Dec. 13, 2011 - Laguna Hills City Council Meeting
All council members were present
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City Council Meetings are now recorded in Video and Audio on the City Web Site. - Continue to see information for Win-Win -Wednesdays under - INFORMATION, COMMENTS QUESTIONS and CONCERNS from Watch Dog Readers, Contact Laguna Hills City Council Members at - ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us
Citizen Alerts for future Council Meetings will be published on this blog site within 4 days prior to each council meeting. Next regular City Council Meeting is Tuesday January 10, 2012, 7 pm, at City Hall Please attend a City Council Meeting to speak or send e-mails to the Council Members at ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us
HEADLINES: Kogerman passed over for Mayor Pro-Tem, Songstad gives Outgoing Mayor and Political Comments, Lautenschleger attempts to correct his previous statement with more misinformation, Editorial Opinion re. Outgoing Mayor Statements, Kogerman's ideas for a Citizen Based Planning Commission and for moving the People's Business up from the end of the Council Meeting Agendas are trounced.
**CORRECTION - A very alert LHWD reader contacted us with information that the CEA (City Employees Associates http://cityemployeesassociates.com/Clients.html is technically Not a Union. We have been calling it a Union so we want to correct any error on our part. We investigated but could not determine any significant difference so we consulted one of our legal sources who is very dependable and were told - the CEA is a Collective Bargaining Unit and is referred to as such by the MMBA (Meyers-Milias-Brown Act) which governs labor-management relationships within California local governments. Our source said we are talking in nuances of the law here and the CEA represents the employees in terms of wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment so there is little discernable difference, other than legal terminology, between the CEA and a Union. If anyone knows more about the difference between the CEA and a Union please document and let us know as we are always willing to make corrections to any inaccurate information we may have published.
REMARKS OF OUTGOING MAYOR - Staff report states this is L. Allan Songstad's 5th term as Mayor of this city. Previous terms were 12/92 - 12/93, 12/96 - 12/97, 12/02 - 12/03, and 12/07 - 12/08. The staff report states that during Songstad's term of office from 12/10 - 12/11 the following things have occurred: conversion of the former Circuit City to an Ashley Furniture Store, Total Wine and Chick-Fil-A was started, a complete renovation of the Chevron Station and Mini-Mart, Da Vita Medical Office Building, Dept. of Motor Vehicles Building, Taj Mahal Medical Office Complex, Master Sign Pgrm. for the La Paz Village Center, an Amendment to the Urban Village Specific Plan,progress in widening of La Paz Rd. at I-5, and widening of Avenida de la Carlota and the selection of Charles Abbot and Assoc. as the new Building Consultant for the City. It also states that he has represented the City at the So. OC Assoc. of Mayors, The Assoc. of CA. Cities, OC and the OC Division of the League of CA. Cities.
Council Member Songstad spoke extensively repeating the items above from the staff report and adding, "When we established the City we knew that we needed to hire the best management personnel that we could to achieve the goals that we had set for ourselves and for the city. So, we established a policy that we would pay 5% over the County average for our management personnel, hoping that we would attract the best management personnel we could. I believe that we attracted the best city manager in the County. In fact I think that we might have attracted the best city manager in the State." He went on to say, "Our goals at incorporation were to capture the tax dollars that were generated by our community and direct them to enhance our public safety for our residents, improve the quality of life, maintain our infrastructure at a high level and to provide amenities that the County did not provide, when the area was unincorporated."
Near the end of his speech he added the following comments, "But now our city staff and the council have come under criticism from various sources, and I think primarily for political reasons. Our senior management is under criticism even though for 19 years the City was considered a model in Orange County. Because of, I think politically motivated remarks, our staff is insecure and is concerned about their positions and compensation to the point that they have recently formed a union, which, in my opinion could affect the way we have done business and our ability to effectively reorganize and meet future economic challenges. The citizens of Laguna Hills need to decide whether the City continues on the path that we have begun 20 years ago or whether we become just another highly political body, with mediocre management, where council members make decisions based upon the next election rather than what is in the best interest of the long term goals of the City."
In conclusion he issued a warning to Laguna Hills Citizens that, "... they may follow in the footsteps of other cities in Orange County and around the State that have, through lack of effective staff, fallen into grave fiscal danger and are now unable to provide effective city services."
One alert reader who also attends City Council Meetings responded to this statement with - "I am surprised, perhaps not anymore, at the talk of gloom and doom. Leaders need to provide leadership in bringing people together to consider and debate merits of different points of view and do the right things in running the city rather than think that anyone who disagrees with them will bring gloom and doom. Their approach is disrespectful of the city residents."
(Editorial Opinion - Although Songstad has not yet publicly declared himself a candidate for re-election for the City Council in 2012, it would appear that he may have started his campaign with political comments as outgoing Mayor. We can understand, that when the City was started with 5 new inexperienced council members who needed guidance they wanted someone with experience, as Songstad said "hire the best management personnel that we could to achieve the goals that we had set for ourselves and for the city" and we believe that definition included personnel who would without question follow those goals.
They chose City Manager Bruce Channing. (History of Bruce Channing from From Trackdown Mgmt. Services web site - In 1976 Channing worked as an Administrative Intern in Santa Barbara, then took a similar position in Santa Monica later that year. In 1977 he was an Administrative Analyst in Pasadena, where he worked for about 4 years before being appointed Assistant to the City Manager in Yorba Linda in 1982 and served in that post for about 9-years until he was selected for his current assignment as Laguna Hills City Manager in 1991. Channing has a BA from the University of California and an MPA from USC.) Songstad stated he thinks Channing, "is the best City Manager in the State" but a question is, does the 7th smallest City of 34 cites in Orange County, and a contract city, require or need to pay for the best City Manager in the State to run smoothly and if so why?
Don White was chosen as Assistant City Manager in 1991 and it appears he and Channing did a good enough job of running the City that the council members could move on to spend less time being concerned with running the City and more time using the connections their positions afforded them to further their careers. We believe Songstad may have been referring to this when he noted "goals they had set for themselves" Those connections are used by most politicians but where we see it going wrong is that the Council let the total compensation for upper management and the very expensive Health Care Premiums for themselves and full time employees get out of control. If they had shared this information with the taxpayers who were footing the bills this may not have continued for so long. We doubt that this would have been acceptable if taxpayers were treated as stockholders, but for many years taxpayers did not question where the money was going because the City looked good and did not spend more money than they took in.
Problems for these long term council members started years later when citizens began questioning the fact that they were continuing to receive many of the same, outdated services, they had been receiving prior to the City's incorporation in 1991 including no services for Seniors. Citizens were told the City couldn't afford to pay for better services and had to cut back some of the police services as well, but the City Manager always got his 10% bonus until 2010 when citizens rose up and protested at a City Council Meeting. Also the City Manager and council members never cut back on the very expensive health care premiums until 2011 after they were exposed in the news in 2010 and Council Member Kogerman, protested and refused to accept her Health Care Benefits through the City. - http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/12/06/oc-cities-lavished-health-benefits-on-council-members/69544/
In 2009-10, when information about how much money was being spent on compensation for upper management and healthcare premiums for part time council members and all full time employees was revealed it was shocking for many citizens. The fact that the City had always been and still is paying 100% of Health Care Premiums for all the part time council members and their families and all the full time employees and their families as well as 100% of the Employee plus the Employer Retirement Contributions for council members and all full time employees was not relatable for most citizens. Three Compensations Studies in addition to the City's 2011 Ralph Anderson and Associates Study were done from 2009-2011. The 3 studies, that Songstad appears to have referred to as various political sources were:
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City Council Meetings are now recorded in Video and Audio on the City Web Site. - Continue to see information for Win-Win -Wednesdays under - INFORMATION, COMMENTS QUESTIONS and CONCERNS from Watch Dog Readers, Contact Laguna Hills City Council Members at - ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us
Citizen Alerts for future Council Meetings will be published on this blog site within 4 days prior to each council meeting. Next regular City Council Meeting is Tuesday January 10, 2012, 7 pm, at City Hall Please attend a City Council Meeting to speak or send e-mails to the Council Members at ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us
HEADLINES: Kogerman passed over for Mayor Pro-Tem, Songstad gives Outgoing Mayor and Political Comments, Lautenschleger attempts to correct his previous statement with more misinformation, Editorial Opinion re. Outgoing Mayor Statements, Kogerman's ideas for a Citizen Based Planning Commission and for moving the People's Business up from the end of the Council Meeting Agendas are trounced.
**CORRECTION - A very alert LHWD reader contacted us with information that the CEA (City Employees Associates http://cityemployeesassociates.com/Clients.html is technically Not a Union. We have been calling it a Union so we want to correct any error on our part. We investigated but could not determine any significant difference so we consulted one of our legal sources who is very dependable and were told - the CEA is a Collective Bargaining Unit and is referred to as such by the MMBA (Meyers-Milias-Brown Act) which governs labor-management relationships within California local governments. Our source said we are talking in nuances of the law here and the CEA represents the employees in terms of wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment so there is little discernable difference, other than legal terminology, between the CEA and a Union. If anyone knows more about the difference between the CEA and a Union please document and let us know as we are always willing to make corrections to any inaccurate information we may have published.
REMARKS OF OUTGOING MAYOR - Staff report states this is L. Allan Songstad's 5th term as Mayor of this city. Previous terms were 12/92 - 12/93, 12/96 - 12/97, 12/02 - 12/03, and 12/07 - 12/08. The staff report states that during Songstad's term of office from 12/10 - 12/11 the following things have occurred: conversion of the former Circuit City to an Ashley Furniture Store, Total Wine and Chick-Fil-A was started, a complete renovation of the Chevron Station and Mini-Mart, Da Vita Medical Office Building, Dept. of Motor Vehicles Building, Taj Mahal Medical Office Complex, Master Sign Pgrm. for the La Paz Village Center, an Amendment to the Urban Village Specific Plan,progress in widening of La Paz Rd. at I-5, and widening of Avenida de la Carlota and the selection of Charles Abbot and Assoc. as the new Building Consultant for the City. It also states that he has represented the City at the So. OC Assoc. of Mayors, The Assoc. of CA. Cities, OC and the OC Division of the League of CA. Cities.
