Laguna Hills Watch Dog

Nov. 8, 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  

*** November 18, 2011 - Breaking News for Laguna Hills - At the graduation ceremony for the City's Emergency Preparedness Program last night, we all learned that our Laguna Hills Police Chief - Lt. Steve Doan was promoted to Captain and will be leaving the City of Laguna Hills. Chief Doan said he had just learned of this yesterday himself. The Laguna Hills Watch Dog salutes Chief Doan and are very happy for him but sorry to see him go. More on this story to come. Jean Bland

** CORRECTION (November 15) for "Child Molest Numbers" from this council meeting.  This correction was reported to us on Nov. 15 by Council Member Kogerman and by Council Member Bressette - the "Child Molest Numbers" in Laguna Hills for the last 11 years to date totaled 32 not 161.  Lake Forest had the highest number at 83 followed by Mission Viejo at 72. The lowest was 2 for Laguna Woods.  Villa Park was 5, Aliso Viejo was 21, Laguna Niguel was 30, Dana Point was 40, San Juan was 44, RSM was 46, San Clemente was 50, Stanton was 74 and the County was 136. Council Member Kogerman stated, "The original numbers came from the Sheriff's office, and the new numbers are a correction of the original numbers, also from the Sheriff.   If I got data from the Sheriff, I would accept those numbers, as did the DA. The numbers are incidental to the reasons for a child safety zone ordinance. Those reasons have not changed."

Citizen Alerts for future Council Meetings - Citizens interested in the issue of allocating funding from future City Memorial Day Events for the support of the City's Adopted 3/5 Marines should attend the November 22, 2011 City Council Meeting to speak or send e-mails to the Council Members at ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us ** The LH Watch Dog salutes all the citizens who attended and spoke out at this meeting.

HEADLINES:   ** City Council voted to DRAFT (not approve) an ORDINANCE Prohibiting Registered Sex Offenders in City Parks for Approval of the City Council. See below under Administrative Reports-1 

** City's Adopted Marines added to the title of the Memorial Day Event but funding for them from that event has not been approved. See below under Administrative Reports-2 Half Marathon Event 

** Council Member Lautenschleger is corrected for his proclamation of inaccurate information at the Sept. 27, 2011 City Council Meeting. See below under Administrative Reports-1

PRESENTATIONS and PROCLAMATIONS - None

PUBLIC COMMENTS - Irwin Spitz from Lost Colt Dr. in Laguna Hills, said he wanted to bring the property at 27916 Lost Colt Dr. to the attention of the City Council because it has been under various stages of "destruction" for 4 years while the person doing the construction apparently repeatedly fails inspections and therefore gets extensions. He said he has contacted the Home Owners Assoc. and the City but there has been no resolution. He expressed his hope that the City Council could push somebody to get this property moving in the right direction. He said there appears to be an individual living in the home with no kitchen and no bath, just a wire for temporary power. He noted this situation is negatively affecting property values in the neighborhood. Mayor Songstad responded, "We'll have our people look into it."

LHHS STUDENT LIAISON REPORT by Kylie West (alternate Jeena Bonutto) - Tomorrow is Win Win Wednesday at Chipotle with 50% of the proceeds going to LHHS so be sure to attend this one. Comedy Sports is on Thursday and is hilarious. Tickets are sold on the night of the show box office opens at 6:15 show starts at 7pm. The Football team had their first loss last Friday, so are no longer undefeated, but lost by just 1 point. There is a game next Friday at El Toro High School at 7pm.. The HAWK CHALLANGE is on Wednesday Night and more people are still needed to attend and participate. Fund raisers for the Sports Teams are going on now. Christmas tree sales will be one of those fund raisers again this year for the Boy's Soccer Team and the Girl's Soccer Team is selling Poinsettias. The Television and film teacher at LHHS Mr. John Hall was elected Teacher of the Year so is one of 10 semi-finalists in Orange County! So a big congratulations to him!!! Futbol 4 Dreams is a popular club on campus that ships soccer balls and sports and equipment to children all over the world. People can donate equipment that is still in good shape to this club and there is more information on the club's web site http://futbol4dreams.weebly.com/ Sharing Thanksgiving with the Laguna Hills' Adopted 3/5 Marines is something people can do by contacting Michael Bland at 35bland@gmail.com. 

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 = $324,601.14
Items of interest from the Warrant Register - None

Items of Interest from the Consent Calendar: **Items on the Consent Calendar are placed there by City Staff:

4.3 - 1st Quarter Financial and Treasurer's Report for FY 2011-2012 The financial statement says it shows the "planned" use of reserves for the first quarter and that is largely due to unevenly received and expended revenues vs. expenses. Report says the City's Portfolio of $8,350,670 is invested in authorized securities. Sept. 30, 2011 Total Assets $9,093,263 and Total Liabilities and Fund Balances $9,093,263. A detailed report can be viewed on the City web site.

4.4 - Final progress payment for Citywide Wayfinding Sign Program - $18,210.60 Work began on this program May 1, 2008. The report states since that time signs were damaged and needed repair,or had to be removed and relocated due to overhanging into the street. The cost for each of these repairs ranged from $1745 for a post to $2,488 for a Fabrication of a sign. The contractor for the project was Green Giant Landscape, Inc. On the City's April 12, 2011 City Council Meeting online agenda information this project was stated to have a total contract Price with additions and changes of $192,820.00 Vote - The Consent Calendar Items minus Item 4.3 were passed 5 - 0

Items Pulled from the Consent Calendar for Discussion - Item 4.3 the 1st Quarter Financial and Treasurer's Report was pulled by Council Member Kogerman who asked City Manager Channing how we stand, if we have enough money to pay our bills, looks like we have about $1.8 million in the bank in various forms. Channing responded, We are in very strong financial condition and we have a little over $7 million in the bank. This time of year usually reflects a low point in cash balance because we haven't received the largest amount of our revenues from December.
Vote - Consent Calendar Item 4.3 passed 5 - 0

