***LAGUNA HILLS WATCH DOG SPECIAL REPORT - The new Orange County Grand Jury Report that was just released today entitled: THE USE OF GOVERNMENT INFLUENCE ON A PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION sheds a grim shadow on 2 City Council members, Allan Songstad from Laguna Hills and Jerry Amante from Tustin as well as the Former Executive Director of the OC Division of the California League of Cities but shines a bright warm glow of exoneration on the formerly maligned Professor Smoller and his students.


The July 5, 2012 Press Release from the Orange County Grand Jury States

On November 1, 2011, a formal and confidential complaint had been sent to the Orange County Grand Jury requesting that they investigate allegations that leaders of a taxpayer funded organization had attempted to quash information and debate on issues of public concern and that these leaders had inappropriately attempted to interfere in a local city council election. On November 3, 2011 the 2011-2012 Orange County Grand Jury also learned of these circumstances through a presentation.

Thereafter, the Grand Jury began the accumulation of documents and conducted interviews related to the subject matter of the complaint, i.e. that certain elected officials had exerted, or attempted to exert, pressure upon an independent educational institution and a member of its faculty. This investigation let to the conclusion that various parties have been less than forthcoming with the public, less than forthcoming with the educators, and less than forthcoming with the Orange County Grand Jury. The Grand Jury recommends that these elected public officials be reeducated in the ethics of their offices and of those organizations that they represent as a part of their public service.
2011 - 2012 Orange County Grand Jury, Roy B. Baker III, Foreman

SEE THE ENTIRE GRAND JURY REPORT at http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/theuseofgovernmentinfluenceonpei.pdf


Our first response was from Laguna Hills Citizen Tom Epperson who said


The Orange County Grand Jury has found that elected city officials from Laguna Hills and Tustin have inappropriately used government influence in an attempt to cover-up excessive compensation paid to City Managers in Orange County in a Report entitled, “the Orange County City Manager’s Compensation Report.”


Hopefully, all of you Laguna Hills Watch Dog readers will take the time to read the 2011-2012 Orange County Grand Jury Report regarding Inappropriate Use of Government Influence. Please use following link -  http://www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/theuseofgovernmentinfluenceonpei.pdf

While it is sad to learn elected city government officials would use the power of their offices to exert influence on educational institutions to refrain from publishing a study indicating excessive compensation paid to city employees, it is particularly disturbing that two of those trusted officials attempting to do so were from Tustin and Laguna Hills.


For the last several years the Laguna Hills Watch Dog has been a strong advocate for transparency in government. As citizens and taxpayers, our elected city officials’ time and our tax dollars need not be spent on supporting non-profit organizations conceived as promotional groups for the purpose of influencing public or private institutions.


It is appalling that city officials from Laguna Hills, Tustin and a non-profit group actually lobbied a university president to not only retract a legitimate compensation study, done by university graduate students; but additionally, caused the resignation of a university professor under whose tutelage the students performed the study.


If the Grand Jury can find unwelcome irregularities in a small city like Laguna Hills (pop. about 30,000); what additional unsavory practices are lurking in the council chambers of our cities? The answer is vigilance. We all need to become involved, participate and be our own watchdogs.   Tom Epperson, Laguna Hills Citizen


On July 6, 2012 - Dr. Raghu Mathur responded:

"I am appalled to learn the unethical behavior of Laguna Hills Councilman Allan Songstad as reported in the Grand Jury Report. I clearly see here examples of his playing afoul with the 2010 city council election process and initiating retaliation against Professor Dr. Smoller of Brandman University for involving students in conducting community-based research that exposed corrupt compensation and governance related practices at the Laguna Hills City Hall. I find such arrogant behavior by our elected official totally unacceptable."

Dr. Raghu Mathur
Candidate for Laguna Hills City Council in 2012


We also have a statement from Laguna Hills City Council Member Barbara Kogerman whose Report entitled, “Orange County City Manager’s Compensation Report.” is the report referenced in this Grand Jury Report  - THE USE OF GOVERNMENT INFLUENCE ON A PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION 

          
Kogerman says prominent Orange County public officials and their tax-payer supported organizations misused public assets in an apparently organized attempt to manipulate a 2010 election, according to a Grand Jury report released today.

The report excoriates city councilmen L. Allan Songstad, Jr., of Laguna Hills, and Jerry Amante of Tustin, for their behind-the-scenes efforts to derail candidate Barbara Kogerman’s bid for election to the Laguna Hills City Council, and their later efforts to disrupt the career of Brandman University Professor Dr. Fred Smoller, and their evident attempts to cover-up their activities.
           
The report labels their conduct misfeasance in office, an act by a public official that is unlawful – legal, but performed improperly – exceeding or misusing a public power or position and thereby risking harm. 
           
