Hamilton Steamrolls a Mother Seeking Safety

The meeting of the Lake Forest City Council on Dec. 6 showed once again that Mayor Andrew Hamilton was ill-suited to the position.

Like his other colleagues on the Council, Hamilton heard Larissa Clark plead for a solution to a crosswalk near Rockfield and Ridge Route, where her daughter – then 13 years old -- was struck by a car about a decade ago.

The daughter still bears scars, and Clark wants to make sure another family doesn’t suffer the same tragedy, the same trauma, that hers endured.

Councilman Adam Nick has advocated for a Traffic Commission for the City. So, too, has Jim Gardner. Dwight Robinson campaigned with the promise of a Traffic Commission four years ago, but voted against the idea once elected to office (although he said he would like to have an Arts Commission during his most recent campaign). Eventually, the Council settled on a toothless Traffic Advisory Group that had no power and little interest in challenging the status quo, a.k.a., the opinions of City staffers.

One would think that Robinson, Hamilton and Scott Voigts – after being served recall papers following their dismissive stance about the dangerous Saddleback Ranch Road – would have been empathetic, if not sympathetic, toward Clark.

But rules are rules inside Hamilton’s City Hall, where the mayor considers any reaction except applause potential criminal action; seriously, he has made that threat while wielding the gavel over the past 12 months. Once, during a timeout to punish the audience when he felt it acted out, Hamilton was asked directly if he really wasn’t going to allow people to laugh at the responses that came from the Council dais; his response was to stare down his questioner.

Such is the courage of Hamilton now, though he once abruptly ended a Council meeting when he was unable to deal with – or simply ignore – an audience of six people. Hamilton’s mantra for prohibiting any outbursts other than the legislated applause is that he’s just trying to do the City’s business, something he failed to do when he walked out on a meeting with at least three items still remaining on its agenda. Of such tantrums are legacies made, and the “timeout mayor,” the one who routinely threatens to put the City’s business on hold for 10 or 20 minutes as punishment, has galvanized his reputation as one who can neither turn a deaf ear nor think on his feet.

Such was the case with Clark.

Near the end of the meeting during the Council members comments, Gardner again brought forth the idea of a Traffic Commission. Hamilton didn’t want to commit to such a thing – after all, it was proposed by Gardner and consented to by Nick, meaning Hamilton couldn’t possibly get behind it.

So Hamilton began opining that he didn’t think citizens could do anything more than City staff could do, again falling back on the status quo as he is so apt to do. “The one thing that I would want to add to this (long pause) … citizens’ input is always very valuable, but it almost feels that you’re saying that staff isn’t doing its job at these certain intersections, and I’m not sure how the citizens are going to be able to evaluate whether the staff is doing the right job at the intersections.” Given that Hamilton included in his comment the phrase, “Correct me if I’m wrong,” Mrs. Clark spoke up from near the back of the audience.

“There has been no improvement for over 10 years,” she said.

Hamilton, like Robinson and Voigts, rarely want to talk about solutions to problems – that’s why Nick and Gardner can’t get consent for any of their ideas without twisting their arms (remember Nick trying to get Robinson to go along with trying to get a second legal opinion on Village Pond Park and potential litigation, reminding Robinson he had made a campaign promise a week earlier to expedite VPP refurbishing; Nick’s strategy ultimately resulted in VPP being freed up for restoration faster than the do-nothing stance Robinson embraced).

“I’m sorry, but the public comment section is [over] … Sorry, M’am, we are talking about …”

“There are three out of five of you,” Clark shot back, having assessed Voigts’ comments as well. “You have consensus, move on.”

“M’am.”

“Do not M’am me, my name is Larissa Clark.”

“I’m trying to be respectful of you,” Hamilton said. “You’re interrupting the meeting and I’m trying to tell you I have some important points to talk about.”

What do we make of this exchange? Mrs. Clark, who’s lived with the status quo and a disfigured child for a decade, doesn’t need to be talked down to. Nor does she need to be dismissed, nor does Hamilton need to “try to be respectful” to her -- it should come naturally.

She deserves respect. She has lived 10 years with the status quo, 10 years without a Traffic Commission, 10 years without a City staffer coming up with a solution to make that crosswalk safer by adding lights to it. In fact, there are no crosswalks in the city that have lights such as those mentioned by Mrs. Clark. Should there be? With $108 million in reserves, there probably should be.

The request by Clark deserved discussion. The tragedy traumatized at least one family, changed lives for the worse, and needs a closer look simply because a resident wants her voice heard. It’s a no-brainer. It’s a safety issue. Just like Saddleback Ranch Road was a safety issue.

But unable to think on his feet, Hamilton went into stare-down mode, defending his turf and his authority.

All Hamilton had to do was acknowledge Mrs. Clark’s comment: “Yes, we understand, we’re going to take care of it." That would have been the proper way to remove the foot from his mouth.

All Hamilton needed to do was take the politics out of the situation. It's well known he has it in for Nick and Gardner. He’s written terrible things about them from behind the safety of a pseudonym, saying terrible comments about residents (recall supporters were pedophiles and thugs) who had the audacity to want to be taken seriously and to have him perform his elected duties the way a mature public official would.

Finally, Gardner's diversion ended the standoff when he said he had used up too much of his allotted time, preventing the audience from enduring a timeout or Mrs. Clark from enduring any more condescension – or a direct threat to be removed by the sheriff’s deputy in attendance.

Hamilton did his best to cover his tracks and asked whether accident information was available and whether it was ever reviewed. “This is the item I was trying to put forward,” he said, “to see if there is a review of the staff decision on important things like that.”

That’s the important point he was trying to make? I don’t think so, because Hamilton began this episode by saying, “I’m not sure how the citizens are going to be able to evaluate whether the staff is doing the right job at the intersections.” That was his position, because he has been opposed to a Traffic Commission. His backpedaling, the “point I was trying to make,” was an attempt to save face.

Further proof? He added, “I think safety is very important and I respect your strong passion on this item, and I think it’s something we need to take another look at,” he said, basically agreeing with Clark after he began his comments by disagreeing with Clark.

Interesting to note that he thinks “safety is very important,” but it wasn’t important enough to him a year ago when Saddleback Ranch Road was an issue. He ignored the passion of those residents and wouldn't even consent to put it on the agenda to be discussed. That's how important safety is to him. He showed his true colors at that time, because he had a change of heart with Robinson and Voigts after being served recall papers.

Over the course of one year, the moment in Hamilton's penultimate meeting as mayor showed just how little he has grown as a leader. In his second year on the Council, his appointment was questionable to begin with. He received fewer votes than any elected official since at least 1998, and the scare of the recall – more voters signed the petition to have him recalled than voted for him – did little to humble him enough to enact change in his style. He’s still arrogant, still condescending, still having to tell people when he makes a joke.

Immediately after Hamilton got in the last word, councilwoman-elect Leah Basile left her seat at the back of the room to move next to Clark. That empathy and compassion is what residents want from their elected officials. Residents want to be heard, and they want to feel they’re being heard – and that they matter. Because they do.

Clark told me afterward that Hamilton apologized to her privately at the conclusion of the Council meeting. But there was no public apology.

Only a public spectacle.