Laguna Hills Watch Dog
Laguna Hills City Council Meeting, February 14, 2012

Features Directory

**Special Announcements - You can now see and hear City Council Meetings on the City's Web Site, CONTACT LAGUNA HILLS CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS at - ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us

**Citizen Alerts for future City Council Meetings will be listed on the blog site within 4 days prior to a meeting - Consider attending a meeting that interests you.

** Presentations and Proclamations -  Laguna Hills High School PTSA - "Every 15 Minutes" program on drunk driving with request for some additional funding.
** Public Comments - City's Adopted Marines Update and the City's Memorial Day Event,  Toxic plants near Valencia Elem. School and possible air quality problems at the Valencia School Playground and the Community Center Sports Field.
** LHHS Student Liaison Report by Jeena Bonutto - Updates on LHHS activities
** Consent Calendar - Warrant Register - $296,583.43
** Items Pulled from the Warrant Register - $1250.00 for Coyote Control Program,
** Items of interest in the Consent Calendar - 2nd Quarter Financial Treasurer's Report, No Parking Anytime Zones at Plaza Pointe Dr., No Parking Anytime Zone on Santa Vittoria Dr. and Caminito Cruz, Employer-Employee Relations Resolution, Community Bulletin Board at the Community Center
** Items pulled from the Consent Calendar for discussion - Community Bulletin Board at the Community Center
** Public Improvement Corporation - Annual Election of Officers but the council failed to publicly announce who they elected as officers this year?
** City Council Public Hearings - Mandeville Dr. Permit Parking Zone
** Matters Agendized and Presented by Council Members -  California Forward Ballot Measure - "The Government Performance and Accountability Act" - Opinion Presented by Council Member Songstad.
** City Council Member Comments - They didn't get a chance to comment this time?
** Closed Session - Another session with labor negotiator regarding Terms and Conditions of the City Manager's Employment Agreement, litigation conference, Real property negotiation conference re. sale of City property on La Paz and Moulton
* City Council Members Report Card - How did they score?
* Information, Comments, Questions, Concerns from LH Watch Dog Readers from the previous post including Win-Win-Wednesday - download restaurant flyers from LHHS web site for now + Comments on many subjects
* How to support our 3/5 Adopted Marines and Updates -
* News Stories and Blogs about Laguna Hills - find more in the OC Register online under "City-by-City News" - "Laguna Hills".
* City Council Members Say the Darndest Things in Public 
* Crime in your Neighborhood
* Instructions for Writing a letter to the Editor of the OC Register Newspaper
2012 Candidates for City Council - It is an election year again for 2 of Laguna Hills City Council Members - Allan Songstad and Joel Lautenschleter. If you are interested in running for either of these council seats go to the City Web Site at http://www.ci.laguna-hills.ca.us/ and click on "Interested in Running for City Council in 2012" on the Face Page for details.

All Council Members were present 
==============================
PRESENTATIONS and PROCLAMATIONS - Presentation by Stefanie Yoshii, LHHS PTSA Chairperson and Karen Heffernan LHHS PTSA President and request for supplemental financial support for the Laguna Hills High School's "Every 15 Minutes" Pgrm. on the realities of drunk driving. They noted that this 2 day program is presented every 2 years and focuses on junior and senior high school students with the goal of reducing alcohol related driving incidents. It is funded in part by a grant from the State of CA. The LHHS PTSA is seeking reimbursement for related expenses that are not covered by the grant. In December of 2009 the City adopted Resolution # 2009-12-08-2 authorizing the expenditure of $2,500 for a public purpose as Community Assistance Funding.

Stefanie and Karen explained that 30 LHHS students are chosen to participate in this very realistic program as "living dead". On day 1 of the program the participating students are removed from classes one at a time by a Police Officer and the Grim Reaper, every 15 minutes, to illustrate the 1% that die from an alcohol related drunk driving incident. Everything is done as it would be done in at a real accident scene with emergency responders, paramedics and a coroner. Everything is video taped. No ocernight contact is allowed with or by the 30 "living dead" students and the next day the participating students face their own tombstones, in a temporary cemetery, and talk to the other students about how it felt to be suddenly dead without a chance to say goodbye.  All discuss how they felt about seeing this and participating and about making good choices, being responsible and realizing they aren't invincible.
Staff Recommendation - Request for the City Council to provide staff with direction regarding a resolution for community assistance funding and the amount.
Vote - $2,500 was approved 5 - 0.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

