October 26, 2010 - Laguna Hills City Council Meeting
All Council Members were present
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Presentations and Proclamations - Mayor Bressette started with a moment of silence to remember the 10 members of the 3/5 Marine Battalion Adopted in 2007 by the City of Laguna Hill's who have been killed in action in Afghanistan since Oct. 8, 2010.
SMART ELECTRIC METERS - Presentation by Duane Cave from Regional Public Affairs, the Gas Company on Installation of SDG&E's Electric Smart Meters. 7000 meters per day will be changed out beginning just after the first of the year. He said the new solid state digital meters are more reliable, will report outages as and where they occur, and will allow customers to view exactly just how much energy they are using. There will also be increased privacy as the new meters will not require meter readers. A contractor with an SDG&E contractor employee identification will be going to residences serviced by SDG&E to switch out meters. There will be a 30 day notice in the mail to inform customers of when this will happen. Additional notices will be sent at intervals closer to the date when the change will take place. If you have special needs regarding the switch out times you can communicate those to SDG&E after your 30 day notice is received. The change will take only 5 to 15 minutes but a power outage will occur so be prepared to reset electric clocks, timers, VCRs etc. when your meter is switched out. If you are not home the SDG&E contractor will switch out your meter and leave a note on your door handle, but if your meter is not accessible you will need to make special arrangements. There will be a 24/7 call center. You will be able to monitor your energy usage through a Google program and, in the future, through other special devices you can purchase to see your usage and regulate it on your computer.
Public Comments -
Dr. Fred Saad, DVM - Owner of El Toro Animal Hospital in Lake Forest, at 23162 El Toro Frontage Rd. said he is offering to the City the possibility of locating their animal shelter at his facility because Laguna Hills and Lake Forest have no shelter and have to go 20 miles to get to the 69 year old County Shelter with the high kill rate that the city now uses. He said he also does low cost spays and neuters. He invited the city council to tour his facility and give them a chance to work with the city on this issue.
Council Member Scott asked if Dr. Saad is telling us that a stray picked up in Laguna Hills could be taken to his facility rather than the county? Dr. Saad indicated that was his intention and said there is a lot of room in his facility. Council Member Carruth asked if he had made this presentation to Lake Forest City Council and if so what kind of response did he get. Dr. Saad answered yes he had, and Lake Forest is going to visit his facility and consider it. Council Member Carruth then asked about the capacity of this facility. Dr. Saad answered they can accommodate up to 45 dogs and have a 2nd floor for cats. Council Member Songstad asked if he'd had a conversation with the County about doing this yet and Dr. Saad's answer was not yet because he wanted first to see if the cities were interested. Mayor Bressette responded that he thought there was a consensus of interest in this for staff to contact Dr. Saad to look further into this.
Ali Djowharzadeh (AJ), Laguna Hills City Council Candidate said he has been talking to residents and small businesses and now it looks like it's a good chance that some of the council won't be here in a few months, but there is need to grow and change. He said people have been telling him they want the city to look at the salaries of the City Manager, and Assistant City Manager to reduce them. He said we have to look into the compensation reporting to get it right, he proposed that bonuses should only be given when there is a unanimous vote from the council rather than more of this 3 to 2 vote. He said he was honored at a meeting at USC last week as a distinguished alumni and the New USC President said was he wished he would have gotten that City Manager's job in Laguna Hills, so maybe the whole world wants that job. In addition there is a need to increase the small business revenues in Laguna Hills and in closing he stated that just as the council had given him 3 minutes to speak he thinks serving the public has a limit too.
Barbara Kogerman, Laguna Hills City Council Candidate said Mayor Bressette and she had both testified at a Senate Legislative Oversight Hearing on “Transparency & Accountability Pursuing the Public's Right to Know ” held last Wednesday in Santa Ana that featured speakers who focused on the excessive compensation of the Laguna Hills City Manager and associated reporting problems. The committee was startled by testimony from Professor Fred Smoller, Public Administration Program Director, Brandman University whose graduate students assisted Kogerman in her research into Orange County’s City Manager Compensation which she launched after uncovering the $460,809 compensation of the Laguna Hills City Manager in 2009. Professor Smoller told the committee he was shocked by the arrogance of some city officials in response to the report. A city manager featured in the report phoned him with “How dare you?” and during a 45 minute tirade demanded to meet with the students to “set them straight”. Two city council members associated with abuses cited in the report visited Smoller’s boss to try to discredit the report and demand that Smoller be disciplined. Kogerman urged the committee to strengthen the Public Records Request Act so agencies can’t avoid providing timely, accurate data to define compensation so voters can know every possible expenditure, not just what the IRS considers taxable income, and to provide data that is centrally located, uniformly reported, and in a easy to understand format.
Three panels of spokespersons including the State Auditor addressed the committee, and most urged legislation to require all state and local agencies to clearly report all different forms of compensation in a centralized system with links from local agency web sites and easy access for interested citizens. She said Mayor Bressette spoke to the committee and said he had been trying for the past year to determine how much our city manager was actually compensated. He characterized the city's current compensation report as unclear and lacking key information and said the current Laguna Hills Council would not report all costs related to city management unless required to do so. He asked the committee to help by passing legislation requiring full disclosure of senior management compensation. Senator Lou Correa responded that he found this testimony to be deeply troubling. She concluded by restating that her report about the true cost of city management compensation, that the majority of this city council wishes to keep from the public, ought to be disclosed. Despite criticism from some Laguna Hills City Officials her report has become the conventional wisdom and this city council needs to come to grips with the public's concern over excessive compensation and this city's lack of transparency.
Mike Bland, Laguna Hills Citizen said we're getting close to the end of the year and would really like to see some support from the City Council for the 3/5 Marines. As Mayor Bressette mentioned we lost 10 Marines in the last 18 days. We'd like to know what is the staff doing on the report? We thought the report would be ready at the last council meeting. We were surprised it wasn't on the agenda this time. He said he's really getting angry about this he would like to have Mr. Channing lead the group and maybe get in yout $60,000 car and maybe take the City Attorney with you to Laguna Niguel to see what they did with their adopted military division. Sending letters and waiting for letter takes too long and we really should do something more than what we have done. Last Christmas Council Member Carruth organized a gift collection for the 3/5 Marines and many of us followed Ms. Carruth to Camp Pendleton to distribute those gifts. Question is can we do something like that this year? Can we do it as a group as the city or do we have to do it as Ms. Carruth had to do last year as individuals?
Editor's Note - In response to Council Member Carruth collecting donations for Christmas 2009 for the 3/5 Marines Council Member Craig Scott clearly stated last year at the Nov. 24, 2009 City Council meeting - "There was an article in the Register within the last week where it was reported, by the reporter, the city was trying to reconstitute the 3/5 Support Committee. I raise the issue with staff because we have taken, as I understand the council's action, a very clear position that there will be a no support by this council. No official city support for the 3/5 Committee."
