Laguna Hills City Council Meeting, January 12, 2010

FEATURES:
Special Announcement - For the 1st time since the city was incorporated in 1991, everyone can now see the entire extended agenda for this city council meeting on the City of Laguna Hills web site at www.ci.laguna-hills.ca.us under Agendas and Minutes then, awkwardly, but a good first step, in 11 listings under Agenda, January 12. Congratulations to Mayor Bressette, who made something happen rather than just give it lip service!
** Presentations and Proclamations - NONE
** Public Comments - Barbara Kogerman, City Council Candidate for 2010 launched Laguna Hills City Council Term Limits Initiative for 2010 General Election - Everyone who wants to help with this initiative should contact Laguna Hills Term Limits Chair Barbara Kogerman at 949-586-5552 or www.kogerman4council.com .”
Mayor Randal Bressette made a mysterious comment about the Minutes of the December 8, 2009 City Council Meeting - What did he mean?
** LHHS Student Liaison Report from Lisa Mc Corkell - LHHS ranked by US News & World report as one of the top International Baccalaureate Schools in the nation.
** Consent Calendar - Vehicle Fuel bill for November and December - $4063.94 to Cheveron, & Development Impact Fees - Annual Report.
** Items Removed from Consent Calendar - NONE
** City Council Public Hearings - NONE
** Planning Agency Report and Public Hearing - Request for Conditional Use Permit to expand existing Veterinary Clinic and Grooming Facility at 25361 Alicia Pkwy. Ste. D
** Administrative Reports
1. - Preliminary Results of the 2010 Refinancing Project
2. - League of CA Cities Ballot Initiative for 2010 Election. "Local Taxpayers Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act of 2010",
3. - County of Orange called upon OC cities to join the County in formally requesting that the Proposed Sale of the Fairgrounds be canceled immediately,
4. - Proposal to Close Laguna Hills Dr. to conduct the "Every 15 Minutes" Anti Drunk Driving Education Program adjacent to the Laguna Hills High School,
5. - Posting of Agenda Reports in the City Web Site
** Other Business - None
** Matters Presented by Mayor & City Council Members - City Council Member Melody Carruth made a motion for city council to direct staff to prepare a report on approaches utilized by other OC cities for Term Limits Ordinances as a ballot measure for the 2010 General Election
*** No formal vote taken on the City Manager's salary and benefit's package that was approved 4 - 1 in the last Closed Session in Dec. 2009?
*Closed Session - Conference with Real Property Negotiator - Anticipated Litigation related to 10 properties in the Via Lomas area of Laguna Hills.
* Crime Watch Laguna Hills Report - in the Orange County Register Newspaper* Information, Questions, Concerns and Comments from Watch Dog Readers -
* How to Support the Adopted 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Division- Adopted by the City of Laguna Hills. Still working on this - more to come, but the holiday gift collection was a success and so many thanks to everyone who helped with this. It was very much appreciated by the Marine Families!
* OC Register News Stories and blogs - see Laguna Hills in the news! * City Council
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01/12/10 Laguna Hills City Council Meeting
All City Council Members were present.

PRESENTATIONS AND PROCLAMATIONS – NONE

LHHS Student Liaison Report - from Lisa Mc Corkell - LHHS recently ranked by US News and World report as being one of the top International Baccalaureate Schools in the nation also they earned a silver medal and were ranked as one of the best high schools in Southern CA. Last Saturday LHHS had their "Let It Glow" event that took the place of their winter formal for this year. 2 guidance techs.. retired in Dec. but were replaced. There is also a new Campus Supervisor. This Friday there will be a Monty Python Performance in the theater at 7:00. Next Monday, Jan. 18 no school for Martin Luther King's birthday.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Barbara Kogerman, Laguna Hills Candidate for City Council 2010 stated she has launched her Term Limits Initiative for Laguna Hills City Council Members. Proponents who have signed this initiative are Jean Bland, Publisher of the Laguna Hills Watch Dog, Bill Enholm, Past President and current Treasurer of the Nellie Gail Ranch HOA Board, and James Vaughn, Electronic Government Consultant and Laguna Hills Citizen. Pierre Gilbert, also a candidate for City Council in 2010, will head the signature gathering on the steering committee for the Initiative. Documents for the initiative have been presented to the city clerk for review of the city council. This proposed Initiative provides a maximum of 2 consecutive 4 year terms with a subsequent minimum waiting period of 2 years before a former council member can run for re-election. A partial term of at least 2 years will be counted as a full 4 year term, there is no cap on years of city council service, and the proposal applies prospectively only to all terms of office for members of the city council beginning with the terms of those elected at the 2010 General Election. Term limits benefits are currently enjoyed by about 70% of cities in Orange County and have passed by a 3 to 1 margin on OC ballots. A committee is prepared to gather signatures and get out the vote. Laguna Hills City Council is invited to save time and expense for the citizens, by agendizing this proposal and voting to place our Term Limits Initiative on the ballot for the 2010 General Election.