Council Member Songstad spoke extensively repeating the items above from the staff report and adding, "When we established the City we knew that we needed to hire the best management personnel that we could to achieve the goals that we had set for ourselves and for the city. So, we established a policy that we would pay 5% over the County average for our management personnel, hoping that we would attract the best management personnel we could. I believe that we attracted the best city manager in the County. In fact I think that we might have attracted the best city manager in the State." He went on to say, "Our goals at incorporation were to capture the tax dollars that were generated by our community and direct them to enhance our public safety for our residents, improve the quality of life, maintain our infrastructure at a high level and to provide amenities that the County did not provide, when the area was unincorporated."
Near the end of his speech he added the following comments, "But now our city staff and the council have come under criticism from various sources, and I think primarily for political reasons. Our senior management is under criticism even though for 19 years the City was considered a model in Orange County. Because of, I think politically motivated remarks, our staff is insecure and is concerned about their positions and compensation to the point that they have recently formed a union, which, in my opinion could affect the way we have done business and our ability to effectively reorganize and meet future economic challenges. The citizens of Laguna Hills need to decide whether the City continues on the path that we have begun 20 years ago or whether we become just another highly political body, with mediocre management, where council members make decisions based upon the next election rather than what is in the best interest of the long term goals of the City."
In conclusion he issued a warning to Laguna Hills Citizens that, "... they may follow in the footsteps of other cities in Orange County and around the State that have, through lack of effective staff, fallen into grave fiscal danger and are now unable to provide effective city services."
One alert reader who also attends City Council Meetings responded to this statement with - "I am surprised, perhaps not anymore, at the talk of gloom and doom. Leaders need to provide leadership in bringing people together to consider and debate merits of different points of view and do the right things in running the city rather than think that anyone who disagrees with them will bring gloom and doom. Their approach is disrespectful of the city residents."
(Editorial Opinion - Although Songstad has not yet publicly declared himself a candidate for re-election for the City Council in 2012, it would appear that he may have started his campaign with political comments as outgoing Mayor. We can understand, that when the City was started with 5 new inexperienced council members who needed guidance they wanted someone with experience, as Songstad said "hire the best management personnel that we could to achieve the goals that we had set for ourselves and for the city" and we believe that definition included personnel who would without question follow those goals.
They chose City Manager Bruce Channing. (History of Bruce Channing from From Trackdown Mgmt. Services web site - In 1976 Channing worked as an Administrative Intern in Santa Barbara, then took a similar position in Santa Monica later that year. In 1977 he was an Administrative Analyst in Pasadena, where he worked for about 4 years before being appointed Assistant to the City Manager in Yorba Linda in 1982 and served in that post for about 9-years until he was selected for his current assignment as Laguna Hills City Manager in 1991. Channing has a BA from the University of California and an MPA from USC.) Songstad stated he thinks Channing, "is the best City Manager in the State" but a question is, does the 7th smallest City of 34 cites in Orange County, and a contract city, require or need to pay for the best City Manager in the State to run smoothly and if so why?
Don White was chosen as Assistant City Manager in 1991 and it appears he and Channing did a good enough job of running the City that the council members could move on to spend less time being concerned with running the City and more time using the connections their positions afforded them to further their careers. We believe Songstad may have been referring to this when he noted "goals they had set for themselves" Those connections are used by most politicians but where we see it going wrong is that the Council let the total compensation for upper management and the very expensive Health Care Premiums for themselves and full time employees get out of control. If they had shared this information with the taxpayers who were footing the bills this may not have continued for so long. We doubt that this would have been acceptable if taxpayers were treated as stockholders, but for many years taxpayers did not question where the money was going because the City looked good and did not spend more money than they took in.
Problems for these long term council members started years later when citizens began questioning the fact that they were continuing to receive many of the same, outdated services, they had been receiving prior to the City's incorporation in 1991 including no services for Seniors. Citizens were told the City couldn't afford to pay for better services and had to cut back some of the police services as well, but the City Manager always got his 10% bonus until 2010 when citizens rose up and protested at a City Council Meeting. Also the City Manager and council members never cut back on the very expensive health care premiums until 2011 after they were exposed in the news in 2010 and Council Member Kogerman, protested and refused to accept her Health Care Benefits through the City. - http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/12/06/oc-cities-lavished-health-benefits-on-council-members/69544/
In 2009-10, when information about how much money was being spent on compensation for upper management and healthcare premiums for part time council members and all full time employees was revealed it was shocking for many citizens. The fact that the City had always been and still is paying 100% of Health Care Premiums for all the part time council members and their families and all the full time employees and their families as well as 100% of the Employee plus the Employer Retirement Contributions for council members and all full time employees was not relatable for most citizens. Three Compensations Studies in addition to the City's 2011 Ralph Anderson and Associates Study were done from 2009-2011. The 3 studies, that Songstad appears to have referred to as various political sources were:
1. - Barbara Kogerman's Study with help from Bradman University graduate students who won the Public CEO's Service to the State Award for that Study
2. - The State Controller John Chaing's Office Report
3. - The 2011 Grand Jury's Report of OC Cities Employee Compensation
The results of these studies were widely reported by the Orange County Register, The Los Angeles Times, radio and television and in many smaller publications including this one.
What may be upseting Songstad so much is not that Citizens will take a wrong turn in their thinking that could plunge the City into an abyss of mediocrity, but that Citizens now have information about the City that was never previously revealed to them. - * OC Register Editorial: City pay data belongs in daylight - http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/city-261556-compensation-cities.html
The 2010-11 Orange County Grand Jury was among those "various" agencies, referred to by Songstad, who examined the Compensation of Employees in Orange County Cities earning over $100,000 per year. They found "a disturbing level of inconsistency in the degree of transparency pertaining to compensation information which is currently provided to the public." The Grand Jury gave Laguna Hills the following grades for Compensation Reporting - Content = "C", Clarity = "D" and Accessibility = "B".
In Finding (F.6), the Grand Jury stated the compensation of the City Manager and Assistant City Manager/Finance Director in the City of Laguna Hills exceeds levels in other comparably sized cities both inside and outside of Orange County." The Grand Jury recommended (R.4) that, "The City of Laguna Hills conduct a compensation review of top officials." Instead of doing that, Laguna Hills conducted a $24,500 taxpayer funded compensation study of city personnel Excluding top officials after which the City's non-management employees joined a Collective Bargaining Unit. A very alert Laguna Hills Watch Dog reader sent a comment asking - Is it possible the employees sensed the anti Kogerman bias in city Hall and thought organizing would be a show of support for that bias?
The Grand Jury required a response to their Findings and Recommendations from Laguna Hills. - You can see the Grand Jury's 2010-2011 Compensation of Orange County Cities at http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/comp-study-oc-cities/Compensation-Study-of-Orange-County-Cities.pdf You can see the City of Laguna Hills' response to the Grand Jury at - http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/comp-study-oc-cities/lagunahills-response.pdf
The City of Laguna Hills agreed that public disclosure of municipal compensation levels is widely inconsistent but said it provides "appropriate" disclosure.
The City of Laguna Hills wholly disagreed with - The Compensation of the City Manager and Assistant City Manager exceeding the levels in other comparably sized cities inside and outside of Orange County - citing their Ralph Anderson and Assoc. Compensation Study which did NOT study the City Manager or Assistant City Manager. The City also cited their Ralph Anderson and Assoc. Compensation Study as their answer to the Grand Jury's Recommendation that the City Conduct a compensation study of top officials. - again, the City's Ralph Anderson Compensation Study did NOT study the compensation of Top Officials - the City Manger or Assistant City Manager, so their response made no sense.)
*** From the June 28, 2011 Laguna Hills City Council Meeting's discussion of the City's Ralph Anderson and Assoc. City Employees Compensation Study, Council Member Kogerman told Doug Johnson from Ralph Anderson and Associates that her concern was with Senior Management and that was a Major Reason for doing this study. Doug Johnson's response was - Many of those employees have contracts with contract rates so a salary range could not be used. We are not focused on individuals as much as functions such as Community Development, Public Works, Finance, etc. and City Manager's Pay with the full value of all the elements in their contract that is a different study that what we did here. We are focusing on the standard or macro policies and practices for pay within the organization.
CITY COUNCIL REORGANIZATION
ELECTION OF MAYOR - Mayor Pro-Tem Carruth was nominated for Mayor by Council Member Bressette and voted Mayor. Vote was 5 - 0 in favor
RECOGNITION OF OUTGOING MAYOR with Resolution of Commendation for Outgoing Mayor with a resolution and a plaque and remarks of City Council Members regarding the service of the outgoing Mayor. Mayor Carruth among other things said, "A year ago personal circumstances were such that I did not take my turn as Mayor and Mr. Songstad was gracious enough to step in and serve as Mayor," and described him as durable. Council MemberLautenschleger described Songstad as a solid leader.Council Member Bressette said he appreciated Mayor Songstad's willingness to listen to the audience this year when they went over their appointed time of 3 minutes.
COMMENTS OF NEW MAYOR - Mayor Carruth welcomed new Community Development Director David Chantarangsu to replace Vern Jones who recently retired after being with the City for 11 years.
Mayor Carruth announced that we are also losing Captain Steve Doan, formerly Lt. Steve Doan, who has received a well deserved promotion so will be leaving us. Captain Doan was presented with a Certificate of Recognition. Mayor Carruth noted that Captain Doan had joined Laguna Hills in April of 2004 as Chief of Police. She described him as a person of immense character, honesty and loyalty. She noted that the residents have come to know him well through the Emergency Preparedness Program and she expressed the gratitude of the entire city council for a job well done. Captain Doan said thank you to all said it has been a real honor. He got a bit choked up and closed with "While my butt might be in another seat somewhere in the Sheriff's Dept. my heart will always be here." (Editor's Note - For those of us who have had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Captain Doan and some of the officers who worked with him, we were also choked up about losing him. He was always friendly, honest and paid attention to us as citizens. We really hate to see him go. The LH Watch Dog will publish a Special Edition soon containing a report on the Emergency Preparedness Program that started on Captain Doan's watch and that he is so proud of as well as an interview with Captain Doan.)
Mayor Carruth also recognized Council Members Bressette and Kogerman for their efforts working with Mike Bland and the other members of the Support Committee for the City's Adopted 3/5 Marines Teresa Bonutto and Meg Gorham who were at the Council Meeting. She said they have all worked so hard to strengthen that committee and engage more people to be part of the support for the Marines. She said the Memorial Day Marathon will be more meaningful through the enthusiastic support of the 3/5 Committee.
