Report to the People - January 2017

This report covers the period from Dec 1 to 31. It represents the views of Councilman 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.

Town Square – Lake Forest Town Square has over 550 members and growing, providing valuable input on issues facing the council as well as general issues. 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.

Mini Town Hall Meetings – Next meeting – February.

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.

SPECIFIC ISSUES

Mayor - Scott Voigts was named our new Mayor (Click Here) by a vote of 3 to 2 . I nominated Leah Basile as Mayor Pro Tem and she was unanimously selected.

I got consensus for us to consider (1) electing the Mayor rather than appointing the Mayor and (2) electing our Council members by district, instead of citywide. Many cities do one or both of these.

Even More Beer and Wine – 99 Cents Stores was approved to start selling beer and wine in their Foothill Ranch store (Click Here) and now their El Toro store also wants to start selling beer and alcohol. It was approved at the Planning Commission meeting on Nov 10 (Click Here) even though there are already 10 stores in their tract which is suitable for only 3 stores, and there are 8 more stores nearby.

In addition, the Shell station on Trabuco and Lake Forest Drive was approved to sell beer and alcohol (Click Here). On a per capita basis we have more stores selling alcohol than our neighbors which may be one reason why our crime rate is also among the highest for any City in Southern Orange County.

City Manager to Retire – Our City Manager announced that he will retire January 6. We are busy looking for a replacement. Click Here. Meanwhile, Debra Rose is our Interim City Manager.

Crime – Last year major crimes were up nearly 30% but this year from Jan to Nov we are down 16%. The biggest decreases are in robbery (-48%) and larceny/thefts (-22%) but rapes (+42%) are up. From Jan to November there were 17 rapes in the City. To check it out for yourself, Click Here.

Child Safety – Registration for the Child Safety Academy is now open. The classes start on Jan 25 and are held on Wed nights from 6 pm to 7:30 pm at the City Hall. Click Here for more information.

Community Preparedness Academy – Registration is now open. Classes begin March 1 and are held for 6 consecutive weeks at 6 pm on Wednesdays at City Hall. Sign up now. Click Here.

Parks. The upgrade to our existing parks will begin soon. Click Here to learn more. The City will hold a series of workshops for each of the parks. Stay tuned for the dates/times. Meanwhile Village Pond Park has been put on hold again. The project is going to be re-bid. Hopefully we will start before Summer. Mayor Pro Tem Basile and I are working as hard as possible to get the City to be more diligent in enforcing the no feeding ordiance. In over a year the City has only issued 3 fines!

Traffic. Our traffic and parking problems only seem to grow and we’re building up quite a backlog of issues that should be addressed. I’ve asked for a Traffic and Parking Commission and hopefully that appears on our agenda soon. Click Here I'm pleased to note that Mayor Pro Tem Basile is working hard on this issue too.

Animal Care – We are stuck with the County shelter because the Gang of 3 wanted to please the Supervisors (and get their endorsement), but we are moving forward with some alternate plans to reduce admissions. The City funded an animal rescue group to do just this. Click Here. I'm hoping to make animal care the focus of the next Town Hall meeting. Stay tuned.

Musick Jail – Plans to build the large jail on the grounds of Musick have been progressing, and now the County says that construction could start in “late 2017 and would continue for 18 to 24 months.” This will add 900 new beds and will bring more serious offenders.

NETWORKING

Last month I attended the following meetings/events.

• Dec 1 – Chamber of Commerce Mixer
• Dec 3 – Breakfast with Santa
• Dec 3 – Heritage Hills Victorian Christmas
• Dec 6 – Office Hours
• Dec 6 - City Council Meeting
• Dec 7 – Business Appreciation Day
• Dec 8 – OC Shelter Design Advisory Board
• Dec 8 – STARS award banquet
• Dec 9 – Lake 1 Boat Parade
• Dec 10 - Heritage Hills Candlelight
• Dec 13 - Parking Issues for Cities
• Dec 13 – Office Hours
• Dec 20 – Office Hours
• Dec 20 - City Council Meeting
• Dec 27 – Office Hours

UPCOMING EVENTS

• Jan 3 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall)
• Jan 3 - City Council Meeting (7 pm – City Hall)
• Jan 8 – Girl Scout Silver Award Ceremony 9 11 am – Sports Park)
• Jan 10 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall)
• Jan 11 – Social Media Seminar (5:30 to 7:30 pm – Sports Park)
• Jan 12 – Planning Commission (7 pm – City Hall)
• Jan 14 – Park Workshop (10 am – Vintage Park)
• Jan17 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall)
• Jan17 - City Council Meeting (7 pm – City Hall)
• Jan18 – New Business Reception (6 pm – Sports Park)
• Jan 19 – Parks and Recreation Commission (7 pm – City Hall)
• Jan 21 – Park Workshop (10 am – Cherry Park)
• Jan 24 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall)
• Jan 26 – OC Shelter Design Advisory Board (9 am – 1143 Fruit St, Santa Ana)
• Jan 28 – Snow Fest (11 am – Pittsford Park)
• Jan 31 – Exporting Essentials (4 pm – City Hall)
• Jan 31 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall)

Most of the events are FREE but some may charge admission. Be sure to check.

CONTACT

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