Mayor Randal Bressette - Made a comment on the Minutes of the December 8, 2009 City Council Meeting stating - "Regarding item number 10 - My vote in December was made in the hope that I could formulate an idea that would be beneficial to the city. I now know that that idea will not work out as I envisioned that it might, but I will spend this year pressing for needed reforms in a variety of fiscal issues." editor's note - Item # 10 on the Agenda of the 12-8-09 Laguna Hills City Council Meeting was: "10. Consideration of Compensation for City Manager Recommendation: That the City Council takes such action as it so determines."
Review - This is what the Laguna Hills Watch Dog reported about Item # 10 from the 12-8-09 City Council Meeting's Closed Session. - Council Members Joel Lautenschleger, Craig Scott, Allan Songstad and Mayor Bressette "so determined" that the City Manager will receive his Maximum Bonus for 2009 which is 10% of his salary ($23,000+) despite the economy and the City Manager's own calls for "Belt tightening for the city in this tough economy". Only Council Member Melody Carruth voted against the City Manager's bonus. There were reportedly no additional benefits or salary increases given to the city manager at this meeting but stay tuned, we will continue to monitor this and keep you informed. Outgoing Mayor Joel Lautenschleger negotiated this generous benefit for the City Manager, and in his outgoing Mayor's statements, pointed to this last year as the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
** Laguna Hills Watch Dog learned, through a Public Records Request, that the money to pay for the City Manager's new $60,000 car is not in the city budget and remember those "8 Secret Goals" the city manager reportedly had to meet to receive his bonus last year, no mention of any goals this year, but we did learn that most of the goals he does meet appear in the City Manager's End of the Year Report. Look for that on the city web site.
*** There was No formal public vote taken tonight 01-12-10, on the city manager's benefit's package that was approved 4 - 1 in Closed Session on December 8, 2009

Consent Calendar *(The Consent Calendar consists of multiple items, including the Warrant Register, on which the city council votes as a whole unless an item is pulled for individual consideration )

The Warrant Register = $1,078, 513.16 - Citizens can read every expense on the Warrant Register, this time, on the City web site.
Vehicle Fuel for November and December was $4,063.94 to Cheveron

Item 4.3 - Development Impact Fees Annual Report outlines 3 types of fees Public Art, Traffic Mitigation and Quimby Act.
Public Art fees - Provides funds for public art for the city. This fund currently has a negative balance of minus $162, 813 (-$162,813), so the General Fund was used to pay the difference in 2008-09. In the future if more funds are collected the General Fund will reportedly be repaid. Fees for public art are 0.5% of the total cost of a project.
Traffic Mitigation fees- Provides funds for additional or improved traffic signal operation, and infrastructure improvements generated by new development. These fees are $3,914.00 per each now PM peak hour trip as determined by the city engineer based upon traffic studies from developers. The current balance for this fund is 0 according to the report.
Quimby Act fees - provide funding for additional or improved park and/or recreation facilities. The current balance for this fund is 0 according to the report.
There is a formula for these fees A=5.0 (DU x PPD)
1000
A = acres to be dedicated as park land, 5.0 = Park acreage standard for the city, DU = # of proposed dwelling units, PPD = # of persons per dwelling unit and DU = # of proposed dwelling units.