Mike Bland, Chairman of the City's Adopted 3/5 Marines Support Group - Team Dark Horse, thanked the council for re-naming the Memorial Day Event to include the 3/5 Marines and announced that he had a meeting with Renegade Racing and Dan Meehan, Community Services Superintendent and David Reynolds, Community Services Director and Renegade Racing waived racing entry fees for 25 Marines to run in 2012 because they valued the Marine presence for the Memorial Day Event. Mike thanked Renegade and Dan and David for all their work and assistance. He also noted that they Team Dark Horse is contacting the County Fire Authority and the Police to see if anyone from their depts. would like to run in the event and is contacting local hotels asking for donated rooms for the Marines for the night prior to the event to allow them to participate early the next morning. He noted that the 3/5 has returned from training now and is presently scheduled to deploy to a ship in September of 2012.

William and Rebecca Frey, from Laguna Niguel spoke as grandparents about the highly toxic Oleander bushes planted across the street from Valencia Elem. School, on Paseo de Valencia, where children walking to school on a sidewalk rub up against them, pick the flowers and get the nectar from the plants on their hands. They noted Oleander plants can cause death if the nectar or plant parts are ingested. They presented documentation for the toxicity of the Oleander plant and requested that these plants be removed to protect the children. They also spoke about the air quality on the playground at Valencia that is so close to La Paz. They asked that sensors be installed on the playground to measure that air quality there to see if improvements need to be made. They noted that a similar problem exists at the Laguna Hills Community Center sports field related to the exhaust from all the vehicles on Alicia Pwky. that borders the field. They asked that the air quality there also be monitored to determine if there is a problem and that plants be added to protect children from the fumes. Mayor Carruth referred the Frey's to the School District for the problems at Valencia Elem. School.

Mayor Pre-Tem Lautenschleger said he wasn't sure how much of a pollution problem there was at the Community Center. He continued with, "The prevailing wind is always off the ocean blowing East so it's blowing from the soccer fields onto Alicia and across that way."  He conculded that he doesn't believe it's a problem and doesn't know if it would be worthwhile to put monitors out there. He said he has refereed there for 8 years and no one has complained. Mrs. Frey pointed out that there are many cars backed up there with motors running and exhaust coming from the cars.  Mayor Carruth said regarding the Community Center Soccer Field they would perhaps discuss this at a later time and said "from my perspective we have planted a lot of trees, a lot of shrubs to absorb the pollutants." 

** Editor's note - Because we noted that the concerns of the Freys appeared to be less than fully addressed, in that the Freys were not referred to Ken Rosenfield Director of Public Services for follow up or more information, as is usually the case, we spoke with Mr. Frey and learned that the Frey's have 4 grandchildren living in Laguna Hills. We are also well aware of the dangers of Oleander so decided to some fact finding.  On Feb. 16, we went to the sight of the Oleander shrubs and noted that they are planted next to a public sidewalk on what appears to be either City Property or property of the Vista Firenze Community as opposed to school property. There are other shrubs also planted in this area between the sidewalk and a wall, but there is a significant amount of Oleander planted in clumps of about 4 to 5 large bushes. 

Next we went to the Laguna Hills Community Center and counted 20 trees planted about 16 feet apart in a planting strip next to the area of Alicia Parkway that borders the area where the sports field is located.  These trees are about 12 feet tall and there 2 feet tall Raphiolepis bushes planted between the trees. The problem, related to any protection from exhaust fumes, is that these plantings are not primarily for screening but for decoration. The trees are currently leafless so there would be no protection at all from them in the Fall and Winter months.  Also, the branches on these tree trunks begin at a height of 6 feet from the ground and the bushes beside the trees are pruned to 2 feet in height so there is always at least 4 feet x 16 feet of wide open space between each tree all along Alicia Pkwy. to allow exhaust to enter the area.  We tested the wind direction and observed the flags in front of the Community Center and noted that on February 16, 2012 at 1:00 pm the wind was definitely blowing from the intersection of Alicia and Paseo de Valencia toward the sports field so that would appear to be from the South East to the North West as opposed to Mayor Pro-Tem Lautenschleger's statement, "The prevailing wind is always off the ocean blowing East so it's blowing from the soccer fields onto Alicia and across that way." 

