Robinson's Credibility: Should He Be Trusted?

Mark Tettemer didn’t show up to the July 17 City Council meeting in which each councilperson made an appointment to the Traffic and Parking Commission from a pool of 10 candidates. Tettemer wasn’t the only person who failed to show. Neither did Jordan Villwock.

When it was Tettemer’s turn to approach the dais and give a description of himself and answer any questions from the Council, Councilman Dwight Robinson announced that Tettemer “told me he couldn’t be here tonight.”

When Villwock’s name was called, the city manager said that he had an emergency at his job, then read a prepared statement from Villwock to the Council.

Tettemer asked Robinson to relay a message as if he was telling a host he wasn’t going to make the afternoon picnic. Villwock reached out to the host directly, explained the circumstances, apologized, and provided a clear message.

• Part 1: Dwight Robinson's Credibility an Issue with Tettemer Appointment
• Part 2: Robinson's Credibility: Did Tettemer Pull a Fast One on Him?
• Part 3: Robinson's Credibility: Should He Be Trusted?

No professional would conduct himself in such a way as Tettemer did while vying for an appointment, except that Tettemer knew he was a sure thing: “Hey Dwight, tell them I’m not going to be there.” For what it’s worth, Robinson did not pass on any apology from Tettemer.

This is the person Robinson wants on the Traffic Commission, a formerly elected official who couldn’t even formulate an email to send to the city manager when it became apparent he would not be able to attend his job interview.

Of course, the other council members failed the residents as much as Robinson did. They should have asked Robinson the question that they should have had an opportunity to ask Tettemer: “Will Tettemer fulfill his two-year term on the Commission, or is he intending to run for City Council?”

It’s an answer that Robinson should know, and if Robinson knew Tettemer was going to run for Council, then shame on Robinson for appointing someone to a Commission who desires to jump ship at the first opportunity another position in government becomes available; it was disrespectful to everyone as this important new commission may need to replace one of its members after only four months.

It’s an answer council members deserved to know, other commissioners deserved to know, residents deserved to know.

And now we have an apparent answer. Tettemer was more interested in running for Council than prioritizing and fulfilling the two-year commitment to the Traffic Commission. He pulled papers to run for City Council. It's not a done deal yet, but it would be a shock if he doesn't carry through in a bid to get off the Traffic Commission and take a seat on Council, just as he did from 2002-10.

CREDIBILITY ISSUES

This is yet the latest in the lack of credibility Robinson has shown in his position as an elected official. When he ran for reelection, he said he would demand accountability and integrity, yet when Scott Voigts lied outright from the dais – and he has done so many times – he refused to hold Voigts’ truthfulness to the fire. Voigts will lie to the face of the people and Robinson will condone it. It has happened every single time, just like Robinson has given developers what they wanted every single time. That’s a credibility issue.

When Voigts placed campaign signs in illegal locations around the City, such as on City light poles, Robinson didn’t hold Voigts accountable. When campaign signs disparaging Adam Nick were placed in illegal locations around the City, such as City light poles, Robinson didn’t call for decorum. That’s a credibility issue.

Robinson was caught “fixing” campaign signs after midnight even though he had voted to censure Nick for removing illegally placed campaign signs.

When a Voigts friend and supporter slugged a senior citizen collecting recall signatures, Robinson didn’t condemn the action – he made a knee-jerk response without getting all the facts and condemned the victim. That’s a credulity issue.

Robinson said he was going to run a clean campaign, but when the PAC he paid $5,000 lied about Nick and tried to paint him as a terrorist, and when it accused him falsely of several different things, and when it misrepresented moms in Foothill Ranch, and when it called recall supporters thugs and pedophiles, Robinson didn’t try to distance himself. He waited until the campaign was over and gained full benefit from it and only then admitted “some” of it was “over the top.” That’s a credibility issue.

He sent out a campaign mailer, citing many falsehoods about Nick written by internet blogger “James Ross” who, actually, was Councilman Andrew Hamilton with a pseudonym. He cited a nonexistent person. That’s a credibility issue.

He sat silent when a sitting member of the Planning Commission asked Hamilton if he was responsible for a quote Robinson had said but had been mistakenly attributed to Hamilton in campaign literature. Robinson could have tried to clear things up, but didn't. That’s a credibility issue.