Items Removed from the Consent Calendar - City Council Public Hearings - NONE

Planning Agency
Item 5.2 - Request for CUP (Conditional Use Permit) to expand an existing Veterinary Clinic and per Grooming Facility at 25361 Alicia Pkwy. Suite. D
Dr. Ernesto Rosete, DVM is requesting to increase the size of his facility from 1440 sq. ft to 2880 sq. ft. by expanding into the adjoining suite. Both Veterinary and Grooming are permitted uses in the city and staff recommends approval of the CUP with 27 conditions.

VOTE - This passed 5 - 0

Administrative Reports
Item 6.1 - Preliminary Results of the 2010 Refinancing Project. Staff recommends that the city council receive an oral report from the city manager. *There was no written report for this item. Review of the 12-08-09 City Council Meeting in which it was reported that the city was considering refinancing it's $17,650,000 debt which currently bears 4.5% interest. The City has an outstanding debt in the form of Certificates of Participation for the 2001 Community Center Financing Project and the 2003 Laguna Hills Civic Center Renovation Project. Periodic Reviews indicate these can be refinanced resulting in lower payments, This opportunity may present over the next several months and could save up to a total of $1,1717,618 in interest costs over the term of the debt. The city issued $19,000,000 in Certificates of Participation to refinance the then outstanding Certificates of Participation issued to fund the construction of the Community Center and Sports Complex in 2001. The 2001 Certificates are currently outstanding in the amount of $13,200,000, bear interest at 4.5% and mature in 2024. To refinance will require the city to pay a redemption premium of 2% on the 2001 certificates. This redemption premium drops to 1% on or after Dec. 1, 2010 and to 0% after Dec. 1, 2011. In 2003 the city issued $5,660,000 in Certificates of Participation to finance construction improvements for the Civic Center. Those Certificates are outstanding in the amount of $4,450,000, bear interest at 4.5 %, and mature on June 1, 2024. There is no redemption premium on the 2003 certificates. There was a Unanimous VOTE in favor of the refinance
Now at the Jan. 12, 2010 City Council Meeting City Manager Channing states - We put together our same financing team that we have used over the years and our underwrites with out financial consultants and by the end of December 2009 we had received a grading for our proposed re-financing from Standard & Poors of double A+. On Wednesday of last week we began with an initial offering to see what response we would get. The structure of the deal was favorable in terms of the reaction from the interested buyers. They were mostly small individual and institutional buyers. We proceeded into Thursday. Initial hope was to achieve at least a present value savings of 5.75% but even if lowered to 5% that would be sufficient benefit. We received lots of orders for the structure that was provided by our underwriter, so were able to push it a little more to our benefit. It looked, at that point, that we would end up with closer to a 6% present value savings. By the end of the day Thursday all of the bonds were sold or committed and we agreed preliminarily to make the deal. The true interest costs for the 2010 refinancing, as structured, resulted in about 3.34%. Our actual present value savings is a little over 6% - 6.023%. To put the refinancing interest rate into perspective our bonds back in 2001 and 2003 sold at 4.83% and 4.46% respectively so we had over 100 basis points of savings in this issue. 150 in one and 110 in the other. The final refinancing yielded in interest cost savings about $1.12 million and saves debt service costs this year of about $319 thousand. We'll be saving about $90,000 a year for the remaining terms of those bonds in the next 12 years or so and the plan is that we will be closing the deal at the end of the month.

A. - League of CA Cities Ballot Initiative for November 2010 Election. "Local Taxpayers Public Safety and Transportation Protection Act of 2010"
This measure seeks to protect local revenues from raids by the State through the closing of loopholes and changing the State constitution to stop the State from interfering with tax revenues dedicated to funding local government or transportation projects. City Staff recommends that the Laguna Hills City Council Adopt a Resolution in support of this Initiative.

City Council Members Songstad and Lautenschleger both encouraged the support of this ballot Initiative and it Passed by a VOTE of 5 - 0.

B. - Orange County Fairgrounds - The State of CA. is seeking to sell this property and not requiring it to remain a Fairgrounds, Event Center and Equestrian Facility. The County of Orange called upon the OC cities to join the County to formally request that the proposed sale of the fairgrounds be canceled immediately. City Staff recommends that the city simply receive and file this report due to many competing issues such as the State's budget deficit, the City of Costa Mesa's full discretionary land use approval, and the County and City of Costa Mesa have an MOU to jointly submit an offer to purchase the property per RFP requirements.