LHHS STUDENT LIAISON REPORT by Jeena Bonutto, alternate Adam Wong.  Jeena said the amazing SRO, Officer Gunsolley is conducting Kids and Technology classes for parents. She announced that the Win Win Wednesday is at Rubys for Feb. 15 and Baja Fresh for Feb. 22. A very important  Western Association of Schools and Colleges lunch is scheduled for Sunday Feb. 26 at 4:30 pm. Winter Sports is going into CIF right now and everyone is doing awesome. The Wrestling Team just ran lead for the 26th year in a row and the Girls Basketball, in which Jeena plays, won the lead for the 6th year in a row.

MINUTES - City Council Approves 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 always a significant delay for the public related to timely documentation of information from the city.

CONSENT CALENDAR - Warrant Register = $296,583.43
Items of interest from the Warrant Register - $1250.00 for Coyote Control Program.
Items of interest from the Consent Calendar:

4.3 - 2nd Quarter Financial Treasurer's Report - Staff Report states, the City's total fund balance as of Dec. 31, 2011 was $9,278,112. Total cash and investments - listed as $8,684,944 as of 12/1/2011 which is a decrease from $1.9 million compared with the same period in 2010. You may see more detailed information on the City web site.

4.4 - Establishment of No Parking Anytime Zones at Plaza Pointe Dr. Staff Report states concerns were expressed regarding big rig truck parking along Plaza Pointe Dr. at points that increased traffic conflicts. On January 18, 2012 the City Traffic Commission approved staff recommendation for No Parking Anytime Zones on portions of Plaza Pointe Dr. between Avenida de la Carlota and South Pointe Dr. Fiscal Impact to the City is estimated to be about $2000 for the installation of 8 signs.

4.5 - Establishment of No Parking Anytime Zone on Santa Vittoria Dr. and Caminito Cruz - Staff Report states the City determined vehicles parked near the intersection inhibited stopping sight distance of 250 feet. The City Traffic Commission recommended on January 18, 2012 that a No Parking Anytime Zone be established on a portion of the west side of Santa Vittoria Dr. to maintain proper sight distance. Fiscal Impact to the City is estimated to be about $500 for the installation of 2 signs.

4.6 - Employer-Employee Relations Resolution - Staff Report states at the Nov. 22 2011 City Council Meeting the Council recognized the Laguna Hills City Employees Association as the exclusive representative of the City's full time and extended part time non-management and non-confidential employees. The adoption of Rules and Regulations followed in the form of an Employer-Employee Relations Resolution (EERR). Some of the changes requested by the Employee Assoc. and agreed to by management are reflected in the Staff Report regarding Procedural Rules including:
1. A maximum of 3 employee reps. will be allowed reasonable time off without loss of compensation when formally meeting with City representatives.
2. The removal of display material by the City Manager has been changed from obligatory to optional
3. Language in Sec. 16 has been modified to clarify original intent.
4. Section 16.C and D - Section 16.C has been modified and Section 16.D added to include mediation and fact finding in impasse procedures. Staff report says if is optional for the City to agree to mediation which is non-binding but Fact Finding is required by law. Once this is adopted the Association may decide to request a meeting on matters affecting wages, hours and working conditions which would ultimately lead to the adoption of an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). In the absence of an MOU the City's current salary and benefit structure will remain in effect until such time as changes are requested by either party.

4.7 - Community Bulletin Board at the Community Center - Staff report states staff has determined that a Community Bulletin Board is feasible as a "limited public forum."  A community bulletin board has been requested several times at City Council Meetings by Meg Gorham for "Win-Win-Wednesday" that provides funding for LHHS PTSA projects through a popular program that provides a local and dedicated food establishment, every Wednesday, that will donate a portion of the price of the meals of people who dine at the restaurants and provide the restaurant with a flyer downloaded from the Win-Win-Wed. web site.
Fiscal Impact to the City is $0 if they can use a spare bulletin board from the City Clerk's dept. The maximum cost is predicted to be $3000 for a 4 x 6 ft. bulletin board that is glass encased and locked. The Parks and Recreation Commission approved the bulletin board at it's Feb 1, 2011 meeting.

Items pulled from the Consent Calendar - Warrant Register Item for Coyote Control and Item 4.7 - Community Bulletin Board, were pulled by Council Member Kogerman. The rest of the Consent Calendar was passed by a Vote of 5 - 0.