Mayor Bressette asked City Manager Bruce Channing if he could provide an explanation as to where that 3/5 Battalion report is and when we can expect to see it. City Manager Channing stated. "The report is in process and should be presented to you when we have all the information." Mayor Bressette asked, "When do you think that will be?" Channing responded "We are specifically waiting to hear back from the Marine Corps. with the answers to the very questions you had." Mayor Bressette responded, "But the balance of the report was complete, we were waiting for one small piece of the puzzle. I know that the city clerk had gathered a tremendous amount of information from the other cities that successfully have adopted Marines Battalions and provide support to them." Channing answered, "Yes". Mayor Bressette continued asking Channing, "Then why couldn't we be provided the bulk of the report and leave the missing detail still to be satisfied, because it was a very small detail? Channing's response, " Again, when we have the information from the Marine Corps that answers the question the council had which was has anything changed in so far as the Marine Corps' opinion of the willingness to serve on a committee appointed by the council and subject to the Brown Act. That's a very specific question that the council asked and all the other information really hasn't changed in 2 years." Council Member Carruth stated this is now 6 weeks after the study was requested and "I don't think anyone ever suggested that the establishment of this committee would require necessarily, legal counsel." She asked, so, knowing all of the people associated with the 3/5 are focused on providing comfort and care to the families now, can't we set aside the legal opinion and bring the rest of the report that Ms. Johns told us, 2 weeks ago, was ready and we would have tonight? Channing responded, that the council established a committee in conformance with what the Marine Corps asked for 2 years ago and the Marines came back to you and asked to disband the committee you had formed because they cannot participate in a committee that is subject to the Brown Act. He suggested maybe the city should have an informal committee that doesn't require appointment by the city council and doesn't become subject to the Brown Act. The Marine Corps Judge Advocate is still waiting for an official answer to your question about can the Marines sit on a committee subject to the Brown Act. City Attorney Greg Simonian interrupted to stop a discussion of an unagendized item.
Jim Haines, Laguna Hills Citizen said he is here again to make sure the council doesn't forget him and thanks them for what is happening so far. He said and can bring all his neighbors if needed because this is so serious an issue for his whole neighborhood. He said he and his neighbors are all very passionate about this traffic issue in their neighborhood and getting something done about it. He wants to go over his neighbor's suggestions with Mr. Rosenfield (City Traffic Engineer) and does not mean this as a threat but they are a united force of mostly long term residents and will remember who voted for what they need to have done who did not and he said he hopes they can help the 3/5 Marines in Camp Pendleton. He continued that the traffic surveys currently underway are not always done at the critical/peak problem times of the day so it may be difficult to get a true picture of the problem. The Traffic Commission only meets every 2 months so this is on the agenda for the Nov. 17 meeting. The La Paz/I5 construction is going to throw more traffic their way. Ken Rosenfield, City Traffic Engineer said the speed data is actually collect 3 times a day, morning, mid day and afternoon, by a person in an unmarked vehicle with radar and the La Paz /I5 construction is mostly going to be done during the night so hopefully will not throw too much traffic their way but will check on that.
Bob Dickson, Laguna Hills Citizen and CPA said he went on the State Controller John Chaing's web site at http://www.sco.ca.gov/noncompliant_reports.html#cities2 and saw the compensation data for Laguna Hills and said it was a nice schedule so your (City of Laguna Hills) schedule is outdated. He said, "You've got 11 pages here with a resume' as part of it and other things that are irrelevant. The State Controller's report is a nice 2 page report and it's got all the city's salaries right here, including the council members so it's really simple and easy to see in the 6 boxes." He continued with, "Bruce, you're number 1. This one says you made $380,000. Does that sound right, because I hear all these different salaries and nobody knows what the right figure is so I hope it's fairly accurate?" He said he had one last comment about what Joel said at the last meeting when he was talking about the 2 and 3% pensions. He said, "Joel, I want to tell you that you weren't comparing apples with apples. The big factor is the compensation. If you have double or 1 & 1/2 times (Mr. Dickson said after the meeting that he meant to say 2 & 1/2 times) the compensation of somebody else, for example the CA. Attorney General makes about $150,000, and if he's in the 3% pension plan and Bruce Channing's making $380,000 and he's in the 2% plan who's going to have the better pension? The 2% plan with the $380,000 compensation. So I did the figures, just a rough estimate and Bruce is going to receive about $250,000 when he retires per year. Now that doesn't include the other pensions, this is just one pension, and Joel, you didn't bring up the other pensions. So when you talk about pensions you bring both pensions or all 3, I couldn't tell from this report how many pensions there are. The report says there is a defined pension plan with CalPers, 2% at 60 and a supplemental retirement contribution then it says the city also contributes toward additional benefits such as deferred compensation. So if your're gonna talk about 2 or 3% Joel, why don't we talk about Bruce Channing's salary and his projected pension and I'm sure he gets a statement every year saying how much he would get so all you have to do is ask him and he'll be glad to tell you. That's it, any questions?" The response from the Counsel to that was "NO, thank you Mr. Dickson."
LHHS Student Liaison Report by Mike Spain said the football is undefeated at 6-0. There is going to be a Hawk Challenge golf ball drop. A helicopter will drop a load of marked golf balls on Nov. 8 at the Aliso Viejo Couhtry Club golf course and if your ball falls in a hole you can win $2,500. It will be $10 to buy one ball, $50 to buy 6 and $100 to buy 13. Somebody from ASB is talking to students this week about drinking and driving accidents and doing everything they can to dissuade students from this kind of behavior. Last week ASB brought prepaid UPS mailing boxes to support a Battalion that was deployed overseas. All the students were bring in items they need such as shaving cream and razors, socks t-shirts, and beef jerky to fill the boxes. Stuff that's hard to get where that's hard for them to come by. It was very successful. Council Member Melody Carruth contributed that the students are contributing to the 3/5 Marines that the city adopted and Mr. Dick Nagle is doing a great job of getting this project moving at LHHS and in 2 of the elementary schools as well and the students are being very generous. Hundreds of boxes have been filled. Mayor Bressette said it's so much fun to watch the golf balls drop for the Hawk Challenge that it's worth $50 right there. You can find out more about this on the LHHS school web site. The money goes to ASB and something else.
Minutes - Recommendation that the City Council Approve the Minutes of the previous City Council Meeting for publication on the city web site. The minutes from tonight's meeting will not be edited and approved for publication until the next city council meeting so there is a long delay for the public related to timely information from the city.