City Council Member Carruth - In favor of supporting the County and City of Costa Mesa in this and made a motion for support by sending a letter to the Governor. City Council Member Songstad asked, How smart is it to sell this Capital Asset in a down market?
City Council Member Lautenschleger stated the Fairground earns $180 million a year in tax proceeds to the State of CA, so we should step in. City Council Member Craig Scott stated "Collectively, as the public we have said to the State, do something, do some things in order to try and deal with the budget mess that's been created in Sacramento. I think we are guilty in Orange County, those cities who chose to support undoing what we decry here in this chamber, it's the NIMBY syndrome, not in my backyard. Well, why not our back yard? I think we can argue whether we like the reasoning behind the proposed sale, but I'm not sure it's really the business of Laguna Hills to weigh in on this. I think we ought to chose our battles carefully and I see nothing to be gained, given the posture of the matter presently. What's happening is going to happen at auction whether we weigh in on it or not doesn't really matter, especially at this late hour." He concluded he would vote to receive and file or vote against the resolution. Mayor Bressette said if this produces $180 million in annual tax proceeds to the States, why sell now?

VOTE - It was approved 4 - 1 to support the County and City of Costa Mesa on this by sending a letter to the Governor. The NO Vote was Council Member Craig Scott

Item 6.3 A - Proposal to Close Laguna Hills Dr. to conduct the "Every 15 Minutes" Anti- Drunk Driving Education Program adjacent to the Laguna Hills High School.

Staff recommends that the city council direct the Chief of Police Services to work with proponents of this program to identify a suitable location on school property to conduct the program. Given that the total cost of the program would be $8,500 and is not budgeted (*editor's note - regarding fairness to all "budget arguments" here and in the future, the 2009 $60,000 car purchased by the city for the city manager was also Not Budgeted) and the road closure is costly and inconvenient city staff does not support the closing of the road. The city gave the program $2,500 and estimated the additional cost for closing the road to be $6,000.

There was a great deal of discussion on this issue. Council Member Melody Carruth suggested multiple possible alternative ways to be able to close a portion of Laguna Hills Dr. to make this more dramatic and effective for the students. Staff argued that the problems for traffic were significant. Council Member Joel Lautenschleger argued that the main problem in Laguna Hills with teenagers driving is speeding not drunk driving and this is a very dramatically emotionally charged program off street. Council Member Allan Songstad said closing Laguna Hills Dr. is not required to make this program more effective. Mayor Bressette said he was in favor of using Laguna Hills Dr. and requested a report from the school following the event. He said he felt sure that people would be willing to go out of their way for 1 day to perhaps save a student or another person from an accident. Council Member Craig Scott said "The principal is willing to have an off street demonstration. Not to forget the budget issue here. When the school came to us we broke from our normal financial practices and we authorized $2,500 that was not budgeted, now the request is that it's another $6,000. Let's not forget that we have budgeted $4000 for grad night at least ostensibly for the same purpose because we are concerned about drinking and driving. Now we have made significant commitment already. I don't think we need to go out of budget another $6000 when it appears to me we can have a fine and useful program off the street." He added " How is it that we always seem to be in a situation that the moment we lay down a new road we're gonna scar it?"

Vote was 3 to 2 Against closing Laguna Hills Dr. for this program. No votes were Craig Scott, Joel Lautenschleger and Allan Songstad.

Item 6.4 A - Posting of Agenda Reports in the City Web Site

On Nov. 24, 2009 the city council directed staff to bring back a report discussing options and problems of posting city council staff reports on the city web site. It reportedly took staff 45 minutes to post staff reports for tonight's city council meeting. The estimates are 1 1/2 to 3 hours for staff time needed to post staff reports for each city council meeting. Until tonight the entire extended agenda for Laguna Hills City Council Meetings has only been available on the counter in a binder
at city hall on Fridays, Mondays and Tuesdays for Tuesday city council meetings for the public or citizens could pay for a copy. The extended Agenda has been posted for tonight's city council meeting as a demonstration.

Staff Recommendation is that the city council direct staff to post staff reports along with associated attachments to the city's web site. Staff has also completed a preliminary investigation of several web streaming software products that allow automatic posting of agendas and watching or listening by the public with ability to jump in to special sections without sequentially proceeding through entire meetings but this will be presented at a future meeting. ***editor's note - Issue here includes the web streaming of UNEDITED city council meetings?

