Report to the People - Feb 2018

This report covers the period from Jan 1 to 31. It represents the views of Mayor Gardner and does not reflect official City policy. These reports are produced monthly. Past copies are available on request.

INVOLVING PEOPLE

One of my main concerns is to involve more people in our local government.

Office hours are every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm. Inquire at the Clerk’s office. Occasionally things change, so be sure to check first. BTW – Mayor Pro Tem Basile has office hours on Monday from 10 am to 12 pm.

Town Square – Lake Forest Town Square has over 700 members and growing, providing valuable input on issues facing the council as well as general issues. Your votes and opinions are used to guide my decisions. Please join.

Listen and Learn – To date I’ve met with over a dozen groups around the City. If you have a group and want to share your concerns, let’s get together.

Town Hall Meetings – Last meeting was Dec 2. Next meeting will be Feb 15 at 7 pm at Lake 1 Clubhouse.

The Patch – In case you were unaware, I post a column in the Lake Forest Patch, usually 3 to 5 times a week (to date there are over 1,000 up there), and you should feel free to comment there.

Twitter – I now have a twitter account. Click Here. You can reach me @DrJimGardner.

SPECIAL ELECTION

In case you didn’t hear, Andrew Hamilton was recalled by 73% of the voters and Tom Cagley was elected by 52% of the voters. Tom is our new City Councilman.

MY PRIORITIES

Here are issues that are well in motion -

• The new “Shop and Dine Lake Forest” mobile app is out.
• The Civic/Senior Center project is on schedule. Ground breaking was May 12.
• Village Pond Park renovation is under way. However, due to unanticipated problems, it will probably be delayed until the end of 2018.
• Traffic was added to Planning Commission and meetings under way, but no real results in 6+ months. New ordinance passed to keep over-sized vehicles off the street. Click here for more information. New parking officer still not hired.
• Comprehensive plans for upgrading 10 parks in the City achieved through 5 workshops. I attended all meetings. Final workshops being conducted in February.
• Reptile Rescue opened in March and the Adoption Center opened on April 24. At my instigation data about Lake Forest animals now available online (Click Here). Fees for seniors and for neutered dogs reduced. New public education officer project was a complete disaster and discontinued after 3 months.
• Developed a comprehensive ordinance to provide balance and cohesiveness to single family residential areas. Now in effect and efforts being made to enforce.
• We are re-purposing Village Pond Park and converting to a Veterans Park, and re-doing Heroes Park to make it more appropriate as a memorial to fallen heroes. Click Here
• General Plan. With the help of Councilman Robinson and Mayor Pro Team Basile, the Council unanimously agreed to restructure the General Plan to make it quicker, less expensive, and more focused. Click Here

Here are the issues I am currently working on

• Pet Adoption Center to take on more responsibilities (e.g., counselling for owner surrender and owner requested euthanasia). Monthly data to be coordinated with County data. Discussions under way to handle strays in the future.
• Mobile App 2.0. Just saw the first working model of our new mobile app. It needs a lot of work, but it looks like it will be the most innovative and far-ranging mobile app to improve communications between residents and the City. Stay tuned.
• SVUSD. With Scott Voigts we are trying to improve services by SVUSD and also improve traffic around some of the schools with the possibility of re-introducing buses in some areas (e.g., FHR, Serrano)
• Crime – In 2015 major crimes were up nearly 30% but in 2016 they were down 16%. Last year (2017) we were up 5%. The biggest increases are in robbery (+85%), aggravated assault (+20%) ,burglary (+23%), and rape (+12%). In Jan thru Dec 2017 there were 19 rapes and 90 aggravated assaults in the City. To check it out for yourself, Click Here. In a related matter, the Council voted to join with a dozen other cities to explore ways to provide police services. Councilman Nick and I proposed this study a few years ago, but we lost 3 to 2 and the study had to wait.
• Working with the Council we agreed to move forward on the following issues: (a) Creating a Traffic/Parking Commission, (b) Finding an alternative to county animal shelter, (c) Term Limits ordinance, (d) Creating an Ethics Commission, and (e) Expanding the number of committees. You can read more about it here.

