What Other Cities Are Doing

They say with some skepticism that “the grass is always greener”, but like most sayings, there is a bit of truth behind it. We can always learn by example, and looking at what other cities are doing is always instructive. It doesn’t mean we have to ape-ishly copy everything that every other city does, but where we see good projects or procedures, we need to open our eyes and consider whether they would work in our city.

Here’s a review of some of the things that are happening elsewhere, that should give us pause to think and consider.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY TAKES CARE OF ITS OWN

The FV City Council recently voted 4 to 1 to increase the advantage it offers local businesses that bid for city contracts, giving local businesses up to 5% leeway to qualify as the lowest bidder when competing against non-local bidders on city contracts. The City staff reasoned that by spending money on local businesses, the city collects additional sales tax from that business and passes the benefit onto other local businesses that get revenue as a result of the vendor’s business.

FV joins the State of California as well as Irvine, Costa Mesa, Anaheim, Santa Ana in using discounts when considering bids from local vendors, with some discounts as large as 7% and most at 5%.

Here in Lake Forest we spend less than 2% of our budget on local people and businesses. The percent has been shrinking for the past several years, since so-called “business friendly” Voigts and Robinson took the reins. . The City Council is openly hostile to any actions that would keep our money at home, and the City staff are no help either. Why? Almost all of our highly paid City staff live elsewhere. Almost all of the money that goes to support City Council members’ re-election campaigns comes from elsewhere.

HUNTINGTON BEACH FUNDS SENIOR CENTER

For 8 years the City of HB has been trying to build a new senior center. They already have one, but it’s old. Just about every City in Orange County has a senior center, and some cities have more than one.

Here in Lake Forest there are still no real plans for a senior center. Staff and Council talk about the senior center, but all it is is a multi-purpose room that seniors get to share a few times a week. Elsewhere, large free standing senior centers provide excellent services for senior citizens.

ANAHEIM AND SEAL BEACH TRY TO CONSERVE WATER

The City of Anaheim recognizes the water drought crisis we’re in and approved a set of water use restrictions, but instead of issuing fines, they are embarking on an education and outreach campaign.

Seal Beach is embarking on a similar program, but they will add a little bite. First offense is a warning, followed by a 15% surcharge on your water bill for a second offense.

Here in Lake Forest there are no plans to conserve water. In fact, the City has embarked on an aggressive plan to open 6 new housing developments with 5,000 new homes. Instead of decreasing, water usage in Lake Forest is going to go up by 15% or more. And recently the City put in several median projects that required extensive watering, using potable water, not recycled water. How can it be there everywhere else people are worried about the water crisis, and here in Lake Forest we are going in the opposite direction?

GARDEN GROVE TRIES TO REDUCE TRAFFIC

Mired in traffic, perhaps even worse than we are in Lake Forest, Garden Grove enlisted the help of landscape architecture students from Cal Poly to develop a revitalized downtown area that would allow for greater bike transportation, as well as bike networks.

Here is Lake Forest the Council recently refused to create a Traffic Commission to help reduce congestion, despite the fact that Traffic Commissions exist in many other cities. Moreover, the City has approved more than 42,000 new vehicle trips per day in the City with only some minor tinkering with some new stripes and a few new turn lanes.