Council Member Kogerman requested that Item 7.2.1 (Proposed Draft Ordinance of the City of Laguna Hills Municipal Code Establishing Parks as "Child Safety Zones" where Register Sex Offenders are prohibited from entering without written permission from the Orange County Sheriff) be moved up to this point in the council meeting agenda in deference to all the people who are in attendance in the chambers for this item. Kogerman also requested to be the 1st council member to speak on this item once the presentation and public comments were concluded.
(**Editor's Note - In this instance Kogerman had an edge in getting this item shifted to an earlier slot in the agenda related to the fact that the OC District Attorney was one among many others seated in the audience waiting to speak, but this brings up a citizen issue that we believe should have been addressed many years ago. In the 8 years we have been regularly attending Laguna Hills City Council Meetings we have witnessed a great many citizen related issues that were scheduled last or very late in the agenda for consideration by the city council. Some of this could have been purposefully done to discourage citizens from attending and commenting, but every time this happened it was a hardship for the citizens waiting to address their issue. The City Council Members have chosen to also serve as the City Planning Commission to micro-manage that aspect of the city. If the Council chooses to do that and the citizens agree then why not conduct those planning session after the Citizen's Business is completed or in additional sessions at no additional charge to the taxpayers for the Council's time. It is our opinion at the LH Watch Dog that the Agenda for Laguna Hills City Council Meetings should be permanently flipped to always allow discussion on citizen issues first, with Planning Commission sessions and Routine Business last. This is one more question of who this City Council is supposed to be serving and we believe the answer is the Citizens. You can contact Laguna Hills City Council Members with your opinion about this at - ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us )

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS - 1  Item 7.2.1 - City Attorney - Proposed Draft Ordinance of the City of Laguna Hills Municipal Code Establishing Parks as "Child Safety Zones" where Register Sex Offenders are prohibited from entering without written permission from the Orange County Sheriff.

Staff Recommendation - Review and Consider options for adopting a proposed child safety zone ordinance modeled after the one enacted by the County of Orange.

Comments and Questions of the City Attorney and Staff

Provide Further Direction

Continue this item to allow City Staff time to conduct Public Outreach with various Homeowner's Associations.

This item was introduced at the Sept. 27, 2011 City Council Meeting by Council Member Kogerman. 2 draft Ordinances have been prepared by the City Attorney and are online on the City web site. After the County of Orange unanimously Adopted an Ordinance earlier this year prohibiting registered sex offenders from entering County Parks, the Orange County District Attorney sent letters to every City in the County requesting that they consider adopting an ordinance to prohibit registered sex offenders from entering City Parks. A similar letter was received by the City from County Supervisor Pat Bates and a letter in support of the ordinance was from the Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchins. There are many additional supporting documents online on the City's web site.

City Attorney Greg Simonian presented this item in great detail that can be obtained online from the City web site. basically there were 2 versions of the item. 
Option A was modeled after the County's version and adapted for use in the City making entrance in the parks, without permission, by all registered sex offenders a misdemeanor. Option B was also modeled after the County's version but with additional features that may aid in defending the ordinance if it's ever challenged. There are 6 differences between options A and B as follows:
1 - Option B contains additional findings in support of locally adopting the County's version.
2 - Option B restricts the scope of the County's prohibition to apply only to the registered sex offenders convicted of offenses against minors as well as convictions for other related offenses.
3 - Option B requires that any waiver request be location, date and time specific.
4 - Option B requires the posting of Park Signage to put registered sex offenders on notice that the particular park has been identified as a child safety zone.
5 - Option B expands the prohibition to include not only City Parks but also includes community parks that are owned or leased, operated and maintained by a homeowner's association that has provided written notice to the City requesting enforcement of this type of ordinance on their private property in their private parks.
6 - Option B contains additional criteria for the issuance of a waiver - there are 5 criteria listed.

City Atty. Simonian repeated that this is presently an untested area of the law. 

Council Member Bressette offered that registered sex offenders have been deemed just as dangerous as those who have committed crimes only against children so why limit Option B to those who have committed offenses only against children. City Atty. Simonian answered that was because in defending an ordinance that involves constitutional issues a more narrowly tailored ordinance to achieve a compelling governmental interest is usually required and the governmental interest in this case is children in places where they gather. Bressette also asked why a need to delay this item to allow City Staff time to conduct Public Outreach with various Homeowner's Associations when HOA's can contact us regarding a request to have their parks included for enforcement under this ordinance? Simonian answered that is an option, we could adopt an Ordinance and then conduct public outreach. 

Council Member Kogerman asked about a transfer of any liability to HOAs if they indicate a desire to have their parks included. City Atty. Simonian responded, certainly we are not asking to transfer liability. He added that the HOAs should discuss matters of triggers of any additional liability for them with their legal counsel. Simonian added that to date there have been no cities that modified the County Ordinance to include HOA parks.

Council Member Carruth asked what other cities have done. City Atty. Simonian responded Westminster, Los Alamitos and La Habra have enacted the County Ordinance without any changes, Irvine enacted the county model but limited the prohibition to only those registered sex offenders who have committed offences against minors. Council Member Bressette added that the City of Huntington Beach passed their ordinance last night. Simonian added that the ordinance from Huntington Beach prohibits all registered sex offenders from city owned, operated and maintained parks, no waivers, no exceptions, no criteria.

Mayor Songstad asked if City Atty. Simonian was aware of any challenges? City Atty. Simonian responded. One and possibly two cases filed by the Orange County Public Defender's Office challenging the constitutionality of the County Ordinance are making their way through the Orange County Superior Court Legal System.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas confirmed that the City of Huntington Beach passed, so far, the strictest ordinance last night. He added that the County thought it was advisable to allow for some exceptions with the Sheriff being able to grant permission in exceptional cases. He acknowledge that Westminister has a case and 3 other County cases are pending, but added he felt the County was on very solid ground here and prepared to defend the constitutionality of their ordinance.

Mayor Songstad asked if our city would have to defend the County as well as our City if challenged do to our City contracting with the County for law enforcement? OC District Attorney Rackauckas answered that if someone is arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for violating the ordinance that case is going to be prosecuted by the District Attorney's Office. The DA's Office would defend against the Criminal aspects of the case but a civil suit would be a City determination. If there is a constitutional challenge to the ordinance the County District Attorney's Office would represent the people and represent the ordinance. Regarding the question of homeowner's associations he said that wasn't considered in the County Ordinance. He continued that his understand was that you have an option to apply the ordinance to HOAs or not, or to City Parks and to HOAs that asked to apply it.

In answer to questions from Council Member Kogerman, District Atty. Rackauckas added that if a sex offender is on probation a prohibition against entering parks can be made a condition of his probation but that is an individual decision by the parole agency and would last only as long as the probation or parole lasts which is usually no longer than about 3 years. He said he does expect early releases of sex offenders who are considered low risk from State Prisons to have an impact. He said we have two or three circumstances related to early release from State Prison. There is a category that are not considered non-dangerous and they will be on parole for probably about 3 years. There is a larger group that will be paroled called "bank" parole which is no parole and no conditions of parole except search and seizure. The third group is realignment, consisting of felons who would have gone to prison but now will go on parole instead because their current crimes were non sexual, non violent, and considered non serious.