VOTING RECORDS

More than 90% of the votes by the Council are unanimous and relate to ordinary business of the City. In about 10% of the votes, the issues are more complex and there are not unanimous votes. Here’s the summary for 2017.

• 39 votes not unanimous
• Voigts abstained 7 times, everyone else only twice.
• Highest agreement was between Gardner/Basile and between Voigts/Robinson
• Least agreement was between Gardner/Hamilton
• Least agreement overall was Hamilton
• Highest agreement overall was Robinson
• On 14 occasions the vote was 4:1. On those occasions, Hamilton was the lone voice for 5 of the 14 issues, with Gardner (3), Basile (3), Robinson (2), and Voigts (1) following.

Here are the results for 2018 –

• Approve EIR contract (1/16) – Gardner opposed
• Drone ordinance (1/16) – Basile abstained
• Voigts to be on TCA committee (1/16) – Gardner opposed

NETWORKING

I attended the following meetings/events (along with fellow Council members)

• Jan 2 - Office Hours (Gardner)
• Jan 4 – Planet Fitness Ribbon Cutting (Gardner, Basile, Cagley, Voigts)
• Jan 9 - Office Hours (Gardner)
• Jan 11 – Prothero Mobile Home Park HOA meeting (Gardner)
• Jan 16 – Office Hours (Gardner)
• Jan 16 - City Council Meeting (All)
• Jan 17 – New business reception (Gardner, Cagley, Voigts, Robinson)
• Jan 23 – Office Hours (Gardner)
• Jan 24 – Child Exploitation (Gardner, Basile, Cagley)
• Jan 27 – SnowFest (Gardner, Voigts)
• Jan 27 – Honor Court (Gardner, Voigts, Cagley)
• Jan 28 – Advisory Council (Gardner)
• Jan 31 – Chamber of Commerce Mixer (All)

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Feb 2 – Portola Hills Elementary 25th Anniversary (7:45 am)
• Feb 5 – Parade Committee (6 pm – Sports Park)
• Feb 5 – Parks Workshop (7 pm – Sports Park)
• Feb 6 - Office Hours (4 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 6 - City Council Meeting (6:30 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 7 – Ribbon Cutting – Gold and Blue (10 am – 20780 Lake Forest Drive)
• Feb 7 – Parks Workshop (7 pm – Sports Park)
• Feb 8 – OC Assoc. of Mayors (7:30 am – Dana Point)
• Feb 8 – Planning/Traffic Commission (7 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 8 – Parks Workshop (7 pm – Sports Park)
• Feb 9 – Seminar on Homelessness (10 am – 25552 La Paz Rd)
• Feb 10 – Special Needs Dance (7 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 13 - Office Hours (4 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 15 – Ribbon Cutting – Top Notch Fitness (4 pm – 23788 Mercury Rd)
• Feb 15 – Town Hall (7 pm – Lake 1 Clubhouse)
• Feb 15 – Parks Commission (7 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 20 – Ribbon Cutting – Board and Brush (4 pm – 25432 Trabuco Rd)
• Feb 20 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 20 - City Council Meeting (6:30 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 21 – Chamber Mixer (5:30 pm - Miguel’s Foothill Ranch)
• Feb 22 – Industry Roundtable (11:30 am – City Hall)
• Feb 22 – Planning/Traffic Commission (7 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 27 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 27 – Strategic Planning (6 pm – City Hall)
• Feb 28 – Educational Housing Forum (9 am – Sports Park)

Most of the events are FREE but some may charge admission. Be sure to check. I plan to be at most of these events so please come by and say hello.

CONTACT

You can discuss issues at the Facebook page Lake Forest Town Square.