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Politics & Government

My First Year on Office - Part 1 (Individual Successes)

Start of a multi-part series looking at my first year on City Council

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Jim Gardner, Neighbor
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With my first year in office coming to an end, I thought it wise to do an inventory of what I accomplished, and where I failed. Part 1 will focus on my Personal achievements, Part 2 on my achievements while on the Council, Part 3 on general achievements of the council, Part 4 will focus on my failures and Part 5 will cover my goals for 2016.

PART 1 - PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS



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ON THE COUNCIL

  • · 100% attendance at Council and Committee meetings – only Councilman Nick achieved this same high level.
  • · 100% attendance at Committee meetings – only Councilman Nick achieved this same high level.
  • · Represented the City at more than 100 events and meetings – more than all the other Council members combined.
  • · Used $0 in travel expenses – Councilmen Nick and Robinson also used $0.

IN THE CITY

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  • · Met with a dozen HOAs and civic groups to talk about what’s happening in the City and to listen to their concerns.
  • · Available for more than 50 office hours at City Hall to meet with residents. Met with more than 40 individuals to help solve their problems.
  • · Held 5 town hall meetings at Foothill and El Toro public libraries for people to attend and discuss city issues.

PROMOTING LIFE IN THE CITY

I published more than 100 articles on the Lake Forest Patch about life in Lake Forest. These articles included –

In addition to publishing articles about these events, I also attended almost every one of them.

FWIW – People sometimes criticize me for being “negative”. The plain fact is that no one in the history of the Council (and no staff member either) has ever publicized so many positive things about the City. This is a great City and we should be proud of it and publicize all the good things we do. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be even better.



EDUCATING THE PUBLIC

I have been concerned that the people are not being given all the information they should have about what’s going on in the City and the County, how our money is being spent, etc. Here’s a list of (and links to) some of the articles I’ve written to better educate residents –

PROMOTING BUSINESSES IN THE CITY

Sales tax is 36% of our City revenue. We need to help and encourage businesses whenever we can. I attended more than a dozen Grand Openings and published reports in the Patch that focused on these new businesses. Here are some examples –

I also attended and wrote about City events and events sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Here are some examples –

It’s been a busy year and these accomplishments, outside the Council room, show just how busy it has been. On the whole I’m very satisfied with my performance in this area.

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 Dec 12 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.

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