ELECTION OF MAYOR Pro-Tem - Council Member Lautenschleger, after brief but awkward silence, was nominated by Council Member Songstad and was voted Mayor Pro-Tem. Vote was 5 - 0 in favor. Lautenschleger was Mayor in 2009 and if he is re-elected in 2012 he would be Mayor again in 2013.There were no comments from the council after this vote.
(Editor's Note - We received many angry comments from voters who felt cheated when the Council elected Songstad as Mayor for 2011 after so many citizens had voted for a change with Barbara Kogerman who was the top winner of the 2010 election with 6,109 votes compared with 5,858 for Carruth, 3,886 for Randy Bressette and 3,813 for Craig Scott. Again this time, rather than elect Kogerman for Mayor Pro-Tem, the council decided to recycle the 2009 Mayor, Joel Lautenschleger.
We have no answer for you, from Council Members, this time related to why they continue to ignore Kogerman, but we do still have the statement that was sent to the LH Watch Dog by Council Member Carruth in Dec. of 2010 when residents were angry about her nomination and the council's votes for Songstad for Mayor for the year 2011. Carruth said - "Why didn't I nominate Mrs. Kogerman? Unseating a strong incumbent in 2002, I waited five years to be appointed mayor by the City Council. I do not think it would be proper or fair to proceed through an entire election cycle before Mrs. Kogerman assumes the office of mayor. I do think, however, that any new council member be given the opportunity to learn about the community, land use issues, capital improvement projects, budget process, regional concerns and what is involved in serving as mayor prior to assuming full responsibility. Barbara Kogerman will be a more effective, stronger mayor if she serves in a few years rather than in 2011." Melody Carruth. Perhaps the rest of the Council feels Kogerman has not yet learned enough to satisfy them, but for citizens she has kept her campaign promises to pursue citizen related issues.)
PRESENTATIONS and PROCLAMATIONS -
Recognition of the City's 20th Anniversary - including a proclamation from the current County Supervisor Pat Bates who recounted political history in So. Orange County related to having to deal with recalcitrant County Supervisors for 3 to 4 years who thought they could do a better job than she and the other city founding members related to development issues. She noted that in doing this the city founding members formed a bond that continues.
Grand Jury Recruitment - Stanley Hess, Member of the 2011-2012 Grand Jury, spoke regarding recruitment for Grand Jury Members. He noted that the history of the Grand Jury has been in effect for over 1000 years, originating in England. He said it is one of the best forms of civil oversight that our Constitution Provides. He admitted that the application process is difficult but well worth it and it is a full time 1 year commitment. He said a group of 19 people spend 30% of their time listening to criminal indictments and the rest of their time reviewing all the governmental institutions in the County of Orange. He stressed that it is important for the City of Laguna Hills to be represented in the Grand Jury but the vast majority of applications come from North OC. There is an application online, the deadline is January 13 and he strongly encouraged Laguna Hills citizens to apply. He said there is information on the web site regarding how to apply as well as an application form. There is also information regarding contacts for questions at www.ocgrandjury.org/
Orange County Crime Stoppers Prgrm. Presentation - Mike Jansen from the Orange County Sheriff's Dept. introduced Aaron Berenschot and Patricia Wenskunas founder of Crime Survivors and now also the founder of OC Crime Stoppers, who presented a brief report of the program. which provides citizens with a way to anonymously report criminal activity to law enforcement through text (dial C-R-I-M-E-S/274637 - start with key word OCCS, a space, then the tip information; web www.occrimestoppers.org or a toll free phone number - 1-855-TIP-OCCS/ 855-847-6227 in a 2 way conversation. The report says OC Crime Stoppers is a 501 (c)(3) non profit organization that works with the community through giving citizens a safe way to provide information to law enforcement, a choice regarding responding to questions and they say there is no way to obtain identifying information through the code that is used. Crime Stoppers is a country wide organization with a new Orange County based program that is approved by the County Sheriff. More information can be obtained at www.occrimestoppers.org
PUBLIC COMMENTS -
Mike Bland from Team Dark Horse the Support Committee for the City's 3/5 Marines that were adopted by the City in 2007. Mike thanked the City Council for their help and support this year and reminded them that Mayor Carruth was instrumental in reconstituting support for the City's Adopted 3/5 Marines about a year ago. Mike noted that it might be possible next year to have the Marines 2 hummer vehicles to start the Memorial Day Race. Mike said that although we had to start early this year we had more Holiday Toy Collection Boxes for the 3/5 Marines families including Total Women's Gym, the San Joaquin Elementary School, the Nellie Gail HOA, City Hall and the Community Center. He showed overhead photos and noted that Tara Adams, the President of the San Joaquin Elementary School PTSA, was very helpful and attended the event at Camp Pendleton with her daughter Alexis to assist in giving out the toys. He noted a photo Evan Goss's Monkey Pod Bar, that Evan had donated to the Marines, being used at the Holiday Event to serve all the beverages. He said they must have had at least 1000 people attending the Event. He noted the beautiful decorations done by Teresa Bonuto and her assistants. He said all the donated toys from the community were set up in a 20 x 40 foot room called Santa's workshop and showed photos of the Marine families and children coming through to select toys. He said this was especially enjoyable for the volunteers this year who got to see the children selecting their gifts so thoughtfully and respectfully. He thanked the community for all their support with the donated toys. Council Member Bressette added his thanks for the generosity of the community and all the hard work from the committee. Bressette and his wife Mav also went to the Event and helped set up, decorate and worked there throughout the evening. Mike added a special thank you to Amy, marketing specialist for Behr Paints, who collaborated with Behr Paint to set up multiple toy and gift collection boxes at the Behr Warehouse that collected a very large amount of toys and gifts.
Meg Gorham, from Win Win Wednesday's fund raiser for the LHHS PTSA announced that by Jan. 4 Win Win Wednesday will have made just over $5,600 for this past year, so has been very successful. More than 40 restaurants are participating now so there is a full schedule of great restaurants, a web site, a face book page and a twitter account. There are ads on the bulletin boards at Starbucks and on the marque at LHHS. Chris at the OC Register Newspaper announces some of the Win Win Wednesdays and the key to everything is getting the word out about which restaurant is participating on which Wednesday. It is essential to get the flyers into the hands of the people to use at the restaurants. It is important to "like Win Win Wednesday" on all your facebooks. She asked the City Council again for a Community Billboard at City Hall and/or at the Community Center on the City web site, in City Views, etc. or at least a link from the City web site to the W W Wednesday's web site as it is helping to support the local businesses. Next week on Wed. is Polly's Pies in Laguna Woods all day long and Golden Baked Hams. See more at the Win Win Wed. web site at http://www.winwinwednesdays.com//
LHHS STUDENT LIAISON REPORTby Jeena Bonutto, substituting for Kylie West - Some members of Teen Dark Horse went to Camp Pendleton for the Holiday Party for the City's adopted 3/5 Marines and their families. Jeena said it is her personal goal to get the youth of Laguna Hills involved with Teen Dark Horse because it's such a phenomenal organization. The 1st comedy Sports Home Match is on Thurs. Dec 15 at 7. It's a good comedy show for $7 at the door. She said she wanted to emphasize that sports at LHHS are doing a great job representing the City. In Girl's Tennis, Mikey Barthelmass and Alex Valenstein placed 2nd in league individuals as a doubles to advance to CIF Individual Championships for the first time in the school's history. No Laguna Hills Tennis Team has ever advanced this far. The two girls did an phenomenal job! Our Girl's Basketball Team just last week place 3rd in our Winter Classic which is the best that they have done in the past 5 years in this tournament. It was a really difficult tournament but the girls did really well. Our Boy's Wrestling ranked 1st in Orange County, again, for the 6th consecutive year. They're going to the top again this year, they always do. The Girl's Soccer Team just tied 1 to 1 again Mission which is a great victory because Mission Viejo Girl's Soccer is a very good team. Mayor Carruth thanked Jeena for organizing Teen Dark Horse.
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 approved for publication until the next city council meeting so there is a long delay for the public related to timely documentation of information from the city.
CONSENT CALENDAR - Warrant Register = $508,492.64
Items of interest from the Warrant Register - $2,500 postage for City Views Winter Edition.
Items of interest from the Consent Calendar - 4.3 - City Council Meeting Schedule for 2012 - There are 21 Regular City Council/Planning Agency Meetings for the year 2012 scheduled for the following Tuesdays:
January 10 and 24
February 14 and 28
March 13 and 27
April 10 and 24
May 8 and 22
June 12 and 26
July 10
August 28
September 11 and 25
October 9 and 23
November 6 - is General Municipal Elections including 2 City Council Member Positions
November 13 and 27
December 11
** Be sure to consult the calendar on the City web site for any changes during the year 2012.
4.4 - In accordance with State Law, Government Code Section 54972, City Council Members must prepare and post a Local Appointments List in Dec. of every year of those citizens chosen for commissions and committees. In this City there are only 2 commissions/committees - the Parks and Recreations Commission and the Traffic Commission. Citizens serving on the Parks and Recreation Commission are Daniel Cooper, Mark Jones, Jeffrey McConnell, Jack Noenickx and Farid Tabrizy. Citizens Serving on the Traffic Commission are Pamela Dow, Rick Frazier, Donald Froelich, Timothy Hillis, Stephen (Ed) Rowe.
4.5 - State Law requires a Public Annual Review of Investment Policies and allows Delegation of Investment Authority to the City Treasurer for one year at a time. Starr report says The Council has appointed the City Manager as the City Treasurer in Resolution No. 2011-12-13-X and has delegated authority to the Assistant City Manager/Deputy Treasurer, Don White to manage the funds under the direction of the City Manager/Treasurer, Bruce Channing. The Treasurer must submit quarterly investment reports to the City Council?
4.6 - Development Impact Fees Charged by the City for Public Art, Traffic Mitigation and Parks and Recreation Facilities, Annual Report - Staff Report states City of Laguna HiIls has 3 types of development impact fees Public Art, Traffic Mitigation (provides funds for traffic signals, operation and infrastructure improvements needed as a result of new development) and Quimby Act Fees (provides funding for parks and recreation facilities). Section 66006 of the Government Code requires annual reports. Report states that FY 2010-2011 Fund Balances are Negative $252,650 for Public Art because more money has been spent for these projects than has been collected, $0 for Traffic Mitigation and $0 for Quimby fees. Report states Nov. 2002 Village Specific Plan includes a requirement for all new developments with a total construction cost of $250,000 or more to provide public art or contribute to a public art fund as part of their project. Permissible uses for those fees are: artist fees, mountings and bases for installation of artwork, and lighting that is integral to the artwork.