COMMENTS:

Barbara Kogerman, Laguna Hills Candidate for City Council 2010 said this is a step forward to transparency that I have been advocating in the press, on my web site, in speeches, in talking to other cities who have been doing it for quite a while and I am delighted with the result. It is not as user friendly at this point as I think you can make it but it's a terrific step forward and a great benefit for the citizens to be able to access what you are doing before the city council meetings. I look forward to your improvements and taking the next step to web stream your broadcasts as well. Good Job!

James Vaughn, Laguna Hills Citizen and Electronic Government Consultant said 4 years ago when I moved here I sent an e-mail to the city council members letting you know that my background is in this field, Electronic Government, and I that I have consulted from the White House to Congress to Government Agencies. I was asked to lead an Air Agency task force with the Federal Government to push administration to set standards for citizen communication - including getting information back and forth to citizens. So, this is the kind of thing I was hoping you would do. I was hoping you would respond to me when I offered to do this on a volunteer basis for you 4 years ago, to help advise you on these types of things. This is a wonderful step in this direction. I would encourage you, as I have told other counsels, to remember to use plain language/English, because citizens looking for information are not going to use the same language that you might use in some of your links which is going to be important when that comes up for search engine optimization, whether it's your own search engine or Google, etc. I just encourage people, especially Staff to use the "Mom Test". How would your Mom think about his topic, what terms would your Mom use when she's looking for this type of information online? Moving online is great but won't do you any good unless you start using plain English as well. As I've offered before I am still offering as well to help the city, as a resident, because it's my background. I was considered a nationally known expert in this field so I am happy to contribute to my city. Thank you.

Mayor Bressette thanked Staff for this saying this has been a long time coming and I appreciate your efforts to get this up on the web site as quickly as possible and I look forward to the improvements that I know we can make. Council Member Melody Carruth added she appreciated the work that has been done and is pleased to support the motion in favor of this.

VOTE - 5-0 in favor of the posting of Agenda Reports on the City Web Site.

Other Business - NONE

Matters Presented by Mayor & City Council Members

Council Member Melody Carruth stated the city council had listened to her appeals for Laguna Hills City Council Term Limits to be placed on the ballot on several occasions and tonight she would like to circulate additional materials with examples of different types of Term Limits Ordinances that have been used in Orange County Cities. She requested that city council direct staff to return with a report that will examine some of the formal limitations. She said it was interesting that, following the agenda that was published last week, we had citizens who came forward who were very interested and expressed interest in circulating a petition to place Term Limits on the ballot in Nov. of 2010. This is a great opportunity to discuss Term Limits as a community. This is a serious issue that requires our attention. I think our public is interested in this as well. She concluded by asking the council to look at all the information and consider placing Term Limits as an Ordinance on the ballot for the voters in November.

Comments:

Barbara Kogerman, Laguna Hills Candidate for City Council 2010 - stated that she has proposed a Term Limits Initiative and asked the city council to stop studying what already has been studied to death, and place the measure on the ballot. Term limits will prevent incumbents from using the benefits of office to remain in power indefinitely, make room for fresh candidates and encourage participation, bring in fresh ideas and practices to redirect priorities, allow the election of council members who are not beholden to entrenched policies that no longer serve the needs of our citizens. Need to promote the turnover of office holders while balancing the need for strong experienced leadership. Term limits then is a succession plan. We need fresh perspectives and practices in an active political process that will allow strong leaders and new ideas to emerge. She said we need innovative solutions for aging populations, strengthening of local business, and need to address the lack of humane animal services available to our residents. 19 years of history have told us that none of these things will happen without term limits. We are all well aware of the arguments, we are a city of citizens who need to be engaged in participating and forging us into the 2nd decade of the 21st century.