Council Member Kogerman noted that for the Coyote Control Program $1250.00 had been paid to the Nellie Gail Ranch HOA for splitting the cost of their Coyote Control measures with the City and asked if any other HOAs had asked for this? She also asked if the Coyote situation was being monitored, if the maps were being kept and if there is an update on Coyote Activity related to how well they think the previous measures have worked, etc. City Manager Channing answered that this was a payment for services last November and letters were sent to all the HOAs advising them of the City's offer to assist with their Coyote Control Costs but no assistance was requested from other HOAs. Channing noted that Trapping was done in Nellie Gail and in North Laguna Hills with some success but added that there is no way to tell if this would lead to measurable changes in the Coyote behavior. He said they are maintaining a map now and will continue educating citizens.
Council Member Kogerman also thanked the Parks and Recreation Commission and staff for their solution to the Community Bulletin Board issue.
Vote - The Warrant Register and Item 4.7 from the Consent Calendar were passed 5 - 0.

PLANNING AGENCY PUBLIC HEARINGS - None

PUBLIC IMPROVEMENT CORPORATION - "The PIC is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation whose primary purpose is to render financial assistance to the City." Although there was no announcement of officers at this meeting we know from last year that the new officer (Mayor Carruth) is elected as President replacing last year's Mayor. The other board members remain in place from year to year. In 2011 Council Member Kogerman called for a public explanation of the PIC Board and this is the explanation that was given. City Manager Bruce Channing stated, this board was created to assist the city with the financing of certain public improvements such as the construction of the Community Center and sports complex as well as the Civic Center improvements. Certificates of Participation that were issued in both cases operate through a Lease-back arrangement so the City had to have a 2nd entity to do that. The Public Improvement Corporation was created for that purpose. Every year that the Bonds are in place the PIC is required to meet so each year the minutes from the prior year are adopted and the new officers are elected. Council Member Bressette added that none of the members are compensated for serving on this Board and Council Member Kogerman noted there was also no compensation for serving on the Planning Agency.
Election of Officers - The Laguna Hills Public Improvement Corporation (PIC) is made up of City Council Members and the City Manager who serve as the Board of Directors and they meet annually on the second Tuesday of February. These people will serve "until the election and qualification of their successors as provided in Article 4, Section 2 of the bylaws". In
2010 the council re-named the City Manager, Bruce Channing as Vice President, Assist. City Manager Don White as Treasurer and City Clerk Peggy Johns as Secretary. In 2011  City Manager Bruce Channing continued as Vice President, the Assistant City Manager Don White continued asTreasurer, and the City Clerk Peggy Johns continued as Secretary. This year the council failed to announce what they did related to the election of officers?

CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARINGS:

7.2.1 - Mandeville Dr. Permit Parking Zone - Staff report states the purpose of this is the elimination of undesirable overflow parking from the adjacent multi-family Crestline Development from Moulton Pkwy. to a point 500 feet easterly on Mandeville Dr. Fiscal Impact to the City - About $750 for signage and the City would charge residents $15 per decal for a parking permit.
Staff Recommendation - City Council Receive and File the Report.

Ken Rosenfield, Director of Public Services and City Engineer explained that problem that this parking affected about 12 homes on either side of the first 500 ft. of Mandeville Dr. He said 58% of these residents voted for parking permits for their street and the City Standard requires 67%. He noted that eventually one more resident requested the permits so that raised the percent to 67% but if any resident changed his/her mind the percent would drop to 58 again and need to be brought back to the council so a decision was made against the permit parking for now.

Public Comments - Jacklyn Sprecher (sp?) from Mandeville Dr. said her household is not impacted and she doesn't really understand why this is needed because homeowners like her family will be impacted when then have a need to park their car on the street in front of their homes.

Council Member Kogerman read into the record a message received by the council from a resident that had not been previously noted.  The message stated that parking is not a problem and more attention should be paid by the council to small business and creating jobs.

Vote - was 5-0 to receive and file this report/take no action.

MATTERS AGENDIZED and PRESENTED by CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS **These Items are authored by Council Members. The council member who authors an item also does the research for that item -
8.1.1 - California Forward Ballot Measure - "The Government Performance and Accountability Act". from Council Member Songstad - Report states - At this point it is not clear whether the Ballot Measure proponent, California Forward, will gather the required number of signatures to qualify this measure for the November 2012 ballot. The Government Performance and Accountability Act states that government must be: Trustworthy including that the Public Deserves Better Results From Government Services, Accountable for Results, Cost- Effective, Transparent, Focused on Results, Cooperative, Closer to the People, Supportive of Regional Job Generation, Willing to Listen, Thrifty and Prudent. You may view this 22 page document online on the City web site under city council agenda for Feb. 14, 2012.