Consent Calendar - Warrant Register = $862,524.44
Warrant Register Items of Interest that probably should require some additional explanation - $10,060.11 - Bank of America Departmental Operating Expenditures, Sept. 2010. $3,835.00 to Oros Consulting Services - Professional Fees Computer Consulting Sept. 2010. $3,650.00 to Faubel Public Affairs for "City Views" all 2010 Activity Guide
Items of Interest from the Consent Calendar - None
Items Removed from the Consent Calendar - None
City Council Public Hearings - None
Planning Agency Public Hearings - Item 5.2 - Request for Conditional Use permit (CUP) for new Verizon Wireless Communications Facility on existing 64 foot Monopine constructed as 35 foot tower in the year 2000, at the Nellie Gail Equestrian Center, 25202 Nellie Gail Rd. in the Parks Zoning District. Request to construct, operate and maintain and unmanned wireless communications facility with the addition of 12 antennas and 1 microwave dish including construction of a 2nd floor addition to the existing equipment barn City says the appearance of this Monopine has been improved through the addition of additional foliage "socks" and the owner of the wireless infrastructure at this site, Crown Castle, has expressed interest in expanding this facility to accommodate a 5th wireless carrier by the middle of next year which would require the height of the now 64 foot Monopine to be increased to 80 feet and an additional expansion to the 2nd story equipment barn. Although the maximum height for this zone is 35 feet the City has the authority to approve a request for a height increase for the additional carrier. An alternative to increasing the height on the Monopine again would be to locate another site within the general area for another Monopine type structure. 59 public notices were reported to have been mailed to surrounding property owners (no date of mailing noted) within a 300 foot radius of the site and no comments received to date.
Staff Recommendation - Approve the CUP subject to conditions of approval, will not result in any significant impacts to the public health, safety and general welfare.
Crown Castle who is requesting the CUP was not at the meeting. The council discussed this issue at length related to appearance. They didn't favor the Monopine which is 10 years old, outdated technically and in appearance and may not be well constructed enough for extending to 80 feet. They favored replacing it with a faux Eucalyptus that is a newer and a more natural appearing tree tower and requested photo simulations of how it would look with the height increase.
Administrative Reports -
Other Business - Item 7.1 - Allowing Laguna Hills Little League to display banners on the outfield fences at Cabot Park and the Community Center Sports Park for fundraising purposes. Prior requests for this have been denied. Currently Little League revenues are lower and costs have increased.
Staff Recommendation - Allow the display of banners on the outfield fences of the 2 baseball fields. Little League is to be allowed to charge a fee from organizations who desire to buy space on the banners and staff will work out the details between Little League and the City.
There was a lengthy discussion among council members of the appearance and content of the signs that would be displayed and how the city could be protected from discrimination against unacceptable signs and content and how the city could do this and be fair to all other sports as well as Little League. Council Member Carruth asked how to regulate sign content and Council Member Lautenschleger argued if the City allows Little League to do this it would also have to allow AYSO soccer and how would sign discrimination be handled, etc. so he wanted to look at this but not act on it. City Attorney Greg Simonian clarified that there has been a ruling in one Federal Case, the 9th Circuit, that cities sign can regulate sign content in a non-public forum on Municipal Property as Commercial and ban Political and Religious, so with a specific policy in place a city can limit the advertising to commercial. He said he would have to research further related to limiting the content of the commercial messages. Regarding entering into an exclusive agreement with one entity, such as Little League, for advertising he suggested that the City consider selling advertising space to generate revenue put this funds aside and issue donation funding to the Little League, etc. The city would serve as proprietor and the city council could then decide to which entities it would donate public funds. Council Member Songstad suggested that the temporary signs could go up on the ball field fences during game activity as long as they all came down at the end of the day. City Manager Channing said he didn't know if that policy that was previously created for the Community Center sports fields would transfer to the Cabot Road sports field. Council Member Carruth suggested moving forward on this tonight and having staff coordinate with the Little League Board re. content of the signs and look at how other cities in our area are making this work well for them.
Little League Board Speakers were: Mr. Robert Engle, Laguna Hills Resident who stated a meaningful local business presence was lacking in their League and their program is running at a significant deficit because they are in the only city in the area that is not allowed to raise funds in this manner. He stated Little League has no national funding and must survive on local funding which has not been adequate to operate. He suggested that the City turn the responsibility for regulating the banner content over to the Little League Officials who will make sure it is acceptable and that all sponsors are appropriate. He added that they couldn't handle installing all the banners before and removing them after every game due to the time involved in doing that and the numbers of games played. He clarified that all banners would be hung only on the inside of the fences toward the playing fields only during the playing season. He noted that the little kids love to play on fields with banners that look like professional fields. Mr. Don Tremp, Little League President assured the Council the Little League is very family oriented and conservative related to sponsors and can't turn any children who want to play away because of a lack of funding so need to pay for scholarships for children, etc. The equipment is expensive and it costs about $350 - $400 a year for each player. The banners are working well in many other cities and they expect they could raise $8,000 - $10,000 a year with banners.
Public Comments: Mav Bressette, Laguna Hills Resident questioned whether this city has a legal system different from other cities in California. She acknowledged that they City does need to be concerned about litigation but not to the extent of re-inventing the wheel when this is working so well in other cities, so why not benefit from the work other cities, such as Laguna Niguel, have done so well and work from there. She also asked if any of the scholarships were lost do to the economy. Don Tremp stated sign ups just started and 2 scholarships have already be requested plus due to the state of the economy the number of players was down to about 250 last year as opposed to about 400 previously.
Mayor Bressette made a motion to Authorize the Display of Banners on the outfield fences for Little League at the baseball fields at Cabot Park and the Community Center Sports Facility, the Little League benefit from organizations willing to buy space on those banners and that staff be directed to work through the details of the arrangement between Little League and the City, that the City Attorney will provide changes as appropriate to our city ordinances and provide to the city council any issues and information re. regulation of the sign content and any other legal issues as appropriate. The motion was seconded by Council Member Carruth. Vote - 5 - 0 in favor
Matters Presented by Mayor & City Council Members:
Council Member Carruth mentioned that the magazine selling solicitors are descending upon Laguna Hills at this time of year, have been knocking on doors after 8:00 at night and some of them have been making threatening comments to residents who don't buy magazines. She said she wanted to be sure Chief Doan knows about this and will work with HOAs and residents to get the word out about this and about our city's new regulations, etc.
Council Member Carruth said she was sad that the report on the 3/5 Marines Adopted by the city was still not on the agenda. She said, "I know that Ms. Johns did have the report ready, it was on the agenda and was removed by Mr. Channing and again I know that Mr. Channing is focused on this huge question that we may never answer and that deals with a question that we need an answer from legal counsel but I think it was the intent of the City Council, when we voted on Sept. 14 for a Staff report, that the staff return with a number of different variations." " I sent a couple of files to Mr. Channing and tried to help the staff collect information from Laguna Niguel and from Dana Point which each have very different approaches to their citizens committee. One who is loosely organized and does not follow the Brown Act. In addition to that staff was well aware of from information we received from the Family Readiness Officer Kim Reese. She is assigned to us to coordinate our efforts with 3/5 and she made it very clear that while the individual that might join the meetings for the 3/5 citizens committee might not be in an official capacity but because the members of the 3/5 can't fund raise, that individual would represent 3/5 in an unofficial capacity and that poses no problems for this committee to move forward and I was saddened that this was not on the agenda because of what's been going on with the 3/5. We knew this was going to be a challenging deployment......and they need help now. That's one reason why I placed the item on the agenda on Sept. 14th." She continued that Dick Nagle has done a tremendous job through 2 elementary schools and the high school getting useful things donated, so the community is already helping and what is needed now is the City to send a message to the business community to strengthen our ability to fund raise. She concluded with "I am asking tonight that the council direct Mr. Channing to put the item on the agenda whether or not it includes an opinion from 3/5 legal counsel. If there's consensus here I really think it's essential for that report to be given to us in two weeks which would be Nov. 9th."