Bill Enholm, Laguna Hills Citizen, Past President and current Treasurer of the Nellie Gail HOA Board stated he supports term limits philosophically but it's tough to bring it to the city council tonight because it's saying that I believe some of you shouldn't be here. He said an elected body with as little turn over as we see here is a little scary. He noted he was pleased to see term limits on the agenda and hopes they are adopted without further study. He said he researched other city councils and had difficulty finding one with as little turnover as this one and that although stability is good, this much stability is not good. He noted that Council Member Songstad has 17 years of service on this city council with 4 times serving as Mayor, Craig Scott has 19 years of service with 4 times as Mayor, Joel Lautenschleger has 19 years of service with 4 times as Mayor, Randal Bressette has 19 years of service with 4 times as Mayor and Melody Carruth has 11 years of service with 2 times as Mayor. Hard not to draw the conclusion that this body is a little stagnant, this must really be a great job. He concluded that he was happy to join with the first Term Limit's advocate in America, President George Washington, who had the character to begin a 2 term tradition in this country. That tradition was formalized in the 22 amendment of the US Constitution.

City Council Member Joel Lautenschleger - Noted that the council should study this some more due to wide range of possible term limits measures related to how many terms, how much time off, whether a council member can return to office, etc. He said Term Limits have not worked well at the State level and indicated that Lake Forest also has essentially the same city council now as it had at incorporation. He mentioned the low pay for city council members stating, "Good luck on that career thing". * editors note - The pay is $7,484 per member and Joel did neglect to mention that this is a part time position and in addition to the salary, the city also pays $22,164.00 per year for his medical insurance, $1,360 for his dental ins., $301 for his life ins. and $77 disability ins., plus $1,324 a year for his PERS (Public Employee Retirement Services) contribution. See benefits for all the city council members in Laguna Hills at http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/05/its-the-health-insurance-stupid/42089/

City Council Member Allan Songstad - stated he is fine with doing a study and noted that in Laguna Niguel, past council members were often re-elected with Term Limits in place plus he was re-elected after being off for 2 years early in the city's history. City Council Member Craig Scott stated there is no need for a study. The material Mrs. Carruth provided is fine. This is a philosophical issue that is either liked or not, the council members know the issues, no need to use staff time in an exercise that's not going to lead anywhere. Election is a natural term limit so don't favor the motion. Mayor Randal Bressette stated Term Limits have never been studied, only discussed. Randy said he has had the same job for 25 years and was in the US Navy reserves for 23 years, so "19 years is a walk in the park". It's not about the money but about service to the community. He said although he is not a fan of term limits he favors Mrs. Carruth's motion to study them. He added that he did not believe any study of Term Limits stands alone, it needs to include a study of Campaign Spending Limits and Districting. He requested that Mrs. Carruth include these 2 issues in her motion for Term Limits. City Council Member Melody Carruth moved that the city council direct staff to prepare a report which includes an overview and analysis of the approaches utilized by other OC cities in setting term limits for their cities and the procedural steps required for including a Term limits Ordinance drafted by the City Attorney and approved by the City Council as a ballot measure for the No. 2010 General Election. She declined Council Member Bressette's request to include Campaign Spending Limits and Districting due to her motion already being on fragile ground here and asked that he make a second motion for his request.

Vote - was 4 - 1 in favor of a report from Staff regarding Term Limits. Craig Scott was the NO vote.

Mayor Randal Bressette made a motion that the council direct staff to prepare a report including an overview and analysis of Campaign Spending Limits and Districting and the different approaches currently used by Orange County Cities with respect thereto. City Council Member Craig Scott stated again differences here are in philosophies so no report needed. The issue of Districting was addressed at time of incorporation in 1991. At that time the electorate said "No way" on districting. City Council Member Allan Songstad agreed with Craig Scott and advised looking at the County Board of Supervisors to see how Districting problems affect the electorate as a whole. City Council Member Joel Lautenschleger stated people do not want ward style political districts. Mayor Randal Bressette added they at least need to look at campaign finance reform as part of what some people want as a fairer way of electing council members, so he withdrew the Districting and changed the motion to include just Campaign Finance Reform.
City Council Member Melody Carruth said she was okay with the report that allowed the public to express their opinions on both Districting and Campaign Finance Reform.

Barbara Kogerman, Laguna Hills Candidate for City Council 2010 - asked to make a Point of Order Comment and stated the city council was violating the Brown Act by discussing an item that had not been agendized - referring to the discussion of the Districting and Campaign Finance Reform. She was told she was Out of Order by Mayor Bressette.

There was a recess of the city council and council member's then returned without comment related to any possible violation of the Brown Act.