In response to a question from Council Member Bressette, District Atty, Rackauckas added that he thinks all sex offenders should be included in an ordinance rather than those who have offended only against adults so far.  Mayor Pro-Tem Carruth asked District Atty. Rackauckas to speak with the ACC-OC to make a regional push for all cities in Orange County and asked how arrests have been made to date - if someone in a park reported something suspicious or police noticed something on their own, etc. Rackauckas stated he did not have that information. Council Member Kogerman asked if the statistics she has from his letter to the Cities are still valid, that there are 1,850 sex offenders in OC who have violated against adults and children. Rackauckas responded it could have grown by now and that statistic is surprising to many.

Susan Schroeder from the County District Attorney's Office, who also spoke at the Sept. 27, 2011 Laguna Hills City Council Meeting, said she wanted to clarify a certain fact. She said the last time she was here Council Member Lautenschleger asked about arrests and any problems in Laguna Hills so she brought a large chart this time with information from the Sheriff's Dept. to illustrate the 161 arrests for child molests in Laguna Hills in the past 10 years, so you can see there are problems. She added the Westminster arrest was prosecuted by the Westminster City Atorney's Office. There were also 2 arrests in the Harbor Port Division - Newport Beach Area and 2 in the West Division-West Justice Center. The 2 in the West Division were arrested by the Sheriff's Dept. who have a group called SONAR monitoring such things. One of the arrests for violent sexual assault of a young woman was of a man who was on probation. The probation officer found that this person was a registered sex offender who had photos of himself with children. She said the other open case is a dangerous offender who kept sitting at different parks. One at Harbor Park pleaded guilty and the one in Westminster was prosecuted and received 60 days. She added that the one in Westminster went into the park with his children and many sex offenders use their children as a way to connect with other people's children. She said the man who molested and killed Samantha Runnion had a history of looking at pornography featuring young children.

Council Member Lautenschleger (01.20.28 on the City web site audio/video of the council meeting) said - We know there are arrests for child molestation, and that's I think what you are showing there, my question is did any of those take place in our City Parks? 

Susan Schroeder answered. I don't know that. Lautenschleger continued - Because that wasn't the question I asked last time, the statement I made last time was that I checked with our Chief of Police and in the 20 years we've been a city I can't recall an instance of happening in our city parks. I just want to clarify that. There are child arrests, we have, we are one of the safest city's out there. Not to take away, that we want to have safe parks for our children but uh, I just want to make that clear, that although we still are a safe city I don't know if any of those pertain to our parks.

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 don't believe, and we can check the minutes, that last time you were limiting those to parks. I believe your statement was that the City of Laguna Hills did not have problems with sex offenders (**Editor's note - Council Member Lautenschleger's Comment from the Sept 27, 2011 City Council Meeting was "Let's make one thing perfectly clear, there have been no sex crimes against children in the City since we incorporated.") 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 fondeling little girls at an Aliso Viejo Park. If you think that's now 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.

Erin Runnion, Mother of 7 year old Samantha Runyon who was molested and killed in Orange County in 2002 said she is the founder of the Miracle Child Foundation and a co-founder and member of Surviving Parents Coalition. She said she was upset with Irvine's modified version of the County Ordinance because she has learned that the vast majority of sex offenders are cross over offenders (offending both adults and children) and she said many cross over related to age and gender as well. She added that for the most part it appears that this is a chronic condition and we can never know what their intentions or who is most likely to offend next. Children are the easiest victims to target and keep quiet so we want our parks to be safe for them.

Kelly Hagins, Lake Forest Resident who spoke at the Sept. 27, 2011 Laguna Hills City Council Meeting said she had problems with an offender previously convicted of child pornography taking photos of her son in a park in Lake Forest. The offender was not on parole or probation so the Sheriff''s Dept. from Lake Forest could not arrest him because Lake Forest did not have an ordinance against sex offenders in the parks. She said she was here to support the full ban on all offenders not just offenders of children. She said some child porn photographers may be required to submit 100 photos to get into a child porn magazine. She said the parks are where the offenders hunt for and groom children and sometimes try to gain the trust of the parents as well.

Deanna, a Laguna Hills resident near Costeau Park said there was an incident with a man exposing himself to young girls in that park in the past. She added that she read the minutes and watched the video of the Sept. 27th Laguna Hills Council Meeting and wanted to state that Mr. Lautenschleger's comments stating that there have been no sex crimes of children in Laguna Hills since its inception in 1991 is completely inaccurate. She noted Todd Sousa who was arrested earlier this year for sexually abusing a minor in the Swim Venture Office, which has since had a name change, but is in Laguna Hills. She said he was sent to State Prison and will be a registered sex offender on parole when he gets out. She continued that a Laguna Hills High School teacher was sent to jail for sexually abusing a student. She said children should also be protected in areas where there are swimming pools and sports parks and all facilities that children use and should be for all sex offenders. 

Richard, Laguna Hills resident who lives near Costeau Park, said he also listened to the Sept. 27, 2011 council meeting audio and said, Council Member Lautenschleger, you stated that a sex offender is not going to be worried about a crazy misdemeanor when he acts out against a child. You are missing the point. It's important to have laws as tools for taking action to remove these people. It's important for our police officers to have these tools. This city is not alone in this action, 5 other cities and the County have already acted on this to do what's necessary. We don't want an open door policy for these people in our city. He also asked that Council Member Lautenschleger abstain from voting on this issue related to conflict of interest and said, correct me if I'm wrong but your son-in-law was recently convicted of sexual assault on a minor in this city so that is a direct conflict of interest and I ask that you not vote on this. Mayor Pro-Tem Carruth commented that if you listened to the Sept. 27 City Council meeting online you are aware that all 5 of us voted to draft an ordinance.  I get the feeling from some that we aren't interested.   Richard responded its the way things were stated that certain people on the council weren't very behind this.  Carruth continued with I think when there's full public discourse in there and extra discussion here in the chamber and with the community providing testimony, I just want to make sure you understand the 5 of us are in support of some kind of ordinance.   Richard responded with I get concerned when people use words like Crazy Acts and Crazy Misdemeanors, that to me is an indication that you're not behind the ordinance.

Laura Dickson, Laguna Hills resident said speaking as a parent, teacher and volunteer with children, years ago  I volunteered with CAPS a child abuse protection group and currently volunteer with some of the most disadvantaged children in the County. There is no social or economic group for sex offenders.  They can be anyone in any profession. Crimes against children happen here. As a parent I can still remember the words, Mom can I go to the park? - meaning without you. This ordinance is reasonable and needed so let's help kids be kids. Lets let Laguna Hills be a leader in this matter moving forward quickly in timely matter.

