HEADLINES/ a VERY SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT and other ITEMS OF POSSIBLE INTEREST  for the

Tuesday March 13, Laguna Hills City Council Meeting                 
  

A Very Special Laguna Hills Watch Dog Announcement

A NEW VISION FOR LAGUNA HILLS

We’ve all heard at least one Laguna Hills citizen ask, “Why do we need a new vision for the City; don’t we have nice parks and good roads?”

But nice parks and good roads aren’t enough to make a city great. A great city needs exactly what’s missing in Laguna Hills—citizen participation. It’s not that our residents haven’t tried to participate effectively. They have, many times. Unfortunately the City Council majority that has dominated Laguna Hills’ political process for the past 20 years has resolutely minimized opportunities for our residents to contribute. The current Council majority has apparently determined that there is no room in the process for mere citizens to impact how the city is run. That Council majority instead reserves all creative thought and actions as their sole domain. For 20 years that system worked to obscure their failures to adequately, honestly, and transparently perform the work of our people. That system prevailed until the election of Councilmember Barbara Kogerman in 2010, with her efforts to make city matters more transparent.

But as we’ve witnessed in 2011, Councilmember Kogerman can’t solely undo 20 years of self-centered governance. Now I can officially tell you: true reform is on its way—a “New Vision” in the form of two incredible candidates for the City Council election on November 6, 2012.

I have met individually with these two candidates and last Tuesday evening I had the distinct pleasure of observing these two candidates standing tall in a room full of concerned Laguna Hills activists as they were peppered with questions. They each took the floor and elegantly delivered a New Vision for the City of Laguna Hills. This New Vision concentrates on promoting citizen involvement.  Yes, they support a citizen-based Planning Commission. Yes, they support greater involvement by the City for Business Development, Seniors, School District and Youth and Sports issues. Yes, they believe that good roads and parks are part of a great city’s governance. But foremost, their primary focus is how municipal governance addresses the rest of the needs of its citizens—needs that have for 20 years been overlooked, ignored or rejected.

WHO ARE THESE INCREDIBLE CANDIDATES?

Their names are known to a large portion of our citizenry.

THE FIRST IS A PROVEN COMMUNITY LEADER.

Dr. Raghu Mathur, who was instrumental in leading the community of Laguna Hills out of its unincorporated County-governed status and forming the City of Laguna Hills, has committed himself to a New Vision for Laguna Hills in his candidacy for City Council 2012. Dr. Mathur has been a resident of our community for the past 32 years.

Dr. Mathur has served as a President of the Laguna Hills Homeowners’ Association; Elected Member, Board of Trustees, Saddleback Valley Unified School District (9 years); President, Irvine Valley College (5 years); and the Chancellor, South Orange County Community College (9 years) where he oversaw all strategic planning, technology, compensation negotiations and managed a budget slightly under a half billion dollars.

He is married to Karuna and has two sons, both Laguna Hills High School graduates now in college. Dr. Mathur holds a B.S (Honors) in Chemistry, Geology, and Geography, an M.S. in Chemistry and a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration. Dr. Mathur currently serves as the Chair, College of Education, Argosy University, Orange, California.

THE SECOND INCREDIBLE CANDIDATE IS A SUCCESSFUL SELF-MADE BUSINESSMAN.

Mr. Andrew Blount is the iconic self-made entrepreneur, who at eight years of age wrote computer software and sold his first program. Now with 30 years of hands-on experience creating commercial real estate and financial analysis software, Andrew is committed to applying his professional leadership in business growth, negotiation, marketing, and technology development to the needs of the City of Laguna Hills. Andrew came to California with $17 in his pocket and a passion to do something great. After 20 years of numerous business successes, Andrew has become the financially independent Investment Advisor and founder of Blue Cielo Capital Management.

Andrew never forgets his humble roots. He and his wife Michelle have a strong passion for both charity and community. In addition to serving on the Board of Trustees for the Orange County High School of the Arts, the Blounts grace the City of Laguna Hills with their extraordinary Christmas light show. This display features a plethora of dancing lights and multiple-story villages in their Laguna Hills home and helps the Blounts collect many hundreds of toys for needy children. Their 2011 Christmas spectacular was featured on the cover of the Orange County Register and drew thousands of delighted visitors. One of those 2011 Christmas visitors was a very special child with a life threatening ailment on an outing from his hospital and, accompanied by parents, forced to question his fate each new day. After visiting the Blount home, the little boy proclaimed with the biggest smile on his face, “. . today is the very best day of my life.” Tears flowed abundantly.

Besides his business acumen, genius, and common sense, Andrew’s core value remains his generosity. Having been blessed with numerous accomplishments, Andrew possesses the strong desire to give back to the community that he loves, Laguna Hills.