4.7 - Updated Designation of Assist and Deputy City Attorneys - the City has created an updated list of the names of attorneys at the firm of Woodruff, Spradlin and Smart who are designated to serve the City as Assistant (10 names) and Deputy (20 names) City Attorneys.
4.8 - Presentation of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year 2010-2011 - ended June 30, 2011 including an audit by Moss, Levy and Hartzheim, LLP on the appropriations limit (maximum amount of tax money the City can spend during a fiscal year) to which Moss, Levy and Hartzheim certify reasonable assurance of freedom from material misstatements and note that they give no opinion on the appropriateness of the amount of money spent. The report states the City calculates the limit for its appropriations according to a method established by law - Article XIIIB Appropriations Limitation Uniform Guidelines.
(Editor's Note - This Report notes every year that the Laguna Hills has received an award for excellence in reporting from the Government Finance Offices Association of USA and Canada - GFOA. The report states this year that the City has received this award for 17 years. We are sure the City does a good job of reporting but to keep this in perspective, this is a "Certificate"- Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting (CAFR Program). Every year we check the GFOA web site to see who else has received this Certificate and we note that most every City in So. OC that belongs to the GFOA has also received it. That was true again for the 2010 results posted on the GFOA web site now. Among the other Cities listed to have received this Certificate were, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, San Juan, Lake Forest, RSM and Laguna Niguel and so on. The Eligibility Requirements include: Submitting an electronic or hard copy report including all funds and component units of the entity,Separating component, unit and departmental reports,Including an independent auditor's report, Including responses to any comments from the GFOA's suggestions for improvement from prior years, Demonstration of legal compliance and meeting the submission deadline.)
4.9 - 2nd and final vote for a Laguna Hills Ordinance to establish child safety, from registered sex offender, zones in the parks for children. The staff report failed to note that Council Member Lautenschleger was unable to vote for or against this at the last council meeting on Nov. 22 due to his absence from the meeting so the 1st vote was 4-0 in favor of the ordinance.
4.10 - Progress payment # 9 for La Paz Rd. widening at I-5
4.11 - Award of Professional Services Agreement for environmental clearance and design of the phase 1 widening of Paseo de Valencia from Kennington Dr. to Laguna Hills Dr.
4.12 - Measure M2 Expenditure Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2011 - Report States historically Measure M provides approx. $500,000 of annual revenue to the City for street maintenance.
4.13 - Worker's Compensation Insurance Program for the City -
VOTE - Consent Calendar was passed 5 - 0 minus item 4.9 Child Safety Zones from Registered Sex Offenders in the Parks.
Items Pulled from the Consent Calendar for Discussion - Item 4.9 Child Safety Zones from Registered Sex Offenders in the Parks was pulled by Mayor Pro-Tem Lautenschleger.
Mayor Pro-Tem Lautenschleger said he is really in favor of this ordinance as it is written and will be voting for it but said he went back and listened to the tapes and read the minutes from the Sept. 27 and Nov. 8 meetings and there are a lot of other people questioning a lot of things including the constitutionality, the lack of inclusion of homeowners, the conditions on waivers, and several other points that were not addressed in the County Ordinance. He continued that he wanted to clarify a couple of things and one was that Susan Schroeder from the County District Attorney's Office represented over the last 10 years the crimes, "shown as 110, actually it was 30" because the Sheriff's dept had given Ms. Schroeder the wrong information. "So there was only 30 incidents against children in the previous 10 years and none of those occurred in the City Parks". (Editor's Note - Lautenschleger is wrong again. He quoted both numbers incorrectly and completely missed the point's made about the parks. The wrong # given by Susan Schroeder was 161 and the correction to that number was 32 child molests in Laguna Hills in the past 11 years to date. Also if Mr. Lautenschleger had listened to the reports and comments at the council meetings from the District Atty., Susan Schroeder and the citizens he would know that no one was claiming high incidents of child molestation actually happening in the parks they were saying that although they do occasionally happen in parks, the parks are where sex offenders frequently go to hunt for victims and in that process to ingratiate themselves with children and the families of children.)
*** One additional arrest in Laguna Hills for molestation of 3 children just last week was reported in the News - http://www.ocregister.com/news/crawford-332705-children-old.html Dec. 22, 2011 - LAGUNA HILLS – A school bus driver is in custody on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts against three children in his apartment, authorities said.
Lautenschleger attempted again to correct his statement from the Sept 27, 2011 Council Meeting - "Let's make one thing perfectly clear, there have been no sex crimes against children in the City since we incorporated." by stating that right after he made this statement he added a sentence saying "the City Parks." Lautenschleger went on to say that apparently Ms. Schroeder did not understand that but that was his intention and that is what he said. (Editor's Note - Again, Mr. Lautenschleger is missing the point about the parks and this was Ms. Schroeder's response to him when he attempted to correct his statement to her at the November 8, 2011 Council Meeting - Susan Schroeder responded, Well, Sir, I believe you are quoted saying that you didn't see the need to pass an ordinance because there's no evidence that sex offenders congregate in parks. I believe your statement was that the City of Laguna Hills did not have problems with sex offenders and I know you have registered sex offenders in your parks and those people would be in the parks. Furthermore we've had cases right near by, Mrs. Hagins is going to speak to you about Lake Forest. We had a guy who was fondling little girls at an Aliso Viejo Park. If you think that's not going to happen in Laguna Hills, as wonderful as this City is, I think it would be naive to think that way. Lautenschleger responded- I perfectly agree with you.)
VOTE - 5 - 0 in favor of the Laguna Hills Ordinance for Child Safety Zones from Registered Sex Offenders in the Parks This was the 2nd and final vote to enact this ordinance.
Council Member Kogerman commended City Attorney Greg Simonian for the wonderful job he did of adapting this Ordinance for use in Laguna Hills. She said she was pleased with the support from the council and outpouring of support from the citizens. She said it was a marvelous show of our citizens getting involved with giving their input to the City Council.
PLANNING AGENCY - Administrative Reports - None
CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARINGS - None
CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARINGS - None
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS -
7.1.1 - City Manager's Year End Report - Please see this lengthy report online on the City Web Site. City Manager Channing stated he didn't have anything to add to the report but thinks it was an excellent effort made by the City Staff.
7.2.1 - City Council Members appointed each other and themselves to serve on commissions and committees as they do every year in December and then voted on the appointments they chose. The Members noted below are: Mayor Carruth, Mayor Pro-Tem Lautenschleger, Council Members Bressette, Kogerman and Songstad. Staff is City Manager Channing and Assist. City Manager White.
Director to serve on the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Angencies - Director is Carruth, Alternate is Lautenschleger
Orange County Vector Control District - Board of Trustee Member is Lautenschleger City's Online Staff Report states Vector Control is a 4 year term and Carruth is the BOT Member, but Mayor Carruth said it's 2 years and gave the job to Lautenschleger.
Orange County Fire Authority Representative - Representative is Bressette, Altermate is Kogerman
ACCOC - Assoc. of CA. Cities - Carruth, Alternate is Lautenschleger
Audit Committee - Bressette and Kogerman, Staff is Channing
CA. State Assoc. of Counties Excess Insurance Authority - Staff is White
Civic Center Management Committee - Kogerman and Songstad, Staff is Channing and White
Coastal Greenbelt Authority - Carruth
Exclusive Risk Management Authority of CA. - Staff is White
Growth Management Area 10 - Delegate is Bressette, Alternate is Songstad, Staff is Channing
Housing Task Force - Staff is Channing
Laguna Canyon Foundation - Carruth
League of CA. Cities Voting Delegate to Annual Conference - Carruth, Alternate is Lautenschleger
Operational Area Council (Emergency) Carruth, Alternate is Lautenschleger
OCCOG - Orange County Council of Governments - Delegate is Lautenschleger, Alternate is Kogerman
OCEMO - Orange County Emergency Management Organization - Representative is the Chief of Police, Alternate is the Sergeant
OC Public Libraries Library Advisory Board Representative is Kogerman, Alternate is Lautenschleger
South Orange County Watershed Management Area Executive Committee - Member is Carruth, Alternate - Staff Report States the alternate is the Mayor but the Mayor is Carruth??
SCAG - Southern CA. Assoc. of Governments - Delegate is Lautenschleger, Alternate is Kogerman
Transportation Corridor Agency - Director is Lautenschleger, Alternate is Carruth
MATTERS AGENDIZED and PRESENTED by CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
Orange County Vector Control District - Board of Trustee Member is Lautenschleger City's Online Staff Report states Vector Control is a 4 year term and Carruth is the BOT Member, but Mayor Carruth said it's 2 years and gave the job to Lautenschleger.
Orange County Fire Authority Representative - Representative is Bressette, Altermate is Kogerman
ACCOC - Assoc. of CA. Cities - Carruth, Alternate is Lautenschleger
Audit Committee - Bressette and Kogerman, Staff is Channing
CA. State Assoc. of Counties Excess Insurance Authority - Staff is White
Civic Center Management Committee - Kogerman and Songstad, Staff is Channing and White
Coastal Greenbelt Authority - Carruth
Exclusive Risk Management Authority of CA. - Staff is White
Growth Management Area 10 - Delegate is Bressette, Alternate is Songstad, Staff is Channing
Housing Task Force - Staff is Channing
Laguna Canyon Foundation - Carruth
League of CA. Cities Voting Delegate to Annual Conference - Carruth, Alternate is Lautenschleger
Operational Area Council (Emergency) Carruth, Alternate is Lautenschleger
OCCOG - Orange County Council of Governments - Delegate is Lautenschleger, Alternate is Kogerman
OCEMO - Orange County Emergency Management Organization - Representative is the Chief of Police, Alternate is the Sergeant
OC Public Libraries Library Advisory Board Representative is Kogerman, Alternate is Lautenschleger
South Orange County Watershed Management Area Executive Committee - Member is Carruth, Alternate - Staff Report States the alternate is the Mayor but the Mayor is Carruth??