Rita Rembolt, Laguna Hills resident said, I live in the Laguna Village Homeowners Association, the largest condo HOA in Laguna Hills. She asked for some clarification. She said, we don't have private parks, per se in Laguna Village. We have a lot of greenbelt but not any place designated for children only. There are tennis courts but most children gather at the swimming pools and there are 3 parks within a half mile. We have gated swimming pools so are they considered private parks or not?  Mayor Songstad answered the idea of the County ordinance is to try to ban registered sex offenders from areas where children are gather. Could be there. That is a Laguna Village Swimming pool so there has been a lot of discussion about whether HOAs need to be involved. Rita continued, the other reason I'm here is the 3 page article they have in the Orange Sunday County Register, that led me to believe this council was not in favor of this ordinance. Mayor Songstad responded, Don't believe everything you read.

Jake Dang, Laguna Hills resident belonging to Aliso Meadows HOA, asked how would this work for HOAs?  Would the City cover them or not? It has been said that the criminal prosecution will be through the DA but civil could be HOAs or City responsibility. Mayor Songstad repeated that, from a criminal standpoint a prosecution will be handled by the DA's office but if someone sues the City and/or the HOA that would have to be defended by the people involved.  Jake asked - Why does there seem to be so much resistance to passing this?  Mayor Songstad responded, Can't just pass an ordinance on a whim.

Council Member Kogerman asked City Attorney Simonian if there is any problem if we pass this, are silent on the HOAs and wait for them to contact us. Simonian responded we can do that and that is what the majority of cities have done so far. Option B includes the HOAs but we can adapt Option A.

Dee Dee Gollwitzer Laguna Hills resident since 1979, said she is on the board of her HOA that has never been asked by the City to participate in anything and she had an incident in the past with a sexually aggressive man in Laguna Hills. She said although the police were contacted they did not do a report because she was able to get away from him and he didn't touch her but 2 years later this same man reportedly grabbed a 9 year old boy who was also able to get away from him and the boys parents did not want to press charges. This man hung out at the park all day. She said this is an example of cross over and of unreported and unprosecuted activity. She advised including swimming pools in the ordinance as preventative measure to protect children, vote for a city wide prohibition of all registered sex offenders and include HOAs.

Col. Dawn Deschefy Laguna Hills 20 year resident said pass this common sense ordinance. She lives near Mendicino Park and said need help to empower children. There are lots of people here tonight, don't delay this ordinance that will send a message to sex offenders - Don't Come Here. She concluded Act, mirror the County Ordinance and let the HOAs sort out their requests.

Council Member Joel Lautenschleger said his family had been singled out tonight and he felt he should reply.  He said, "I am not necessarily opposed to any ordinance to protect our kids, I want to make that perfectly clear. I voted, along with the rest of this council to have staff research this issue and compare with other cities that have passed similar ordinances and look at a similar thing that we might adopt to benefit Laguna Hills."  The points I made were looking to see how effective an ordinance might be, how it would be enforced and the legal ramifications if its not done properly. We turned that over to our Attorney Mr. Simonian and he came back with some good options for us to consider. I do support, totally, because I have 6 grand kids that live in this area. I support the creation of laws and ordinances that are constitutional and enforceable and that truly protect our kids. There was a mention about parks, my comments last time only had (something not understandable about parks?) I had not listened to the tape, I asked our chief of police if there were any instances that happened in the park and he had no recollection of any instances in the 20 years. I don't know what came on the tape but that was my question that I had for the chief of police. (**Editor's note - Council Member Lautenschleger's Comment from the Sept. 27, 2011 City Council Meeting was "Let's make one thing perfectly clear, there have been no sex crimes against children in the City since we incorporated." After 20 years as a City Council Member, Lautenschleger should know that asking the Police Chief if he had any recollection of this kind of "instance" is very different from gathering accurate statistics to quote publicly. In listening carefully to all of Council Member Lautenschleger's comments tonight we noted that he never admitted the previous information he gave was incorrect, never apologized for not giving the correct information and never offered to correct his information. Having and using accurate information is an essential piece of examining the appropriateness of any ordinance and giving incorrect information without an attempt to correct it once an error is noted does not fit any standard of transparency and accountability expected by citizens he was elected to serve.) Now as far as I am concerned the issue of my daughter's husband has nothing to do with this ordinance that we're discussing, it's between my daughter and him and my daughter was terribly hurt by that incident. But I took an oath of office to uphold and defend constitutional laws and any alleged felony on any matter would never enter into any of my decision making. This is an emotional issue for a lot of people but for 20 years I was elected to reach decisions on a rational level and a logical and unbiased opinion.  And I think for 20 years I have done that but if the council does not believe I can reach an impartial decision on this matter, I would be happy to recuse myself, otherwise I will stay."

Dr. Ragu Mather, 30 year Laguna Hills resident said he is a former member of the Board of Trustees for the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, a former President of Irvine Valley College, has served as Chancellor of the South OC Community College District, and served as President of the Laguna Hills Homeowners Assoc. before Laguna Hills became a city. He commended District Attorney Rackauckas for his leadership in this matter. He said when it comes to children's safety issues this is a no brainer. He said it makes no difference if this has occurred in Laguna Hills or not because there can always be a first time. The toughest possible ordinance is needed to prevent it.  A message to all sex offenders should be that You are Not Welcome in our Parks and You Will Be Held Accountable needs to be sent. No need to continue, need action.

In response to Lautenschleger recusing himself from a vote on this issue, Council Member Kogerman said no need to deny his vote, he will vote on the merits not the tragedy in his family. Songstad said he thinks it is ridiculous to have Lautenschleger recuse himself. There were no comments from other council members.

Mayor Songstad denied Kogerman's request to be the first Council Member to speak on this item after it was presented and instead allowed himself to be the first to speak. Songstad suggested adopting the County Ordinance and including an option for the HOAs to opt in by a vote of their governing body and they would have to identify those areas of the association that they want protected, possibly could exclude areas that are gated and key protected, and request that the ordinance be enforced on their property. He also asked that the council consider sending a request to the County to be relieved of the Indemnity obligation and request a waiver of that provision.

At the request of Council Member Bressette the City Attorney repeated that an ordinance could not be adopted tonight because the agenda was not set up for the adoption of an ordinance tonight. The city council requested a report and the presentation of sample ordinances and potential ordinances.

Council Member Kogerman wrapped it up with 161 arrests is the past 10 years means there were a lot more problems if we include all that go unreported.  She said she has a widely accepted rule of thumb estimate of less that 20% of sexual assaults being reported and of those that are reported less than 30% result in an arrest. She said there have been 6 arrests for child molestation in Laguna Hills this year. She asked for all registered sex offenders to be included in the ordinance including those who had offended only adults to date and she suggested no waiver for sex offenders with children to be in the parks. She proposed a Motion to adopt Option B with prohibiting all Registered sex offenders and no waivers for Sex Offenders who are in the parks with their children plus some additional provisions. Mayor Pro-Tem  Carruth seconded the motion.

