Some Ideas For 2018

Last Tuesday night during Council Comments I foreshadowed some of the items I wanted to discuss next year. Here they are -

Ordinance to Rotate Mayor

Gangs of 3 have monopolized the Mayor position while denying it to others, even though they too are elected. Herzog-Dixon-Tettemer denied it to McCullough and Rudolph and Hamilton-Voigts-Robinson denied it to Adam Nick (and me, so far). Anyone who is elected should have the opportunity, if he/she wants it, to serve as Mayor.

I will recommend that

• The position rotates according to tenure and vote count
• Anyone elected must be appointed unless they don’t want to serve.

Role of Mayor in Political Processes

Mayors have used their position as Mayor to promote fund raisers, endorse candidates, attack opponents, etc. I think the Mayor should be above politics

I will recommend no use of “Mayor” title in endorsements, fund raisers, etc. If violated, the Mayor will be subject to removal.

Pay for Mayor and Council members

At $700 p/month Lake Forest Council members get substantially less than almost every other city. If you attend a lot of city events, the $700 just about covers your gas expenses.

I want the Council to consider increasing monthly stipend it to $1,000 per month and for the Mayor, $1,200 per month. That still makes us one of the least compensated Councils in Orange County. FWIW - some Council members get as much as $47,674 (Irvine), $39,964 (Tustin), and $38,527 (Laguna Hills). The average is about $20,719.

Ordinance prohibiting accepting money from companies doing business with the city.

We all know the sad story of corruption in Lake Forest, and virtually everywhere else.

“Politics has become so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to be defeated.” Will Rogers

“The only tool we have to fix the problems of this country - the democratic process - is itself broken. Which is why nothing will fundamentally change until we solve the problem of money in politics.” Arianna Huffington

“If there was one decision I would overrule, it would be Citizens United. I think the notion that we have all the democracy that money can buy strays so far from what our democracy is supposed to be.” Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“Let only individuals contribute — with sensible limits per election. Otherwise, we are well on our way to ensuring that a government of the moneyed, by the moneyed, and for the moneyed shall not perish from the earth.” Warren Buffett

“I will tell you that our system is broken. I give to many people, I give to everybody, when they call I give, and you know what? When I need something from them, two years, three years later, I call, they are there for me” President Donald Trump

Special interests have given more than $300,000 to existing City Council members and all of them have voted 100% of the time to give these special interests anything they asked for, including re-zoning, zoning variances, contracts, contract extensions, etc.

I will recommend that any company entering into a contract or agreement with the city must not have contributed to campaign committees or independent committees (trying to influence local elections) for a period of 3 years prior to coming to the Council and 10 years after.

Code of Ethics Revision

Our code of ethics says some reasonable things, but there is no oversight and no teeth.

I will recommend oversight by having any complaints referred to an independent body.

To put some teeth into the code I will recommend, among other punishments

• Removal from Mayor/Mayor Pro Tem office
• No travel money
• No seats at city events
• Payment for costs of independent oversight

Appointing Commissioners

Right now the council votes on each person. When you have a Gang of 3, which we always have had in the past, a Commission ends up being appointed by the Gang.

As an anti-gang measure I will recommend that each council person gets to appoint 1 person for each Commission seat.

Replacing Council Members

Not so long ago we had a Council member resign, and we had to go through a long process to find a replacement. I asked to be appointed, based on the fact that I lost to Peter Herzog, and with Herzog gone, I was the “next in line” according to the people’s wishes - but the Council chose someone else. In the election that followed, I defeated that person by a considerable margin, suggesting that the people’s will ultimately will surface.

I will recommend replacement be based on highest vote-getter in past election

Summary

I will ask the 2018 Council to look at

• As an anti-gang measure, rotating the position of Mayor so that anyone elected gets the chance to serve.
• As an anti-gang measure, changing the way we appoint commissioners
• As an anti-gang measure, replacing a Council member with the next highest vote-getter instead of the appointment process.
• Removing the Mayor for any type of “political” campaigning
• Increasing pay for Council members and Mayor
• Prohibiting companies for campaign contributions
• Putting oversight and teeth into our code of ethics

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 twitter handle is @DrJimGardner. 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 mini town meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be Thursday Feb 15 at 7 pm at the Beach and Tennis Club.