SCAG - Southern CA. Assoc. of Governments - Delegate is Lautenschleger, Alternate is Kogerman
Transportation Corridor Agency - Director is Lautenschleger, Alternate is Carruth
MATTERS AGENDIZED and PRESENTED by CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
**These Items are authored Council Members. The council member who authors an item here also does all of the research for that item - 8.1.1 - Council Member Kogerman has authored a PROPOSED REVISION OF THE CONSTITUTION AND TIMING OF MEETINGS OF PLANNING AGENCY/COMMISSION. that will be presented at the end of the meeting.
Council Member Kogerman's RECOMMENDATION IS THAT THE CITY COUNCIL DIRECT STAFF TO RETURN WITH PROPOSALS FOR: (1) ABOLISHING THE CURRENT "PLANNING AGENCY" WHOSE MEMBERS COMPRISE THE SITTING MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL; INSTEAD (2) ESTABLISHING IN ITS PLACE A "PLANNING COMMISSION" COMPRISING QUALIFIED RESIDENTS APPOINTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL AND OUTLINING VARIOUS OPTIONS FOR SELECTION OF PLANNING COMMISSIONERS, THEIR NUMBER, DUTIES, RESPONSIBILITIES, TERMS OF OFFICE AND SCOPE OF POWERS; (3) ESTABLISHING A MEETING TIME OF THE PROPOSED PLANNING COMMISSION SEPARATE FROM THE TIME OF CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS; AND (4) ESTIMATING THE ASSOCIATED COSTS IF ANY, OF ESTABLISHING AND MAINTAINING A PLANNING COMMISSION TO REPLACE THE EXISTING PLANNING AGENCY
Council Member Kogerman's report includes - The Planning Agency was intended to be temporary, not permanent. When the City was incorporated on December 20, 1991, the following item was approved: Consent Calendar, Item 18: “Urgency Ordinance No. 9, establishing an Interim Planning Agency and appointing the City Council Members as the members thereof.” “Interim” means “temporary, provisional, acting, short-term, pro tem, or intervening.” Its antonym is “permanent.” Yet this “interim” Planning Agency has been in place for the past 20 years.
An Independent Planning Commission is by far the most common planning decision-making body among Orange County cities.Of Orange County’s 34 cities, only Aliso Viejo, Cypress, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, La Palma and Villa Park do not currently have a Planning Commission. Aliso Viejo suspended its Planning Commission in 2009 because of minimal planning needs in the foreseeable future and currently follows the Laguna Hills model of planning issues coming before the City Council acting as Planning Agency. The City of Laguna Woods has no commissions but does have a Land Use and Design Review Committee. Its duties appear to be similar to those of a typical Planning Commission; it makes recommendations to the City Council Planning Commission comprising City Council Members. The City of La Palma has a Planning Committee similar to that in Laguna Woods. It makes recommendations to the City Council, which acts as a Planning Commission. The remaining 28 Orange County Cities, regardless of size, have independent Planning Commissions. City Council members in these cities, while retaining ultimate authority over planning issues when Commission decisions go through an appeals process, are willing to share their authority with qualified Planning Commissioners appointed by the City Council.
Foreseeable planning needs will require increased focus on planning issues beyond those the City has dealt with in the past. Laguna Hills is faced with aging commercial centers with increasing needs for refurbishing. Local “strip centers” have completed or begun efforts at modernization. Plans are already forming for major revisions to the Laguna Hills Mall, Oakbrook Village, and the Urban Village area. Centers at Cabot Road and at La Paz/Moulton have considerable needs for upgrading and modernization, among others. It is no longer true that there is no need for an independent Planning Commission based on lack of future projects.
Now that Term Limits have been established in the City, a “succession plan” is needed to provide a proving ground and training process for future City Council members. In other cities, a Planning Commission often fulfills this role. Planning Commissioners typically become familiar with major issues affecting a city’s
economic and aesthetic development. While the Parks and Recreation Commission and Traffic Commission also grapple with important matters, they are low-profile, strictly advisory, and deal with issues that are generally amenable to short-range solutions. Planning Commissions help create the future city and thereby become more prepared to serve in an elected capacity and provide continuity to city governance.
economic and aesthetic development. While the Parks and Recreation Commission and Traffic Commission also grapple with important matters, they are low-profile, strictly advisory, and deal with issues that are generally amenable to short-range solutions. Planning Commissions help create the future city and thereby become more prepared to serve in an elected capacity and provide continuity to city governance.
Holding Planning Commission meetings separate from City Council meetings is citizen-friendly. Residents who attend City Council Meetings usually attend to address specific issues that are non-planning related. City Council meetings are frequently bogged down in lengthy planning discussions of little interest to citizens who have attended to provide feedback on matters of greater interest to them. In the current Agenda structure, those matters are not addressed until after the Planning Agency meeting is adjourned. A
separate time for Planning Commission meetings could increase attendance at City Council meetings and thereby increase both valuable citizen input to assist City Council members in their deliberations and improved citizen understanding of how and why City Council decisions are reached.
separate time for Planning Commission meetings could increase attendance at City Council meetings and thereby increase both valuable citizen input to assist City Council members in their deliberations and improved citizen understanding of how and why City Council decisions are reached.
COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS on this issue
Council Member Kogerman presented the points noted above. If the Planning Commission of Citizens was refused, Kogerman offerred a motion to hold the Planning Sessions after the regular council meetings.
Council Member Bressette said he would 2nd the motion if for no other reason than to vote no on it. He said this City wants to be a business friendly city and are one of the cheapest cities in Orange County in which to do business related to a low cost planning process for applicants. He mentioned that the previous Community Development Director Vern Jones "could very well read our minds and before it came to us staff clearly vetted the project, its opportunities and its problems." (Editor's Note - We agree regarding the ability of Vern Jones to do all these things, but that begs the question of why then, once a projects are so thoroughly vetted and presented they still took so long related to arguments over subtle shades of colors, and landscape, etc.Vern Jones is gone now but assuming the new Community Development Director will get up to speed related to intimate knowledge of the preferences of various city council members and knowledge of the regulations, why could he not guide citizens on a planning commission/agency as well as he would guide the city council after vetting projects so well. An astute LH Watch Dog reader who attends council meetings commented - I think this is a great idea. I have never liked the current Council/Planning situation because there is no way to appeal a planning decision.)
Bressette continued that he thought about 60% of the projects he has seen, had they gone through a Planning Agency, he would have pulled and brought up to the City Council to look at again and that adds more cost for the applicant. Bressette added, "Most planning commissions are incredibly political in how they are appointed and I don't want the politics to leach into our planning process." Bressette also said, " And to be really honest, just about anybody can do this job. Now I hate to say it, hate to admit it, not up for election this year so I guess everyone will forget I said it by the time it comes back aroundbut we have a great staff to help us with this. (Editor's note - No worries, Council Member Bressette, we at the LH Watch Dog will remember for everyone!) Bressette said to citizens, he realizes that the Planning sessions can be lengthy but the applicants often bring people for whose time they are paying to the Planning Commission so we want to process them in a timely manner. (Editor's Note - Citizens do understand that there are alternatives to holding the Planning Sessions during Council Meetings although none of those were discussed tonight?)
Mayor Pro- Tem Lautenschleger talked about adding another layer of government more hoops to jump through, bureaucracy, etc. He also said that at the May 26, 1992 City Council Meeting the Council decided to keep itself as the City's Planning Agency. He also said the City Council has to listen to every item that comes through the Planning Commission, it's their job as elected officials, so there is no such thing as an independent planning commission. He also cited additional costs for a Planning Commission. He suggested that citizens waiting for an issue to be heard ask for it to be moved forward on the agenda. (Editor's Note - Lautenschleger should be aware that citizens have, many times, waited until late at night to be heard including until after midnight. Citizens who were clearly visible to the council and filled out forms of intention to speak on a specific issue were never advised to request that their item be moved forward in the agenda and the city council never suggested this to accommodate those citizens. There is no excuse for scheduling citizen related items (which are usually - Matter's Presented by City Council Members and Mayor) last on every city council meeting agenda. There are alternatives, that may or may not inconvenience City Council Members, that need to be discussed.) Songstad and Carruth declined to comment on this issue for the Planning Commission and/or for Citizens, but voted NO.
VOTE - 4 - 1 against a planning commission comprised of Laguna Hills Citizens with No Discussion of changes in the Council Meeting Agenda to hold Planning Agency Sessions at any alternate time to allow the People's Business to be scheduled prior to the last item on the Council Meeting Agenda. Council Member Kogerman was the only Yes vote.
NO VOTE - For the substitute motion by Kogerman to hold Planning Commission Sessions following the regular council meetings. This Failed for lack of a 2nd with No discussion.
CITY COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS -
Mayor Carruth praised the most recent issue of City Views as a wonderful Commemorative issue. She also said La Paz Intermediate School was recognized by the Orange County Register Newspaper for ranking 9th in math and science for all Orange County Schools. She also noted the death of Richard Dickson - former council member in Lake Forest.
Council Member Bressette noted that the Orange County Fire Authourity did a great job putting out a fire at the Stockport Apartments on Friday Morning. He also noted that he has been on the city council for 20 years and thanked his wife Mav for her support and spoke about memories during that time.
CLOSED SESSION – There will be another closed session with a labor negotiator to continue to continue to discuss the terms and conditions of the City Manager's Employment Agreement and the City Manager's Annual Employee Performance Evaluation that determines his bonus for the year.
The Next regular City Council Meeting is Tuesday January 10, 7 pm, at City Hall. Contact Laguna Hills City Council Members at - ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us
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*** The Laguna Hills Watch Dog will publish a separate Year End Roundup of all scores and citizen friendly accomplishments of all city council members and the city manager for the year 2011 as a Special Edition on the blog site.
CITY COUNCIL and CITY MANAGER REPORT CARD - Categories - (T) Transparency for Citizens, (A) Accountability to Citizens, (CI) Championing Citizen Related Issue, (AG) Achieving Citizen Related Goal Grades - (P) Pass, (A) for Authoring a Citizen Friendly Item, (F) Fail, (A+) Extra Credit. City Manager will be scored related to online and agendized Staff Reports and Requests.
Bressette - F for ignoring the 2010 voter's choice for Mayor Pro-Tem for 2012. F for no effort to find a method of moving the People's Business higher on the list of City Council Agenda Priorities. P for voting for Child Safety Zones in the Parks.
