August 23, 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
Headline for this meeting - City presents mandatory response to the Orange County Grand Jury's 2010-11 COMPENSATION STUDY of ORANGE COUNTY CITIES Report regarding why Laguna Hills has the highest paid City Manager and Assistant City Manager in all of Orange County- but won't respond to their Citizens regarding their 2010 promise to agendize the Coyote Problem for a City Council Meeting.
** Be Sure to see - LAGUNA HILLS CITY WORKERS: 12 PERCENT UNDERPAID?
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/09/01/laguna-hills-city-workers-12-percent-underpaid/95765/
PRESENTATIONS and PROCLAMATIONS - None
PUBLIC COMMENTS -
Mike Bland, Laguna Hills Resident and Chairman of the Team Dark Horse 3/5 Marines' Support Committee spoke about the City's 2011 Memorial Day and 4th of July Events that were enjoyed by both the residents and the Marines. He thanked the City for their help and participation with the Marines in the Events. He announced that they finally have a web site up that when it's finished will be listed as http://www.teamdarkhorse.org/ and will have a lot of photos and comments. Scripps Health paid for the entire Welcome Home Ball for the 3/5 and gave the committee an $11,000 contribution that is to be used for the "Wounded Warriors". He said the committee is planning a deck and Gazebo engineering and construction project at Camp Pendleton for the Wounded Warriors. He also said they met with the new 5/5 commander Lt. Col. Griffin to learn what else they could to for the Marines but Lt. Griffin kept asking what more could they do for us at events, etc. He said November 6th is the Marine Corps Birthday Ball and November 3 is "Jane Wayne Day" at Camp Pendleton from about 8 am to 2 pm where women can carry and shoot firearms, under supervision of the Marines.
Stacey Lawrence, Laguna Hill Resident spoke about abandoned City easements including tree wells that abut her home on Linda Vista Dr. She noted that along Aliso Hills area there are approximately 19 abandoned tree wells and along Paseo de Valencia, there are approximately 34. There are 2 large abandoned tree wells with tree stumps whose roots are uprooting a block wall on their property and preventing them from adding landscaping and compromising their privacy. She requested that the City terminate the easements on her property and wave the $1,500 engineering fee per easement because she will have to pay to have the stumps removed and repair the wall, etc. She said the City has already terminated more than 10 similar easements in other homeowners' yards. Ken Rosenfield, City Engineer and Public Services Director said he is working on this issue now and it will be presented at a future City Council Meeting.
Harold Kozanki, Laguna Hills Resident, from Carriage Hill Lane said on the 14th they had a drunk driver plow into their cul de sac at about 70 mph. He said these people live in a multi-family house in the cul de sac. He said a police officer responded, investigated, said the house was all divided up inside with partitions, knocked out walls and other code violations. He said he had done all he could do and advised Harold to take this problem to the City Council. Harold asked the City Council what they can do about this? He said this is a dangerous situation for children in the neighborhood. He said he was told this house was a Sober Living Facility. Mayor Songstad responded that if it is a Sober Living Facility, the State has taken a lot of control away from cities but noted that in Newport Beach some places like this were recently closed down.
Robin Saunders, Laguna Hills Resident said she came to speak about the extreme coyote problem in her area of the Laguna Village Complex. She said aggressive coyotes are howling all night long and several small dogs have been taken. She said coyotes come out all hours of the day and night and brought a photo to show the council. She expressed concern for small children and said she is running around warning neighbors about leaving small children outside. Council Member Carruth suggested she contact the property management in the Laguna Village HOA and ask them to work with the City in the trapping program. Council Member Kogerman asked if the HOA had published any information for their residents? Robin responded she is here tonight to find out how to work with the City on this, what types of procedures to pursue.
Rita Rembolt, Laguna Hills Resident from the Laguna Village HOA where there are 914 residents in No. Laguna Hills and where they are sometimes considered to be a step child. She said there has been dramatically increased coyote activity in the past 2 weeks at all hours of the day and night related to new building in the area that is effecting their habitat. She said she walks with a stick/cane for protection. She asked what is the what can we do to work with the City and inform our residents? She said we are looking the City for a plan so we can learn what procedures residents should follow? Council Member Lautenschleger mentioned there was information at the City Meeting in Dec. of 2010 re. the Coyote Problem and referred Rita back to her HOA for continued meetings like that. He did note that the effort needs to be coordinated. Rita Rembolt responded we are not in a position to trap Coyotes, so is the City coordinating education through the HOAs. She said they need a plan from the City to pass on to people and to whom should sightings be reported at the City, to what phone # , what kind of information do you need, etc.? We have to know what plans are in place. Council Member Carruth advised her to have her HOA contact the city. Rita responded she is here tonight for the HOA Board because it meets on the same nights that the City Council meetings are held and this is a problem that can't wait any longer.
(** Editor's Note - There are many communities in Laguna Hills that do not have HOAs so how would residents from those communities handle coyote problems in a City that continues to pass the buck by only referring residents to their HOAs? Residents of Laguna Hills were promised in Dec. of 2010 that this problem would be agendized for a City Council Meeting and since that time the City has refused to follow up on that promise. At the Dec. 2010 meeting residents were also told by the Fish and Game Commission that this effort needs to be coordinated with neighboring cities and training for residents related to how to prevent further coyote habituation needs to be extensive and well publicized. This problem has been with us for many years, and is a long term problem that is growing worse.
LHHS STUDENT LIAISON REPORT by Kylie West alternate Jeena Bonutto. - No more reports until school resumes in the Fall.