Mayor Bressette stated that he agreed with having the report back on Nov. 9th.
Council Member Songstad said he thought it was extremely unfair to be blaming Mr. Channing. He reviewed the problems from the past with the citizen's committee, etc. He then said, "There is absolutely nothing to prevent the Mayor, and you, Ms. Carruth, or anybody else from moving forward in fund raising efforts, and getting packages together just like our student liaison talked about today." He went on to say the only thing that's being held up is whether we can form a 501 C 3, whether the Marines are going to participate in that, whether there is going to be staff assistance, whether 2 council members will be on that, etc. He then quoted an Oct. 12 message from Capt. Ricco Acosta who is the staff Judge Advocate to the Laguna Hills City Clerk saying the approval process will take a few more weeks and we are moving in the right direction. Songstad then said, "You already have the support of the city."
Editor's note: What Council Member Songstad did not say was - In response to Council Member Carruth collecting donations for Christmas 2009 for the 3/5 Marines Council Member Craig Scott said this at the Nov. 24, 2009 City Council meeting - "There was an article in the Register within the last week where it was reported, by the reporter, the city was trying to reconstitute the 3/5 Support Committee. I raise the issue with staff because we have taken, as I understand the council's action, a very clear position that there will be a no support by this council. No official city support for the 3/5 Committee. Now the reasons for that go back a long time so I don't propose to recurse all of that, but it is not, let me just state it this way, if we are to be consistent with the council's decisions in the past, my understanding is that we should not be about reconstituting and it is not appropriate to use city resources to further the work that could be done by the committee if the committee chooses to. Uh, very frankly I hope Mrs. Carruth has not been suggesting, as a member of the council, that she's speaking for the city on these matters, because that would be contrary to our adopted position. So I don't favor her taking the action that has been suggested and I think we need to remember that we have drawn, what understand to be a very clear line. The city will not sponsor, the city will not devote assets, the city will not give the resources of our staff's time and energy to efforts that ought to be coming from the committee, if at all. That's not a judgement we should be making. The committee can do what the committee wants to do but we ought to be in a hands off position from an official city standpoint."
Council Member Songstad continued that he felt terrible about what has happened and said we need to give them all the support we can but did not refer to or refute the previous comments of Council Member Scott about the city's official stance on this issue or join Ms. Carruth in her motion to move faster to get formal support from the city for this effort that is already in progress.
Mayor Bressette responded, " The depth of my anger and frustration about how we have mistreated the 3/5 Battalion is indescribable. From when we first adopted them, I had great fears about what would eventually happen is that in my opinion, the city has abandoned them and transcripts of several meetings will show that we did exactly that. When you adopt a child, a puppy, a turtle or a Marine, you don't just leave them behind. You don't just turn your back on them and although we had a committee that was a complete disaster, from beginning to end. The reason for that was that the city council and city staff didn't care really, to move forward with that relationship. We never formally cut our ties so there's this great expectation on behalf of the Marine Corps. that they have a family in Orange County that's going to provide need to them and there is a very immediate need as Ms. Carruth pointed out. They're deployed, their families are still at Camp Pendleton and surrounding areas that need our help. It's unconscionable not to move forward." He went on to say that we know now how the relationship between the Marines and the city needs to be constructed and "Ms. Johns was ready to come forward with that report last week but somewhere between Wednesday and Friday, when the agenda was published that report was pulled and I suspect it was not pulled by Ms. Johns. So, I support very much Ms. Carruth's proposal that this item absolutely, without question be on the next agenda." He continued that with the item back on the Agenda they can work through the details and we already know that the Marine Corps can't sit at the dais or the 501 C 3 committee as official members but we know now how to work around those issues and we need the 501 C 3 for this thing to be legitimate. He noted that if the staff report had been on the agenda for tonight they could already be working this out.
Council Member Carruth agreed with what Mayor Bressette had said about the council already working through the issues tonight if this study had remained on the agenda and added " It is tough to fund raise without that 501 C 3 status and found that out last year people were far more willing to give, especially our corporate sponsors if we had that non profit status." She said, "There was every indication that report was ready and for some really unusual reason, I hope it wasn't a political one, it was not on the agenda. And it was on the agenda as of Thursday and for some strange reason it was pulled."
Council Member Craig Scott stated "I think it would be very rude of the council to demand that Mr. Channing come up with the report by a certain date without inviting him to respond.
City Manager Bruce Channing responded, "I think I've made my comments, and if the council was interested in changing the direction we'd be happy to come back with a new report that doesn't answer the question in the first asked report. Mayor Bressette, " But you can answer the questions to the best of your ability and with the knowledge and information that you have so far?" Channing, " I believe that in giving you a staff report it should answer the questions that you've raised, otherwise it's not timely to come back with an answer. It doesn't matter one way or another to the staff whether you want to have the Brown Act Committee or not. If you're changing your direction there, just make that clear, it'll make it a lot easier to answer." He suggested, to get around the Brown Act problem for the Marines, don't appoint a formal committee, just sanction the activity.
Council Member Songstad responded he is favor of moving ahead to lay out options but that is different from the very detailed report that was previously ordered. Mayor Bressette said, he has to interrupt because the City Attorney has turned his light on and Songstad responded, " Well, I don't care as long as I finish my comments I don't care what Mr. Simonian says, he's not on the council, and I'll tell you I am angry too, Mr Mayor that you would tell, that you would suggest that I don't care about the 3/5 Marines." Now shouting Songstad continued, "What do you know about what I care about and what I don't care about? I care a lot about those guys. I've been down to Pendleton twice. I've had dinner with the previous commander, I've met his wife, I met all kinds of the Marines, we had a bunch of them here in the city. We provided them meals and we provided them entertainment, we've provided them the best we can. I care a great deal about this. I care a great deal about all Marines. I care a great deal about the 3/5 and for you to sit there and say that I don't makes me very angry."