Carruth - F for ignoring the 2010 voter's choice for Mayor Pro-Tem for 2012. F for no effort to find a method of moving the People's Business higher on the list of City Council Agenda Priorities. P for voting for Child Safety Zones in the Parks.
Kogerman - A for championing a citizen related issue regarding moving the People's Business up from last place in the City Council Agenda and for an effort to get Planning Sessions scheduled at sometime other than in the middle of regular council meetings. A for citizen friendly effort of consideration of a Planning Commission of Citizens. A+ for a full year of listening to and representing the Citizens who elected her and A+ for admirable conduct in the face of being consistently passed over for the position of Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem in view of the fact that she received the highest number of votes in the 2010 election.
Lautenschleger - F for ignoring the 2010 voter's choice for Mayor Pro-Tem for 2012 in favor of himself. F for no effort to find a method of moving the People's Business higher on the list of City Council Agenda Priorities. P for voting for Child Safety Zones in the Parks.
Songstad - F for political commentary in the Outgoing Mayor Comments and for ignoring the failed Citizen Friendly goals he declared for himself on On Dec.14, 2010 as the newly appointed Mayor. At that time he said that although funds are dwindling good things are expected from the mall. He also noted plans for the development of the Oakbrook Mall and the Moulton La Paz Center as vital to increasing revenues to be able to do more things. He admitted to being tired of seeing revenues remain stagnant. He mentioned Public Safety is a major concern and a goal of his. He noted his next goal was to increase transparency and trust and stated he would like to move forward with streaming online or broadcast TV of the council meetings. He said out of this challenging election cycle will come new and good ideas. He thanked the council members for the opportunity to serve and said he hoped people would also feel good about that by the end of his term. F for ignoring the 2010 voter's choice for Mayor Pro-Tem for 2012 in favor of nominating his long term city council running mate. F for no effort to find a method of moving the People's Business higher on the list of City Council Agenda Priorities. P for voting for Child Safety Zones in the Parks.
City Manager - Ongoing closed sessions with a labor negotiator continue to discuss the terms and conditions of the City Manager's Employment Agreement and the City Manager's Annual Employee Performance Evaluation that determines his bonus for the year
CITY COUNCIL and CITY MANAGER REPORT CARD - Categories - (T) Transparency for Citizens, (A) Accountability to Citizens, (CI) Championing Citizen Related Issue, (AG) Achieving Citizen Related Goal Grades - (P) Pass, (A) for Authoring a Citizen Friendly Item, (F) Fail, (A+) Extra Credit. City Manager will be scored related to online and agendized Staff Reports and Requests.
Bressette - F for ignoring the 2010 voter's choice for Mayor Pro-Tem for 2012. F for no effort to find a method of moving the People's Business higher on the list of City Council Agenda Priorities. P for voting for Child Safety Zones in the Parks.
Carruth - F for ignoring the 2010 voter's choice for Mayor Pro-Tem for 2012. F for no effort to find a method of moving the People's Business higher on the list of City Council Agenda Priorities. P for voting for Child Safety Zones in the Parks.
Kogerman - A for championing a citizen related issue regarding moving the People's Business up from last place in the City Council Agenda and for an effort to get Planning Sessions scheduled at sometime other than in the middle of regular council meetings. A for citizen friendly effort of consideration of a Planning Commission of Citizens. A+ for a full year of listening to and representing the Citizens who elected her and A+ for admirable conduct in the face of being consistently passed over for the position of Mayor and Mayor Pro-Tem in view of the fact that she received the highest number of votes in the 2010 election.
Lautenschleger - F for ignoring the 2010 voter's choice for Mayor Pro-Tem for 2012 in favor of himself. F for no effort to find a method of moving the People's Business higher on the list of City Council Agenda Priorities. P for voting for Child Safety Zones in the Parks.
Songstad - F for political commentary in the Outgoing Mayor Comments and for ignoring the failed Citizen Friendly goals he declared for himself on On Dec.14, 2010 as the newly appointed Mayor. At that time he said that although funds are dwindling good things are expected from the mall. He also noted plans for the development of the Oakbrook Mall and the Moulton La Paz Center as vital to increasing revenues to be able to do more things. He admitted to being tired of seeing revenues remain stagnant. He mentioned Public Safety is a major concern and a goal of his. He noted his next goal was to increase transparency and trust and stated he would like to move forward with streaming online or broadcast TV of the council meetings. He said out of this challenging election cycle will come new and good ideas. He thanked the council members for the opportunity to serve and said he hoped people would also feel good about that by the end of his term. F for ignoring the 2010 voter's choice for Mayor Pro-Tem for 2012 in favor of nominating his long term city council running mate. F for no effort to find a method of moving the People's Business higher on the list of City Council Agenda Priorities. P for voting for Child Safety Zones in the Parks.
City Manager - Ongoing closed sessions with a labor negotiator continue to discuss the terms and conditions of the City Manager's Employment Agreement and the City Manager's Annual Employee Performance Evaluation that determines his bonus for the year
INFORMATION, COMMENTS QUESTIONS and CONCERNS from Watch Dog Readers:
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December 28 - Golden Baked Ham (Laguna Hills) 7am to 5pm Bring your flyer from our web site
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January 18 - Cafe' Rio (Lake Forest) 6-8 pm ** No flyer neededfor a 20% donation
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REGARDING SONGSTAD'S OUTGOING MAYOR SPEECH and THE STATE OF THE CITY
Anonymous said - You remember Songstad said " I have grave concerns about the future" What concerns? Shouldn't the citizens know what those concerns are? Or are his concerns such that only a handful of city hall insiders should be privy. WOW...talk about a lack of transparency...
Anonymous said - I am surprised, perhaps not anymore, at the talk of gloom and doom. Leaders need to provide leadership in bringing people together to consider and debate merits of different points of view and do the right things in running the city rather than think that anyone who disagrees with them will bring gloom and doom. Their approach is disrespectful of the city residents.
Anonymous said In 1991 a fledgling Laguna Hills City Council determined that it was taxpayer money well spent to pay 5% above the “going rate” to hire city management employees who would provide skills that would promote the fiscal well-being and safety of Laguna Hills during its formative years. Enter Bruce Channing, Don White and company. Not a bad idea you say; but what happened? Here we are 20+ years from birth, and instead of being a nominal 5% ahead of the rest of Orange County, Laguna Hills is 100% above the rest of the County for a city that ranks, population wise, the 7th smallest in the County.
It was mentioned by Mayor Songstad that the more experienced and qualified city management would be able to, …”capture the tax dollars that were generated by our community and direct them to enhance our public safety for our residents, improve the quality of life, maintain our infrastructure at a high level and to provide amenities that the County did not provide, when the area was unincorporated." It is not clear what is meant by “improved quality of life and amenities that the County did not provide”, but 20 years later Laguna Hills still has: County Police, County Fire services and County Animal Care Services, No comprehensive program for its seniors just as in pre-cityhood. A second rate and partially filled shopping mall - a step backward from pre-cityhood. However Laguna Hills does have the 2nd highest paid City Manager in the State, the 3rd highest paid Assistant City Manager/Finance Director, and until this year the highest paid medical premiums for part-time council members.
In summary, according to the 2010-2011 Orange County Grand Jury Report, State Controller John Chaing’s Report and the Kogerman/Brandman University Report, those responsible for Laguna Hills government have reaped the benefits of cityhood. Conversely, the citizens of Laguna Hills have been, so to speak, left out in the cold.
Anonymous said - I can see the way Songstad is thinking. LH is financially sound, thanks to, he feels, his good judgement. I think his speech let loose that he is worried, since Barbara got in, other people will get elected and not be as brilliant as him. Let's hope he is worried for good reason.
Anonymous said - Allan's speech sounded a bit like a tongue lashing to the citizen's that dare try to send the city in a direction other than his desired one. He mentioned that at inception it was the plan to keep top staff with compensations of 5% above the county. Do we as a city really want to continue to hold the county as our benchmark.?
Here are two articles on over compensation by the county: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/county-301065-resources-employees.html
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/12/13/demotions-pay-cuts-ordered-for-county-executives/144382/
State auditors warned the county in 2004 that it needed to correct the way it gives raises and promotions and how it classifies positions. State auditors returned again in September 2010, this time finding the situation even worse than before. Auditors warned that the county broke its own rules, but also failed to meet state requirements in several areas, including recruitment, hiring, equal employment opportunity and affirmative action. Of the county's 977 managers, 804 received performance evaluations last year which entitled them to raises.
REGARDING COUNCIL MEMBER KOGERMAN and her PLANNING COMMISSION Proposal:
Anonymous said...Now the question is, will Songstad and Lautenschlager take the hint and step down from the 2012 election, or go for 4 more years each? When they passed Kogerman's term limits initiative, 3/4 of the voters said 8 years is enough, and these two will be going for 23 years (Songstad) and 25 years (Lautenschlager) if they run once again. By law, the term limits ordinance could not be retroactive, so the term limits clock starts ticking for everyone elected, or re-elected, from 2010 forward. The only sitting Council Member actually limited to 8 years is Kogerman herself. Which raises another interesting question: will the other 4 Council Members see the light and elect top vote-getter Kogerman either Mayor or Mayor Pro Tem at the Dec. 13 City Council meeting? Or will they fall back on that good'ole boys bromide, "She'll just have to take her turn"? Meaning, She's at the bottom of this totem pole. She'll get her turn in 4 years.
Anonymous said - Please let Council Member Kogerman know that she is such an amazing person. She keeps moving our city forward even though she is not being supported by the rest of the council. It was a big surprise to me to see Joel become mayor pro-tem because this means he will run again in 2012. It would seem to me he would spend time healing and helping his family rather than enter them in to the spotlight.
If there is a candidate on the horizon in 2012 to support, who will support Kogerman, let's get him/her on the city council. Regarding Kogerman's proposal to move the city planning commission to the end. So the time of the hired visitors to present their "plans" to the council is much more valuable than the time of citizens. They may, after all, be on the clock for what, $700/hour while the time of the lowly peasant citizens in the audience is of zero value.
Anonymous said - I think this is a great idea. I have never liked the current Council/Planning situation because there is no way to appeal a planning decision.