Songstad and Amante were officers of the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities, and the break-away Association of California Cities – Orange County, when they misused their authority as outlined in the Grand Jury report.  Smoller’s graduate students helped Kogerman research the compensation of Orange County city managers, which resulted in a flurry of media coverage that clearly upset Songstad.  All individuals and organizations go unnamed in the report but are clearly identified by descriptions.
           
Kogerman, who won her election, said she was dismayed by the Grand Jury’s findings. “I knew back in 2010 that certain elected officials and public entities were angered by the scrutiny I was focusing on senior management compensation, but I never expected them to go to such appalling lengths to interfere in the elective process,” she said. “We could have engaged in a beneficial dialogue on the compensation issue. Instead, they chose the low road, in the process dishonoring themselves and the offices they hold. Good people don’t do bad things – whether illegal, or unethical.”    
           

Kogerman insists that the transgressions revealed in this Grand Jury investigation must be dealt with in the strongest possible manner. “Persons who abuse the trust of the electorate must be held accountable and must step down. Such egregious conduct must not be allowed to go unpunished but must be met with consequences that send a powerful message to other public officials. 

She said, "This report cannot relegated to the ‘politics as usual pile."  Using the Public Records Act, Kogerman and two graduate student interns uncovered not only what she originally set out to determine – whether Laguna Hills City Manager Bruce Channing was the highest-compensated city official in Orange County (he was) – but encountered a wide-spread lack of compliance with the Public Records Act. Several cities were either wary of letting the public know how much they compensated their top officials, or they were simply incapable of providing information the public has the right to know.
           
Numerous public compensation reforms have since been put into place, including the State Controller’s web site listing compensation information for all city positions, and a move by all Orange County cities to report the type of information Kogerman requested in 2010. Both 2011 and 2012 Grand Jury reports also called for improved on-line reporting of compensation for all city employees.

Kogerman’s “Orange County, California, City Managers Compensation Report” was the precursor to the LA Times investigation of the City of Bell and caused a sensation in local government circles.  It was the impetus for new California legislation and transparency standards, propelling Kogerman into the spotlight as a national spokesperson for transparency and compensation reform, problems she says still plague the City of Laguna Hills.



Two People who have been largely overlooked in thie breaking story but very damaged by the misfeasance (found by the Orange County Grand Jury) of the two City Council Members were the hard working and unpaid Interns/Grad. students Cindy Smith and Janice Voshall who assisted with the original report that gathered and compiled the data from 34 Orange County Cities to compare City Manager Compensation.


The Grand Jury report notes about The Councilman from Laguna Hills (Allan Songstad) state - "He further indicated to the Orange County Grand Jury that as to the future impact of these circumstances on the students of the university, that it was obvious to all concerned that it was not the best thing for them to do, i.e. to be criticizing city managers when they are the ones that do the hiring. And that the university president and the professor were bright individuals who could see the relationship and that it wouldn't be smart to slam city managers. He acknowledged that there wasn't any threat but it was just sort of self evident."  Songstad apparently did not call not call this a threat but it certainly played out as one. Neither of these girls were able to find a job in Orange County even after all the very public accolades they received for their work and we have a message from one of them, Cindy Smith.


Cindy says of her experience -  I would like to reiterate that I did not want to believe that the "Abuse of Power" was a fact that would affect me personally, much less that it is used to protect those who choose to do the "WRONG" thing in city government.  As an adult, I am well aware of the injustices of life and those who choose their own personal well being over the expense of others...I have lived through it!  As an adult student, in the Masters program of Public Administration, not only did I learn about local government and working with integrity but I learned, the hard way, about being "Black Balled" by the powers that be and how much power that reaches throughout the county, private businesses and education. Thank God that the citizens of Orange County could see through the "Abuses of Power" and truth has prevailed!!!

On a personal note, I spent long, hard hours attaining my degree, working two part-time jobs and raising 5 children alone, in hopes of being gainfully employed, serving the people. Sadly, I could not find employment in Orange County....hmmmm?  I was forced to move back to Arizona and move in with my parents.  All I can say is that it just takes one voice to speak out against all kinds of abuse and others will begin to follow...now is the time to stop turning a blind eye to those who choose abuse!  Will you be the whistleblower in your circle of influence?


From the Oct 25, 2011 Laguna Hills City Council Meeting the Laguna Hills Watch Dog Reported

MATTERS AGENDIZED AND PRESENTED BY COUNCIL MEMBERS -

Item 8.1.1 - Council Member Kogerman - Membership in the Association of California Cities - Orange County - ACC- OC

Council Member Kogerman spoke about her online report that states - In 2010 some city members of the OC Division of the League of California Cities (The State League) broke away and formed the Association of California Cities- Orange County. At the Nov. 23, 2010 Laguna Hills City Council Meeting the City voted to become a member of the ACC-OC in addition to remaining a member of the State League. At that meeting Mayor Songstad urged the City Council to support the new Association and noted that the new Association would be "very member centric, and attempt to stay our of issues that were controversial for its members."