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 = $2,787,439.60
Items of interest from the Warrant Register -
Chevron Vehicle Fuel, July 11, $1.898.95
Postage for City Views, Fall 2011 - $2,500
Items of Interest from the Consent Calendar: **Items on the Consent Calendar are placed there by City Staff:
4.3 - School Crossing Guard Agreement - 6 crossing guards at 5 locations. Cost for FY 2011-12 shall not exceed $61,560. Staff Recommendation - Approve
4.4 - 2011 Memorial Day/ 1/2 Marathon and 5 K Post Event Report + 2 year Event Mgmt. Agreement with Renegade Racing for the 2012 and 2013 races. City Report says 2,924 participants registered for this event which is 324 more than last year. Donations to South County Outreach included 115 lbs. of canned goods and $850 from Beer Garden ticket sales. 281 participants chose to Thank a Marine by donating $5 to the Team Dark Horse Support Committee = $1,405. Total expenditures were $140,265 and total revenues were $148,336 including Saddleback Memorial Medical Center's contribution of $15,000. Total Revenues minus total expenses = $8,071. 263 people from Laguna Hills participated this year which is up from 192 last year. The remainder of participants are listed as being from Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Irvine, Lake Forest and Laguna Niguel. The report noted the presence of the City's Adopted 3/5 Marines at the event with their static display of vehicles, weapons, other equipment and camouflage face painting for the public.
2 year Event Mgmt. Agreement with Renegade Racing is being requested by City Staff at a cost of $46,000 a year plus $2 per participant in excess of 3,500 runners, plus a commission on any cash donations received as a result of their efforts to obtain sponsorship revenues. The estimated contract cost for 2012 and 2013 is $51,000 a year. Report states that for 2011 they received $47,770.
4.5 - 4th of July Event Report - Expenditures for 2011 were stated to be $46,078. Net costs to the City totaled $42,697 accounting for $3,381 in ticket sale revenues. Pyro Spectaculars gave a discount of $5000 on the fireworks display related to technical difficulties that caused delays in the show. The Report also noted that the City's Adopted 3/5 Marines attended this event with their vehicles, weapons, other equipment, and camouflage face painting for the public as they did for the City's Memorial Day Event.
4.6 and 4.7 - Progress Payment for the La Paz at I-5 Road Widening plus Change Order Progress payments of $417,141.49 + $207,486.96 with change order for an additional $22,500 for removal and disposal of debris. Previously authorized change orders total $40,415.
4.8 and 4.9 - Progress Payments for Community Center and Sports Complex Playground Renovations and Light Refurbishment and Costeau Park Playground Renovations - plus Progress Payment for Energy Efficiency Project. Progress Payments of $24,311.00 + $34,603.20 with Change Order for Total increase of $11,619.33 for additional fencing, slide equipment, drainage modification, repairs to jeep feature for playground, water feature regulators, electrical for water feature and a light pole cover.
4.10 - Master Funding Agreement with OCTA for Paseo de Valencia Improvement Project. 1/2 cent sales tax from Measure M 2 became effective on April 1, 2011. City needs to agree to specific funding and reporting requirements to receive this funding which the report says is $364,012.50 (engineering) and $7,500 (Right of Way) for the Paseo de Valencia Project.
4.11 - Public Outreach for Neighborhood Tree Planting Program. - Report says City was awarded grant of $75,000 + a $25,000 match by the City to plant approx. 500 parkway trees in neighborhoods and 100 trees along bike trails. Residents will be encouraged to water the trees in their neighborhoods, to comply with the City's plan for the maintenance of the trees in the future and to help plant the trees. The overall cost of the project is $100,000 of which $75,000 will be grant funds and $25,000 will be City General Funds. All trees are to be 15 gal size and many species are available.
4.12 - Stockport Park Renovation - Staff recommends that the Council authorize Richard Fisher Associates to the design the Stockport Park Renovation Project, focused on the playground, to update the play equipment and playground surface. Report states the park was last renovated in 1995. Surrounding slopes need renovation as well. Estimate is that work can begin in Spring of 2012. $200,000 was budgeted for this project in the Capital Improvements Budget but the need for the renovation of the slopes was not anticipated by staff so was not included in the amount budgeted. The City has 12 neighborhood parks.
4.13 and 4.14 - Contract with County of Orange for Community Development Block Grant Funds for FY 2011-2012. and Contract with Aliso Meadows Condo Assoc. re. Community Development with Block Grant Funds for FY 2011-2012 - For the past 7 years the City has received funds from the County of Orange to rehabilitate the 248 unit Aliso Meadows Condo Development/Via Lomas. For FY 2011-12 the City is tentatively awarded $166,540 to rehab. approx. 10 housing units, so now must sign a contract with the County regarding the use and limitations associated with these funds. Funds are allocated to this undersized city based on demonstrated need. In 2004 the City identified a rehab. need of more than $2,500,000 and has since applied each year's grant toward that need. $1,916,766 in grant funding has been used to date.
4.15 - Consulting Services Agreement for Planning and Housing Services with GRC Associates - Request to approve $30,000 in consulting service costs to GRC Assoc. related to the rehab. of the Via Lomas Condominium Project noted in 4.13 and 4.14
4.16 - Establishment of a No Stopping Anytime Zone at Valencia Elem. School on East side of Paseo de Valencia. Report states the school principal, Jeremy Stonebarger contacted the City to request this because of unsafe conditions for students related to traffic congestion in this area. The school has a plan to create a 3rd internal student drop off lane so City Staff recommends the No Stop area requested and additional police enforcement to reduce some of the vehicle code violations. Cost to the City - About $750.
4.17 - 15th Annual Inner-Costal Watershed Cleanup Day - September 17, 2011 Trash and debris clean up day. Volunteers will meet at the Community Center and participate from 9 am to 12 pm. For more information contact http://www.ci.laguna-hills.ca.us/ or call 949-707-2657 Wear appropriate clothes and shoes, sunscreen and a hat. Bring gardening and work gloves if you have them.