City Council Meeting Called back to order

City Council Member Craig Scott stated he did not see anything in need of reform related to the motion for the study of Campaign Finance Reform so what would be studied? Mayor Bressette explained that a discussion of Term Limits related to how to get new people on the city council needs to include an understanding of what Campaign Spending Limits could mean and also of what Districting could mean. There is no issue of past wrong doings.

Vote - the motion failed. The numbers on the vote were not announced but it appeared to be 2 for (Mayor Bressette and Council Member Carruth) and 3 against.

City Council Member Melody Carruth - Report on the Holiday Toy Drive for the Marines 3/5 Division in Camp Pendleton. Melody thanked all the Laguna Hills Residents who she said responded in a very generous spirit with well over 200 gifts. The gifts included gift cards, toys, books, CDs, DVDs & 2 children's bicycles. 3 SUVs were loaded up and driven to Camp Pendleton to the parade grounds where the Marine Corps. families came later to receive the gifts. 5 individual Marine Corps. families wee also adopted with individual gifts specifically for them. The collection points in the city did very well and it was a successful effort. Mayor Bressette thanked the Laguna Hills citizens as well and said this was very important.

CLOSED SESSION -
Conference with Real Property Negotiator regarding Anticipated Litigation related to 10 properties in the Via Lomas area of Laguna Hills.

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Laguna Hills Crime Watch
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Laguna Hills Crime Watch for the past 3 weeks go to:http://www.ocregister.com/articles/police-crime-blotter-2087713-arrest-burglary?City=Laguna Hills Laguna Hills Crime, What's Happening in your Neighborhood by Alejandra Molina, Reporter, Orange County Register. Keep up with crime in Laguna Hills, where it's happening and how it might affect you. This column is continuously updated.
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Information, Questions, Concerns and Comments from Watch Dog Readers
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Let’s get fresh blood let’s have a couple of strong women, no more roman columns for $400,000. That money would have supported the elderly center for years with money left over for animal shelter and a police officer. Outgoing Mayor Joel Lautenschleger pointed out that this last year was "the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression"- And the city and council members were so “intelligent” they used $400,000 on roman columns on El Toro Rd. to make sure we look good on a “rainy” day. Mr. C
Council members should use scanning and electronic safe keeping for city records these days. It is convenient to make evidence disappear by destruction if all is above board why would there be an issue of keeping records? Mr. C
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How to Support the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Division
Adopted by the City of Laguna Hills

This is still being worked out. More to follow.
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OC Register News Stories and blogs
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Laguna Hills to study council term limits
http://www.ocregister.com/news/council-228938-city-term.html

No go for anti-DUI program on Laguna Hills Drive
http://www.ocregister.com/news/hills-229166-program-city.html

Marine families get pampered by Laguna Hills
http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-228862-battalion-training.html

City manager who got car now gets performance bonus
http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-223526-bonus-manager.html

City Manager Benefits top $170,000 November 06, 2009
http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-218145-insurance-salary.html

City manager won't comment on $60,000 car
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-channing-car-2635479-year-hills

Laguna Hills buys its city manager a $60,000 car - in Tustin
http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2009/10/30/laguna-hills-buys-its-city-manager-a-60000-car-in-tustin/41479/

It's the Health Insurance, Stupid
http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/05/its-the-health-insurance-stupid/42089/

Full benefits for part-time elected officials are reasonable, mayor says
http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2009/11/05/full-benefits-for-part-time-elected-officials-are-reasonable-mayor-says/42213/

Checkpoint nets 14 people in Laguna Hills
http://www.ocregister.com/news/drivers-219231-dui-checkpoint.html

Woman mauled by 3 bull mastiffs sues county, city
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/dogs-christian-county-2609339-suit-one

Laguna Hills makes cuts to two-year budget
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-million-budget-2473902-year-positions

Remember to visit the page www.ocregister.com/readerforums/saddleback when you've got something to share with the community.

Laguna Hills Report Recommends Pet License Outreach. It also says shelters aren't crowded enough for spay, neuter program.http://www.ocregister.com/articles/city-dogs-laguna-2281407-hills-report

Laguna Hills City manager gets $23,000 bonus over objections http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bonus-council-channing-2253011-scott-city