Economics of the Recall

As incredible as it may seem, Andrew Hamilton voted against transitioning to district elections, even faced with the overwhelming evidence that if we didn’t move to district elections the City could be open to legal costs as high as $7,000,000. That’s the price that Palmdale paid when they refused to move to district elections. In fact, according to the lawyers we hired to advise us, every City that fought the issue has lost.

Whether or not you’re in favor of district elections, the California Voting Rights Act now makes it nearly impossible not to move to district elections. Many cities have started the process, joining the cities that already have district elections.

As Col. Tom Cagley pointed out Tuesday night, Hamilton is in danger of being forced to compete with his BFF Dwight Robinson for his Council seat. Robinson has been a big contributor to Hamilton in the past, so if the two are forced to compete, Hamilton will lose the special interest money he depends on. It’s probably mute anyway, since Hamilton is being recalled right now, and one of the reasons to recall Hamilton is the fact that his votes have cost the city millions of dollars. For example

• Hamilton voted (5/2/17) to oppose going to district elections despite the evidence and the expert opinion of lawyers that opposing the action would likely result in millions of dollars of legal fees to the City. One city had to pay more than $7,000,000.
• Hamilton refused to vote to ask City staff to cut the fat from the $40,000,000 plus annual budget. Just a 5% reduction would have meant a savings of $2,000,000 per year.
• Hamilton voted against the City creating our own local no-kill animal shelter. (4/19/16). Putting aside the humanitarian concerns, this vote cost the City $600,000+ in payments to the County for us to pay our share of the new shelter in which we have no equity. In addition, the County will raise our fees and this will create a 43% increase in the costs to the City, or more than $150,000 per year (and possibly more).
• Hamilton voted to spend $250,000 more on street sweeping so the company that gave money to his campaign could get the contract. (5/19/15)
• Hamilton voted against moving to district elections (10/6/15) and now, because of his vote, the City is being sued and will probably spend $50,000 in legal expenses.
• Hamilton refused to stop building Saddleback Ranch Road even when residents en masse pointed out how badly designed and dangerous the street was (10/6/15). He relented only after being served with a recall notice. (11/3/15). The delay cost the city more than $30,000.
• Hamilton voted a $25,000 bonus to the former City Manager (6/21/16) who already received more than $300,000 in compensation and who oversaw the Saddleback Ranch Road fiasco and the Tamarisk Park fiasco among other notable failures.
• Hamilton voted against competitive bidding on major contracts. (7/21/15, 12/1/15). Who knows how much this costs the City.

Hamilton's votes have literally cost us millions of dollars.

Andrew Hamilton recently sent out a mailer asking people to send in a postcard withdrawing their signature from the recall petition. He claimed he was worried about costing the City money. He neglected to tell people that each postcard they send in will cost the City $3.40 apiece for the Registrar of Voters to validate, and this charge applies whether or not people signed in the first place.

Once again, Hamilton’s only concern is for himself.

If the recall petitioners gather 10,000 valid signatures, the cost to the City will be $34,000. At this point, Hamilton who only got 6,000 votes to be elected, should resign.

An investment of $34,000 could save the City from the millions of dollars in bad votes Hamilton is likely to make in the next 18 months.

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 on May 27 at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.