My First Year in Office - Part 2 (On the Council)

This is Part 2 in a multi-part series about my first year in office. Part 1 discussed my personal achievements. Today I want to cover my achievements on the Council.

This is a list of the major issues I sponsored or actions I took individually while on the Council. Needless to say all of these accomplishments required the help of many people, however, I believe I was the driving force in each of these.

· MUSICK JAIL – For years I have been the “lone voice in the wilderness”, fighting against the $100,000,000 expansion of Musick Jail and the inclusion of maximum security prisoners. While others (e.g., Scott Voigts) on the Council endorsed this project, I have opposed it for years, written, spoken, and even demonstrated against it. This year the Sheriff blinked. She agreed to keep maximum security prisoners out of Musick. I still oppose the expansion, but winning this round is great for the City.

· ALCOHOL LICENSING – After the City stalled for years avoiding a comprehensive procedure for reviewing requests for stores that want a license to sell beer or wine, I finally got the process reviewed, submitted to the Council and approved. This will make life easier for businesses and the staff, and better protect the citizens.

· DOG PARK - After Shea Baker Ranch Associates decided not to build a dog park, I examined the Developer Agreement and threatened legal action to force them to build the park. Thanks to Dave Belmer who made it happen and Bob Holzclaw who caught them in the first place. We now have our first dog park, after 25 years and after all our neighbors (Irvine, Mission Viejo, Laguna Woods, Costa Mesa, RSM. Laguna Niguel, etc) have one. Soon we will get our second dog park in Portola Park.

· 241 INCENTIVE PROGRAM - I made a proposal to the 241 Toll Road people to allow new residents of the nearly 5,000 homes being built in Lake Forest to be given a week’s free trial to use the 241, in the hopes that many of them will subscribe and thus alleviate the traffic that comes through Lake Forest on its way to the 5 freeway. It is expected to be announced in December. This will help a lot to reduce traffic congestion. Once it proves successful, I will ask that the program be expanded for the rest of us.

· SADDLEBACK RANCH ROAD – Councilman Nick and I led the charge to stop the construction on Saddleback Ranch Rd and get the city to add in bike lanes and narrow the medians. My colleagues (Voigts-Robinson-Hamilton) voted against this, but once they were served with recall notices, they changed their minds and we got the changes we asked for.

· BETTER BUSINESS PRACTICES – I have been harping on how poorly we are managing our agenda, and documenting the dozen plus items that are languishing “on hold” even though they have financial consequences for the City, and impact our quality of life. I finally got my colleagues to recognize this problem, which by itself is a major achievement. The Council has agreed to discuss this problem in early January, and I am hopeful that we will implement constructive changes. But even getting this on the agenda has been a major struggle.

· BUSINESS APPRECIATION DAY - Working with Jessica Gonzales and the Economic Development staff, we created an awards ceremony for the Council to celebrate all the businesses in Lake Forest who received acknowledgement in the OC Register “Best of OC”. Our first annual event will be in December this year, and in succeeding years, it will be held during “Shop and Dine” week.

· TRAFFIC ADVISORY GROUP- Through sheer persistence and nagging, I finally got the Council to agree to appoint a Traffic Advisory Group. My original goal was to make this a commission, but I couldn’t get support at that level, and hence we have a “group” instead of a commission. Thanks to Councilman Nick for his support. (April 7)

· VILLAGE POND PARK WILDLIFE FEEDING PROHIBITION - Once again, through sheer persistence and nagging I finally got the ordinance to prohibit feeding the geese at Village Pond Park.(Mar 3) Unfortunately, no sooner did I get it on the books, City staff weakened it by reducing the amount of the fine, and then failed to enforce it aggressively. We still have seen no plans to re-model Village Pond Park and we still have no report on the effectiveness of the ordinance, but at least we got the ordinance passed.

· RECLAIMED WATER IN LAKES AND PONDS – Working with IRWD and Senator Moorlach, I have been lobbying to get reclaimed water into our two lakes and Village Pond Park. The plan requires the State Water Resource Board to change their regulations, and we are making progress. In the interim, awareness has never been higher. I am looking for positive action in the near future.

· PROMOTING LOCAL ARTISTS - After much debate and opposition, I managed to get a local artists’ show in conjunction with one City summer concert, and also got local artists previewing their art at our community theatre – Modjeska Playhouse. But staff still refuses to allow local artists to display their art work at the City Hall and at the Sports Park.

· IMPROVING CITY-OWNED PROPERTY - I got agreement that the City should improve the vacant city properties. (June 2). It took months for the staff to do it, but slowly the properties are being improved.

· ALIGNING PARKS WORKSHOPS - I got the Whispering Hills workshop postponed until after decisions had been made regarding Portola Park, thus allowing the Whispering Hills discussion to “fill in the gaps” and saving the City thousands of dollars by not having to have another workshop. (May 12)

· ANIMAL CARE SERVICES - Along with Councilman Nick, I got the Council to agree to look at alternatives to using the County’s animal care services. (July 21). Unfortunately staff did not follow-up effectively, but I tried my best and continue to try. Nonetheless, awareness of the terrible conditions at the County has never been higher, and several other cities are making progress. Unfortunately, due to a vote (Dec 1) by my colleagues (Voigts-Robinson-Hamilton) our Council decided to stop looking for alternatives. I am continuing to explore this issue.

· SPECIAL NEEDS – Working with the Parks and Recreation Department I encouraged the increase in the Special Needs Dance from annually to quarterly, and I am working with residents on ways in which they City can better serve people with special needs.

· CAMPAIGN SIGN ORDINANCE REPEALED - When they first proposed the campaign sign ordinance I said it was counter-productive, and given the disastrous 2014 campaign, the Council now agreed and we repealed it with a 5-0 vote. (Sept 15)

· TRANSPARENCY IN GOVERNMENT – Spurred by local activist Randy Johnson, I worked with the Clerk to create a system so that public input was more available to the Council and to the people.

· SPORTS PARK SIGN - Thanks to a tip, I got the City to place a sign on Lake Forest Drive alerting people to where the Sports Park was.

It hasn’t been easy to accomplish this much. Opposition from staff and other Council members makes it difficult for anyone to do anything. In a City which believes that doing things slowly is a virtue, getting anything done is difficult. I am not unhappy about my achievements in this area, but I wish we had done more.

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.

AKJ