Council Member Bressette added that our primary role is to protect our residents and we need to do that as quickly as we can. He said he appreciated all the people who came forward tonight. He said 10 or 15 years ago it might have been safe for a kid to go to the park alone but is it today?  We need freedom from fear and in reponse to some of the council members asking what if we get sued Bressette sent a verbal message to all sex offenders stating, Come on sue me, I want to know who you are!  I want you to come forward look me in the face, and tell me "I am a registered sex offender. I am in your parks." Come at me! I'm going to put your face on every tree I can find so every mother and every father can protect their children. He stressed we are unable to adopt an ordinance at this meeting but can move forward with suggesting an acceptable version for the next meeting. He added some ideas to Kogerman's motions using a version of Option B addressing the HOAs, greenbelts and pools and other open areas plus the release from the Indemnity Obligation with the County.  City Attorney Simonian said the HOA parks can be identified by name when the HOAs can respond. If something is missed, a pool or park, it can be added as an evolving ordinance. Carruth agreed, does not want perps. from the County to come to City Parks. Bressette called attention to the Signage Posting Requirement for parks warning of the prohibition. Kogerman suggested the City maintain a current map of parks covered by the ordinance, updated as parks are added. Vote was 5-0 to Draft an Ordinance

PLANNING AGENCY - Administrative Reports - 

5.4.1 - Request by AT T to expand existing communication facility located at 25131 Costeau St. by the Public Storage Building. 4 four foot tall antennas are being replaced by 8 eight foot tall antennas and the screen wall is extended by 3 feet in height. This issue was originally discussed at the August 23, 2011 City Council Meeting and has been continued 3 times regarding Council Members Carruth, Songstad and Bressette requesting additional landscape bushes be added to area around a 40 foot tall Canary Island Pine Tree to provide more screening. The applicant completed research into incorporating the additional landscaping and reports that it is too costly (additional $50,000 plus monthly maintenance costs) so is requesting again the project be approved as originally proposed, including incorporation of architectural trim and the addition of a mature Canary Island Pine at the corner of Alicia and Costeau streets.  Staff Recommendation - Approve the plan. 

In a discussion Mayor Pro-Tem Carruth objected to the sign on the storage building with the phone #  and repeated her wish for better landscaping but because the applicant controls only about 2 % of the space in the building an additional $50,000 plus upkeep did not make sense for them. Vote - Passed 5 - 0

5.4.2 - Request to Renovate the DMV building and add a Parking Lot Canopy in Moulton Plaza Shopping Center at 23535 Moulton Pkwy. The owner of the shopping center, Moulton Plaza, LLC, is proposing the remodel to the DMV building facade, upgrades to access in the parking lot with 6 new handicapped parking spaces related to the American's with Disability Act, new landscaping and a new canopy. The building facade will reflect the other buildings in the center which were previously updated. The new 32 'x58' canopy will provide an all-weather location for conduction inspections and beginning driver's tests. No public hearing is required. Staff Recommendation - Approve There was a presentation and a discssion.  Vote - Passed 5 - 0

PLANNING AGENCY PUBLIC HEARINGS - None
Planning Agency Public Comments - None

CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARINGS - 

6.1 - Public Hearing to consider the Vacation of Public Service Easements (Tree Pockets) along the Southwest side of Paseo de Valencia between Alicia and La Paz. This issue was discussed at the Oct. 11, 2011 City Council Meeting. The 34 tree pockets are approx. 5'x6' wide now useless spaces containing only dead tree stumps and pieces of block walls that are mostly in disrepair and extend into the yards of citizens along this route.

Public Comments - Martha Hornsby, Laguna Hills Resident asked about the cost to the owners to replace dilapidated areas of block walls. Ken Rosenfield, Director of Public Services estimated about $1500 to remove and rebuild those areas and concluded there is a benefit and a responsibility to residents here. It is also important that these tree pockets be kept free of weeds and litter by the property owners. City Manager Channing said he knows of no funds from grants or interest free loans, etc. available so would have to investigate and there is often and income eligibility factor so?  Vote was 5 - 0 to abandon these areas to the homeowners.

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS - 2

7.3.1 Deputy City Manager/ Community Services Director David Reynolds - 2012 Laguna Hills Half Marathon, 10K and 5K Event.

Staff Report was presented by Dan Meehan, Community Services Superintendent and states at the last Half Marathon Event in May of 2011 the registration for runners sheet allowed each runner to donate $5 to the City's Adopted 3/5 Marines and a total of $1,405 was raised. The report states $850 was provided to South County Outreach from Beer Garden Sales plus 115 pounds of food. Staff says the opportunity to donate to both the Marines and South County Outreach proved successful so they recommended continuing in the same manner next year.

This report states the 2011 event expenditures were $142,435 and the event revenue was $151,086, so it appears the City made about $8651.00 However the 4.4 - 2011 Memorial Day/ 1/2 Marathon and 5 K Post Event Report for the Aug. 23, 2011 City Council Meeting states Total Revenue was $148,336 and Total Event Direct Expenditures were $140, 265 so it appears the City made about $8071.

Council member Bressette recounted that in the past the Memorial Day Race was named for a Charity but no longer is, why not?   Dan Meehan, Community Services Superintendent answered after the 2008 event participants asked about a charity so staff contacted South County Outreach regarding a food drive as well as the Beer Garden ticket sales being donated to benefit South County Outreach. Bressette - So do you think adding a charity to this event would add credibility and be a marketing attraction to perhaps increase participation? Meehan - an event name change would most likely require an expenditure of monies that are not currently budgeted and other things would need to be changed as well. In terms of more runners, it may. He said his experience with this event went back to 2001 when he assisted the hospital with the event. Bressette - Did staff feel adding the Marines to the 2011 event added a sense of patriotism to the race, perhaps more than we've seen in the past?  Meehan - Absolutely, the presence of the Marines with the static display and those who decided to run certainly added a nice patriotic touch to the Memorial Day holiday. Bressette - Did staff consider approaching Team Darkhorse to partner with the race and become the named charity?  Meehan - We did not approach the 3/5 Support Committee in terms of becoming the named charity we intended to provide the same opportunity with a volunteer donation as we provided in 2011. Bressette - Would staff object to the 3/5 Marines becoming the named charity? Meehan - If that was the direction from the City Council, Staff would not object.

Mayor Pre-Tem Carruth - Road Runner Sports wants to continue but their posters and flyers were insufficient last time and they need to improve exposure. Meehan, They ran out of materials partly do to them and partly to staff. Council Member Kogerman - How do our entry fees appear related to similar other events? Meehan - a bit lower. Kogerman - If we add another $3 or so how would that be? Meehan - Still average. Kogerman - We have sponsors and we've turned a profit of a little over $5000 the past couple of years. Could that profit go to make the change to a named charity and possibly we could not make a profit but run a named charity event? Meehan - There's no profit for this event related to the indirect expenses of staff costs. Kogerman - Would staff costs increase if we added a named charity? Meehan - No.

