Lake Forest 2018 Part 6 (General Achievements)

Previously I talked about my accomplishments in the past 4 years, especially the past year as Mayor. As Mayor I initiated the following projects -

1. Making the City debt-free
2. Generating $1.4 million in additional Income by selling the empty space by El Toro Rd and the train tracks, and by changing our interest income policies.
3. Saving $500,000 by revising the General Plan scope.
4. Saving at least $1,000,000 by avoiding a lawsuit about district elections
5. Possibly saving $350,000 a year by re-allocating Police services vis-à-vis the homeless and parking enforcement.
6. Keeping a 400-bed homeless shelter out of Trabuco Canyon Rd.
7. Adding an advanced child safety class and a workshop on internet predators.
8. Creating Online Neighborhood Watch.
9. Helping create First Responders Grab n’ Go to support Police.
10. Putting “crime information” statistics on the city’s website.
11. Initiating a “transitional housing” ordinance that protects the nature of our single family neighborhoods.
12. Getting staff to Create an “Intersection Collision Report”
13. Helping insure that our “Active Shooter” protocols were up-to-date.
14. Completely upgrading our programs to help homeless people.
15. Adding an additional traffic/parking enforcement officer.
16. Creating Facebook Live for people to participate in city meetings online.
17. Developing a weekly video series called “The Mayor’s Minute”
18. Creating the Pop-Up City Hall.
19. Compelling written quarterly reports from the City Manager and from Council members and representatives who sit on various Boards.
20. Compelling written weekly reports on legal issues.
21. Creating a city-wide Mobile app.
22. Putting animal shelter and pet adoption center statistics on the city’s website.
23. Working with the Chamber of Commerce, we doubled our ribbon cuttings.
24. Working with Economic Development, we created a South OC Entrepreneurs Academy
25. I created the “Mayor’s Business Council”
26. “Shop and Dine” was expanded from a week to a month
27. Helping AtHome occupy 80,000 square feet of vacant space in Towne Centre.
28. Competing in a “Mayor’s Pitch” against 4 other Mayors at the Asian Business Council (and the city got dozens of inquiries as a result).
29. Despite the long term opposition of Councilmen Voigts and Robinson, we are trying to partner with either Mission Viejo or Irvine for our animal care services.
30. I fought hard for over a decade for the County to give us a new shelter, and in 2018 we succeeded.
31. Established Traffic and Parking Commission.
32. Affordable Housing moves forward - construction started on 55 new units in Portola Hills and we're waiting for a program to create even more.
33. Dedicated right hand turn at Trabuco and Bake approved.
34. City Hall open 5 days a week every week.
35. Established Mayor’s Council for HOAs
36. Established Mayor’s Advisory Councils.
37. Permit Parking under revision.
38. Leadership Award to recognize outstanding volunteer achievement
39. Established Mayor’s Award to recognize outstanding achievement by staff.
40. Created Veterans Park.
41. Upgraded and re-dedicated Heroes Park.
42. Instituted office hours for council members.
43. Established term limits of 8 years for Councils seats.

All of these projects were achieved or set in motion during 2018. Note: major achievements are in bold.

TEAM ACHIEVEMENTS

Apart from these activities in which I was the prime mover, I was part of the team who accomplished the following –

• Low Crime Rate. In the past 4 years our crime rate has never been lower. Most of the praise has to go to the Police Department. Our crime rate is not merely lower, but it has happened even while our population is growing in number and in diversity, which should lead to more, not less crime. And even best, we have improved on a comparative basis. We were often among the highest crime rates in South Orange County, but in the past few years we have been among the lowest.
• In relationship to our low crime rate, we instituted the “Don’t Make It Easy” program which helped reduce property crimes. Thanks to our Police Chief who took the lead on this project.
• In 2018 we successfully avoided costly lawsuits involved in federal court hearings on homeless people in Orange County. City Manager Debra Rose and Economic Director Carlo Tomaino were a big help on this project.
• In 2018 we got the General Plan off the ground, and formed the General Plan Advisory Committee.
• In 2017 and 2018 we approved 3 new hotels which should bring in an additional $750,000 per year to the City. (See Photo)
• In 2018 we expanded the City’s social media presence to reach over 70,000 residents and businesses. Our social media presence is growing faster than any of our neighbors. Thanks to our Communications gurus for getting this done so well.
• In 2017 we decided on a “design/build” strategy for the new civic center and we hired an oversight construction company to stay on top of the project. In the past, so many Public Works projects went over time and over budget. This approach resulted in “on time, on budget” to date, savings us from potentially spending millions more. The City Manager gets the kudos for this major achievement.
• In 2017 we decided to re-analyze our fee schedules which were over 10 years ago. What business can operate effectively with fees that are a decade old? The report has yet to come in, but I suspect we will generate at least $1,000,000 per year in additional revenues.
• In 2018 we transitioned to 100% mobile registration for our many courses. Thanks to Community Services for getting this done.
• In 2017 we created the "Shop and Dine" mobile app.

Not everything we did turned out great. Here are some of the notable failures -

• The remodel of Village Pond Park, started in 2013, took far too long and cost nearly twice as much as originally projected.
• The wildlife feeding prohibition was enforced only 3 times in 2 years, despite my continued objections to the lax policy and the meager results.
• The landscape on the sports fields was completely messed up, costing the City $500,000 more than planned. Scott Voigts oversaw this project.
• We were unable to get campaign finance reform passed.
• We were unable to revise the ethics policy so it remains toothless.
• My"information kiosk" idea never took off.
• Andrew Hamilton's "City of Kindness" died a quiet death.
• The "Healthy City" initiative never took off.
• Dwight Robinson's "Workforce housing" never took off
• Voigts-Hamilton-Robinson put through more new homes even while the City was tackling the traffic problems created by the thousands of new homes approved previously, thus exacerbating the traffic problems.

Our mistakes and false starts pale in comparison with our achievements.

Next time I will discuss the "State of the City" and then the challenges facing the city.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. 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.