Council Member Kogerman stated that the Association has failed spectacularly to "attempt to stay out of issues that were controversial for its members." Events have revealed a vindictive effort at political retaliation in which Association leaders have prevailed upon Brandman University to strip Dr. Fred Smoller of his powers as founder and professor of its Graduate School of Public Administration by insisting that any opinions from Dr. Smoller must first be approved by Association Chief Executive Officer Lacy Kelly before they are submitted for publication. Kogerman says this and other onerous conditions insisted upon by Association leadership prompted Dr. Smoller's resignation of his position with the school.

Kogerman continued that this was a blatant attack on academic freedom related to the 2 Brandman Public Administration graduate students assisting Kogerman in her study of the Compensation of Orange County City Managers and Dr. Smoller's published opinions advocating the consideration of consolidating local cities and/or their services throughout Orange County as an efficiency matter to take advantage of economies of scale. Kogerman notes that the 2 Brandman graduate students received accolades for their work on this report from PublicCEO.com, Fox News, and the County Board of Supervisors and that the study revealed vagaries in city manager compensation throughout Orange County and disturbing misinterpretations of the Ca. Public Records Act. Subsequent to this report the State's Controller and Attorney General called for disclosure by all cities of their city manager's compensation and legislation was introduced to address excessive compensation and lack of transparency.

Quotes from Council Member Kogerman's report include:

1. From the Orange County Register Newspaper - Quote from Dr. Smoller - "I was told city officials were upset with my involvement in the examination of city compensation, and other things I've written regarding city consolidation, which they apparently found threatening," Smoller told us. "Academics are often criticized for living in an ivory tower. I've been criticized for trying to be relevant."

2. From the Orange County Register Story - Merging Cities: Out of the Mainstream by Teri Sforza - "Last year, folks from the local League of Cities chapter marched into Chapman President Jim Doti's office to complain about the compensation survey. And it doesn't appear their opinions of Smoller's work have changed much."

3. From CAL Watchdog, Silencing Local Gov't Truth-Teller by Steven Greenhut, Oct. 17, 2011 - Smoller points to a meeting where Tustin Councilman Jerry Amante, Laguna Hills Councilman Alan Songstad and ACC-OC CEO Lacy Kelly met with Chapman University President Jim Doti to in part discuss their concern about the compensation study. Amante told me Monday that "no one was seeking Fred's resignation." They complained about the appearance that Brandman was involved in a political campaign. Chapman seems to have undertaken a hands-off approach, as would be expected, but Brandman officials allegedly got spooked by the drumbeat of criticism.

Fiscal Impact to the City - $9,981.25 a year to the ACC-OC in addition to the $11,736 a year paid to the State League of Cities.
Recommendation - That the City Council resolve to disassociate itself from and revoke immediately the City's membership in the Association of CA. Cities - Orange County and its affiliates to include vacating any offices held therein and not financing any further Association Activities or events.

Mayor Songstad said he is on the Board of the ACC-OC and the State League of Cities and "the ACC-OC had absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Smoller's situation, whatever that is." "And to say that somehow Brandman put a requirement on one of its Professors that their work had to be approved by the executive director of the ACC-OC is just laughable." He read Brandman's official statement that Dr. Fred Smoller was not dismissed from his position as the Director of the Masters of Public Administration Program at Brandman University, but was to continue as the MPA Director and Brandman would hire a director of government relations who would serve as a member of the faculty to add depth to the program. That statement also said that Dr. Smoller later offered his resignation as director but will continue as a member of the faculty and because this is a personnel issue there would be no further detail. Songstad went on to say that Lacy Kelly, the ACC-OC's director had no knowledge of this, so it isn't true.

Songstad noted that council members have been critical of Dr. Smoller and said "I'm one of them." He said, "Did I ask that Brandman fire him, no." He insisted this was a decision of Brandman. He spoke more about the ACC-OC saying that it has done relevant things for cities, held summits that were well received and received an award for efforts toward pension reform. He repeated it is just not true that ACC-OC influenced Brandman and ACC-OC is a valuable organization that is well funded. He added that he thinks bringing in non-voting members on the ACC-OC Board is a huge advantage and it would be a crime for our City not to be involved with ACC-OC especially based on completely false information. He again insisted that whatever the University's decision was, it was their decision.