City Manager Channing stated Renegade Racing's reporting of the Expenses and Revenues from the Event may be viewed as a profit and loss statement by them from our standpoint it isn't. It doesn't include those things considered to be a part of our expenses. This is from Renegade's Perspective. They might think we made $5000 but I can assure you we didn't.
(**Editor's Note - This begs the question - whose reports for this event are published on the City web site? The 2 reports on the City web site for the 2011 Event (the one on 8-23-11 and this one) appear to post only direct expenses so are they reports from Renegade Racing or are they from the City?  If they are from the City why are the indirect expenses not also reported to give citizens an accurate accounting of this race related to profit and loss?)

Carruth wanted a grander Starting Gate. Meehan - That would involve additional expense that is currently not budgeted. Channing contributed that the hospital did make it grander, lost a lot of money and had to give it up.

Public Comments

Mike Bland, Laguna Hills resident and Chairman of Team Dark Horse the City's 3/5 Adopted Marines Support Group said when we adopted the Marines we were excited about growing the relationship between the City and the Marines. He said it's difficult to capture the indirect costs but the Memorial Day Event brings more people to the city to stay in our hotels and eat in our restaurants, etc. He read a message from Major John Bobo who was the coordinator from the Marines for our 2011 Memorial Day said It was a privilege to participate in Laguna Hills 2011 Memorial Day 1/2 Marathon coming off a long and rough deployment. From the welcome we received at the Laguna Hills Hotel to the recognition we received at the start of the race to a few beers at the finish line this was a First Class event and the 3/5 Marines and their families felt very welcomed. He said their static display allowed the Marines to interact with and show their thanks to the members of the Laguna Hills Community. Despite just returning from Afghanistan we had 15 runners in 2011 and expect more Marines to run in the future. Mike noted the 3/5 Marines have said that they adopted our City as well as our City Adopting them. Mike suggest making the event a 3/5 Memorial in memory of the 25 fallen Marines in Afghanistan.   Mayor Songstad suggested adding words such as "honoring the 3/5 Battalion" to the end of the name for the Memorial Day Event. Mike also requested that instead of the donation box check off on the registration sheet just add a flat fee of from $3 to $5 for all registrants to assist the Support Group to spend less time concentrating on fund raising and more time supporting the Marines and their families.  Mayor Songstad said Proposition 26, passed last year may not allow for this so we need to consult City Attorney Greg Simonian.

Rita Rembolt Laguna Hills Citizen said she wants to support Team Dark Horse (**Editor's Note and she stayed at this meeting until almost 11pm to do that.)   She recounted that a couple of years ago we adopted them and she was under the impression that we were working closely with them, etc. and apparently that was not necessarily so.  When you run a fund raiser you are supposed to make a profit but from what I just head that isn't necessarily so either. She said I think you will get a much better turn out from the people in Laguna Hills if they knew the Marines were a part of this Memorial Day Event. She said she agreed with Mr. Bland's suggestion to add to the registration fee, No more box to check, people don't expect to see a box to check to add on to the registration fee and thank you very much for listening.

City Attorney Greg Simonian stated Proposition 26 says cannot disguise taxes as fees. To be legal the City cannot charge more than estimated reasonable cost of providing that race entry fee, so the City cannot be making a profit and treat this as a fund producer, but if we turn the race over to the non-profit, donations could be unlimited. He said the name change is not a legal issue. He said a check off box on the registration form for a voluntary donation could be for any amount. Council Member Kogerman could there be a negative check off - check off if you don't want to donate? Simonian responded - Not a legal problem with that. Council Member Bressette - How is money given to So. County Outreach every year?  City Manager Channing - It is donated directly by BJ'sPizza Store across from the Community Center by giving beer directly for that purpose. City is not collecting money and giving it back.

Bressette -How have other cities done this is stating that part of the money for their events goes to charities? Simonian - I would have to research the mechanics of that. Bressette - but if we raised the fees $3 and still did not make a profit would there be a problem with that?  Simonian - If the city council makes a policy decision to transfer those funds to a charity it would have to be determined if the City is doing that in accordance with the Gifts of Public Funds Doctrine. Would have to address that issue.

Bressette agreed with Carruth that the starting line for the race is almost embarrassing, so how about put a Marine Corps tank at the Starting Line, that would be dramatic and no one would forget that! He continued that the City didn't really have a Patriotic event until this year with Marines. He read from an e-mail from Lt. Col. Morris who was the Commanding Officer of the 3/5 who participated in the event this year. Lt Col. Morris said he is in support of naming the race in support of growing the bond between the 3/5 and the City. He said he believes this renaming of the event will increase community awareness and we expect nothing but are grateful for and appreciate the community support for the morale of the men, many of whom are young, single and away from home. For a couple of years the relationship lay fallow but was kept alive through the efforts of Melody Carruth, Dick Nagle and a couple of others. (**Editor's Note Council Member Bressette neglected to mention his name, that was also mentioned by Lt. Col. Morris. Neglecting to mention your own name is rare for any politician, and  Bressette was always a strong supporter).  In Sept. of 2010 Mr. Mike Bland took over, injecting energy and leadership, and the effort began to gather momentum. Our relationship has been gathering momentum ever since. He said he was committed and his successor Lt. Col. Griffin is equally committed. He said the 2011 event was an opportunity for the Marines to show in person how much they appreciated the care packages and encouragement they received from the this community while they were in Afghanistan.

Bressette also noted the "Sharing Thanksgiving Day" with a Marine effort and that Teresa Bonutto and her daughter Jeena created Team Darkhorse at LHHS. Bressette said adding the 3/5 Name to the race will bring Patriotism and Equipment that will be an added draw to the registration for the race.  In addition Team Dark Horse has financial obligations somewhere in neighborhood of $25,000 to $30,000 a year, so making them a financial part of the race goes a long way to help. Last year the check off box for a contribution was provided late in the process. Bressette made a Motion - Rename the event LH Memorial 1/2 Marathon, 10K and 5K honoring the USMC 3/5 Dark Horse Battalion and establish $3 per registrant to the Team Darkhorse Support Committee. Council Member Kogerman seconded the motion.

Mayor Songstad, was reluctant to add the registration fee and suggested dividing the motion. He said you could raise the fee, but then what to do with the money would still have to be at the discretion of the council.

Motion 1 - file report and Rename the Race. - VOTE - Passed 5-0

City Atty. Simonian added - To make it easy you could add the $3, tally it up at the end, and bring it back with a Staff Report and a Community Assistance Funding Resolution in that exact dollar amount. 

