SOS Lake Forest SOS

To the people who served in the Army, “SOS” meant “Sh*t on a shingle”, an apt description of the food that masqueraded as stew. But in this context I am using “SOS” to mean “Same Old Stuff”, although the prior meaning is not completely unrelated. I’m talking about last week’s City Council meeting where we were delivered a big dish of the Same OId Stuff.

CORRUPTION

Once again, the “Gang of 3” (i.e., Voigts, Hamilton, and Robinson) voted “yes” on proposals from companies that gave their campaign committees money. And once again, had it not been for some external forces, the Gang would never have mentioned the money.

FOLLOW THE MONEY

Here are the facts, according to FPPC Forms 460 on the City’s website -

LSA was one of the companies representing the Gateway Center that sought approval to build a hotel on their site. LSA gave $250 to Voigts' campaign committee on 10/5/2015, $249 to Robinson's committee on 10/3/2015, and $250 to Hamilton's committee on 9/30/2015. They voted for the hotel Tuesday night

CR&R came up for a one-year extension of their contract. CR&R gave $1,000 to Voigts' campaign committee on 10/5/2015 and $999 on 10/18/2014, $1,000 to Robinson's committee on 8/17/2012, and $1,000 to Hamilton's committee on 1/31/2015. They voted to approve the one-year extension on Tuesday night

According to my records, no matter what they ask for, any company who gave money to one or more members of the Gang got their request approved by those candidates who benefited from the donations. It didn’t matter whether or not the community was opposed, or whether the Planning Commission was opposed, or even if staff were opposed, 100% of the time if you gave money you got what you asked for from the Gang.

Here’s a partial list of companies (and individuals working for companies) with City contracts who gave money to Council members –

• · CR&R
• · Athens Services
• · LSA Associates
• · Great Scott Tree Services
• · Griffin Structures
• · Farino Construction
• · Faubel Public Affairs
• · RGP Consulting
• · Civil Source
• · Larry Smith
• · Cox Communications
• · The Whitaker Professional Group
• · Marina Landscape
• · CARE Ambulance

Here’s a partial list of companies who asked for zoning changes, variances, or other favors from City Council members, gave their committees’ money, and got their wishes granted –

• · Shea Baker
• · Brookfield Land Services
• · Meritage Homes
• · Shea Homes
• · Foothill Village (aka Brookfield and Trumark)
• · SoCal Hospitality
• · Brookfield of LA
• · Trumark Companies
• · Mobile Home Education PAC
• · El Toro Mobile Estates
• · Sun Pac Containers
• · Lewis Consulting
• · Baker Ranch Properties
• · Waltman Properties

These contributions alone total nearly $200,000 and we didn’t even start on the list of individuals who gave money and got appointments to commissions.

IS IT A BRIBE?

“Isn’t this a bribe?” most people will think. After all a bribe is “money or favor given or promised in order to influence the judgment or conduct of a person in a position of trust” (Merriam Webster dictionary)

But Politicians wrote a law in California that exempts money given to a “campaign committee” from the types of crimes that usually go along with bribes, payoffs, etc.

If you slip a Politician $1,000 he is guilty of taking a bribe. But if you give his campaign committee (controlled by him) that same $1,000, he is exempt from the crime of accepting a bribe, and yet he can use this money for practically anything (e.g., buying a home computer)

IS IT UNETHICAL?

The City of Lake Forest has an ethics code. Here are some excerpts -

“It is central to gaining and retaining the public's trust in the City's government that public servants seek to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Click Here

“Make impartial decisions in the best interest of the City of Lake Forest, free of narrow political interests, financial and other personal interests that impair independence of judgment or action, and are consistent with, but not limited to, the requirements of the Fair Political Practices Act and other state and local laws.” Click Here

“Safeguard ability to make independent, objective, fair and impartial judgments by scrupulously avoiding financial and social relationships and transactions that may compromise, or give the appearance of compromising, objectivity, independence, and honesty.

When in doubt, avoid actions that create, in the mind of a reasonable observer, the appearance of impropriety, ethical lapses, legal violations, or actions inconsistent with the Leadership Principles.”

Click Here

“While recognizing conflict and disagreement are often a part of the public process, the City Council acknowledges and values its duty to model ethical and civil behavior for members of the Lake Forest community. City Council and commission decisions and work, therefore, must meet the most demanding ethical standards and demonstrate the highest levels of achievement in following these Principles.” Click Here

The City specifically requires Council members to avoid “even the appearance of impropriety”. Does it seem improper for Council members to take money and vote on issues from the people who gave them money? Of course it does. But who decides if it is “unethical”? The City Council! So when the majority of City Council members takes money and then provides votes, they continually decide that their actions are ethical.

GANG VOTES

In addition to Corruption being served up to us, we saw once again, the tendency for the Gang to vote as a block. They voted 100% together on Tuesday night. That brings their total over the years to more than 90%. To be more specific, most items of the agenda are routine and most of the time they get a 5 to 0 vote. But in about 50 cases the votes are not unanimous, and on these occasions the Gang voted as a block more than 90% of the time. When Councilman Nick and I served together for two years, our percentage of agreement was less than 50%. Now that Mayor Pro Tem Basile has joined the Council, our agreement is also less than 50%.

With me, Councilman Nick, or Mayor Pro Tem Basile, we have independent thinkers who decide for themselves and who agree or disagree based on our perceptions of the merits. With the Gang you get “Group Think” – one voice and one point of view.

Next time, as part of the “Same Old Stuff” thesis, I’ll discuss the poor quality of the staff reports we received last week.

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 in May.