(Editor's Note - Mayor Songstad said he does believe Lacy Kelly but indicated he does not believe Dr. Smoller. The other looming issue here is that Songstad did not mention or address the issue of the news reports of his visit to Jim Doti with 2 other ACC-OC members such as - From CAL Watchdog, Silencing Local Gov't Truth-Teller by Steven Greenhut, Oct. 17, 2011 - Smoller points to a meeting where Tustin Councilman Jerry Amante, Laguna Hills Councilman Alan Songstad and ACC-OC CEO Lacy Kelly met with Chapman University President Jim Doti to in part discuss their concern about the compensation study. and From the Orange County Register Story - Merging Cities: Out of the Mainstream by Teri Sforza - "Last year, folks from the local League of Cities chapter marched into Chapman President Jim Doti's office to complain about the compensation survey. And it doesn't appear their opinions of Smoller's work have changed much."Although Songstad had the opportunity last night to clarify, he did not give any information regarding the purpose of this meeting or what he said there or what the others from the ACC-OC said there, but continued repeatedly to deny that the ACC-OC had any influence on Brandman.)

Council Member Kogerman responded - You and I have a different view of the truth. I am talking about the truth as it comes from Dr. Smoller who is very highly respected. I do not believe he is making things up. You and Mr. Amante visited Jim Doti because you were concerned about the reputation of Chapman. Dr. Smaller actually collapsed at one point due to stress and was hospitalized. There were backroom discussions Dr. Smoller was not a party to and he was told afterwards what happened and that he would no longer be chair, he would be co-chair with someone who was joined at the hip with Lacy Kelly (ACC-OC's CEO) and that anything he wrote would have to be passed by Lacy Kelly before being published. Under those conditions Dr. Smoller felt he had no option but to resign his position as director of the MPA Program. Related to achievements, Kogerman said of the ACC-OC, they were on the same side as the League of Cities on many issues but cannot be credited with achieving as they lobbied rather than participated.

It is incorrect that none of this is true about the involvement of ACC-OC with Dr. Smoller and Brandman. People from all sides of the spectrum saw what happened and are equally outraged. We are paying to belong to 2 lobbying and educational organizations (ACC-OC almost $10,000 annually) CA. League of Cities, (almost $12,000 annually) plus our lobbying firm Gonzalves and Sons (almost $35,000 annually here) so we pay a total of about $56,000 a year for lobbying for our city and we could put this $10,000 we are paying to the ACC-OC to better use and continue with the League of Cities that also has an Orange County Division.

Council Member Lautenschleger commented that he called Lacy Kelly and was told they did not have anything to do with why Dr. Smoller resigned. He said ACC-OC has put together 8 committees dealing with relevant issues like medical marijuana, jobs and housing, etc. He said this group is a tremendously powerful thing and saves our cities cash resources by acting as our staff. He said it was a great place where we can express our opinions on local regional and state level issues. He concluded with their mandate, one of the missions of the OCC-OC, is to Protect and Restore Local Control, so you don't want to limit a group with a mission like that because you are taking away the right to openness and transparency that you ascribe to.

(Editor's Note - following Council Member Lautenschleger's logic perhaps the representatives from this "powerful" ACC-OC group (Jerry Amante, Laguna Hills Councilman Alan Songstad and ACC-OC CEO Lacy Kelly met with Chapman University President Jim Doti to in part discuss their concern about the compensation study) should not have wanted to limit Professor Smoller from openness and transparency as well, so why won't tell us what exactly they did say at this meeting?)

Council Member Bressette said he would second the motion just to vote against it.
Mayor Pro Tem Carruth said nothing.

VOTE was 4 - 1 Against dropping the ACC-OC. The one in favor was Council Member Kogerman 


More Stories about the Orange County Grand Jury Findings re. Allan Songstad, Laguna Hills City Council Member and Jerry Amante, Tustin City Council Member regarding their acts of misfeasance


BE SURE TO SEE the story by the OC Register Watch Dog who has been following this from the beginning - City officials abused power, grand jury says
July 6th, 2012, posted by Teri Sforza, Register staff writer
http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2012/07/06/city-officials-abused-power-grand-jury-says/158361/


OC WEEKLY BLOGS
Jerry Amante, Tustin Councilman, Has Grand Jury "Misfeasance in Office" Finding Marked With Call for His Head and Hiring as a Lobbyist - http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/07/songstad_amante_kogerman_grand.php


Amante and His Influence on Higher Education
July 6. posted by Jeff Gallagher
http://ourtowntustin.com/


Resignation issue embroils Laguna Hills Council - Published Oct. 27, 2011 by Chris Boucly, The Orange County Register                                                                                                          
LAGUNA HILLS – Mayor Allan Songstad and Councilman Joel Lautenschleger on Tuesday strongly disagreed with assertions by their council colleague, Barbara Kogerman, that the Association of California Cities Orange County had anything to do with the recent resignation of Brandman University professor Fred Smoller from his post as director of the university's masters of public administration program.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/smoller-324082-acc-cities.html