A summary of the ballot measure in the staff report states: The Act's stated purpose is to bolster results and encourage local governments to work together. Once consistent theme is the State and local governments would be more efficient, effective and transparent through a budget process that examines progress toward program goals. The Act declares that "the shared purpose of the State and local governments is to promote a prosperous economy, a quality environment, and a community equity" through increasing employment, improving education, decreasing poverty, decreasing crime and improving health.

Council Member Songstad's comments could be summed up with his statement that this is good for the State Government but they didn't stop there. Songstad said he thought the analysis of this ballot measure done by Dan Carrigg was "pretty balanced". Included in the online reports for this item, Lobbyist Dan Carrigg says California Forward describes itself as "a nonpartisian, nonprofit organization working to bring government closer to the people." Songstad described it as an organization that is kind of a "think tank".  Songstad said there are good things that deal with State Government here but not good for local government. He said the purpose that states - "the shared purpose of the State and local governments is to promote a prosperous economy, a quality environment, and a community equity" but does not define "community equity".  It's goals are increasing employment, improving education, decreasing poverty, decreasing crime and improving health. He questioned some of these goals being the responsibility of City Government. Songstad stressed that related to cities working together to provide services more efficiently we already share one service, the Orange County Fire Authority, and also can share sales tax revenues if there is justification to do that. In answer to Council Member Kogerman's question Songstad stated there has been a decision made to gather signatures for this initiative to get it on the November ballot.

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS - This meeting was ended by the Mayor before the council memebers had a chance to comment?

CLOSED SESSION – Another session with the Appointed Labor Negotiator with the City Manager related to Terms and conditions of the City Manager's employment. Conference with legal counsel re existing Litigation - Case of Laguna Hills vs Moreland Development Company and Conference with Real Property Negotiators related to a portion of the open space parces located at the couner or Moulton Pkwy. and La Paz Rd. 3.365 acres
The Next regular City Council Meeting is Tuesday February 28, 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 - Voted to pass the Community Bulletin Board for citizens and 2 parking area restrictions for the safety of citizens with the rest of the Consent Calendar.  

Carruth - P - Voted to pass the Community Bulletin Board for citizens and 2 parking area restrictions for the safety of citizens with the rest of the Consent Calendar.   F - Stated that there are plenty of plants to assist with air quality for children playing on the Community Center Soccer Field near Alicia without measuring the air quality or doing any fact finding.

Kogerman - P - Voted to pass the Community Bulletin Board for citizens and 2 parking area restrictions for the safety of citizens with the rest of the Consent Calendar.  A - For requesting a public report of progress of the Coyote Control Program for Citizens.

Lautenschleger - P - Voted to pass the Community Bulletin Board for citizens and 2 parking area restrictions for the safety of citizens with the rest of the Consent Calendar.  F - Stated he does not believe there is any danger for children playing on the sports field at the Community Center next to Alicia Pkwy. from automobile exhaust fumes without measuring air quality or doing any fact finding. 

Songstad - P - Voted to pass the Community Bulletin Board for citizens and 2 parking area restrictions for the safety of citizens with the rest of the Consent Calendar.  A - For authoring and presenting his political opinion for citizens on a possible ballot measure for 2012. 

City Manager - Nothing to Report

INFORMATION, COMMENTS QUESTIONS and CONCERNS from Watch Dog Readers from the Previous Post:

WIN WIN Wednesdays!! is an ongoing series of restaurant fundraisers, a project of the Laguna Hills High School PTSA. Students, their families and members of the general community dine out for a great meals, and in return the restaurants donate a percentage of their proceeds to the LHHS PTSA. It's good for us AND it's good for local restaurants, hence the concept of WIN-WIN.