Robinson served as mayor and took undeserved credit for the Sports Park’s completion, then accosted a grandmother in front of her grandchildren in the parking lot while they were placing campaign flyers for then candidates Gardner and Tom Cagley on car windshields. That’s a credibility problem.

When he ran for reelection, Robinson said he “will end Mello-Roos in Foothill Ranch, just as we’ve done in Portola Hills.” Yet the Portola Hills bond ended only after it was paid off by residents; Robinson has had 19 months to end the Mello-Roos in Foothill Ranch, but residents are still paying – and will continue to do so until the bond is paid off in 2019. That’s a credibility issue.

He supported Hamilton and C.J. Brower on the Planning Commission, and then Jolene Fuentes. Hamilton ran for City Council and won, then disgraced the position with his acts of deception before getting recalled; Brower, touted as an attorney, was in the process of losing his license with the bar at the time of his appointment; Fuentes, one of the most unqualified commissioners in City history (“How much is an acre?”), just happened to be the widow of former OC GOP chairman Tom Fuentes. That’s a credibility issue.

He said he owned a home-based business in Lake Forest that employed nearly 100 people, but actually employed only two. That’s a credibility issue.

He said he supports law and order, but his business in Long Beach was cited 15 times and paid $64,402 in fines for overloading 758 cargo containers to gain an unfair business advantage (while also endangering the public). That’s a credibility issue.

He said he supported a Traffic Commission in 2012 as one of his campaign promises, but then voted against it when it was proposed by Nick during his Robinson's first term. He finally did a 180, deciding to agree with an ordinance pushed by Nick and Gardner. That’s a credibility issue.

He said he would work to get Village Pond Park renovated as quickly as possible in his campaign statement, but a week later Nick had to shame him into consenting to getting a second opinion on a legal issue to uncouple the renovation from a lawsuit. That’s a credibility issue.

He said he would support Lake Forest businesses in 2012, but voted against preferring local businesses even when quality and pricing were the same as those from outside the city. He has since done a 180, deciding to agree with an ordinance pushed by Nick and Gardner. That’s a credibility issue.

He said he was a fiscal conservative, but he voted to lock the City into a 10-year contract with OC Animal Care that would include a 40 percent increase in cost of services and what turned out to be more than $700,00 to construct a facility the city would have no equity in; he also refused to support a proposal that would have City department heads cut 5 percent of the fat from their budgets which would yield more than $2 million in annual savings; he refused to re-bid a street-sweeping contract (with a campaign contributor) which could have saved the City $250,000. That’s a credibility issue.

Though the OC Animal Care was one of the biggest decisions in Robinson's four years, he refused to highlight that decision in his 2016 campaign. He swept his decision under the rug. That's a credibility issue.

He said he would listen to the people and represent them, but he voted against fixing Saddleback Ranch Road, against supporting Meals on Wheels with an empty room at City Hall, supported a four-story building in Portola Hills and a three-story U-Haul on Jeronimo – all in opposition to public outcry. That’s a credibility problem.

He bullied a business owner to take down a Gardner campaign banner in 2014.

He claimed recall supporters were “targeting children,” including his own, yet despite this alleged threat, he continued to post photos of his own children on the internet. That’s a credibility issue.

He said he would “insist on the highest standards of ethics and accountability for all city officials,” but failed to admonish Councilman Andrew Hamilton for secretly videotaping citizens and posting those edited interviews on the internet without their knowledge or consent. That’s a credibility issue.

BOTTOM LINE

Within 45 minutes of taking the oath of office following the 2012 election, Robinson initiated rezoning the Foothill Ranch Auto Centre to benefit a developer who helped him get elected. And yet he never brought forth to the Council any of his documented campaign promises in the four years following his election. Robinson was a political animal from Day 1, articulate and charming as a used car salesman but whose track record shows a credibility gap that fails the residents of Lake Forest. A Council with Robinson in the majority has been a Council of inaction that disrespected the residents they were elected to serve. And now he’s doing what he can to put Tettemer on it to replicate the makeup that existed with Robinson, Hamilton and Voigts.

When considering his body of work, can you trust Robinson to do what's right for residents, or what's best for Robinson and control of the City?

Photo: Dwight Robinson by Martin Henderso