Mid Year Report - Part 1

We’re just about half-way through this year so it’s time to review how well I’m doing and how I can do better. But it’s impossible to separate myself from the 4 people I share the Council with, so this is as much a review of the Council as it is of my own performance. And since the Council is supposed to provide guidance and direction to the City, this review will be even farther ranging.

THE COUNCIL

All things considered we are doing pretty well in a number of areas…

• Meetings are far more harmonious than ever. That includes the disastrous year under Andrew Hamilton, which is probably the worst year in our history, but it also includes a lot of the acrimony we recall from feuds between McCullough and Herzog, between McCullough-Rudolph and Herzog-Dixon, McCullough vs. Nick, Voigts-Robinson-Nick vs. Herzog, etc. Prior acrimony included a Council member resigning (Herzog) and one member taking out a restraining order against another (McCullough). We even have one Council member (Voigts) wearing a wire trying to entrap another council member. In fact our City has a pretty dismal record when it comes to Council members behaving themselves on and off the dais. So kudos to the class of 2017 for a pretty good year. I give some credit to Scott Voigts who learned from the terrible performance of Hamilton, and also to Mayor Pro Tem Leah Basile who has been a model of good decorum.
• We are doing more than ever. Previous councils got little accomplished beyond the requirements of the government, and rarely offered new ideas or questioned old ways of doing things. This Council is far more ambitious and works far harder than any other Council in the past. Give credit to Mayor Pro Tem Basile and also to Councilman Robinson, who after nearly being beaten in 2016, has a new appreciation for wanting to get things done and getting them done better. I’ll take a pat on the back too. More than half the new initiatives this year came from me.
• Credit the 2017 council with being concerned about how things work. We are devoting an entire meeting (July 11) to ways in which Council operations can be improved.
• We also set in motion the transition to district elections (Click Here). Credit Councilman Robinson and Mayor Pro Tem Basile who joined with me in voting for this game-changing adjustment. Only Councilman Hamilton opposed this move.
• We recognized the importance of strategic planning to good government, and are bringing in a professional consultant to assist us. (Only Councilman Hamilton opposed this move)

THE CITY

Driven by a more ambitious Council, the staff has taken up the challenge of doing more and doing it better. On balance they’ve been successful, but not without some chronic problems rearing their ugly heads.

Think of what we’ve done –

• Hired a new City Manager after an extensive search.
• Getting the moribund civic/senior center off the ropes, into reality, and on schedule. (Click Here)
• Expanding our special needs program to an exemplary level. (Click Here)
• Creating a local animal adoption center. (Click Here)
• Getting the long delayed Village Pond Park renovation actually started.
• Establishing a new procedure for handling parking problems citywide.
• Creating a Traffic/Planning Commission and tasking them with specific objectives.
• Revising the system for sports field allocations and also revising our way of treating the turf.

Think of what we’ve set in motion

• Soliciting experts to assist us with building affordable housing for veterans. (Click Here)
• Designing a mobile app to revolutionize people’s abilities to communicate with the city. (Click Here)
• Creating an annual CEO (Robinson/Gardner) and an annual HOA (Basile/Gardner) forum for better communications and an exchange of ideas.
• Creating an ad hoc committee to improve our relationships with SVUSD (Voigts/Gardner).
• Creating an ad hoc committee to explore ways to reduce the costs of the Police contract (Voigts/Gardner).
• Adding a Public Education Officer to see if we can increase revenue to offset the County's high charges for animal services.(Click Here)
• Adding a Parking Enforcement Officer to help with citywide parking problems.

Online we’ve made some major changes.

• Data on animals from Lake Forest admitted to the County shelter are now available online. (Click Here)
• Staff created a webpage that keeps people updated on new legislation and how it impacts their lives. (Click Here)
• Staff created a webpage that keeps people updated on major construction projects in the City. (Click Here)

Tomorrow we'll continue our analysis of what's happened so far this year, and then look at the challenges ahead.

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 mini town meeting every month. The next meeting will be on Sept 9 at 2 pm at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.