Since I took office in Dec 2012, in working with my colleagues on the Council, I have been able to introduce and/or help pass several initiatives while working on a backlog of matters that I inherited from the Council Members previous to me.
In the two calendars years of 2013 and 2014, Lake Forest has ranked as one of the safer cities but I am confident we can even do better. The City adopted balanced budgets in each of the last two fiscal years with surpluses, and budgets proved to be accurate. The Proposed Fiscal Year 2015-16 Budget is balanced as well and has an $800,000 surplus. As of the last audited financials (Year ended June 30, 2014), unreserved fund balance in the General Fund (105% of total General Fund revenues) falls well above the reserve policy set by the City Council for planning and budgetary purposes.
In the two calendars years of 2013 and 2014, no new litigation emerged. In other words, we just continued cleaning up after the doings of previous Councils.
To cite a few measures that were introduced in 2013-2014 year, please read below (the items with an asterisk are measures introduced by me and passed by Council majority; otherwise the matter has been brought up in the normal course of business and passed unanimously):
*Open Government – To facilitate the public’s access to all information, the City’s website now includes a new “Open Government” section organized around the theme of open and transparent government. The revamp of the City’s web site:
Today, we have a user-friendly web site offering many functions and an array of information that previously was not available is now not only available but also readily accessible.
These range from financial information such as payments and reimbursements to Council Members and City employees’ salaries and benefits to nonfinancial information such as the City Halls’ receiving, processing, and grating of waivers of any kind to grant a special privilege to the grantee such as rezoning land for real estate developers or issuing waivers to alcohol retailers in areas that are legally defined by State law as “unduly saturated”.
The public can view budget and financial statements, including the newly created “Budget at a Glance” brochure that provides simple, easy to read highlights of the Operating Budget.
Council Travel Expense Reports are also posted online. Campaign disclosure records for Council Members are now available online, as well as access to Statements of Economic Interests (i.e., Form 700) for Council Members, Commissioners, City attorneys and staff.
The Lake Forest Records Online (lakeforestrecords.com) database continues to grow with approximately 80,000 records now available. In the Planning and Development section of the website, a list of current planning projects and recent decisions, along with staff contact information for each, continues to be updated monthly. To increase awareness of Bid and Proposal opportunities, a prominent icon is now featured on the City’s homepage to increase awareness of the City’s procurement activities.
*The curtailment of Council Members’ expenses: Payments & Reimbursement to Council Members by taxpayers’ dollars have been restricted. Many types of expenses are now ineligible for payment or reimbursement. Of those expenses that are eligible, mandatory compliance with Federal guidelines and limits and requiring actual receipts are in effect now (I still consider some of these expenses too “personal”, and as such not reimbursable, but my Co-Council would not help me pass more restrict a version).
*The requirement that any tax or rate increase by the Council must be approved by a super majority (4 of 5), rather than a simple majority of Council Members (3 of 5).
In 2013 and 2014:
Nearly 300 new businesses have been added to Lake Forest creating nearly 2,000 new jobs.
The unemployment in Lake Forest is about 3%, lower than the rest of the Orange County, and much lower than the state’s and nation’s.
The occupancy in our commercial buildings is in the 90 percentile, significantly higher than OC’s average.
The addition of a new Sheriff’s Department Substation increased efficiency equal to savings of nearly $300,000.00 annually.
Over 80% of our traffic signals have been synchronized and hundreds of our ramps have become handicap-accessible. We will not rest on this until 100% of our lights are synced and every single ramp provides such accessibility.
The permitting and construction of our first dog park is underway.
Unfortunately, those previous to me did not have the vision to secure and purchase a building in over twenty years since we became a City while collecting from you and me ¾ of one billions dollars in taxes:
Altogether, the City Hall occupies about 10,000 square foot of the space in the building where the City Hall is housed. Accordingly, with the tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars gone to rent expense over the past 20+ years, with some foresight and proper planning, we could have purchased a suitable building, perhaps tenfold.
However, take comfort in knowing that, as compared to when I took office, we now pay more than a quarter of a million dollars less for the rent of the same building where the City Hall is housed currently and has been for many years now. Today, we are paying annually below $1,000,000 compared to $1,300,000 we paid before FOR RENTING THE SAME BUILDING AND FACILITIES.
Further, today, plans are underway for us to build a multi-function City Hall housing among other things, Community, Senior, & Youth Centers. The project was going through permitting and design on about nine acres of land we acquired from Irvine Ranch Water District several years ago (i.e. before my time), however, we suffered a setback for there were found some geological watershed drainage issues with the land. The issues are being rectified through and with the help form the proper agencies but at this point it is safe to say that in the end not all of land will be usable, unlike conveyed to the City at the time (only eight acres will be usable).
Notwithstanding the progress we have made in the last two years, we continue to have a broken and corrupt system at the City Hall plagued with influences of special interest, cronyism, and self-serving agendas.
To fight corruption and eliminate such influences and practices, make your City government transparent, and City Hall more public-friendly, in 2013 & 2014, I worked hard and introduced the following measures but I lost on each one and my loss was 1 to 4 (see footnote please). Two of the four Council Members who voted down these measures remain on the Council today (Council Member Voigts and Robinson). Judge for yourself whether or not Lake Forest as a community and Lake Forest City Hall as a government would been better off with my measures.
Adam
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Dwight
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Scott
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Fate of the
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2013-2014 Nick’s, Robinson’s, and Voigts’ Voting Record**
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YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
Create and place on the 2014 Ballot for voters to decide on adopting a comprehensive,robust Code of Ethics for Council members |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
In light of the defeat of the above initiative, adopt (by the Council itself) a comprehensive,robust Code of Ethics for Council members |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
Adopt Campaign Finance Regulations and limit corporations’ ability to contribute money to Council members (to fight corruption at the Council level and eliminate quid-pro-quo) |
|
|
|
|
|
Adopt a Sunshine Ordinance to: |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
• Require City government to be transparent |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
• Require lobbyists to register to stop the back-room deals and the Lobbyists’ Registry be available for public viewing |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
• Require Council members to disclose their private meetings with those who are presently conducting business with the City Hall and those who are wanting to conduct business with the City Hall |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
• Require Council Members to disclose campaign contributions from companies and vested interests before voting on and awarding contracts and waivers |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
• Require City Council to notify the public two-weeks in advance, rather than 72 hours, any upcoming item on the Agenda to be discussed either privately or publicly |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
• Require and enact an anti-nepotism ban to avoid favoritism and giving special treatment or unfair advantages to a person or group at the City Hall or on the City Council |
YES² |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
Place on 2014 Ballot REAL term limits (two 4-year terms lifetime) |
YES³ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
The Mayor to be elected by the voters (as opposed to selected by Council members, which practice has been and remains to be plagued with politics ever since cityhood in 1991)
|
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
To place items on the Agenda for Public Discussion ONLY two members consenting is adequate (Not three of the five-member Council). Requiring a majority to consent for a matter to be voted on enables the majority to circumvent the intent of the State law by NOT allowing any given matter the majority chooses to come to a public vote. |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
Establish a Traffic Commission to encourage citizen participation and help alleviate traffic congestion |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
Establish a Nonprofit Community Foundation |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
Provide Tax Relief for ***Lake Forest Residents and Businesses |
YES¹ |
NO |
NO |
FAILED/DEFEATED |
Reduce Administrative Fees at the City Hall for ***Lake Forest residents |