4.18 - Establishment of No Stopping anytime Zones on both sides of Bridlewood Dr. from Oso Pkwy to 100 ft. South. Report states these zones are currently No Parking Anytime but should be more appropriately designated No Stopping Anytime zones. Due to the configuration of the road there is no room along the side of the road for stopped or parked cars. Cost to the City estimated to be $500.
VOTE - Consent Calendar was passed 5 - 0 with the exception of items 4.4 and 4.5
Items Pulled from the Consent Calendar for Discussion - Council Member Bressette pulled Item 4.4 and 4.5 from the Consent Calendar.
Item 4.4 2011 Memorial Day/ 1/2 Marathon and 5 K Post Event Report + 2 year Event Mgmt. Agreement with Renegade Racing for the 2012 and 2013 races. Council Member Bressette thanked Team Dark Horse 3/5 Marine Support Committee Chairman Mike Bland for the work he is with the Marines and said the presence of the Marines made the events Patriotic. He noted that staff has told him he can bring up his request for the Marines to be an Event Charity Partner in the Spring when their staff report is issued. He added that the Marine Support Committee didn't know if the Marines would be able to participate until late in the season this year, so they should be able to do better next year as a Charity Partner. Council Member Carruth noted the increase in runners in the Memorial Day Event this year and asked about Renegade Racing related to the specifics of what they are contracted to do for this event. She said she saw no flyers around the City, said the staging of the event with the scaffolding was not as impressive as it had previously been and asked at what point do we discuss these things with Renegade Racing. Dan Meehan, Community Services Superintendent responded that a different company did the scaffolding last year and there was more advertising this year through social media, post cards, etc. Council Member Kogerman noted increased community support including the HILLS HOTEL that donated many rooms to the Marines and their families this year for the Memorial Day Event and that was much appreciated by the Support Committee and the Marines.
VOTE - Item 4.4 passed 5-0
Item 4.5 - 4th of July Event Report - Council Member Bressette noted that the Mayor's Comments prior to the fireworks display could not be heard. He added there need to be some improvements made to the system for announcements.
(**Editor's Note - We who attend city council meetings regularly always have trouble hearing Songstad. Either he rarely speaks into his microphone or his microphone is rarely working.) Council Member Carruth suggested that the lights not be turned off at this event, in the future, until the fireworks display is ready to be started because the disapointment from the public was significant related to having to listen to political speeches when they were expecting the fireworks. Council Member Kogerman added this was a wonderful community event with the Marines. VOTE - Item 4.5 was passed 5 - 0
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS - **These Items are authored by City Staff
5.4.1 - Request by AT &T to expand existing wireless communications facility at 25131 Costeau St. in the Neighborhood Mixed Use Zoning District was presented by Vern Jones, Community Development Director. The proposed revision consists of replacing four - 4 foot tall antennas with eight - 8 foot tall antennas and increasing the height of the screening wall from 6 feet to 9 feet so that AT&T can offer 4 G service to its customers. Staff recommends the changes. Report states this facility was originally permitted in 2005 for up top 12 antennas on top of a public storage building. After a lengthy discussion, this item was not passed because Council Member Carruth wanted additional shrubs added around the Canary Island Pine trees that will be planted to screen this installation. The item was continued. VOTE was 3 - 2. The 3 who voted to continue this item were Carruth, Bressette and Songstad.
Announcement from the City Manager - It was just discovered that neither the audio or video equipment for this City Council Meeting have been working all evening. Mayor Songstad replied, "All right, moving right along." City Manager injected if you wish to give the staff a chance to reboot the system to see if that would get it working, I suggest a 5 min. break.
PLANNING AGENCY PUBLIC HEARINGS - 5.5.1 - Request by Crown Castle, Inc. and MetroPCS to replace an existing 64 foot Monopine with a 80 foot Monoeucalyptus for co-location of a new MetroPCS antenna at an unmanned wireless communications facility at 25202 Nellie Gail Rd. (the Nellie Gail Equestrian Center) was presented by Vern Jones, Community Development Director. The new Monoeucalyptus will provide for use by 6 providers of wireless services with 6 panel antennas and 1 microwave dish. 5 new equipment cabinets and 1 GPS antenna with its utility cabinet will also be added in a structure resembling a barn. Report states this structure was originally a 35 foot structure for Sprint in the year 2000. City states 57 public hearing notices were mailed to surrounding property owners in a 300 foot radius and no comments were received. After much discussion about the appearance of the new tower/tree this item was passed. VOTE - this item passed 5 - 0.
Planning Agency Public Comments -
CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARINGS - 6.1 - Appropriation of Citizen's Option for Public Safety Funds - Report states this money ($100 million from the 2010 Budget Act) from CA. State Budget for Citizen's Option for Public Safety Program (signed into law in 1996) is exclusively for front line law enforcement. The State Controller is required to allocate these COPS funds to each County and City that has established a Supplemental Law Enforcement Services Fund (SLESF). Laguna Hills expects to receive $100,000 from this fund and the City has earmarked that for helping to offset the cost of the Laguna Hills Acting Chief of Police Services. Lt. Steve Doan, Laguna Hills Chief of Police, said he had nothing to add to the staff report except to note that right now this is an unfunded project that we hope will be funded, so we are moving forward with the necessary steps in case it is funded.