REGARDING LAGUNA HILLS CITY EMPLOYEES JOINING A UNION
Anonymous said - Have your blood pressure meds available when you visit Jack Deans Pension Tsunami web site...http://PensionTsunami.com
Anonymous said - While we maintain a surplus of funds, state wide unfunded pension and perks liabilities threaten to sink our state making it essential every precaution needs to be taken to maintain that surplus even if the steps taken might not be politically popular and even if it means personal sacrifice. Is it possible the employees sensed the anti Kogerman bias in city Hall and thought organizing would be a show of support for that bias?
Anonymous said...The relationship city employees had with council members and the citizens of Laguna Hills will sadly never be the same. Unions inspire people to think in term of us vs. them and a list of demands is not too far down the road. I would like to know how much their desire to unionize was influenced by Bruce Channing's grandiose salary and perks and the councils' Cadillac health insurance. Shame on the council for setting the example.
Anonymous said...Mayor Songstad said "I think it's extremely unfortunate that we've come to this point. We've gone 20 some years without an employee association and it's unfortunate that the city employees feel threatened enough that they want to take this action." Tell Songstad if he and his cronies on the city council for all these years had kept compensation for upper level management in line with other cities of equal size and complexity this would never have happened. The city council created this mess by bloating the city manager's compensation to the highest paid of all the city manager's in Orange County, and why? Was this little city that difficult to manage? What remarkable things have been accomplished in this city that other cities have not been able to achieve? This city is all about finding grants and contracting for services, how is that so extraordinarily difficult? Being able to keep good employees is what the city council always gives as an answer to the question of bloated compensations, but we don't hear of rapid turn over in other cities that pay less and perhaps a change in city manager and assistant city manger may be a positive thing for this city just as a change in city council has been. It is never a surprise that employees do not want to give up anything once they have it, but it was certainly very surprising to learn what they've been getting from taxpayers all these years with the city manager's bloated compensation setting the example for the rest. I think it is extremely unfortunate that we have kept these city council members this long. They need to go.
Anonymous said...To the point that the employees didn't want to lose their salaries or benefits ....neither has anybody in the private sector. Why do our city employees believe we owe them what we can't get. By organizing they are forcing us to insulate them from the realities of a recession that has caused several of my neighbors to lose their homes to foreclosure. I have no sympathy for them.
Anonymous said...In response to your last blogger, these long term Part Time City Council Members have also forced the taxpayers to insulate them from reality related to their hefty Health Insurance Premiums for which we all paid 100% for 20 years and are still paying. These Council Members are also responsible for bloating management staff salaries without regard for the taxpayers. So, now we have this mess with non-management public employees who have joined an association that will be bargaining with our tax money for the same inflated compensation that the management staff gets. Cities don't make profits so everything paid to the City Employees comes from citizen and business taxpayers in this City. 2012 is an election year, and we need more new blood on the Laguna Hills City Council. We need council members who operate in the light of day and are accountable to the taxpaying citizens. Songstad and Lautenschleger are part of this problem, we need people who will be part of a solution.
Anonymous said...Perhaps the City Employees who are seeking to bargain for better compensation with our tax dollars in this terrible economy should remember this - In 2003, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking on the legacy of Ronald Reagan, noted: Perhaps the most important, and then highly controversial, domestic initiative was the firing of the air traffic controllers in August 1981. The President invoked the law that striking government employees forfeit their jobs, an action that unsettled those who cynically believed no President would ever uphold that law. President Reagan prevailed, as you know, but far more importantly his action gave weight to the legal right of private employers, previously not fully exercised, to use their own discretion to both hire and discharge workers.
REGARDING CHILD SAFETY ZONES TO PROTECT CHILDREN IN PARKS FROM REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS
Anonymous said - Councilmember Lautenschleger appears to have a severe insight deficit related to holding himself, as a city councilmember, to a higher degree of responsibility regarding the concept of serving the citizens. He is quick to criticize Teri Sforza - Orange County Watch Dog Reporter as a sensationalist and anybody else he believes presents the "wrong" perspective, but sees no need for accuracy in what he says. I have experienced that in an election year for him, he goes door to door saying what ever he thinks is politically appropriate for him and Songstad rather than what is fact. He reminds me of President Nixon saying to David Frost - "I'm saying when the president does it, that means it's not illegal."
REGARDING CITY COUNCIL AGENDA PRIORITIES FOR COUNCIL MEETINGS
Anonymous said...Watch Dog, you are right about the council meeting priorities. I have attended these city council meetings and have had to wait forever to address a citizen matter while I sat through what seemed to be hours of listening to how a sign was too big for the council's taste but they had no jurisdiction over it so the whole discussion was one huge waste of my time. I don't waste that kind of time in my business so why should I pay their their salaries for wasting my time in theirs? That bunch should definitely be serving the citizens first but only Kogerman and now sometimes Bressette seem to understand that. An election year is coming up so I suggest the Council Members should all understand the concept of serving the citizens first and change their agenda priorities before I vote again
OTHER ISSUES
Anonymous said - I just thought I'd mention that Animal Control was walking around my neighborhood this morning checking to see if there were any dogs that were not licensed.
Anonymous said - I think this is a great idea. I have never liked the current Council/Planning situation because there is no way to appeal a planning decision.
REGARDING LAGUNA HILLS CITY EMPLOYEES JOINING A UNION
Anonymous said - Have your blood pressure meds available when you visit Jack Deans Pension Tsunami web site...http://PensionTsunami.com
Anonymous said - While we maintain a surplus of funds, state wide unfunded pension and perks liabilities threaten to sink our state making it essential every precaution needs to be taken to maintain that surplus even if the steps taken might not be politically popular and even if it means personal sacrifice. Is it possible the employees sensed the anti Kogerman bias in city Hall and thought organizing would be a show of support for that bias?
Anonymous said...The relationship city employees had with council members and the citizens of Laguna Hills will sadly never be the same. Unions inspire people to think in term of us vs. them and a list of demands is not too far down the road. I would like to know how much their desire to unionize was influenced by Bruce Channing's grandiose salary and perks and the councils' Cadillac health insurance. Shame on the council for setting the example.
Anonymous said...Mayor Songstad said "I think it's extremely unfortunate that we've come to this point. We've gone 20 some years without an employee association and it's unfortunate that the city employees feel threatened enough that they want to take this action." Tell Songstad if he and his cronies on the city council for all these years had kept compensation for upper level management in line with other cities of equal size and complexity this would never have happened. The city council created this mess by bloating the city manager's compensation to the highest paid of all the city manager's in Orange County, and why? Was this little city that difficult to manage? What remarkable things have been accomplished in this city that other cities have not been able to achieve? This city is all about finding grants and contracting for services, how is that so extraordinarily difficult? Being able to keep good employees is what the city council always gives as an answer to the question of bloated compensations, but we don't hear of rapid turn over in other cities that pay less and perhaps a change in city manager and assistant city manger may be a positive thing for this city just as a change in city council has been. It is never a surprise that employees do not want to give up anything once they have it, but it was certainly very surprising to learn what they've been getting from taxpayers all these years with the city manager's bloated compensation setting the example for the rest. I think it is extremely unfortunate that we have kept these city council members this long. They need to go.
Anonymous said...To the point that the employees didn't want to lose their salaries or benefits ....neither has anybody in the private sector. Why do our city employees believe we owe them what we can't get. By organizing they are forcing us to insulate them from the realities of a recession that has caused several of my neighbors to lose their homes to foreclosure. I have no sympathy for them.
Anonymous said...In response to your last blogger, these long term Part Time City Council Members have also forced the taxpayers to insulate them from reality related to their hefty Health Insurance Premiums for which we all paid 100% for 20 years and are still paying. These Council Members are also responsible for bloating management staff salaries without regard for the taxpayers. So, now we have this mess with non-management public employees who have joined an association that will be bargaining with our tax money for the same inflated compensation that the management staff gets. Cities don't make profits so everything paid to the City Employees comes from citizen and business taxpayers in this City. 2012 is an election year, and we need more new blood on the Laguna Hills City Council. We need council members who operate in the light of day and are accountable to the taxpaying citizens. Songstad and Lautenschleger are part of this problem, we need people who will be part of a solution.
Anonymous said...Perhaps the City Employees who are seeking to bargain for better compensation with our tax dollars in this terrible economy should remember this - In 2003, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, speaking on the legacy of Ronald Reagan, noted: Perhaps the most important, and then highly controversial, domestic initiative was the firing of the air traffic controllers in August 1981. The President invoked the law that striking government employees forfeit their jobs, an action that unsettled those who cynically believed no President would ever uphold that law. President Reagan prevailed, as you know, but far more importantly his action gave weight to the legal right of private employers, previously not fully exercised, to use their own discretion to both hire and discharge workers.
REGARDING CHILD SAFETY ZONES TO PROTECT CHILDREN IN PARKS FROM REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS
Anonymous said - Councilmember Lautenschleger appears to have a severe insight deficit related to holding himself, as a city councilmember, to a higher degree of responsibility regarding the concept of serving the citizens. He is quick to criticize Teri Sforza - Orange County Watch Dog Reporter as a sensationalist and anybody else he believes presents the "wrong" perspective, but sees no need for accuracy in what he says. I have experienced that in an election year for him, he goes door to door saying what ever he thinks is politically appropriate for him and Songstad rather than what is fact. He reminds me of President Nixon saying to David Frost - "I'm saying when the president does it, that means it's not illegal."
REGARDING CITY COUNCIL AGENDA PRIORITIES FOR COUNCIL MEETINGS
Anonymous said...Watch Dog, you are right about the council meeting priorities. I have attended these city council meetings and have had to wait forever to address a citizen matter while I sat through what seemed to be hours of listening to how a sign was too big for the council's taste but they had no jurisdiction over it so the whole discussion was one huge waste of my time. I don't waste that kind of time in my business so why should I pay their their salaries for wasting my time in theirs? That bunch should definitely be serving the citizens first but only Kogerman and now sometimes Bressette seem to understand that. An election year is coming up so I suggest the Council Members should all understand the concept of serving the citizens first and change their agenda priorities before I vote again
OTHER ISSUES
Anonymous said - I just thought I'd mention that Animal Control was walking around my neighborhood this morning checking to see if there were any dogs that were not licensed.
This seems to weird to me. It reminds me of the Natzi's checking homes.
