councilman Nick. Subsequent to that I published two articles in The Patch talking about the need for the ad hoc committee as well as correcting some misleading information Councilman Robinson spread during the meeting. Robinson responded viciously on the Patch, calling me an “imbecile”, moron”, “vengeance seeker” and saying that what I wrote were “lies, lies, and more lies”. Universally flamed by readers of the Patch, he promised to avoid the personal attacks and back-up his assertions that I was lying. Ultimately, under the pretense of not violating the law, he posted his response on his Facebook page. That response did nothing to correct any of the assertions I made in my two articles, although it did give him a platform for more name-calling, however less vitriolic. A careful analysis of his “response” showed many more errors in facts and in logic (as well as spelling grammar and syntax).

TOMORROW

The latest meltdown from Councilman Robinson deserves our attention. He is a public official and he is bound by the City’s code of conduct which specifically calls for “integrity in what we do”, “to model ethical and civil behavior”, “making factual information available”, “telling the truth”, and “refrain from abusive conduct, personal charges or verbal attacks upon the character, motives, ethics, morals, or comments of other Members of the Council…”

Tomorrow I will discuss this breach of conduct more fully.

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 3 pm to 5 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a mini town meeting every month. The next meeting will be on August 15 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.