VOTE - This item passed 5-0
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS (again) 7.2 - Assistant City Manager - 7.2.1 -
RESPONSE to ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORT - 2010-2011 COMPENSATION STUDY of ORANGE COUNTY CITIES -
You can find the complete Grand Jury Report at: http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/comp-study-oc-cities/Compensation-Study-of-Orange-County-Cities.pdf
City Staff's Report on the City's Response to the Grand Jury Report was presented by Don White, Assistant City Manager and states - The Grand Jury Report was focused on compensation abuses but did not declare any "abuses" so one can argue that the Grand Jury "went afield"- and its "misdirection led to the following findings:"
Don White added that in Sept. of 2010 the Grand Jury requested salary and benefit information for its study from the cities for the year 2009 for all Elected Officials and City Employees receiving a base salary in excess of $100,000. On April 22, 2011 the Grand Jury sent the Cities a response letting them know a draft report had been completed for their review so that they would have the opportunity to identify any inaccuracies. Don White stated Laguna Hills reviewed the report on May 6, 2011, and was given one hour to review the study. He said they noted factual inaccuracies and omissions and flaws in the Grand Jury's methodology. On June 9, 2011 the Grand Jury released its report to the public. Don White continued that the City of Laguna Hills was directed by the Grand Jury to respond to Findings F.4, F.6 and F.7 and to Recommendations R.1, R.2 and R.4. However, on page 28 of the Grand Jury Report it is noted that Laguna Hills is required to respond to Finding - F.6 and Recommendation R.4. with no other findings or responses noted?
** (Editor's Note - What the Grand Jury Report actually stated regarding "abuse" on pp. 17-18 of its report was - "the term 'abuse' is highly subjective in nature' and added that the Attorney General announced that he would look into any city official's salary that exceeds $300,000. They continued, "Based on the data submitted to the Grand Jury by all 34 Orange County cities, the highest paid city employee or official of the 1,837 positions so reported is the Laguna Hills City Manager with a base salary of $233,592 and total compensation of $378,427. It is clear that this is a substantial compensation level." As a point of reference in that regard, the Chief Executive Officer for the County of Orange received a total compensation of $324,535 according to the State Controller web site. However, with due consideration to the benchmark compensation levels noted above, the Grand Jury has concluded that there is no individual compensation in any Orange County city which would rise to the level of being considered as abusive." )
(City says it was directed to comment on the following Grand Jury Compensation Study Findings and Recommendations):
FINDINGS:
F.4 - Public Disclosure of Municipal Compensation levels is widely inconsistent ranging from good to non-existent.
F.6 - 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 inside and outside of Orange County.
F.7 - There is currently no disclosure of written employment contracts on the majority of cities' web sites.
There were 2 response choices, 1 - to agree and 2 - to disagree and include an explanation.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
R.1 - Transparency - All Cities in Orange County report their compensation information to the public on the Internet in an easily accessible manner. The Compensation Disclosure Model (Appendix 4) provides a sample as to the items that should be included in determining total compensation.
R.2 - Employment Contracts - Each City reveal any individual employment contracts in a easily accessible manner.
R.4 - Compensation Levels - The City of Laguna Hills conduct a compensation review of top officials.
The City of Laguna Hills' Response is very lengthy and can be read online. In a nut shell it says "they wholly disagree" with the Grand Jury Report based in part on a comparison between the Grand Jury Report and City's recent Compensation Study that they commissioned from Ralph Anderson and Assoc. The City reviewed their entire Ralph Anderson Study at length in their response suggesting that the Grand Jury's Study was fundamentally flawed so was not a Valid Study.
Council Members Lautenschleger, Songstad and Carruth defended the City Staff authored response to the Grand Jury Study. Council Members Kogerman and Bressette re-confirmed the "flawed status" of the City's Ralph Anderson Compensation Study and declined to vote for the City's Response to the Grand Jury. Council Member Kogerman also issued her own City of Laguna Hills Minority Response to the Grand Jury.
VOTE was 3 to 2 in favor of the City Staff's Response to the Grand Jury Compensation Study. The 2 against were Kogerman and Bressette
(**Editor's Note - Essential elements the City FAILED TO ADDRESS in the Staff's response to the Grand Jury were:
1. Two of Laguna Hills' City Council Members, Barbara Kogeman and Randal Bressette, investigated the methodology of the City commissioned Ralph Anderson Compensation Study and found it to be flawed. Kogerman declared at the June 28, 2010 Council Meeting that the City's compensation report failed to consider complexity, population, size of the City in land area, budget and Top Manager's compensation. At the July 12, 2011 Council Meeting Bressette said he could not vote for the Staff's Resolution because the Compensation Study, the Resolution was based upon, was not accurate related to underestimating employee lifetime retirement benefits and adjusted base salary.
The other 3 Council Members, Songstad, Lautenschleger and Carruth defended the Staff response based mainly upon the City's 2% at 60 retirement policy and reported no flaws in the City's Compensation Study. All council members agreed that the City's 2% at 60 retirement policy is a good plan but it is only one piece of the City's total compensation policy. The 3 council members who defended the Staff's response to the Grand Jury Report had little to offer in defense of the City Manager and Assist. City Manager's compensations being the highest in the County, other than - there was value in having long term employees.
Additionally on June 28, 2011 a Laguna Hills Citizen Bill Enholm, asked Doug Johnson, from Ralph Anderson and Assoc. if he had every conducted a compensation survey where he had determined that a City was overpaying their employees and if so could he get a copy of that report. Doug Johnson - declined to answer the question.
2. The City's response to the Recommendation from the Grand Jury that "The City of Laguna Hills conduct a compensation review of top officials" was Fundamentally Flawed. The City's Response claimed this recommendation was implemented by its Ralph Anderson Study but the City FAILED TO MENTION that the CITY'S TOP OFFICIALS, the City Manager and the Assistant City Manager, WERE NOT STUDIED in the Ralph Anderson Compensation Study because the top officials are "Contract Employees." On June 28, 2011 during his Final City Employee Compensation Report, Doug Johnson, from Ralph Anderson and Associates, responded to Council Member Kogerman's concern that the City's Senior Management was a major reason for doing the study. Doug Johnson said, "If you start mixing a City Manager contract with salary range and salary administration there are going to be differences. If you hired us to provide apples to apples knowledge of 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".