HOW TO SUPPORT THE 3rd BATTALION, 5th MARINE DIVISION
Adopted by the City of Laguna Hills - Donation checks can be made specifically to "Laguna Hills Team Dark Horse" and mailed to - Team Dark Horse, 27251 Lost Colt Dr., Laguna Hills, CA. 92653. The Non-profit Corporation 501 (C) (3) status has been approved so all donations are tax deductible. E-mail Mike Bland at 35bland@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, etc. The city's e-mail for the 3/5 is 3/5-support@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us City Clerk Peggy Johns is the City Liaison to the 3/5 Support Committee. Go to the City web site by clicking on this link - http://www.ci.laguna-hills.ca.us/
Please see the Laguna Hills 3/5 Adopted Marines Facebook page by clicking on this link - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laguna-Hills-Team-Darkhorse/132765660119128 and share it with your friends!! Thanks to the generosity of so many in our community and Mariner's Church, Teen Dark Horse, the San Joaquin Elementary School, Amy from Behr Paints and many others, the Christmas Party for the 3/5 Marines held in Camp Pendleton was a great success. You can take a look at the story and photos by just clicking on this link: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&¬e_id=246690168727896&id=132765660119128#!/pages/Laguna-Hills-Team-Darkhorse/132765660119128
HOW TO SUPPORT THE 3rd BATTALION, 5th MARINE DIVISION
Adopted by the City of Laguna Hills - Donation checks can be made specifically to "Laguna Hills Team Dark Horse" and mailed to - Team Dark Horse, 27251 Lost Colt Dr., Laguna Hills, CA. 92653. The Non-profit Corporation 501 (C) (3) status has been approved so all donations are tax deductible. E-mail Mike Bland at 35bland@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, etc. The city's e-mail for the 3/5 is 3/5-support@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us City Clerk Peggy Johns is the City Liaison to the 3/5 Support Committee. Go to the City web site by clicking on this link - http://www.ci.laguna-hills.ca.us/
Please see the Laguna Hills 3/5 Adopted Marines Facebook page by clicking on this link - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Laguna-Hills-Team-Darkhorse/132765660119128 and share it with your friends!! Thanks to the generosity of so many in our community and Mariner's Church, Teen Dark Horse, the San Joaquin Elementary School, Amy from Behr Paints and many others, the Christmas Party for the 3/5 Marines held in Camp Pendleton was a great success. You can take a look at the story and photos by just clicking on this link: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?saved&¬e_id=246690168727896&id=132765660119128#!/pages/Laguna-Hills-Team-Darkhorse/132765660119128
Don't miss the very compelling Stories from Jane Wayne Day - Local Citizens Living as Marines for a day at Camp Pendleton, by Karen Robbins at http://www.benzinga.com/users/karenrobbins
NEWS STORIES AND BLOGS ABOUT LAGUNA HILLS: Click on the links below to see the stories.
Fred Smoller: Power shifting to county government in OC
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/county-330675-orange-cities.html
Fred Smoller,The Brandman University Professor of Public Administration, "who offended the power elite" when his Master's Degree students won awards assisting Council Member Kogerman to research the total compensation of City Managers in Orange County has just resigned from his post. Why did this happen? - Click on -http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/10/12/professor-who-offended-power-elite-resigns-post/109833/
LAGUNA HILLS CITY WORKERS: 12 PERCENT UNDERPAID?http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/09/01/laguna-hills-city-workers-12-percent-underpaid/95765/
Which city council makes the most money? http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/07/11/which-city-council-makes-the-most-money/88311/#comment-169311
LA Times: Laguna Hills City Manager Salary http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oc-salaries-20110621,0,1126677.story
In O.C., city pay can be steep, but it’s not ‘abusive’ June 20th, 2011 http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/06/20/in-o-c-city-pay-can-be-excessive-but-its-not-abusive/85631/#comment-165059
June 9, 2011 ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT - Compensation Study of Orange County Cities http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/comp-study-oc-cities/Compensation-Study-of-Orange-County-Cities.pdf
City manager says compensation is fair http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-303264-channing-compensation.html
Political rebel faces an uphill battle http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-303262-kogerman-channing.html
Councilwoman: Public pay report inaccurate, self serving http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-299908-report-council.html
OC Watchdog Lavish health benefits slashed in Laguna Hills, Tustin http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/05/12/lavish-health-benefits-slashed-in-laguna-hills-tustin/82833/
After attacks, city-manager-compensation sleuths win state award March 21st, 2011, posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/03/21/after-attacks-city-manager-compensation-sleuths-win-state-award/78545/#comment-139633 Click on http://www.publicceo.com/ for more of this story.
No more $60,000 SUVs for city manager?http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/02/09/no-more-60000-suvs-for-city-manager/75030/
Gold-plated benefits? New councilwoman just says ‘no’ http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/01/18/gold-plated-benefits-new-councilwoman-just-says-no/72532/
OCREGISTER: Laguna Hills councilwoman says no to health benefits http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-282972-benefits-council.html
O.C. cities lavished health benefits on council members http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/12/06/oc-cities-lavished-health-benefits-on-council-members/69544/
Who has the best-paid city council in California? (updated) http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/12/02/who-has-the-best-paid-city-council-incalifornia/69418/ In Laguna Hills the Taxpayers pay the entire cost of heath care premiums for the elected part time city council members and their families. In addition, the City Manager's contract states "To the extent that payment of all or any portion of the dependent rate of premium, is not approved by the city council for all city employees, Channing shall be entitled to a salary increase or cash payment sufficient to cover the amount of premium or rate for dependent coverage not provided by the City plus applicable income taxes on that amount."
OCREGISTER: Chris Norby: Local officials susceptible to 'Bell syndrome http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/elected-276253-city-syndrome.html "Bell syndrome thrives where elected boards vote in lockstep, where groupthink is elevated, and skeptics are ostracized, and where top staff are seen as irreplaceable experts – with rubber-stamped salaries to prove it. Bell syndrome thrives when self-congratulation trumps self-examination."
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS SAY the DARNDEST THINGS IN PUBLIC! - Memorable and surprising Public Quotes from City Council Members
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 Mayor 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 20 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 unless you change members of the city council.
August 19, 1994 - LHCC Member Allan Songstad - From the Los Angeles Times Newspaper Article Collections - Orange County Focus - August 19, 1994 LYNN 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 2011 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."
CRIME IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
For a roundup of Laguna Hills police calls check the Saddleback Valley News every Friday or click on: www.ocregister.com/news/saddleback .
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR of the Orange County Register Newspaper
Letters to the Editor: E-mail to letters@ocregister.com Please provide your name, city 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.
NEWS STORIES AND BLOGS ABOUT LAGUNA HILLS: Click on the links below to see the stories.
Fred Smoller: Power shifting to county government in OC
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/county-330675-orange-cities.html
Fred Smoller,The Brandman University Professor of Public Administration, "who offended the power elite" when his Master's Degree students won awards assisting Council Member Kogerman to research the total compensation of City Managers in Orange County has just resigned from his post. Why did this happen? - Click on -http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/10/12/professor-who-offended-power-elite-resigns-post/109833/
LAGUNA HILLS CITY WORKERS: 12 PERCENT UNDERPAID?http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/09/01/laguna-hills-city-workers-12-percent-underpaid/95765/
Which city council makes the most money? http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/07/11/which-city-council-makes-the-most-money/88311/#comment-169311
LA Times: Laguna Hills City Manager Salary http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-oc-salaries-20110621,0,1126677.story
In O.C., city pay can be steep, but it’s not ‘abusive’ June 20th, 2011 http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/06/20/in-o-c-city-pay-can-be-excessive-but-its-not-abusive/85631/#comment-165059
June 9, 2011 ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT - Compensation Study of Orange County Cities http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/comp-study-oc-cities/Compensation-Study-of-Orange-County-Cities.pdf
City manager says compensation is fair http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-303264-channing-compensation.html
Political rebel faces an uphill battle http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-303262-kogerman-channing.html
Councilwoman: Public pay report inaccurate, self serving http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-299908-report-council.html
OC Watchdog Lavish health benefits slashed in Laguna Hills, Tustin http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/05/12/lavish-health-benefits-slashed-in-laguna-hills-tustin/82833/
After attacks, city-manager-compensation sleuths win state award March 21st, 2011, posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/03/21/after-attacks-city-manager-compensation-sleuths-win-state-award/78545/#comment-139633 Click on http://www.publicceo.com/ for more of this story.
No more $60,000 SUVs for city manager?http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/02/09/no-more-60000-suvs-for-city-manager/75030/
Gold-plated benefits? New councilwoman just says ‘no’ http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/01/18/gold-plated-benefits-new-councilwoman-just-says-no/72532/
OCREGISTER: Laguna Hills councilwoman says no to health benefits http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-282972-benefits-council.html
O.C. cities lavished health benefits on council members http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/12/06/oc-cities-lavished-health-benefits-on-council-members/69544/
Who has the best-paid city council in California? (updated) http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/12/02/who-has-the-best-paid-city-council-incalifornia/69418/ In Laguna Hills the Taxpayers pay the entire cost of heath care premiums for the elected part time city council members and their families. In addition, the City Manager's contract states "To the extent that payment of all or any portion of the dependent rate of premium, is not approved by the city council for all city employees, Channing shall be entitled to a salary increase or cash payment sufficient to cover the amount of premium or rate for dependent coverage not provided by the City plus applicable income taxes on that amount."
OCREGISTER: Chris Norby: Local officials susceptible to 'Bell syndrome http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/elected-276253-city-syndrome.html "Bell syndrome thrives where elected boards vote in lockstep, where groupthink is elevated, and skeptics are ostracized, and where top staff are seen as irreplaceable experts – with rubber-stamped salaries to prove it. Bell syndrome thrives when self-congratulation trumps self-examination."
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS SAY the DARNDEST THINGS IN PUBLIC! - Memorable and surprising Public Quotes from City Council Members
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 Mayor 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 20 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 unless you change members of the city council.
August 19, 1994 - LHCC Member Allan Songstad - From the Los Angeles Times Newspaper Article Collections - Orange County Focus - August 19, 1994 LYNN 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 2011 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."
CRIME IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
For a roundup of Laguna Hills police calls check the Saddleback Valley News every Friday or click on: www.ocregister.com/news/saddleback .
WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR of the Orange County Register Newspaper
Letters to the Editor: E-mail to letters@ocregister.com Please provide your name, city 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.
.