Editor's Note - If you don't already know this story about the Laguna Hills Adopted Marines here is the short version. The Laguna Hills City Council voted to Adopt the 3/5 Marines on Aug. 28, 2007. Then on Oct.23, 2007 when the city ran into problems with the Marines not being allowed to sit on the City's Formal Committee because the Marines are not allowed to fund raise or sit on committees with city officials, instead of correcting the make up of the committee, as many other cities have done and Mayor Bressette and Council Member Carruth are trying to do now, the city voted to drop the committee and rescind all support for the Marines including a line of communication over the protests of Council Member Bressette. Meanwhile the 3/5 was sent to Iraq. After the 3/5 returned from Iraq the City held a formal adoption Ceremony on Sept. 27, 2008, a year after the city had rescinded support for them and just 2 months before the 2008 City Council election in which Lautenschleger and Songstad were running for re-election. The City and Songstad got publicity for this in photos of the Ceremony and Songstad got his photo and a write up about him with the Marines in City Views (the city's news magazine) and in the Marine Adoption Booklet, so this plus the fact that nothing has been done to correct this problem since Oct. of 2007 and because they still appear to be dragging their feet on this issue, is a reason why some people might think Scott, Songstad, Lautenschleger and don't care. Contrary to what Council Member Songstad says above they have definitely not "provided them the best we can". Craig Scott made it abundantly clear when Council Member Carruth was trying to collect Christmas donations for the 3/5 in 2009 that "we ought to be in a hands off position from an official city standpoint." (See Craig Scott's complete Statement above)
See the OC Register story of the Marine Adoption at:
OCREGISTER: City to look at renewing support for Marine battalion http://www.ocregister.com/news/support-266469-city-battalion.html
OCREGISTER: No support committee just yet for Laguna Hills' adopted battalion http://www.ocregister.com/news/committee-266605-support-city.html
City Attorney, Greg Simonian interrupted with re-direction for the council stating that the city council members' comments have evolved into an extended discussion, deliberation and debate of a non-agendized item. The 3/5 Battalion is not on the Agenda this evening.
Council Member Carruth made another request to get the 3/5 report brought back. Mayor Bressette asked for support for that . Lautenschleger said NO, Council Member Craig Scott said NO and stated, "I don't see that support. I have no idea what it is that we're asking the staff to do. I hear very clearly Ms. Carruth wants the report that was originally commissioned. I'm hearing Mr. Channing say that can't be necessarily provided in two weeks. I think it unfair of us to just tell the staff to show up and report, if we're not going to define what it is or give a definition. I'm hearing Mr. Channing assure us that he will return when he is able to. I also hear the City Attorney say it would be inappropriate for us to discuss the matter further. I think that would include changing the nature of the report. If that is correct, I will not support a motion that calls for a report that the City Manager may or may not be able to produce and to account him to produce by our direction what may not be there. That's silliness." City Attorney Greg Simonian directed it would be appropriate, under the circumstances, since consensus has been called into doubt to make a motion on whether or not to bring back the report that was previously directed of staff at an earlier date whether or not all the requested information had been met. Council Member Carruth then made a motion requesting the staff return the report on Nov. 9th with whatever information staff has gathered at that time. Vote Passed 5-0
Mayor Bressette announced that the State Controller John Chaing and Terri Sforza the OC Register Watch Dog Reporter did for us what we would not do for ourselves and listed Compensation for all Government Employees in an easy to read tabulated format. Postings are there for all the city employees not just staff Management for everyone to see at http://www.sco.ca.gov/noncompliant_reports.html#cities2 for State Controller John Chaing's Office and see Imperfect, one-stop shopping for city salary data October 25th, 2010, 12:32 pm ·by Teri Sforza, OC Register at http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/10/25/imperfect-one-stop-shopping-for-city-salary-data/66812/ Mayor Bressette continued that he never understood the reluctance to publish this information but is grateful that the State Controller is now requiring it and is grateful to the OC Register for actually doing the math for us. He said problem remains that his calculation for the City Manager's compensation is $383,720. This is closest to what the controller's web site is showing but the # of $364,714 shown in the City of Laguna Hills Public Officials Compensation Report on the City Web Site differs from the $380,054 that was the OC Register's total from the State Controller's web site and all the numbers came directly from the city. We are left with the question which numbers are correct because the numbers in the City Web Site were voted to there by Scott, Lautenschleger and Songstad so can't be changed unless done through another vote of the City Council Majority. We should have been well ahead of this issue not stuck behind and it is now appropriate that this ambiguity be resolved.
PUBLIC COMMENTS - Barbara Kogerman Candidate for Laguna Hills City Council noted that the Controller's report still left out excessive vacation buyouts, additional retirement plans, the city manager's $60,000 car, etc. so it is still not complete. She said to assure accountability in this city she would like the council to take the following steps - after reaching agreement in closed session about the City Manager's Performance Evaluation make public decisions you reached about recommended action online and by counter copy within 72 hours prior to the next regularly scheduled meeting, report this item at that regularly scheduled meeting with public comments and a vote in open session. Due to the history of this council of lack of transparency this should help to restore public trust.
Council Member Lautenschleger stated that he attended a seminar from the CA. League of Cities about Challenges and Solutions to Managing Quality Cell Service and said there are pamphlets at the City Hall that citizens can obtain to learn more about this issue. Joel was talked about the safety of having cell towers and antennas related to better communication.
Editor's Note: We took a pamphlet and read it. What the citizens here have been interested in learning more about here are health risks of having ever increasing numbers of antennas on each cell tower and so many cell towers. This pamphlet touts the benefits for businesses and cities of having ever greater cell service it does not address any independent research related to safety of information. There is one section in the pamphlet with web addresses regarding safety information from the FCC only for the FCC RF Safety Homepage go to http://www.fcc.gov/oct/rfsafety/ For FCC Consumer Facts-Human Exposure to Radio Frequency Fields, Guidelines for Cellular & PCS Sites go to http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/rfexposure.html For FCC RF Safety FAQs go to http://www.fcc.gov/oet/rfsafety/rf-faqs.html For Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields go to http://www.fcc.gov/oet/info.documents/bulletins/Welcome.html1#65
Foa a local Government Official's guide to Transmitting Antenna RF Emission Safety, Rules, Procedures, and Practical Guidance go to http://wireless.fcc.gov/siting/FCC_LSGAC_RF_Guide.pdf
Closed Session - City Manager - Annual Performance Evaluation and 2 conferences with city council on existing litigation and anticipated litigation.
* Elections Information - Special Feature - Learn more about the candidates with The Orange County Register's Voter Guide. - To date the only Laguna Hills Council Member Candidate who has failed to participate is Incumbent Craig Scott.
See the Candidates in a 90 Minute Question and Answer Session on Cox Cable's Candidate Forum - If you subscribe to Cox Communication go to Cox on Demand under Cox 3, Free Zone and Candidate Forums to find a 90 minute question and answer session with all of the Laguna Hills City Council Candidates except Saeid Hariri who did not attend the session.
See Oct 25, OC Register OC Watchdog story - Imperfect, one-stop shopping for city salary data by Teri Sforza for New Local Government Compensation Reports
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/10/25/imperfect-one-stop-shopping-for-city-salary-data/66812/
and theState Controller John Chaing's Office's Compensation Reports for Cities
http://www.sco.ca.gov/noncompliant_reports.html#cities2
Editor's Recommendations - Please Vote and encourage everyone you know to vote. We can't make any changes in Laguna Hills if you don't vote!!!!
NON-INCUMBENT CANDIDATES - Only Barbara Kogerman has delivered - the Term Limits for the Laguna Hills City Council Initiative "Measure T" which will be on the November Ballot and Transparency and Accountability in her study of the Total Compensation of All City Manager's in Orange County that led to State Legislation requiring Transparency in Public Reporting of Compensation for city staff and elected officials.