Motion 2 - Direct a $3 increase in the registration fee for the race with a notification to the race participants that the $3 would be going toward the 3/5 Battalion Support Committee including a return to the city council after the race with a staff report and community assistance funding resolution for the specific dollar amount collected. - **NO VOTE WAS TAKEN ON MOTION 2

City Manager Channing argued that this is backwards approach that the City has many requests for donations and they should be considered under community assistance grants in a budgetary fashion and all done at one time. The amount that you charge has to be connected to the cost of the race and it goes into the general fund so you have to make an allocation from the general fund. Over the years this City has not contributed much for charitable purposes but needs to set a budget for it at the outset and then decide at one time where to allocate that money in the budget because this way you can do it all at once. Council Member Bressette argued that this relationship is different from any other charity because it represents the acknowledgement of the relationship we have with our adopted Marine Battalion. Channing countered with he is not arguing one is better than another, just what process to go through to grant city funds for charitable purposes. Invite all the interests to come forward at one time and take them all up then. Council Member Kogerman said that sounds like a find idea for the next time the City adopts a budget but for now City Atty. Simonian's method sounds better to get us started.

Dan Meehan, Community Services Superintendent asked if the intent was to raise the participant fees in all the Memorial Day events by $3?  Bresette answered not the kids races, just the 1/2 marathon, the 10K and the 5K.  Meehan said they need to know the decision re. the $3 by December 1 of this year. Mayor Pro-Tem Carruth asked for more time to consider this. Songstad and Lautenschleger agreed, so NO VOTE WAS TAKEN ON MOTION 2 -

Council Member Lautenschleger made a Motion to continue this to the next council meeting and the VOTE was 5 - 0 to continue to the next council meeting.

Background - On Sept. 11, 2007, when the 3/5 Marines were officially adopted by the City of Laguna Hills, the Adoption Resolution stated this is "intended to encourage mutually beneficially interaction between the City of Laguna Hills and the Marines and their families to create strong and lasting ties between the unit and the community-based non-profit battalion support committee".

 $1,405 was raised for the Marine Support Committee at the City's 2011 Memorial Day event by placing a optional check off box on the participant's registration form that could be used to donate $5 to the Marines. $1405 divided by $5 = 281 participants who donated out of the 2924 participants who registered for the event.

What Team Dark Horse, the 3/5 Marine Support Committee, is proposing is that rather than continuing an optional check off box for $5 for each Memorial Day Event Participant that may go un-noticed, a $3 fee for each participant would be very little to add to the registration fee and would have produced $8,772.00 in 2011 to allow the Marine Support Committee to have a more steady source of annual income to help support the Battalion and therefore be able to spend less time fund raising and more time working with the Marines and their families "to create strong and lasting ties between the unit and the community-based non-profit battalion support committee," while costing the city nothing.

In addition the Support Committee suggests that in the future the City not charge the Marines or the Support Committee in the future for Marines who are willing to participate in this event for the benefit of the City and who provide, at their expense, their heavy and light equipment displays for the public as well as their camouflage face painting and all their time and effort for this event. In exchange, because the City's Memorial Day Event has traditionally lost money and only in the past 2 years has raised minimal funds, the Committee suggests that the City use the name of their Adopted 3/5 Marines in their Memorial Day Event title and advertising to add a much needed "Memorial" element to what is otherwise just a race and to encourage more participation in future events. The Marines participation in 2011 brought television news coverage to this event as well as additional participation and that was all at the last minute because the Marines were in Afghanistan until just before the race, so if planned well in advance, we believe this would be a huge "mutually beneficial interaction" for the City and the Marines.

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 - NONE

COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS - Council Member Lautenschleter - Take a look at the SCAG web site for important latest updates. Lautenschleger is also Selling Poppies for Veterans, can buy them from him.

CLOSED SESSION –  10.1 - Conference with Real Property Negotiator re./ a portion of the open space parcel located at the corner of Moulton Pkwy. and La Paz Rd. in Laguna Hills - Price and terms of payment for purchase.
10.2 - Public Employee Performance Evaluation - City Manager
10.3 Conference with Labor Negotiator Daniel Cassidy, Special Labor Counsel- City Manager Terms and Conditions of Employment
Reconvene in regular session in the City council Chamber and report on whether any reportable action was taken on matters considered during closed session.
11 - Consideration of Compensation for City Manager - Recommendation: That the City council take such action as it so determines.
** Following this Closed Session the City said there was nothing to publicly report. 

The Next regular City Council Meeting is Tuesday November, 22nd. 7 pm, at City Hall. Contact Laguna Hills City Council Members at - ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us

 ================================

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 - P for voting for the City Attorney to Draft an Ordinance, P for voting to add the City's Adopted Marines (whom the residents have generously supported) to the title of the City's Memorial Day Event. A+ for championing the addition of the City's Adopted Marines to the Title of the Memorial Day Event and for working on a plan to assist in supporting them. 
Carruth - P for voting for the City Attorney to Draft an Ordinance, P for voting to add the City's Adopted Marines (whom the residents have generously supported) to the title of the City's Memorial Day Event
Kogerman - P for voting for the City Attorney to Draft an Ordinance, P for voting to add the City's Adopted Marines (whom the residents have generously supported) to the title of the City's Memorial Day Event
Lautenschleger - P for voting for the City Attorney to Draft an Ordinance, P for voting to add the City's Adopted Marines (whom the residents have generously supported) to the title of the City's Memorial Day Event, F for giving inaccurate information as fact and not correcting that information publicly.
Songstad - P for voting for the City Attorney to Draft an Ordinance P for voting to add the City's Adopted Marines (whom the residents have generously supported) to the title of the City's Memorial Day Event 
City Manager - F for not clarifying the accuracy or source of information of the financial reports from all of the City's Memorial Day Events on the City's web site.

INFORMATION, COMMENTS QUESTIONS and CONCERNS from Watch Dog Readers:

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//

November 16 - Panera Bread (AV)

November 23 -  *** Correction - This Wednesday is now blank due to Thanksgiving

November 30 - Flamingo's Mex (LH) 11am to 9pm

**Don't forget to "LIKE" us on Facebook and help spread the word - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Win-Win-Wednesdays/188686554512301?ref=

Regarding the Dog License Campaign Update

Valerie Bromberg said...Item 4.8:“The City says the cost of Animal Care Services has decreased by about $37,416…”Fact: the cost has not decreased at all. Part of animal care service is covered by licensing, fees, fines, etc, and part comes out of the city budget. Our city council is forcing citizens to pay a larger amount for animal care services so less will be paid out of the city budget. Some citizens in the past have refused to license their dogs, partly because the service is so bad. Forcing more dogs to be licensed will be good for the dogs if they are actually found when lost. What are the chances of that happening when we only have one animal control officer for 196 square miles and Aliso Viejo has 1 for 42 square miles? Bottom line: The county still gets its $17 million a year to run the shelter in Orange. That did not go down. Our Laguna Hills charges did not go down. Your out of pocket money just went up and service did not change at all.

