Get to know your Laguna Hills City Council Members' - Mission, Vision, Values, Policies, Practices, Procedures and Favorite Major Plans for the Biennial Budget for 2011-2012. - Synopsis of the 7 hour City Council Workshop on Saturday, March 12, 2011

There were plenty of eye openers here but this workshop was not set up for the public other than having additional chairs placed in the room. There was no microphone it was difficult to hear many of the Council Members. There were 2 inappropriate times for Public Comment, one at the beginning of the meeting before any of the "Visions, Values, Policies, Practices and Procedures" of the council members were heard by the public and the second was before council members voted for their favorite projects. The list of the council members' "favorite projects" was supplied to the council members but not supplied to the "public". This workshop was worth attending for the Laguna Hills Watch Dog because we learned about and recorded what the City Council Members said about their Mission, Vision, Values, Policies, Practices, Procedures and Favorite Major Plans for the Biennial Budget for 2011-2012. The highlight of this workshop was the facilitator, Mrs. Jan Perkins from Management Partners who charged $5,100 but appeared indispensable related to providing much needed structure, and organization to keep the council members on track, without any hint of prejudice related to staff vs. council members or any one council member vs. another. She did consider "The Public" by providing the same handouts for the public as she provided to Council Members and City Management Staff.

All 5 council members were present plus City Manager Bruce Channing and the Assistant City Manager Don While. The workshop began with the following question:

1. Why do you like living or working in Laguna Hills and What are you proud of? The directions were to list 2 things. Council Member Bressette answered, the ambience and the people, Mayor Pro-Tem Carruth answered, small town, small government and good schools to which Council Member Bressette jokingly protested she got 3 responses! Mayor Songstad answered small town community feeling and quality of life enhanced by the City. Council Member Lautenschleger answered sense of community and services. Council Member Kogerman answered small town community feel and the overall look of the City. City Manager Channing (who does not live in Laguna Hills) answered working with the Laguna Hills Staff and the facilities they have constructed. Assistant City Manager Don White (who also does not live in Laguna Hills) answered Organization, fulfilled mission of incorporation and financially sound.

2. CORE SERVICES - The facilitator made a suggestion for the council to use dots to indicate on large sheets of posted paper their Core Values under the heading of "Mission". (Editor's Note - This was a humorous but unavoidable gaff by the facilitator who was innocently unaware of the City Council's "Dot Phobia" related to the now infamous "Sticky Dots" issue that occurred during the formation of the updated City Plan when the "public" was given dots to identify and rate their needs for the city on large pieces of posted paper. The needs the public identified did not match the needs identified by the city, so sticky dots were banned by the council for citizens to use during the rest of the City Planning Sessions.) The group eventually progressed to forming a list of Core Services - Public Safety, Community Services to Residents, Public Works, Land Use and Planning, and Economic Development. During this process, Carruth mentioned, Law enforcement/Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Bressette mentioned the Partnership with the schools - School Resources Officer, Crossing Guards, and a high level of street maintenance, Songstad mentioned Public Safety, Land use plans and building services and Protection and Maintenance of the infrastructure, Lautenschleger mentioned Community Services such as well maintained parks, Financial Stability,and well maintained Landscape Corridors, and Kogerman added Financial Services for Business & Ecomomic Development and Youth Services. She said the City should maintain or enhance core services.

