Is the Mayor M.I.A.?

A few months ago I noted that the Mayor was absent from 90% of the types of events that a Mayor usually attends. Our Mayor continues his string of being absent at city and local community events. Recently I attended the following events and failed to see the Mayor (Hamilton) at any of them.

· May 21 – Open House – Sports Park

· May 18 – Commercial Broker’s Workshop

· May 15 – Prelude in the Park

· May 14 - Clean up Aliso Creek

· May 13 – Chamber of Commerce

· May 13 – Lake 2 Woman’s Club Fund raiser

· May 12 – Sober Living Homes Legislative Update

· May 7 – Civic Center Workshop

· May 7 – Lake 1 Garden Club annual fund raiser

· May 5 – Going away party for long-time staff member Ron Rivera

· May 2 – Parade Committee and introduction of new staff

· May 1 – Rancho Fiesta Days

· April 28 – Senior Center workshop

I did see Scott Voigts at Rancho Fiesta Days. He was parked right in front of the entrance in the yellow lines (see picture). I also saw him at Prelude in the Park, but not at any of the other events. Voigts is Mayor Pro Tem, so it’s his job to fill in when the Mayor is missing. Looks like we need a Mayor Pro Tem Pro Tem to fill in when both these guys miss an event, which seems to be very often.

Councilman Nick was present at about half of these events. I saw Councilman Robinson at the Clean-up.

No one forces you to get on the City Council, and no one forces you to become Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem. But you’d think that if you did take on the position, you would take on the responsibilities. One of the reasons I’ve consistently said I was not available for the Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem position is that I am too busy with other city related activities and I was afraid that I couldn’t meet the commitments of the office. Apparently my colleagues have no such considerations.

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 August 13 at 2 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.

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