INCUMBENT CANDIDATES - Only Mayor Randal Bressette and Council Member Melody Carruth are both Voting for and stressing the need for more Accountability and Transparency in a uphill battle against the council majority.
* The ONLY Candidate Voting AGAINST more Transparency and Accountability for citizens is Council Member Craig Scott. His campaign has been loose with facts and he also has been the long time negotiator of the bloated compensation for the City Manager.
** After observing, for 6 years and recording and reporting city council sessions in Laguna Hills, we believe the City would be much better off in the hands of Barbara Kogerman, Melody Carruth and Randal Bressette who we believe will bring accountability, transparency and citizen, rather than city management staff, oriented spending priorities back to the citizens. We also believe that your vote for Term Limits- "Measure T" will prevent this city from having another 20 year Monarchy reigning our city with an attitude of "Just Trust Us and don't question, because Only We Are Capable of Deciding What's Best for You".
* INFORMATION, COMMENTS QUESTIONS and CONCERNS from Watch Dog Readers:
I just found this on the Craig Scott and Whitehead Law Firm Web site at: http://www.employerlaw.com/specialties/Craig/HPER.html I was already confused about why we are trusting Craig Scott to represent our citizens on the city council when our city manager receives the highest pay in all of Orange County and Craig Scott has been negotiating that pay? This describes in more detail what Craig Scott does for a living. Isn't this essentially another type of spin that Mr. Scott is doing with our City Manager through voting to keep things nontransparent for the citizens and no checks and balances for the City Manger? Craig Scott advertises to us that voting for him will "Keep Laguna Hills on the Right Track!" This is completely NUTS! - When handling employent litigation involving people or institutions in the public eye, the lead lawyer often plays the roles of white knight, public spokesperson, spinmeister, psychologist and counselor, political prognosticator and battle-plan tactician. With the skills and experience to perform admirably in all of those functions, Mr. Scott has handled some of Southern California's highest profile employment disputes. Craig Scott Represented the City Manager of an Orange County, California city who was first placed on administrative leave and then terminated by the city council. Scott & Whitehead won a court-ordered reversal of the termination and then defended the City Manager against the city's lawsuit charging him with self-dealing and mismanagement. Mr. Scott, himself a former mayor and long-time city council member in another city, was both attorney and public spokesperson for the City Manager. Mr. Scott negotiated a substantial settlement payment from the city to the firm's client. This case resulted in state-wide reforms in how public administrators receive and account for job-related benefits, administer compensation and benefits for subordinates, and apprise publicly-elected officials of their decisions and conduct. These state-wide reforms must have been very minimum, like, you can't buy cars with no limits, you can't give bonuses without the council knowing about them. So Craig used those minimum boundaries to cut Channing the maximum possible compensation and spending powers the minimum standards allow. Extremely Concerned Citizen.
Question - I'd like to mention that the day Joel Lautenschleger came to my door, I asked him about cutting the two Sheriff positions. He told me they were never active positions, but only in case of emergency they would be used, so in effect we weren't using them or losing them. Sounds like a blatant lie to me.
Answer - I sent this question to Mayor Bressette and this is his answer:
They worked as the Special Enforcement Team (SET). These are sworn, full-time, gun-carrying Deputy Sheriffs. The primary job of the Special Enforcement Team was to have the autonomy during their shift to patrol those areas of the city where there was an expectation of crime, a large party, or areas of the city that needed the extra law enforcement presence. I have ridden with the SET deputies on several occasions and found that they were a significant contribution to the safety of our city, as well as a strong deterrent to crime. The SET deputies would respond to emergency calls when other units were busy. They also acted as back-up to other units when needed. These were NOT emergency deputies or Reserve Deputies. Their function was to have the autonomy during their shift to patrol those areas of the city where there was an expectation of crime, a large party, or to patrol those areas of the city that needed the extra law enforcement presence. I am attaching for further documentation the City of Laguna Hills’ comprehensive annual financial report, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2009. It shows the City of Laguna Hills Full-Time Equivalent Personnel Allocation By Functions on the table found in Section III-21. http://www.ci.laguna-hills.ca.us/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=2724
Please note Public Safety Staffing in year 2008 was 31.24, and in 2009 it is 29.19.
**We received the same information about the SET Team from City Council Candidate Barbara Kogerman, but wanted to double check on this because we have received a lot of questions about things that Craig Scott and Joel Lautenschleger are saying to citizens during this campaign.
Council Member Melody Carruth added - The SET unit is often referred to as the "party car"- unmarked, undercover car dispatched throughout the City to reduce negative impacts from out of control parties, residential gatherings and other disturbances in the community. Halloween is a perfect example of neighborhoods requiring extra law enforcement service. While council members may argue that Laguna Hills has the third highest sheriff's deputy ratio in South County (population to sheriff units) we also need to factor the School Resource Officer in to the redistribution of law enforcement units as the SRO program reduces the actual number of sheriff's units to 28 during the school year.
Laguna Hills City Manager, Bruce Channing is the Poster Boy for Council Member and Candidate Craig Scott's business interests of helping City Manager's getting the most bloated compensation from our cities. It is no wonder that those 2 are so tight and Scott that his 2 cronies consistently vote for as little transparency as possible. If you are a citizen who wants your tax dollars to continue to go to city management rather than to city services Scott is your candidate, if you want accountability for your dollars get him out of there. A Serious NO Vote for Scott.
THE BEST THING TO DO IS VOTE, THE SECOND BEST THING IS TO BE FREE OF LOYALTY TO A PARTY AND NOT HAVE TO MAKE A MISTAKE THAT WE HAVE TO LIVE WITH! Micki
Does anyone remember what Mayor Craig Scott said to the news reporter from the OC Register just after taking office at Mayor in 2006? The reporter asked what he wished to accomplish during his term as Mayor he replied in the "Our Towns" column in the newspaper, that he wanted to re-publish some of the legal texts he had written. How's that as a goal for Laguna Hills? Scott says he wants to work with citizens but never has and has always been primarily interested in Scott and in doing this job for the advantages it brings to his business. Save us from Another Year with him. NOT for Scott.
Remember the infamous STICKY DOTS issue from the Jan. 31, 2008 Laguna Hills Public City Planning Session? According to city council majority of 3, citizens expressed the wrong opinions that night in an exercise where citizens gave input regarding their needs and expectations for Laguna Hills over the next 15 to 20 years by placing Sticky Dots next to the city services they most wanted. At the follow up session (with the city (GPAC) planning group members appointed by the city council) we learned that the City Council and staff had ruled the public would no longer be allowed to have sticky dots to use at any future public planning sessions because the sports fields and animal shelter received too many dots and the high school's SRO issue was eliminated because it was "too specific" for a city planning session. We wondered how much more ridiculous this could get and then learned that after the first Public Planning session, Council Member Craig Scott got a motion passed barring the council members from attending anymore Public City Planning Sessions because he reportedly thought Melody Carruth had somehow influenced citizens at the first session to vote "their views" instead of "Scott's city views" By the 3rd session the City Manager suggested the council members should attend to see what was going on. When they saw, the council majority - Scott Lautenschleger and Songstad, expressed their disapproval by stripping the citizens who did not agree with them of their Sticky Dot Privileges and stripped themselves of all credibility regarding consideration of any serious citizen input into the City Plan. A Real Believer in NO VOTES for SCOTT!