Regarding the Assistant City Manager this was said - Kogerman - "So we don't have actual salaries for the Assistant City Managers?" Doug Johnson - "No" Doug Johnson also said - "there's a great amount of attention to City Manager Contracts and so I think there's a lot of discussion, a lot of negotiation going on interestingly in 2 categories, one is trying to be more responsive to those things that people have raised concerns about and the other is finding creative ways to hide money".
The City of Laguna Hills' Response to the Grand Jury also argued that it's "Age Banded" Medical Insurance Premium Rates bumped up the City's cost for Council Members and their families and for full time employees (for whom all premiums are paid 100% by the City). In that argument the City FAILED TO MENTION they did not seek a less costly "Composite Rate" to decrease the cost to taxpayers for the medical insurance premiums for Elected Officials and City Employees until after they were spotlighted for their exceptionally high premiums by Council Member Kogerman (who refused to accept City Medical Ins. at those high premium rates paid by taxpayers) and by the Orange County Register's Watchdog. On June 28, 2011 even Doug Johnson, the Consultant for the City's Compensation Study from Ralph Anderson and Assoc. said - the Health Insurance Benefits Costs paid by the City were higher than commonly found in the market place even after the City found lower Health Insurance Premium Rates this year.
Below are the City's responses to the requests for a "Findings" response from the County Grand Jury:
1. (F.4) Public Disclosure of municipal Compensation levels is widely inconsistent ranging from good to non-existent. The City's response was that they agree because there is no standardized format for this disclosure and they said they provided "appropriate" disclosure. The disclosure they provided is apparently appropriate for them but is not for citizens as evidenced by the lack of transparency in the City Manager's Compensation Report noted below in (F.7).
2. (F.6) - 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 inside and outside of Orange County. The City's response is lengthy and indicates that the Grand Jury's Compensation study is fundamentally flawed and therefore not a valid study.
3. (F.7) - There is currently no disclosure of written employment contracts on the majority of cities' web sites. The City's response is that the City Manager's contract is posted on the City web site. What the City FAILED TO MENTION in the City Manager's Compensation Report on the City Web site is that the posted information is only partial not full disclosure.
Under TRANSPARENCY the Grand Jury Report stated on pp. 20 - 22 "The best way to guard against abuse on the subject of governmental employee compensation is to provide the public with effective transparency."
The Grand Jury gave Laguna Hills a 2010 Transparency rating of C for content, D for clarity and B for Accessibility. Some examples of lack of transparency are listed below:
On the City web site under the "Public Officials Compensation Report for Calendar Year 2010" and under "CITY MANAGER" you will find the following:
City web site says - The Council typically places the City Manager in the top 25% of the pay scales for all Orange County City Managers.
Orange County Grand Jury Report - 2010- 2011 Compensation Study of Orange County Cities said - "Based on the data submitted to the Grand Jury by all 34 Orange County cities, the highest paid city employee or official of the 1,837 positions so reported is the Laguna Hills City Manager with a base salary of $233,592 and total compensation of $378,427."
City web site says - He (City Manager) did not receive a performance payment for 2010.
Council Member Kogerman said - The City Manager received his "up to 10%" of base salary bonus every year he has been eligible for it since 1991, except 2010.
City web site says - The position of City Manager requires the use of an automobile seven days a week, 24 hours a day as he is always on-call to respond to emergencies.
City Records Request revealed - We requested records for the last 5 years to show how many times the City Manager has been required to return to the City, after hours, for any emergency. We were told there were no records responsive to this request.
City web site says - The City Council has chosen to supply the City Manager with a vehicle in lieu of a monetary car allowance. The City-owned vehicle (Toyota Sequoia, SUV) is typically replaced on a five-year cycle.
City Records Request in Nov. of 2009 said - Our City Records request stated - "Is the car that was recently purchased for the City Manager of Laguna Hills budgeted anywhere in the City of Laguna Hills budget and if so, may I please obtain a copy of the page or pages referring to that item." The City responded - "The City is not in possession of any records that are responsive to this request description, therefore, the City is unable to produce records that are responsive to this request." The City only mentioned this car publicly after The LH Watch Dog, Barbara Kogerman and the OC Register Watchdog revealed it publicly.
We did not learn until 2011, in a City Budget session, that this car had been buried in the City Budget under "Capital Outlay" as an asset of the city where it was unlikely to be linked to the City Manager and unlikely to be found by citizens searching for it in City Records.
At a Glance Table for City Management on City Web Site
City web site says - Taxable Value of Personal Use of City-Owned Vehicle - $8,320
Sales Contract (for the City Manager's 4 wheel Drive fully loaded Toyota Sequoia) says -Cost of this car $60,000, for which the taxpayers are paying $10,000 a year for 5 years plus a trade in car valued at $10,000.
City web site says - The City Manager's total compensation is $361,247
Orange County Grand Jury Report - 2010-2011 Compensation Study of Orange County Cities said - Laguna Hills City Manager with a base salary of $233,592 and total compensation of $378,427 according to the information that was submitted to them by the City.
