Laguna Hills Watch Dog - HEADLINES/ ITEMS OF POSSIBLE INTEREST for the Tuesday, June 25, 2013 LAGUNA HILLS CITY COUNCIL MEETING - 7 PM at City Hall


** Consider Attending a Council Meeting to express your opinion on items of interest to you or just to observe.  Citizen Alerts/HEADLINES for future City Council Meetings will be listed on this blog site within 4 days prior to a meeting.


SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

** This Tuesday's June 25, 2013 City Council Meeting will be the last City Budget Session Meeting and the Only Public Hearing to LEARN WHERE YOUR TAXPAYER MONEY GOES.  BE SURE TO REVIEW THE CITY OF LAGUNA HILLS, MAY 7, 2013 BIENNIAL BUDGET SESSION if you're interested in what the City of Laguna Hills plans to do with your money in 2013-2015 - Scroll down to the Special Edition blog that is just below the May 14, 2013 City Council Meeting blog to see the where your Laguna Hills taxpayer money is going.

http://www.ocregister.com/common/printer/view.php?db=ocregister&id=513183 - City cuts unfunded pension liability in half  ** Editor's Note- This is Only 1/2 of the Story!  The other half is the other Retirement System the City has also been providing since 1999 but fails to Publicly mention and was not able to be found on the city web site.  Whether you agree with having 2 Retirement Plans for City of Laguna Hills Employees or not, you deserve to know what is being done with your money. What happened to transparency?

What's On Your Mind? Meet with your Mayor, Barbara Kogerman, and Share your Questions/Concerns on Saturday Mornings has been suspended until September. In September it will return to the Southern Part of the City.  We will keep you posted.

** YOU CAN LISTEN TO YOUR MAYOR, Barbara Kogerman. ON FM RADIO- KSBR (88.50). She is being interviewed the day before and the day after each City Council Meeting by Dawn Kamber of Saddleback Community College's FM radio station. The interviews will be played in 30-second spots, every hour and half-hour from 6 am through 9 am on the day of and two days after the council meetings. Their regular programming throughout this time is easy-listening jazz.

** The WIN-WIN-WEDNESDAY RESTAURANT for June 26 is Pieology, in the Irvine Spectrum - ** For Weekly Flyers to take to the designated restaurant to get a donation, for the LHHS PTSA, from the proceeds of your meal go to the Win-Win-Wednesday web site at: http://www.winwinwednesdays.com/  and download the flyer for the designated restaraunt!!  **Don't forget to see our "WWW Everyday Partners - Alpha Cleaners, Golden Baked Hams and ToGO's on our web site." Take our flyers to these everyday partners and Support the Businesses that Support Us!


LAGUNA HILLS' CITY COUNCIL MEETING FEATURES DIRECTORY for Tuesday, June 25, 2013

1.  CLOSED SESSION - None
2. PRESENTATIONS and PROCLAMATIONS - None and No more LHHS Student Liaison Reports until the Fall Semester begins but we have kept the LHHS Coming Attractions for you to see all summer.

3. CONSENT CALENDAR:

Item 4.3 - ADOPTION OF REVISED FINANCIAL POLICIES
As part of the development of the City’s 2013-15 Biennial Budget, staff is recommending revisions to City's Financial Policies. This is a comprehensive update with the intent of memorializing the City’s current practices and incorporating other best practices.
Section A – Budgeting
Paragraph 4 has been changed to reflect the fact that the City may NOT provide public input at the beginning of the budget process through the biennial citizen survey. While the City Council may authorize future citizen surveys, it should be recognized that absent a citizen survey, public input will be limited to budget study sessions and the final public hearing when the budget is adopted.
** Did all the council members agree not to listen to the taxpayers, through a city survey, before planning the City Budget?  Who did agree to this and why?

Item 4.5 - RENEWED MEASURE M (M2) COMPLIANCE REPORTING TO THE OCTA AND ADOPTION OF A RESOLUTION CONFIRMING CIRCULATION ELEMENT CON FORMITY WITH THE OC MASTER PLAN OF ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS, ETC.
Compliance for these funds includes - Adopt a required Resolution confirming the compliance of the Circulation Element with the Orange County Master Plan of Arterial Highways and verifying the existence of a traffic impact mitigation fee program.
** This helps answer one of the questions from citizens re. the reason for widening city streets such as Paseo de Valencia.

Item 4.6 - CITY OF LAGUNA HILLS DRAFT of 2014-2021 HOUSING ELEMENT
SUMMARY:  The City is required by state law to maintain a plan for the orderly growth and development of the city in order to guide decisions about the intensity and use of land and manage the physical, social, and economic changes that occur within a community. This document is known as a “general plan” and it includes seven mandatory elements that must be addressed. These elements cover land use, housing, transportation/circulation, open space, recreation, noise, and conservation. Of these mandated elements, only the housing element is reviewed by the State for compliance with state law.

Item 4.7 - ADOPTION OF ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS LIMIT FOR FY 2013-14
SUMMARY:  In accordance with Article XIIIB of the California Constitution, which placed limits on the amount of revenue that can be spent by public entities from proceeds of taxes.

4. WARRANT REGISTER = $842,659.53
Items of Interest from the Warrant Register -

5. CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING AGENCY PUBLIC HEARINGS - None

6. CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARINGS:
Item 6.1 - ADOPTION OF THE 2013-15 BIENNIAL BUDGET INCLUDING THE OPERATING BUDGET, DEBT SERVICE, OTHER FUNDING USES AND THE SIX-YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

7. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS:
Item 7.2.1 - A RESOLUTION OF THE  CITY COUNCIL OF LAGUNA HILLS, CALIFORNIA, ESTABLISHING NEW CLASSIFICATIONS AND SALARY RANGES AND BENEFITS FOR POSITIONS WITHIN THE BARGAINING UNIT COVERED BY THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH THE LAGUNA HILLS CITY EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
For non-management employees, the City will strive to maintain a highly competitive salary and benefits program which sets the top step of salary ranges at 5% above the Comparator Agencies average for each comparable position.

8. MATTERS AGENDIZED and PRESENTED by COUNCIL MEMBERS and MAYOR - None


** Information, Comments, Questions, Concerns from LH Watch Dog Readers from the previous blog post - ABOUT:  A great city council meeting; Thank you to Karen Robbins for her statement about commitment to adoption.

** The 3/5 Marines adopted by the City of Laguna Hills
Team Dark Horse says THANK YOU, **BE SURE TO GO TO THE TEAM DARK HORSE web site at http://teamdarkhorse.org/ to SEE HOW YOUR DONATIONS ARE HELPING. Team Dark Horse now has PayPal online, in addition to its mailing address, and see the Laguna Hills 3/5 Adopted Marines Face book page by clicking on this link - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Laguna-Hills-Team-Darkhorse/132765660119128?ref=ts&fref=ts