Just some thoughts on Craig Scott: As his professional life is as an author dedicated to helping City Managers get the best deal, has Craig Scott undergone some sort Client Capture-Patty Hurst-Stockholm Syndrome event where he is now identifying with the city manager he is supposed to be actively overseeing? Is Craig Scott engaging in self dealing by negotiating for the city manager? What is Mr. Scott's compensation from the CM? Does he get a percentage? Sounds like the LH citizens get screwed both coming and going. How about his position that term limits remove effective servants. Yes, much like the City of Bell, where the ONE council member to bring all the thievery to light was not a long term elected official, but the newest elected official, who had only held office for 1 year. Notice, none of the long term council members had done anything, and were part of the graft. Maybe, if there had been term limits, Rizzo would have been caught or prevented from his theft. If Scott is self dealing, since the compensation is negotiated in bad faith, there may not be a contract between the City and the CM, or it may be voidable. Fraud vitiates consent, and here, the City of LH may have reliance on Scott, and the citizens get screwed. Don't know. Check with a different type of lawyer who knows about this (I'm just thinking.) CURIOUS Attorney & citizen
OC Register's Liberty First rates city council members and you voice your opinion about the people you elect to political office. You can make a comment or post a video and tell the world how your elected representatives are doing their job! http://www.libertyfirst.org/elected-officials1a.php
Craig Scott received a grade of D for Personal Freedoms, a grade of C for Fiscal Issues as follows:
Fiscal Issues (07/05/2010 at 05:36 am): On 12-8-2009 Craig Scott voted to approve the maximum possible bonus for the city manager despite tough economic times.
Fiscal Issues (07/06/2010 at 12:22 am): On 1-25-2010 Craig Scott voted to ratify the awarding of a maximum bonus to the Laguna Hills city manager which had been passed in December 2009.
Fiscal Issues (01/02/2010 at 06:47 am): On 6-23-2009 Craig Scott voted not to require council approval for any and all salary increases to staff.
Personal Freedoms (07/05/2010 at 05:34 am): On 12-8-2009 Craig Scott voted not to abide by state law and pass a resolution adhering to changes regarding landscaping as designated by the State of California.
Personal Freedoms (08/22/2010 at 12:52 am): On 6-22-2010 Craig Scott voted no on a second vote that would have allowed non-profit and/or charitable groups an exemption to solicit with a permit.
Personal Freedoms (08/22/2010 at 12:53 am): On 6-22-2010 Craig Scott voted no on a final vote that would have amended the solicitation ordinance in a way that would have made the rule more in accordance with IRS guidelines.
WHAT A PILE OF BULL MANURE!!!!!
The posting of incomplete information in the Public Official's Compensation Report on the City web site, and then making lame excuses for it is sickening: From the City web site - In the City of Laguna Hills Public Official's Compensation Report - Under Vacation Buy-out - "The City encourages all employees to reduce their unused leave balances to 160 hours or less. This practice allows the City to avoid the accumulation of large unfunded liabilities. Employees are thereby allowed to cash out vacation leave in excess or 80 hours. To the extent that an employee has his or her vacation bought out by the City, or if it is cashed out by the employee, it is taxable compensation. And as stated above, it is illegal to include vacation buy-outs when an employee's pension is calculated. Since vacation buy-outs vary significantly from year to year, these amounts are treated by the City as special, one time occurrences and are not included in the regular, recurring compensation of management staff listed above." City Manager Bruce Channing and "Mr. Book Writing, Self Proclaimed Expert On All Things City Manager Compensation, Attorney Extraordinaire, CRAIG SCOTT think they are outsmarting the public. The drafting of this, in my opinion was definitely a calibration if not completely written by attorney Craig Scott. This City Council is RESPONSIBLE for telling us how our money is spent and this idle attempt at "full disclosure" makes a mockery out of the concept of FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY.
The City staff does not have to calculate one single extra thing. Since vacation buyouts have to be added to taxable income Box 5 of the W-2, the amount is already calculated and just sitting on a line with the other numbers separated out for the preparation of the W-2 each January. That is WHY Mayor Bressette wanted the compensation report updated in February of each year (after W-2's have been completed), SO THERE WOULD BE NO EXCUSE not to do it. Also, the web site should say now that "the following compensation numbers are for year 2009," because the incomplete numbers they are using, are for year 2009. In February 2011, it would say the following compensation is for 2010 etc.!!
Craig Scott and Bruce Channing must have thought their exposure to lying on the web site by not including "vacation buyout as taxable compensation" was becoming too large a liability, so they finally admitted it is "COMPENSATION". The arrogance of Bruce Channing is a learned behavior. He has perfected this level of arrogance that is allowed, applauded and protected by Scott, Songstad and Lautenschleger. I am disgusted that our City would KNOWINGLY post incomplete, misrepresented information on our web site. To post this pile of bull manure and then smugly think "that's good enough - what can Mayor Bressette do about it - get a 3/2 vote to make us disclose this properly?" I can hear them laughing!! Outraged Citizen Voting for Mayor Bressette and honest reporting to citizens.