Anonymous said... The answers from your assistant city manager Don White were painful. All the numbers the council was asking for were easily found out. OCAS (Orange County Animal Services) uses the Chameleon Database Program, which is software specifically designed for shelter inventory, field activities, etc. Every field impound OCAS does should have some type of receipt listed as a shelter redemption vs. a field redemption. So all someone at County would have to do is pull up all 79 of the k-9 impounds from Laguna Hills and count up how many were field redemptions. There should also be disposition notices, such as Notice to Contact if the ASO (Animal Services Officer) stopped by the AOs (Animal Owner's) house and no one was home. I know all this stuff from working closely with County on Chameleon issues and I had to compile these same reports for CA state.

But OCAS may actively discourage Field redemptions because then there is not only the fee issue of taking the animal to the shelter, but the added difficulty of the ASO collecting the fees, writing cites for tickets, and the legal requirement that any dog released from shelter custody must have a valid rabies vaccine if 16 weeks or older or a vet signs off as medically dangerous to vaccinate the dog. This is not rocket science. Also, where County switched to ca lender year totals from fiscal year totals - I suspect that was done because all CA state reports for rabies, animal control, etc. are based on Calendar year. So County was trying to conform to State policies to make their lives easier. Perfect common sense.

Anonymous said...Laguna Hills Assistant City Manager Don White doesn't appear to really know anything about his Dog License Campaign despite making big claims of success for the City.  Is this also the way he assists in running the City, with no concern for facts? Was Council Member Carruth listening to his answers to Kogerman's questions?

Anonymous said...Clearly during the entire year which included the canvassing period, dog licenses did not increase by the number the City is claiming. Don White and Melody are happy with the results, though, they don't really know what they are.

Regarding Council Member Kogerman's Suggestion to pull out of the ACC-OC

Anonymous said...I wish Barbara K. had confronted Songstad with the CAL Watchdog and the Register stories...Songstad would have then had to point his finger away from Barbara and at the authors as misinformed and their stories laughable. BK had NO friends on that panel last night. I hope she digs in and holds her ground if she is convinced what she knows is true and if she chooses to pursue the issue she will need uncontestable documentation that Songstad did not tell the whole story.

I've not attended enough meetings to form opinions about individual council members. I suspect they are all upstanding members of the community and have us commoners best interests at heart. However, my interest in attending meetings was sparked by Barbara exposing the city managers ( IMHO ) outrageous salary and perks and the very expensive health insurance the council members charged to the taxpayers. To my knowledge they are all highly successful folks with access to health care through their own law firms or other private enterprise. I can't help but think they weren't looking out for the folks or are seriously out of touch with reality when they voted themselves what was essentially a huge raise. Please tell me if I'm going wrong here but I feel ripped off.

Prohibiting Registered Sex Offenders in City Parks

Anonymous said...This was in the OC Register: as you probably know: http://www.ocregister.com/news/county-319461-sex-city.html  also in http://sanjuancapistrano.patch.com/articles/swim-coach-pleads-guilty-to-underage-sex-takes-deal http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/10/todd_sousa_lewd_acts_child.php
Tuesday's discussion in Laguna Hills started off with Councilman Joel Lautenschleger questioning the constitutionality of a ban; its effectiveness; and whether it would raise a false sense of danger in the city. Was it legal/ ethical for Lautenschleger to vote on this considering the conflict of interest he would have regarding his son-in-law being able to be in parks in Laguna Hills?  I know Barbara Kogerman, city council member for Laguna Hills, will continue to press for our city to pass the ordinance. However, you saw that the other four are not as supportive. Generally, the four drag their feet by "studying" the problem until people just give up.

Anonymous said...From the OC Weekly - http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/10/todd_sousa_lewd_acts_child.php  Robert Sousa, who was sentenced Friday to prison time and a sex offender tag for unlawful sex with a 15-year-old girl he taught, is the son-in-law of Laguna Hills City Councilman Joel Lautenschleger. At the Sept. 27 Laguna Hills City Council Meeting - Council Member Lautenschleger said this regarding banning sex offenders from parks in Laguna Hills - He said "Let's make one thing perfectly clear, there have been no sex crimes against children in the City since we incorporated." "I think we have to ask ourselves are we giving our people a false sense of danger?" and "What's the problem we are trying to solve here with the ordinance?" and "A full scale prohibition like the County did is just simply a solution looking for a problem."

SMART METERS from Gas and Electric Companies 

Anonymous said... http://lamesa.patch.com/users/susan-brinchman/blog_posts That wireless is on 24/7 and I don't want the radiation. Others are reportedly getting sick from them. On top of that this is what one person said about the "Smart Grids," which is part of the "Smart Meters."  Go here and then read some of the comments: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/08/san-diego-power-outage-sh_n_954892.html
Like this:11:37 PM on 9/11/2011  The newly crafted smart grid failed us. This was predicted. These blackouts will continue and may even affect the entire nation in the near future. The CPUC and AZ PUC (state regulators­) are guaranteed to cover it up; they don't want bad press on smart grid problems.

This was no small thing and had no small consequenc­e. It is but practice for living with the experiment­al, dangerous, risk-ridde­n "not-so-sm­art" grid, conceived of by "not-so-sm­art" bureaucrat­s, public utility commission­s and utilities. We will ultimately be hooked, with our “smart” grid, up to all nations, including China and Russia. The equipment is often made in China. We will be totally dependent on the other nations they (and terrorists­) can set our whole country up for power failure through events in their countries and/or hacking into our new, interconne­cted system. It is a very dumb plan and we saw the results (just a peek) this week. The national authoritie­s have their heads in the sand, as they have financed these mistakes with Recovery Act funding, to the tune of many billions. The White House has named establishm­ent of the smart grid as a high priority. Complaints fall on deaf ears all around.http://lam­esa.patch.­com/blog_p­osts/under­lying-caus­e-of-the-s­outhwester­n-blackout­-sept-8-20­11-failure­-of-the-sm­art-grid 


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!!
** The 3/5 Marine Christmas Party is December 2nd, so please look for the toy collection boxes at the City Hall, the Community Center and the Nellie Gail HOA Club House. Last year Team Dark Horse delivered over 600 toys/gifts to our adopted Marine Battation ** Also 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,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 battlehttp://www.ocregister.com/news/city-303262-kogerman-channing.html

Councilwoman: Public pay report inaccurate, self servinghttp://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 writerhttp://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 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 check the Saddleback Valley News every Friday or click on: www.ocregister.com/news/saddleback .

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