The New Lake Forest - Part 1

What shall we do in 2018? Bear in mind, we already have a lot on our plate –

• Build the Civic/Senior Center
• Upgrade 10 neighborhood parks
• Finish upgrading Veterans Park (Formerly Village Pond Park)
• Update the city’s General Plan
• Create a new mobile app for better communication
• Transition to district elections

By itself this is a more ambitious agenda than any previous City Council has dared envision, but it isn’t enough if we are to create a New Lake Forest that will be the best city we can become.

I asked the 700+ people on Lake Forest Town Square to offer their suggestions from more than a dozen options and these are the top 3 choices and the number of votes -

• Create ordinance outlawing donations from contract agencies – 65
• Create code of ethics with independent oversight and real teeth – 58
• Create a local no-kill animal shelter – 39

I’m going to take my guidance from the people, although I have to say that these were also among my personal choices.

The City Council can’t wave a magic wand and make things happen. But we can agendize the item, get the staff to do a good job studying the issue, look at the financial implications and the operational issues, and then make a decision.

Let’s look at these three issues –

ANTI-CORRUPTION ORDINANCE

According to the Supreme Court, people have a right to exercise their freedom of speech by giving money to candidates for elected offices. But people, and by extension companies, don’t have a right to have contracts with the city. Therefore, I will propose that the City adopt an ordinance that requires that any company or any person who wants to do business with the city, in the broadest of senses, refrain from any contributions (again, in the broadest sense). The requirement will be 2 or 3 years prior to applying and 2 to 3 years following an application. In addition, I will ask that the ordinance cover contributions to independent expenditure groups (PACs) that meddle in Lake Forest elections. Finally, I will ask for a clause that says that if a company has a contract and it is later learned that they violated the terms, there will be penalties and cause for dismissal.

I hope to make this the strictest anti-corruption ordinance on the books anywhere.

And this may not be the only way to approach the problem of corruption. We may specifically address it in our ethics code.

CODE OF ETHICS

Our code of ethics is pretty good. You can read it here. But what is lacking is the way to handle suspected violations. Right now, if 3 people think someone did something unethical, they can censure him/her, and that’s it. But what happens if all 3 of those people are doing the same thing – like taking money from special interests.

Or what happens when 3 people decide to gang up on someone and invent some nonsense and then censure him/her for having done what they say he/she did?

The problems seem to be (1) lack of independent oversight, (2) lack of specificity, and (3) lack of clear process.

I’m going to ask that

• We create a 3-person Ethics Committee and the third person will be an independent person chosen for their expertise in ethics.
• We establish a procedure in which complaints can be initiated
• We develop a set of examples of what constitutes a breach of ethics
• We impose penalties on anyone determined to have breached our ethics code.

LOCAL NO-KILL SHELTER

Two years ago, along with Councilman Adam Nick, I proposed a local no-kill animal shelter that would operate out of a local Veterinarian Hospital and use a local animal rescue group. The proposal was laid out extensively but it was shot down by Councilmen Hamilton, Voigts, and Robinson. (Click Here)

As a result, our City paid the County $611,000 for them to help build a shelter in Tustin. But the problem of animal care goes deeper than a 75 year old shelter – it goes to the management and operations of the shelter, all of which have come under harsh criticism by five different OC Grand Juries.

Is it any wonder that in South Orange County we are one of only two cities to remain with the County?

I will ask my colleagues to re-open a study of the local no-kill animal shelter. In fact I will ask them to revisit the proposal I presented 2 years ago, because the only thing wrong with that proposal is that it had to be voted on by Hamilton, Voigts, and Robinson.

We will be working to create a system that provides high quality care, excellent service, humane treatment, and adopts the “no-kill” philosophy. The truth is, no shelter, even the very best, is “no kill” because animals have to be euthanized for medical and behavioral reasons. But in “no-kill” shelters this percent is well below 10%.

I will also ask that an Animal Welfare Committee be set up to oversee this work.

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 twitter handle is @DrJimGardner. 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 quarter. The next meeting will be Thursday Feb 15 at 7 pm at the Beach and Tennis Club.