3. VISION - Statements for the Future. Where are you going as a City was the next question. Songstad answered, We are not a social services agency. Kogerman noted the ageing population in Laguna Hills and said other cities help sponsor services to seniors through staff support with little or no cost to the city and added this City has been slow to respond to the needs of seniors. Lautenschleger rebutted that those are social service programs. Carruth suggested that enhancing the physical environment, greenbelts and parks, and improving recreation areas and trails was a way to unify everyone of every age. Songstad said the City should not be devoting general fund dollars, or more staff time for seniors and added that staff time devoted to obtaining the grants for repairs at the Florence Sylvester Senior Center was enough. He said more serious problems for Seniors need to be addressed by volunteer organizations. He acknowledged that Laguna Hills does not have a Rotary Club or an organization like that, but said he did not see a role for the City in that. Kogerman added that the Senior Mobility Program needs to be consistently evaluated, why is it not more well used and why do more seniors not know about it? It may need to be better publicized. She said the City needs to anticipate needs for the future based on the realities of its population and things like helping to promote programs like Meals on Wheels does not have to cost the City Money. Lautenschleger insisted that all of this is covered in the City's General Plan Update for which the City spent $800,000. Kogerman noted plans to add residential at the Laguna Hills Mall close to the Bus Depot and voiced a need to maintain the transit system there. She also suggested engaging more citizens on Commissions and Committees for the City. She said the City needs more citizens to be involved with city government related the turnover coming with Term Limits. She added the City also needs video of the City Council Meetings not just audio, which resulted in an loud sigh from Lautenschleger. (Editor's Note - As ones who have recorded all the City Council meetings for years Lautenschleger is difficult to understand on an audio recording and Songstad and Carruth are difficult to hear unless their microphone feed is constantly adjusted upwards) Carruth agreed that a city is stronger if it's citizens are well informed and advocated for increased communication with the public through City Views, the Parks and Recreations Commission and the Traffic Commission. Kogerman suggested adding committees. Carruth said task forces maybe rather than committees and noted the recent population report that showed Laguna Hills losing about 5000 residents. She said that this could affect schools and good schools are a reason people move to Laguna Hills. She mentioned that some places around the world pay their population to reproduce. Bressette argued that more citizens comissions and committees means more staff time and bigger government. The group eventually agreed upon the following: Continue or maintain all forms of communication with the public, Protect or enhance visual aspects of Laguna Hills, Protect and enhance Economic Development, Public Safety, Preserve the environment, and High infrastructure maintenance.

4. VALUES

City Manager Channing - stressed promoting team work between council members and staff. He said don't destroy the team due to errors or mistakes along the way. Carruth said Employees who are treated with respect will provide strong customer service. Kogerman said treat employees with respect and expect strong customer service orientation and excellent quality of services. Bressette said treat employees with respect to get best customer service. Assist. City Manager Don White spoke about "Process vs. Product" which in many government agencies angers citizens because the accent is on the process which takes longer and costs more. He said that in Laguna Hills the accent is on product or achieving results. He said staff decided the City needs to articulate a new Mission and distributed a handout of Building Blocks for Success. A list of Values established was Protect the Environment, Financial Stability, Small Town Feel, and Focus on Children. Kogerman noted that "measurable goals" should be added to "results" and preparation for the future including protecting our heritage as a value. Carruth agreed and noted a need for the schools to be mentioned in Values. Songstad agrued that the City has no control of schools. Carruth retorted, the City supplies the Student Resource Officer and the Crossing Guards for the schools and has agreements with LHHS for use of the sports fields, etc.

5. ITEMS For DISCUSSION - Procedure for placing items on the Council Agenda, Efficient Utilization of Staff Time, Information about issues, projects and activities, Number and composition of City Committees and Commissions.

Procedure for placing items on the Council Agenda - The Council Members stated that the current council allows any council member to place an item on the Council Agenda. (Editor's Note - if an item is not placed on a City Council Meeting Agenda it is not open for discussion by the City Council and Public. Because this city does not have representation for citizens on the City Council by districts when citizens, anywhere in the city, have a serious concern about something happening in their area or in general, they can advise any council member who can then place an item about that concern on the Council Agenda to bring it up for discussion if the issue/concern cannot be efficiently addressed/solved in another way.)
Songstad requested that this rule be changed so that one council member can no longer place an item on the council agenda unless 2 other members of the council agree. He said this used to be the practice of the Council. Carruth said the council member who agendizes the item does most of the work researching the item and if a staff report is needed later it can be done. Kogerman agreed. Bressette added it is a dicey thing to discuss citizen concerns behind the scenes related to the Brown Act so how then would all citizens with legitimate concerns be represented? Songstad argued that during the last election items were placed on the agenda willy nilly. Lautenschleger added there should be a consensus for agendizing an item and agreed with Songstad about last year. Bressette argued that he had to do all the work himself last year related to bringing an item to the agenda because of an impass with the staff. Songstad then suggested making a prohibition on any one council member agendizing an item on his/her own within so many months of an election. Lautenschleger agreed with Songstad and suggested a prohibition within 6 months of an election. Kogerman asked why this was an issue and if staff was getting an inordinate amount of work? Songstad answered yes, and gave the example of the Revision of the City's Purchasing Policy that revolved around the purchase of the $60,000 car by City Manager Channing. (Editor's Note - It needs to be clarified here that for most of the 19 years of cityhood, until this year, Lautenschleger, Songstad, and Craig Scott, who was defeated in the last election, were in a permanent position of being a council majority of 3 during which time they frequently called for "studies and staff reports" and could defeat any item on the agenda with their 3 votes.)
City Manager Channing protested that he took exception to the process regarding the way items were framed to him and stated political purpose is not a new approach to a problem. Kogerman stated she was against a moratorium around election time as undemocratic. Carruth asked City Manager Channing why City Council Comments were moved to the end of the council agenda. Channing responded that Council Member Craig Scott determined that should be done because council comments were calling for an action. Songstad insisted that the City Council does not operate as individuals, it operates on a majority basis.
Vote was 3 to 2 to retain the current practice of allowing any individual council member to agendize an item.