Year long fundraising projects like Win-Win Wednesdays allow the PTSA to fund many worthwhile programs such as "Every 15 Minutes" (a vividly realistic drunk driving prevention presentation), the Award Winning "I Can Make a Difference" program and the Safe and Sober all night "Grad Night" party that Keeps our kids not only safe but in Laguna Hills and on campus continuing a 23 year tradition that makes us HAWK Proud! **
For Weekly Flyers & Schedule: www.WinWinWednesdays.com

** Bring the WWW!! flyer to these participating restaurants on these dates and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the LHHS PTSA

February 22nd - Baja Fresh. Laguna Hills -10:30 am to 9 pm
February 29th - ToGo's - Laguna Hills-Alicia Pkwy -10:30 am to 9 pm
March 7 - Pick Up Stix - Laguna Niguel-Alicia Parkway @ Pacific Park -11 am to 9 pm
March 14 - Don Jose's - Laguna Hills - 11 am to 9 pm
March 21 - Ted's Place - Laguna Niguel - 6 am to 9 pm
March 28 - Villa Roma - Laguna Hills - 11 am to 9 pm
April 4 - CA. Pizza Kitchen - Laguna Hills Mall 11 am to 9 pm

** Be sure to "LIKE" us on Facebook to help spread the word and Don't forget our "WWW Everyday" Partners like Its a Grind Coffee House, Alpha Cleaners and Golden Baked Hams. Bring the flyers for these everyday partners and Support the businesses that support us!

Anonymous said...
It seems that the council and the city manager are finally doing better related to businesses in Laguna Hills. In the past few years there has been a lot of redevelopment and looks like that will continue. The city manager always take credit for that, and if that's true seems that he should have had a higher score? I don't know how we can tell if he had anything to do with the redevelopment or if it occurred because the businesses needed something to draw in more business and this was a good time to redevelop because the price of labor is down??
 
Anonymous said...
What's the deal with the City and Cox? If the city's getting paid to safeguard the public interest what is it that they're doing? Looks like they are working for Cox not the citizens because we never see or hear of anything they've done for us related to Cox??
 
Anonymous said...
I heard that Oakbrook Village may put in massive amounts of apartments with their new retail scheme. I understand the need to remodel that shopping center but there are already too many apartments in that area. Street parking is already a problem. What will the City do to mitigate the impact of more traffic congestion and more parking problems?

Anonymous said...
Congrats to Kogerman and Bressette for their scores in 2011. I realize this is not the entire picture but it's a good snapshot for citizens related to who is most willing to share information about what they are doing with the public. Do you think that the claim's from the city Compensation Study that the city employee's are 11.8% underpaid caused the employees to join a union?

Anonymous said...
Voted against publishing the annual goals of the city at the beginning of the year?? Voted not to review the City Manager's contract for possible revisions? Failure to clarify what was said by the ACC-OC members who are part of an organization supported by taxpayers. Don't want to move People's Business up in the council agenda. Thumbed noses at the Grand Jury. Allows employees to determine their own compensation policy with no input from citizens. This all sounds like and adoption of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy for Laguna Hills taxpayers.
 
Anonymous said...
Keep doing these scores and keep tracking the explanations for them, because we aren't going to find this information in City Views.
 
Anonymous said...
The reason Songstad and Lautenschleger scored so low in the Watch Dog's system is because they have done this job for 20 years and have done everything they think is needed. If you want things done your way why don't you run for city council?

Anonymous said...
The scores for the city manager are a reflection of the majority of the city council. City managers are not allowed the luxury of their own opinions unless those opinions agree with the majority of a city council that supports them.
 
Anonymous said...
Thank you for the history your site provides. I searched your site for all the past council meetings and have not been able to find so much information about the city council anywhere else.


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!!
** 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 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 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

January 10, 2012 - Council Member Songstad said, "I find it interesting that we are in a discussion where we are being asked to provide less information rather than more information, I thought transparency was all about providing more information."

To clarify for Council Member Songstad "Transparency" is not simply an amount of information it is clarity of information - Merriam-Webster Dictionary (Transparency) - free from pretense or deceit, easily detected or seen through, obvious, readily understood, characterized by visibility or accessibility of information. Wikipedia (Transparency Behavior) - Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed. All organizations have a transparency culture, but few have a culture of transparency, i.e., a culture of being aware of transparency and incorporating it routinely into how things are done.

November 27, 2011 - Regarding the ordinance establishing parks as “Child Safety Zones, Council Member Joel Lautenschleger stated, “Let's make one thing perfectly clear, there have been no sex crimes against children in the City since we incorporated."

You should have done some fact checking before speaking so boldly, Mr. Lautenschleger. According to information from the OC Sheriff's Dept. there have been 32 child molests in Laguna Hills in the past 11 years. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts.

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 2012 with 19 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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