7.3.1 - Establishment of a No Parking Anytime Zone on Mandeville Dr. from Moulton Pkwy. to the Drive Approach of 24441 Mandeville Dr. Staff Recommendation - Establish the No Parking Zone Report says - A Resident from Mandeville Dr. near Moulton reported the residents of the Crestline Homeowners Assoc. continue to park overnight along Mandeville Dr. impacting the parking supply near the resident's home. Previous similar complaints were addressed in 2006-07. The Traffic Commission approved this No Parking Anytime Zone on July 20, 2011. Fiscal impact to the City - about $500. Council Member Bressette asked for a survey of the cars parked here and Council Member Carruth asked that a question about Permit Parking be added to the survey for residents in the area. Vote - Item passed 5-0
OTHER BUSINESS - **These Items are authored by Council Members
COYOTE ACTIVITY IN THE CITY - After numerous reports last year and recent reports of aggressive coyote activity this year, Council Member Kogerman had to formally request a Staff Report, Recommendations and a Plan to address the Coyote Problems throughout the City and the contiguous cities. Kogerman's recommendations included - Conduct a study providing statistical and concrete evidence of encounters with aggressive coyotes, reaching out to property owners and HOAs, the Dept. of Fish and Game and County Shelter Services, including relevant information as to time and place and nature of the encounter and request similar information from neighboring cities. From this information compile a report outlining options for public information and outreach, web site support, management of aggressive coyotes and cooperation efforts among contiguous cities directed at protecting out residents, their children and they pets from coyote habituation and aggression. Return no later than Sept. 27, 2011 with recommendations to a city council meeting. It should be understood that nothing in this recommendation should halt on-going measures that are currently being undertaken.
A Laguna Hills Resident, who has worked with carnivores, in a captive situation for 30 years wrote a letter outlining the need for many long term forms of intervention from the City including Public Education, fencing, teaching residents how to behave with coyotes long term to prevent habituation, working in conjunction with bordering cities and some trapping of the most aggressively habituated coyotes.
Council Member Kogerman said we need web site support for this and a phone # for residents to call to report coyote incidents as well as cooperative efforts with surrounding cities because coyotes don't recognize city borders.
Prompted by Council Member Bressette, City Manager Channing had this to say - We've had an informal conversation with a number of the adjacent cities and their reactions were varied. Some of them taking actions similar to ours and using the same consultant for that purpose, others acknowledged the problem but had no plans and expressed no interest in changing their approach. The challenge is statistics. Between us and the Nellie Gail Ranch HOA, we have a handful of e-mails and even fewer phone calls have been received. We don't try to authenticate whether somebody did see a coyote or did lose their pet, we take their word for it. The bigger challenge is given the data, how do you interpret it? At what point is it that any of the evidence received by cities is adequate for a city to know it does have a problem? Individual's who lose their pets to a coyote think we have a problem, so I don't know how you'd measure the impact in a quantified way other than to say there a lot of coyotes out there and they are a threat to individual's pets. I don't know what else you'd get from a study. I think we can already say the coyotes are a problem for all residents. He said our public outreach program has been through City Views' Newsletters that have printed information on 2 occasions. We have also been working carefully and closely with the Nellie Gail Ranch HOA. We give them the same information we received at the Dec. 2010 meeting which is linking with HOAs as needed and added that 2 prior issues of City Views discussed how to deal with coyotes. Assistant City Manager White added there is not a featured link on the home page of the City's web site about to how to deal with Coyotes. He offered that we might be able to create a featured link on the City's web site for this but the number of links that can be created may be limited so something else may need to be dropped.
(**Editor's note - There was a lively discussion among audience members about the coyote issue at this city council meeting. Several were asking, Where is the leadership from the Mayor and the City Manager and one resident semi-joked ,"Apparently the best plan the highest paid City Manager in Orange County has is that if we meet an aggressive coyote we should immediately retrieve our stash of old issues of "City Views" where we can review 2 issues with City information regarding how to behave with coyotes."
We need to also note that we just received the latest issue of City Views featuring one page entitled "Living with Coyotes" stating if you see coyotes around your property contact Melissa Au-Yeung at the City by e-mail at
mau-yeung@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us (no phone # was given for those who do not have a home computer). If you have an encounter with a dangerous coyote contact OC Animal Care at 949-249-5160 and also send an e-mail to Melissa Au-Yeung at the City. If a person is attacked by a coyote call 911. The rest of the information was the same as usual - Don't allow pets outside alone, Keep garbage containers closed, Remove water sources, Don't leave any food outside, Fully fence pet enclosures, Pick up fallen fruit and Cover compost piles, Trim shrubbery, Make loud noises and Throw rocks if needed. ** There was No mention of walking with a walking stick which is very important in coyote country and no mention regarding what would be done with your information by the City if you call them and/or by the OC Animal Shelter if you call them?
Council Member Carruth said we pretty much know now where the coyotes live (**Editor's Note - That sounds like important information and perhaps Council Members have that information but residents never received the results of the March 11, 2011 $500 Coyote Assessment?) and we are doing a lot of things already so rather than wait for a survey and report we could report what we've been doing. She said she thinks that because we know where the coyotes live, the trapping has been successful and a number of south land cities are using the same trapper Laguna Hills is using so that is a coordinated effort.
Public Comments on the Coyote Issue - April Garfield, Laguna Hills Resident said she believes we should co-exist with wild animals instead of killing them when they become inconvenient. She said that according to a 2005 US Dept. of Agriculture Study killing coyotes is ineffective because when their general population decreases the coyotes produce more offspring that survive related to the lack of competition from other coyotes so their population rises. She added that "trapping" means killing because there is a State law in CA. that prohibits the relocation of coyotes. She said the City of Arcadia, CA. no longer traps coyotes and has an excellent web site about how to co-exist with them. She added that public education is important, keeping pets and food inside, and using fencing with "coyote rollers" on the top of the fence that prevent coyotes from getting a foot hold.
(**Editor's Note - Information about Coyote Rollers can be found on the Internet at www.coyoteroller.com/ or by searching for "Coyote Rollers'" They appear to be an effective way of keeping dogs that jump fences in your yard as well as keeping coyotes out if your fence is also tall enough. We could not find a published price for them online but it appears residents can install these on any fence or have them professionally installed. Thank you to April Garfield for this information to Rita Rembolt (earlier Public Comments speaker) who noted the need to walk with a walking stick and to Council Member Kogerman for being the only council member to formally request a plan from the City and that this problem be agendized for a City Council meeting. The Coyote Rollers and walking stick ideas are something residents in the audience at this council meeting said they expected to receive from the City, as one piece of a comprehensive plan to deal with coyote problems. They noted that further stresses the importance of agendizing issues like this to allow residents to have input.)