Number and composition of City Committees and Commissions - The city has 2 commissions, Traffic and Parks and Recreation.
Lautenschleger stated he does not want any more commissions. Carruth said the Traffic Commission meets only once a month and 60 days is too long for citizens to have to wait for an item to be considered. Lautenschleger suggested meeting on an as needed basis. Kogerman suggested scheduling regular meetings and then cancel meetings if they are not needed. Songstad agreed with Kogerman and noted it takes 60 to 90 days to get action on a traffic item. Bressette suggested asking the Traffic Commission their opinion about this at their next meeting. Kogerman also suggested a Business & Economic Development Committee to assist businesses in the City. Carruth suggested possibly a task force for this rather than a Committee. Lautenschleger stated they have spent 20 years doing this well. He continued that this is an economic situation now. If it's time for businesses to go they will and if there's a way to help them we can, but a Task Force is a nebulous thing. Business came into this City without our involvement and we just keep it simple for them and we are built out. (Editor's Note - at the 1-25-11 City Council Meeting it was reported that the City paid $12,500 for a report from TAP - Technical Assistance Panel consisting of professionals with significant experience in private sector planning and development-related industry who offered advice on the needs of the community and best practices of their respective industries. TAP's report findings included criticism of the City's "Governing with a hands-off approach. It stated the City's hands-off approach misses the opportunity for collaboration among the various land owners.) Kogerman said the small businesses can't afford to work with the City like the big ones do. Carruth suggested that sometimes property owners and managers of strip malls, etc. may need advice and gave an example of a better mix of tenants who compliment one another. City Manager Channing disagreed saying if the City is standing in the way of business that is one thing but advising them on how to improve, probably not. Carruth said maybe there could be a Community Partners group helping each other. Bressette said he is against a Task Force and this falls back to issues of signage related to decreasing the burden on small business. Kogerman reminded the other council members that she has had a great deal of experience with Chambers of Commerce and that since Laguna Hills does not have a Chamber of Commerce to assist business a Task Force or Commission would be a substitute for that and the League of Cities also suggests this for small cities like Laguna Hills.
VOTE was 3 - 2 Not to use a Task Force or a Commission to assist Businesses in Laguna Hills and no additional Commissions or Committees. Those in favor of adding some kind of help for Business were Kogerman and Carruth

Information about Issues, Projects and Activities

Kogerman suggested adding a qualified member of the public who is either a CPA or a Banker to the City Audit Committee, which was also suggested by a new council member's bootcamp in Sacramento recently, but no other council members agreed. Carruth asked if anyone knew if there was another City in South County that has a public member on its audit committee. No one knew the answer to that. (Editor's Note - We found the Cities of Orange and Tustin have members of the public on their Audit Committees) Bressette, Lautenschleger and Songstad said No. Only Carruth was willing to take a look at this with more information.

