Report to the People (Nov 2015)

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 400 members, providing valuable input on issues facing the council as well as general issues. Please join. Go to Facebook and search for Lake Forest Town Square - Or click here.

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

Mini Town Hall Meetings –Next meeting - Sat. Dec.12, 2 to 4 pm, at El Toro Library.

Traffic – The new Traffic Advisory Group (Click here) started meeting on August 25 and meets every 4th Tuesday. It’s open to the public to hear your concerns.

SPECIFIC ISSUES

Saddleback Ranch Road – Some of the changes being made to Saddleback Ranch Road were just plain silly, especially the decision to reduce it to one lane that must be shared by bicycles and cars, making access into and out of Portola Hills more difficult for the 6,000+ people living there. Click here for more information. But after 1,000 people signed a petition and after a recall was started, the City changed its position and now is willing to change the plans. By some miracle the item has now appeared on the agenda for Nov 3. Thanks to Leah Basile, Matt Gutierrez, Steve Kuver, Tracey Tingley, and Cathy Jackson among others for their activism in getting this mistake corrected.

Traffic – 9 months ago I attended a meeting of the TCA (The people who control the 241 and other Toll roads) and asked them to create an incentive program for the 12,000+ new people moving into Lake Forest (and the 20,000+ into MV) so that these people experienced the 241 and then signed up as regular users. Almost all of these people will live East of the 241 (Portola, Auto Center) or are adjacent to it on the West side (e.g., Baker Ranch)

My idea was that if we could get them using the 241 this takes them outside Lake Forest as the way to go to and from the 5 freeway. Otherwise they are coming and going on Alton, Bake, LF Drive, and El Toro adding to the traffic. The TCA people were originally reluctant, but after reviewing my proposal and some tweaking (and some nagging too), they decided to go ahead and will announce shortly a “one week free pass” for all the new residents. I will fill you in as I get more details.

Once this proves to be as successful as I think it will be, I plan to ask them to use this offer on everyone else. Stay tuned.

Backlog on City Issues – I recently posted an article listing more than a dozen issues that are back logged, some of which have been languishing for nearly a year. These issues have important financial consequences as well as quality of life implications. Under old Councils, years could go by before issues that had been discussed came back for action. This is not acceptable. At the last Council meeting, Council members Voigts and Hamilton refused to agree with Councilman Nick and I that we needed to address what I consider a faulty system. I will try again at the Nov 3 meeting. Doing a better job is essential, and having a better system by which issues can reach the agenda is a major way for us to do a better job.

Village Pond Park – We are still waiting for the results of the evaluation of the effectiveness of the wildlife feeding prohibition ordinance ordered by the Council on March 3. The City Manager and I disagreed publically at the last meeting about whether or not this report was due, and my follow up research indicated that it was. I’m hoping this is enough to bring the report to us before we have to examine the plans to re-model the park. Hundreds of thousands of dollars could be saved if we can avoid suggested changes that are no longer needed, but we will know this only if we look at the evaluation.

Dog Park(s) – The small park on Baffin Bay will be ready by the end November. In addition, the Portola Park workshop recommended a 1 acre dog park at the new Portola Park, which will happen in 2016-7.

Seniors – Even though my colleagues (Voigts, Robinson, Hamilton) voted against helping “Meals on Wheels” feed nearly 100 Lake Forest residents, I continue to work with Age Well Senior Services to look for a place in the City where they can operate from. If you have a place, please let me know. Click Here for more info.

Reclaimed Water – Col. Tom Cagley, Bob Holzclaw, and I have been working to bring reclaimed water to Lake 1 and Lake 2 and also Village Pond Park. The IRWD has been working with the State to make this happen, and the latest report is that we are getting close to being able to make this important switch. I’ll keep you posted.

Animal Services – Our ability to move forward has being stalled because the City Council has not agendized a discussion of whether or not one of the City-owned properties could be used as the location for an animal shelter. On Nov 3 the item is finally on the agenda.

Put Lake Forest First – I arranged a City Council award ceremony for Dec 3 for those businesses in the City who appeared in the Best of OC edition of OC Register. FWIW - My colleague Andrew Hamilton recently published an article in the OC Register in which he objected to the idea of the City trying to give preference to our own people and businesses when we spend City money. When you see him, be sure to ask him why.

NETWORKING

Last month I attended the following meetings/events. Click on the links to see coverage in The Patch of various events.

• · Oct 1 – Meeting with Golden State Mobile Owners League
• · Oct 1 – Breast Cancer Survivors Fundraiser
• · Oct 2 – Legislative Roundtable – Transportation
• · Oct 6 – South County Outreach Food Drive
• · Oct 6 – Grand Opening Tutor Doctor
• · Oct 6 – Office Hours
• · Oct 6 - City Council Meeting
• · Oct 7 – Leadership Academy
• · Oct 9 – Kiwanis
• · Oct 10 – Community Garage Sale
• · Oct 10 – Open House Fire Station 19
• · Oct 10 – Heritage Hill Haunt
• · Oct 13 – Office Hours
• · Oct 13 – Shop and Dine Seminar
• · Oct 14 – Leadership Academy
• · Oct 17 – Disaster Preparedness
• · Oct 20 – Office Hours
• · Oct 20 - City Council Meeting
• · Oct 23 – Transportation Seminar
• · Oct 23 – Special Needs Dance
• · Oct 26 – City staff and Portola HOA meeting
• · Oct 27 – Office Hours
• · Oct 27 – Mobile Media Marketing
• · Oct 27 – Traffic Advisory Group
• · Oct 29 – OC Library Committee
• · Oct 29 – Chamber of Commerce Business Expo
• · Oct 30 – Kiwanis

LEGISLATION

Last month the Council voted unanimously on all issues, except –

• · Halting work on Saddleback Ranch Road and agendizing it for future meeting (Voigts, Hamilton, Robinson opposed)
• · Voting by district instead of city-wide (Voigts, Hamilton, Robinson opposed)
• · Approving PACE programs (Nick opposed, Robinson absent)

UPCOMING EVENTS

Most of the events are FREE but some may charge admission.

• · Nov 1 – Shop and Dine (12 – 3 pm, Arbors Shopping Center)
• · Nov 1 - Kiwanis Fund Raiser (5 pm - Peppinos, FHR)
• · Nov 3 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall )
• · Nov 3 - City Council Meeting (7 pm – City Hall)
• · Nov 6 – Kiwanis (7:15 to 8:15 – Mimi’s Café)
• · Nov 10 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall )
• · Nov 12 – Planning Commission (7 pm – City Hall)
• · Nov 13 – Kiwanis (7:15 to 8:15 – Mimi’s Café)
• · Nov 17 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall)
• · Nov 17 - City Council Meeting (7 pm – City Hall)
• · Nov 19 – Parks and Recreation Commission (7 pm – City Hall)
• · Nov 20 – Kiwanis (7:15 to 8:15 – Mimi’s Café)
• · Nov 24 – Office Hours (4 to 6 pm – City Hall)
• · Nov 24 – Traffic Advisory Group (7 pm City Hall)
• · Nov 27 – Kiwanis (7:15 to 8:15 – Mimi’s Café)

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 Foothill Ranch Public Library.

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