Council Member Kogerman added Laguna Woods and Mission Viejo are using the same trapper that Laguna Hills is using. How about instituting a fine for people who deliberately feed coyotes? We do need to do more than we are doing now.
Public Comments on the Coyote Issue Continued - Mike Bland, Laguna Hills Resident stated he's hearing tonight about education and putting things on the web site, and that's all good but in Nellie Gail, in the past, they have tried trapping coyotes and not been successful. He said he heard that Laguna Hills had trapped some coyotes so he would like to know if that is true, how many, and were they males or females? Do we know where the dens are, not just where the coyotes are seen. He added that he got toy cap pistols to shoot to make noise to scare the coyotes the last time they began coming into his yard and that worked very well to scare them off. Mayor Songstad would only say that he thinks the trapping program has been successful. Mike asked do you not want to release that information for some reason? Songstad replied, I don't know.
(**Editor's Note - At the May 10, 2011 City Council Meeting a Warrant Register item noted Animal Pest Management Services was paid $500 for a Coyote Assessment March 11, 2011, yet citizens never received a formal report on findings from this "Assessment" We at the Laguna Hills Watch Dog have long observed that Laguna Hills consistently chooses not to agendize issues that indicate the presence of problems in the City or that may be contentious. We appreciate that Council Member Kogerman has broken that mold to speak out for citizens.)
Council Member Lautenschleger stated he would not support another study and we are not going to do anything different if we have a study. Just increase the education and do some trapping.
Council Member Bressette suggested directing staff to prepare a report recommending enhanced outreach involving public information to property managers and HOAs as a substitute motion to doing a study and return with this report on Sept. 27, 2011. Council Member Kogerman agreed to accept that as a substitute motion with the emphasis that we have to do more.
Council Member Carruth noted that April Garfield's comments represent a large population in Laugua Hills who do not want coyotes killed. She said not everyone is going to agree with the people who lost pets about trapping coyotes, so we need to let the public know we are using a balanced approach.
VOTE - the Substitute Motion passed 5 - 0
MATTERS PESENTED by MAYOR and CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS -
Council Member Bressette said he will not be able to attend the September 13 scheduled contract review of the City Manager's Contract with a labor negotiator, so asked that it be postponed to Sept. 27. Mayor Songstad stated he may not be able to attend on Sept. 27. Bressette said if that's the case it could be postponed again.
Council Member Kogerman announced that she was going to file a Minority Response Report to the Orange County Grand Jury Compensation Report outlining why she believes the City's response is not an adequate response to their recommendation. Mayor Songstad responded, I'm not sure you were asked to do that.
CLOSED SESSION –None
The Next regular City Council Meeting is Tuesday September 13, 7 pm, at City Hall. Contact Laguna Hills City Council Members at - ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us
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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.
**Go to http://libertyfirst.org/ to see how the Orange County Register Newspaper grades the Laguna Hills City Council Members. If you search by name of the City you will find all 5 of the council members.
Bressette - P (T) (A) - for voting against the City Staff authored Response to the Grand Jury Compensation Study related to researching and finding significant methodology flaws in the City's Compensation Study that was used as the defense for the City's response. (A+) for researching and documenting the flaws in the City's Compensation Study. (A+) For authoring a substitute motion regarding the need for an improved plan addressing the coyote problem in the City and getting it passed. P for voting for need for improved plan to address coyote problems in the City.
Carruth - F (T) (A) - for voting for the City Staff authored Response to the Grand Jury Compensation Study related to the documentation of multiple flaws in the methodology of the City's Compensation Study that was used as the defense for the City's response. P for voting for need for improved plan to address coyote problems in the City.
Kogerman - P (T) (A) - for voting against the City Staff authored Response to the Grand Jury Compensation Study related to researching and finding significant methodology flaws in the City's Compensation Study that was used as the defense for the City's response. (A+) for researching and documenting the flaws in the City's Compensation Study. (A) for authoring a Minority Response to the Grand Jury Compensation Study Report. A for authoring an item on the agenda for the residents, drawing attention to the need for a successful plan for addressing the coyote problem in the City. P for voting for need for improved plan to address coyote problems in the City.
Lautenschleger - F for voting for the City Staff authored Response to the Grand Jury Compensation Study related to the documentation of multiple flaws in the methodology of the City's Compensation Study that was used as the defense for the City's response. P for voting for need for improved plan to address coyote problems in the City.
Songstad - F for voting for the City Staff authored Response to the Grand Jury Compensation Study related to the documentation of multiple flaws in the methodology of the City's Compensation Study that was used as the defense for the City's response. F for lack of leadership in addressing the development of a long term plan, including input from residents, to address the coyote problem in the City. F- Lack of Transparancy for failing to report what has actually been done about the coyote, to date, to the residents. P for voting for need for improved plan to address coyote problems in the City.
City Manager - F for the City Staff authored Response to the Grand Jury Compensation Study related to the documentation of multiple flaws in the methodology of the City's Compensation Study that was used as the defense for the City's response. F for lack of staff attention to monitor of the audio and video equipment for this city council meeting resulting in at least the 1st hour lost. F for failing to develop a specific long term plan, involving input from residents, to deal with the long term coyote problem in the City that has escallated over time.
