Meet the Candidates - Part 2 (Impressions)

Yesterday we discussed the two new candidates who appeared at the Meet the Candidate quarterly Town Hall. Leah Basile and Farh Semnani spent 95 minutes chatting with nearly a dozen residents. Frank Wagoner was invited but failed to reply or show up. Francisco Barajas was on vacation. Today I want to offer my impressions of the new candidates. Tomorrow we’ll look at the candidate’s statements and next week we’ll go through each candidate in some detail.

THE CANDIDATES

Leah Basile is a breath of fresh air. She is bright, energetic, and knowledgeable, and her experience at the Portola Hills 2 HOA shows that she possesses the leadership qualities necessary to succeed in a position like City Council. I also like the fact that she comes from Portola Hills which is an area that historically has had no representation at the Council level (though they have been represented a little at the Commission level). It’s also positive that she is a woman and having an all-male City Council looks like a 100 year throw-back. In fact this is the first time Lake Forest ever had an all-male Council, so a change is certainly in order. Personally I wouldn’t vote for someone just because she was a woman, but with her characteristics and experience Leah seems to be the top candidate among the new entries.

Leah not only has all of this going for her, but she has attended and spoken at more City Council meetings than all other candidates combined, and spent more time dealing with City issues (e.g., Saddleback Ranch Rd., the animal shelter, the recall).

Farh Semnani shared many of the ideas and attitudes that Leah expressed, but his breadth and depth with regard to City affairs and events seems limited. He should spend some time working on one of our volunteer groups (e.g., the Parade Committee) and get on one of the Commissions to gain some up-close experience, not only so that he can learn, but also so that the public can see him in action. Farh seems to be not yet ready for the Big Leagues.

Francisco Barajas, on the other hand, while he didn’t show up at the Meet the Candidate session, has exposed himself to the public in the past 18 months by being on the Parks Commission. So we have a record to judge him by, even if he wasn’t present to share his ideas about City Council.

According to the approved minutes of the Parks Commission, posted online, Barajas has been absent from Parks Commission meetings more times than all the rest of the Commissioners combined. That tells us something that all his promises would not convey. Apparently he belongs to the Andrew Hamilton School of Public Policy, as Hamilton has rightfully earned himself the reputation as “Mayor M.I.A.”. (Click here and here for the details). Barajas’ connection to Hamilton and “The Gang of 3” is obvious. He was elected to the Parks Commission based on their votes, even while at least two more qualified candidates were rejected. On his application for the Parks Commission (Dec, 2014) Barajas acknowledged that he worked for Voigts’ campaign and was a friend. FWIW - a campaign contributor to Scott Voigts has never been turned down for anything, whether it’s an appointment to a Commission, a zoning change, a variance, a contract, etc.

Being appointed based of campaign contributions and being absent from meetings isn’t all there is to the Barajas story, as evidenced by reading the minutes of the Parks Commission. From March 2015 through June 2016 I can’t find a single motion made by Barajas, or a single issue he’s championed. Barajas has been virtually invisible, even when he’s been there.

If Barajas’ public face has not been impressive or distinguished, at least he has had a public face and he can be judged by his record. Frank Wagoner didn’t reply to my e-mail and didn’t show up at the Meet the Candidate session. Of course, neither is required. But I can find no trace of him as a speaker at City Council meetings, as a member of any City committee, nor does he seem to have a track record in any of the major City organizations (e.g., Kiwanis, Chamber of Commerce). Once again, these activities are not required. It turns out he didn’t even submit a candidate statement. Of course, that‘s not required either. But it brings into question someone’s qualifications to be on the City Council when they have been so little involved in city affairs.

SUMMARY

These impressions are simply impressions and in some cases, first impressions. As the campaign moves forward and we learn more about the candidates, our opinions may change.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the candidate’s statements.

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 in November at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.