Communication between Staff and Council Members City Manager Channing said council members should have the freedom to communicate with him or with Department Heads but stick to the Dept. Heads and don't go below that level to get something done. Channing said the Dept. Heads let him know when a council member contacts them and council members should also let him know for efficiency. He advised council members that any information they request will also be distributed to all other council members so there are no secrets. Carruth said, council members are not always well informed and Channing needs to be sure to get information out to everyone. She said she had heard, but not been advised by Channing, that Barbara Kogerman was talking with Irvine re. their animal shelter. Kogerman confirmed that she had notified Channing re. speaking with Irvine council members. Bressette said council members are free to meet with council members from other cities without notification as long as it is not in an official capacity. He added that Channing is not in his office on Tuesdays so not always easy to reach and asked if the City tracks legal time used, per council member, with the City Attorney. Songstad responded no, because it would cost the City more to have the City Attorney track the use of his time per council member. Bressette also suggested that any changes made to the city council calendar by Channing should be done in Public. Carruth agreed. They agreed to agendize city council calendar changes. Carruth noted a change in Community Center policy and Channing interrupted her to frame this issue himself. He said the road from the Community Center to LHHS is a private driveway and not a public right of way so NO Campaign Signs are allowed along that road that has very high visibility, but in the last election there were campaign signs there and the City was not enforcing this restriction. They agreed 5 - 0 not to allow any signs there in the future.

6. MAJOR PLANS - The Options for votes on these plans are that each council member may vote either 0 or 1 or 2 , so with 5 council members voting the total for each major plan could range from 0 to 10. Kogerman requested that a Public Record of these votes be made and that passed.

Under the City Clerk Department
1. Convert the existing Questys database of imaged documents and convert the existing records management system to SIRE, plus purchase one additional scannng station. This scanning station will be available to all City Departments. Cost for this will be about $50,000 initially plus $7,500 annually for maintenance. Vote total was 10.

Under Council/Manager Department
1. Negotiate a property sale agreement with the owner of the Moulton-La Paz Center to transfer approx. 3 acres of City owned property. This sale will allow for an additional 20,00 to 30,000 sq. ft. of retail space and include improvements to the open space area. Vote total was 8. Lautenschleger could not vote because he lives too close to this area. Each of the other council members voted 2.

2. Work with the Fritz Duda Company to facilitate the redevelopment of Oakbrook Village into a mixed use development project including residential. Vote total was 10.

3. Work with Simon Properties to facilitate the redevelopment of the Laguna Hills Mall work between Sears and JC Penny into a mixed-use development project including residential. Vote total was 10

4. Establish a collaborative working group of various stakeholders within the Urban Village Specific Plan area to encourage open dialogue, idea sharing and joint venture partnerships. Vote total was 8, 3 council members voted 2 and 2 council members (Carruth and Lautenschleger) each voted 1.

5. Develop a legislative strategy to amend State law to give the Lake Forest Redevelopment Agency the discretion to transfer excess housing funds to Laguna Hills. Vote total was 10.

Under Administrative Services Department
1. Work with OC Animal Care and other contract cities to facilitate the planning and construction of a new OC Animal Shelter. Vote total was 10.

2. Explore ways of using online social networking to increase citizen participation. Staff noted that current costs for City Views are up to about $120,000 a year and it would be less expensive if done online. Vote total was 7, Bressette voted - 0 and Songstad voted - 1, the others all voted - 2.

3. Work with OC Animal Care, other contract cities and the Board of Supervisors to establish an OC Animal Care Public Advisory Board. Vote total was 8, Songstad and Lautenschleger both voted 1 and all the others voted 2.

4. Investigate the costs and benefits of establishing a Laguna Hills Housing Authority to aide in the implementation of the General Plan strategy for the Via Lomas Opportunity Study Area.
Vote total was 9, Bressette voted 1 all the others voted 2.

5. Update the November 24, 2009 staff report regarding a ballot initiative for the 2012 general election to place before the electorate the option to increase the transient occupancy tax from 10% to 12%. Vote total was 0.

There will be voting on more of the Major Plans submitted by Council Members at the Next regular City Council Meeting on Tuesday March 22, 7 pm, at City Hall The PUBLIC BUDGET WORKSHOP/STUDY SESSION will be held on April 19 and there will be a PUBLIC HEARING on the City Budget in June.