INFORMATION, COMMENTS QUESTIONS and CONCERNS from Watch Dog Readers:
City Employees Mandate their Own Compensation Policy
With respect to the virtually incomprehensible reality that city employees are permitted to mandate their own salary and compensation packages, I find this situation outrageous. It flies in the face of the reality within the private sector over the past 2 or 3 years of this difficult economy. No one of my acquaintance in the private sector has received ANY pay raise over this same time period and in fact are simply grateful to still have jobs. The arrogance of the city employees coupled with their apparent ignorance of current employment reality is simply stunning. Candidly, I am usually a staunch defender of public employees but I cannot justify this arrogance and cannot understand why three of the City Council members, Songstad, Lautenslager and Carruth, have acceded to this virtual bank heist. Kudos to council members Bresette and Kogerman for standing up to such highway robbery. Let's work to ensure that the above facts are made very plain to the voters in 2012. Mary Park
I have heard a few people in Laguna Hills who say they are happy we have the money to pay the inflated compensation to the City Manager and others on the City Staff. They say "If it ain't broke don't fix it". To the hopefully very few of them I would like to quote from one of the comments in your last Watch Dog where a resident said, WE DON'T NEED TO MOVE ANY MOUNTAINS IN THIS CITY and you think it ain't broke because the city council has a long history of hiding controversial issues from residents to keep them thinking "it ain't broke" and keep them voting for the incumbents . As someone else said this is a very small, contract City of 31,000 (according to the 2010 census) that is built out and has a City Council that now spends more time fussing more over minute details of the appearance of signs for businesses than it does about bringing more good businesses and additional tax money into the City. So, clearly we don't have mountains to move. In this City basically we have Grants to find and contractors to supervise and obviously we need to have sharper eyes on contracts from City Employees, but that's just a matter of paying attention. So, if the grossly overpaid staff who have contracts with the City can find something better let's bid them a happy farewell and get some fresh new people who appreciate that jobs are tough to find, that this is an easy City to run compared with most, and would be happy to leave some money for the citizens they are serving. PS and in 2012 Lets get some new Council Members who can appreciate that too. Kathryn
No Money for Citizens but Plenty for City Manager
I am glad to have someone who is watching the City of Laguna Hills, it is important. I was really appalled on the 4th of July that we were the only city in the South Orange county area that didn't have patriotic flag standards up on our main streets, and the only answer I got was from Councilwoman Melody Carruth that there just wasn't the money to get new flags and put them up, but they have the money to buy our City Manager a nice expensive car, and pay him a huge salary. Keep me updated. Mary S.
City Staff Proposal to Poll Fewer Cities for Average Compensation is Self Serving
To the city staff and council members Carruth, Lautenschleger and Songstad - a REMINDER that the city staff was just recently asking to get rid of the Citizen Survey because they said there were too few listed phone numbers to get an accurate representation of all the residents in Laguna Hills. Now that same staff is asking to poll fewer cities in Orange County in the future, to use only 17 rather than 33, to get a more accurate idea of average compensation for their salaries. What's wrong with this picture is that this city staff is clearly self serving, leaving the residents of Laguna Hills behind at every opportunity. The residents are the taxpayers the city staff is there to serve the residents. When and on whose watch did all this get so turned around? We need to replace staff members responsible for this kind of thinking starting with the City Manager and Assistant City Manager who are proposing this and we need to replace the Council Members who support this kind of thinking? Outraged Citizen
When and why did the City Council decide to pay the Employees share of retirement and medical? Top 5. Why ? True we are a small city and the staff we have has more responsibility as we have less staff, however, we also have a smaller workload. And what if 10 cities say they will be in the top 5, how will someone figure out what position each will fall into. This does not concern me a much as we are paying the employee's portion of retirement and medical. The deduction clearly says the 'employee's share' not the employer's share. That really bothers me more than anything. And why are we paying for council's medical. When we started the city nothing like this was discussed. Council stands little chance of getting re-elected this way. Thanks for the good work it definitely helps. Citizen of Laguna Hills
WIN WIN Wednesday! - Make it a habit! - Here's the lineup for - WWW Global Cuisine - Please Download your flyers to give to each restaurant to get the % for Win-Win-Wednesday's Safe & Sane Grad Night for LHHS. **** Don't forget to Download your Fundraiser Flyer to present to the eating establishment at http://www.winwinwednesdays.com//
August 31 - Mimis Cafe (LN) - 27430 La Paz Rd. - All Day Event
September 7 - Sno On The Go (LN) - Noon - 9 pm Los Alisos at Jeronimo (No flyer needed)
September 14 - Souplantation (LN) - 11 am to 9 pm Aliso Creek at La Paz
September 21 - Chili's (AV) - 11 am to 9 pm at Aliso Viejo Towne Center
September 28 - Baja Fresh (LH) - 10:30 am to 9 pm Moulton at La Paz
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!!
NEWS STORIES AND BLOGS ABOUT LAGUNA HILLS: Click on the links below to see the stories.
**New City-happy O.C. spends tens of millions on execs http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/07/30/city-happy-o-c-spends-tens-of-millions-on-execs/90773/
**New Do O.C. cities pay more than others in Golden State? http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/07/24/do-o-c-cities-pay-more-than-others-in-golden-state/90155/#comment-172357
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: Kenneth Frank: In defense of city managers http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/city-277030-manager-laguna.html "Citizens, in turn, must do their part to foster civic pride. They should demand that city council and planning meetings be televised and streamed online. And they need to become involved. In Laguna Beach, we have numerous homeowners associations and environmental, business and labor groups that encourage the exchange of ideas and enhance the interactivity between residents and elected officials.
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."
OC has two of state’s best-paid city managers
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2010/09/17/oc-has-two-of-states-best-paid-city-managers/64492/
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 19 years.
October 25, 2005 - Mayor Allan Songstad, speaking about the Laguna Hills City Council said, "When you've been doing business in a certain way for 13 years you're not likely to change that."
So true, Allan, so unfortunately true 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 - published May 11, 2011 click on: http://www.ocregister.com/news/block-300013-disturbance-drive.html and go to - www.ocregister.com/saddleback for more.
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.
