Scott Voigts Lies Again

At the last Council meeting the Gang of 3 voted in Scott Voigts to be our Mayor. I objected on two reasons – his history of lying and broken promises and his behavior at meetings. I’ll have a full report on his many lies in a near future article, but right now I want to focus on his behavior at meetings.

Let’s put aside his disgraceful behavior at the funeral of Marcia Rudolph, or his vandalism at the July 4 award presentation meeting, and focus on his attendance at Vector Control meetings. On Tuesday night when I raised the issue, Voigts claimed he only skipped out on 2 meetings. Readers of my column, know this is a lie, but many others many not, so here is the full story.

One of Lake Forest’s community activists, Rita Bradley, attended the Aug 18, 2016 Vector Control meeting on aerial spraying (Click Here) and she noted that before the speakers had their chance to talk Scott Voigts left the room.

(Background - Voigts was elected to the position to represent Lake Forest in a rather contentious discussion in 2015 in which there was a far more qualified and interested candidate but the ruling “Gang of 3” to which Voigts belongs voted Voigts the job, which many thought was so that Voigts could pick up the $100 per meeting stipend that went with the job. Prior to his appointment Voigts showed no interest or knowledge about Vector Control, and since that time, he barely mentions it even though it’s his job to report back to the Council. Lake Forest’s previous representative, Marcia Rudolph provided detailed monthly reports about Vector Control and gave out plentiful handouts.)

I wondered if this revealed a pattern. Was Voigts showing up at the meetings for roll call, to pocket his $100 stipend, and then disappearing? I went back to his appointment (November 2015) to track his record and tracked in through July 2016. Here’s what I found –

THE RECORD

Nov 19 – Voigts is listed as the official representative however he does not show up. Click Here.

Dec 17 – Voigts clocks in, then leaves immediately. By the first vote, Voigts is already “absent” and remains “absent” on all succeeding votes (i.e., items 13 and 15). Click Here

Jan 21 – Voigts doesn’t even bother to show up nor does he have an “excused absence”. Click Here

Feb 18 - Voigts clocks in, hangs around for one vote, then leaves. By the second vote, Voigts is already “absent” and remains “absent” on all succeeding votes (items 10, 11, 12 and 13) . Click Here

Mar – the record is not available. Click Here .

April 21 - Voigts clocks in, then leaves immediately. By the first vote, Voigts is already “absent” and remains “absent” on all succeeding votes (items 9 and 10). Click Here

May 19 - Voigts clocks in, hangs around for 2 votes then leaves. By the third vote, Voigts is already “absent” (item 12) and remains “absent” on all succeeding votes. Click Here

June 16 – For the first Voigts is actually present for an entire meeting.

July 21 – Voigts does it again. He manages to stay for a whole hour!

SUMMARY

In 9 meetings I found records for 8 of them - Voigts was absent 2 times, clocked in and left early 4 times, and stayed for a full meeting only twice. Even for government work, this is an inexcusable record for our Lake Forest representative at a meeting involving the entire County.

FOLLOW-UP

At the next City Council meeting I asked Voigts to resign and asked the Council to re-open the position. Needless to say Voigts refused and the Gang of 3 refused to vote to replace him.

During those discussions in September, when Voigts lied about how often he actually missed the meetings, I was prepared and gave him minutes of the meetings which showed that he skipped out early on 4 meetings (Dec 17, Feb 18, April 21, May 19).

THE LATEST LIE

So when Scott Voigts claimed Tuesday night that he skipped out on only two meetings, he was adding to the long long list of lies he’s told over the years. Next time I will publish a full list of the lies Voigts has told.

Personally I get no pleasure from reporting this, but I get even less pleasure from watching this man continue to lie and then be elected to represent our City. What does that say about us as a City? I know that it says less about us as a City than it reflects on the Gang of 3, but they were elected by the residents and thus they represent the City.

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.