About the Public Official's Compensation Report's Vacation buy-outs, why are "vacation buy-outs" treated as "special, one time occurrences"? If the City has a encouragement program to get their employees to reduce their unused leave balances to 160 hours or less, it appears this would be an ongoing issue not a "special, one time occurrence." Sounds to me more like "spinning" that anything else. A Serious Doubter
* How to support the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Division Adopted by the City of Laguna Hills - the 3/5 division is now back in Afghanistan and 10 of their members have been killed in the line of duty, but after 6 weeks, the 3 members of the city council majority, Craig Scott, Lautenschleger and Songstad have not concluded their "study of the situation" so there is still no support for the Marines from the City that "Adopted them?"- Council Member Melody Carruth told us - If you want to serve on a new Support Committee for the Adopted Marine Division and/or make a contribution contact Richard Nagle at rnagle74@cox.net
OCREGISTER: City to look at renewing support for Marine battalion
http://www.ocregister.com/news/support-266469-city-battalion.html
OCREGISTER: No support committee just yet for Laguna Hills' adopted battalion
http://www.ocregister.com/news/committee-266605-support-city.html
* News Stories and Blogs about Laguna Hills:
Transparency honor goes to Brandman students, law passes
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/09/01/transparency-honor-goes-to-brandman-students/63589/
OC has two of state’s best-paid city managers
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/09/17/oc-has-two-of-states-best-paid-city-managers/64492/
Laguna Hills posts compensation report
http://www.ocregister.com/news/calpers-266010-city-contribution.html
OC Register Editorial: City pay data belongs in daylight http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/city-261556-compensation-cities.html
Proposed California law would sanction cities that pay excessive salaries http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-bell-legislation-20100812,0,4204782,email.story
Mad scramble to yank veil off city salaries begins
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/08/05/mad-scramble-to-yank-veil-off-city-salaries-begins/62215/
California's city officials scramble to limit damage from Bell scandal http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bell-impact-20100729,0,6243085.story
OCREGISTER: Editorial: Maybe call it the city of Alarm Bell http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/city-258416-bell-county.html
Editorial - Orange County Register on Friday, May 21, 2010 -
Managing some big pay packages begins with "If you require a fresh source of indignation over public employees' perks, look no further than Laguna Hills,"
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/compensation-249743-city-public.html
Top city manager compensation: $460,809, report says http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/17/top-city-manager-compensation-460809-report-says/57287/
Controversial city manager compensation report now online http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/17/controversial-city-comp-report-now-online/57357/
Frustration, lack of transparency mar quest for city pay data http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2010/05/26/frustration-lack-of-transparency-mar-quest-for-city-pay-data/57991/
Prof defends students, study, in wake of city manager attacks http://taxdollars.freedomblogging.com/2010/06/01/prof-defends-students-study-in-wake-of-city-manager-attacks/58291/
Laguna Hills defends city manager pay increases http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-251558-manager-channing.html
OCREGISTER: Kogerman submits term limit initiative http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-251580-council-kogerman.htmlCity
Manager who got car now gets performance bonus http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-223526-bonus-manager.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/
* City Council Members Say the Darndest Things in Public? Memorable and surprising Public Quotes from City Council Members
Feb. 1, 2010 - Laguna Hills Mayor Pro-Tem. Craig Scott commented on KOCE TV that Term Limits are undemocratic and shift power to Career Bureaucrats, campaign consultants and those who have other than our best interests at heart. Council Member Craig Scott seems confused about this considering that a career is a course or progress through life, or a distinct portion of life and a Bureaucrat is a term that usually connotes someone within an institution of a government. Council Member Craig Scott has been a Laguna Hills City Council Member without a break for 19 years so far and is expected to run again in 2010. So, by definition he has achieved Career Bureaucrat status and he achieved that without Term Limits.
Congratulations Mr. Scott! Dec. 4, 2008 - LHCC Member Craig Scott stated, ".... based on what is recited here I think it is a fair comment to say that Nellie Gail was not remarkable. "We did some research on this issue and if that's the best we can do, a school teacher, 2 daughters and ran the ranch until turning it over to her children, I submit that's not necessarily remarkable. " Really, Mr. Scott, would you say you are a "remarkable" city council member and how would you define that? Council Member Craig Scott is speaking about Nellie Gail Moulton (1878-1972) Born in Kansas in 1878, Nellie Gail spent her childhood in Nebraska and came to California with her family in 1893. Upon receiving her teaching credentials, she taught school in the state of Washington near Seattle at the turn of the century. On a summer trip to visit her family in Southern California she met Lewis Moulton whom she married in 1908. They settled on a ranch of 22,000 acres. When her husband died she ran the 22,000 acre ranch while raising 2 daughters. She was also a school teacher, and an artist. Most of her paintings appear to have been done in and around Laguna Beach. Nellie Gail Ranch, in Laguna Hills, is named for her. Be sure to see the exhibit of her "Remarkable" life in the lobby at City Hall!
June 10, 2008 - Mayor Allan Songstad said "We have to go through a bidding process and sometimes the low bidder is not always the best contractor, but sometimes that's what we're stuck with." Thank you Council Member Songstad, that is exactly what we have been trying to tell you about the Laguna Hills City Council "sticking " the residents with the same bad vendor - The Orange County Animal Shelter for the past 19 years.
On May 27, 2008 - LHCC Member Craig Scott stated, "I am on the toll road every day and I don't want the tolls to go down, I want them to stay where they are or go higher and I'm ready to pay that price and I'd prefer NOT to have others do the same." Are there any volunteers willing to support a resolution proclaiming that the 73 Toll Road be set aside for the Exclusive Use of City Council Member Craig Scott until such time that this pesky congestion problem caused by less entitled people, like the rest of us, is brought under control? Or, maybe people would like to e-mail Mr. Scott at ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us to encourage him to broaden his perspective. He has been a Laguna Hills City Council Member for 19 years)
October 25, 2005 - Mayor Allan Songstad, speaking about the Laguna Hills City Council said, "When you've been doing business in a certain way for 13 years you're not likely to change that." So true, Allan, so unfortunately true.
August 19, 1994 - LHCC Member Allan Songstad - From the Los Angeles Times Newspaper Article Collections - Orange County Focus August 19, 1994LYNN FRANEY - Laguna Hills Councilman Declines to Run for Reelection With Councilman L. Allan Songstad Jr. declining to run for reelection, at least one newcomer will gain a seat on the City Council this fall. Songstad said he never intended to run for a second council term and that he is not a "career politician." That leaves space for at least one of the challengers, Cindy Greengold, Saeid Hariri, Grant R. Marcus or Charmane Riggs. Now, in 2010 with 18 years on the Laguna Hills City Council we are guessing Council Member Songstad has changed his mind about being not being a "career politician."
* For "CRIME IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD" Updates - go to: www.ocregister.com/saddleback scroll down to "Local Maps" Click on OCSC Crime Calls in the pull doewn box that says "MORE" move the map to your area, and click on the crime icons for details that show calls to the OC Sheriff's Department. You can also see stats for Crime in Lake Forest & Laguna Hills on Fridays in the Saddleback Valley News that is delivered to our area.
There is more information at www.ocsd.org (the OC Sheriff's Dept.) click on "E-Services" for the pull down menu, next click on "Sheriff's Blotter" then click "Laguna Hills" for the 7 or 30 day view.
* For LIVE TRAFFIC MAPS Caltrans Online Traffic Maps to instantly check traffic and any incidents on the 405/5 freeways at any time of day. On the tool bar, you can hit "Change Cities," and it shows whatever you put in there - inland, San Diego,etc. (**Thank you to Dee Dee McGann-Gollwitzer for this!) http://www.sigalert.com/map.asp?Region=Orange+County#lat=33.69964&lon=-117.80006&z=1
You can contact all of the Laguna Hills City Council Members at: ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us phone: 949-707-2610 fax: 949-707-2614 We learned that
citizens who have concerns about the city, their neighborhoods, etc. should address them to the City Council Members at: ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us . That way all the council members will be equally aware of the concerns of citizens. Council members can route complaints to appropriate departments and/or answer concerns individually as needed. If citizens address concerns only to individual council members or to staff, those concerns often do not reach all council members to allow appropriate feedback.
* Reminders and Directions for Newspaper Letters to the Editor
To write letters to the editor of the Orange County Register newspaper: letters@ocregister.com Provide your name and telephone number (telephone numbers will not be published). Letters of about 200 words will be given preference. Letters will be edited for length, grammar and clarity.
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