LAGUNA HILLS RESIDENTS AND THIS WATCHDOG BLOG HAVE LONG BEEN ASKING FOR A NEW DIRECTION –A NEW VISION—FOR OUR CITY.

NOW WITH TWO INCREDIBLE CANDIDATES, THAT IS WITHIN OUR REACH IN 2012.

THE REST IS UP TO US.

Jean Bland, Editor, Laguna Hills Watch Dog

other ITEMS OF POSSIBLE INTEREST

1. Under PLANNING AGENCY PUBLIC HEARINGS Item 5.4.2 - AT & T has requested that this item be continued to the April 10, 2012 City Council/Planning Session Meeting
This is the Request by AT & T Mobility to add 2 additional microwave dish antennas to the existing Communications Facility located at 25655 Nellie Gail Rd. This item was previously presented on January 10, 2012. Laguna Hills Citizens spoke at that meeting and noted that the city council does have to power to request proof that the cumulative effects of the microwave dish antennas at this site do not exceed FCC Regulations so requested that the City Council do their Due Diligence in this matter and report the results to the community. Staff Report states a pre- installation electromagnetic energy report, alternatives analysis and more specific information on the technology alternatives were requested and the item was continued to March 13, 2012. The Report states now that some but not all of the requested information has been received so the AT and T has requested that this item be continued to the April 10, 2012 City Council/Planning Session Meeting

2. Item 5.4.1 Site Development Permit for Master Sign Program - a Request to Modify the Existing Master Sign Program for the Ashley Furniture Center at 24001 El Toro Rd. - where the old Circuit City Store used to be. Staff Recommendation - is to Approve the Request. The request is for an increase of the size of the El Toro Rd. monument sign from 4 feet to 5 feet 2 inches to accommodate a panel for the Laguna Hills Lodge and allow exposed LED lighting around portions of the Chick-fil-A drive thru restaurant building.

Laguna Hills Watch Dog
Laguna Hills City Council Meeting - February 28, 2012

Features Directory

*Special Announcements - You can 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 this blog site within 4 days prior to a meeting - Consider attending a meeting that interests you.

** Presentations and Proclamations - MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) 2011 Annual DEUCE AWARD presented to Laguna Hills Deputy Scott Watson** Public Comments - Mr. and Mrs Frey updated the issue of Toxic plants near Valencia Elem. School and possible air quality problems at the Valencia School Playground and the Community Center Sports Field and asked if any progress had been made.
** LHHS Student Liaison Report by Adam Wong - Updates on LHHS Accreditation, Sports and the Arts plus Win-Win-Wednesday. ** Consent Calendar - Warrant Register - $1,139,688.19** Items Pulled from the Warrant Register - none
** Items of interest in the Consent Calendar -  Authorization of $2,500 for 2012 "Every 15 Minutes"  for prevention of Drunk Driving at LHHS ** Items pulled from the Consent Calendar for discussion - none
** City Council Public Hearings - Administrative Reports -  Cox Communications opted to switch from their local Laguna Hills Video Franchise to a State of CA. Video Franchise - How will this affect Franchise Fees paid to the City and the City's Responsibility to Monitor and enforce Customer Service Standards?
** Matters Agendized and Presented by Council Members - none
** City Council Member Comments - Questions re.the Merger of the Santa Ana Fire Dept. with the Orange County Fire Authority;  Questions and Answers regarding Recent Reports of the County asking for preliminary funding sometime this Fall for proposed new Orange County Animal Shelter that, to date, has no definite plans or land;  Report on last SCAG Meeting, Thank you to Council Member Kogerman for representing the City at the High School during the Academy Awards.
** Closed Session - Conference with legal counsel re. Existing Litigation. Conference with Real Property Negotiators re. sale of City Property at the corner of Moulton Pkwy. and La Paz Rd.
* 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 - Wide Spread Problem for residents with Cox Cable appears to be solved thanks to complaints to LH Watch Dog and Action from Council Member Kogerman.  * 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".  Updates on the Orange County Animal Shelter's Current overall kill rate of 53% and 74% for cats. This is the contract animal shelter for 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.

Laguna Hills City Council Meeting - February 28, 2012
All council members were present
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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

PRESENTATIONS and PROCLAMATIONS - MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) 2011 Annual DEUCE AWARD.  Renee Oaks from MADD presented the award to Deputy Scott Watson reminding everyone that Drunk Driving is not a victimless crime. She shared that when she was 13 years old both of her parents were killed in an auto accident by a drunk driver.  She and her brother were in the car with her parents but unharmed. Orange County Chapter of Mother's Against Drunk Driving recognized Deputy Scott Watson for his identification and apprehension of impaired drivers in Laguna Hills with 39 DUI Arrests in 2011. 

Deputy Watson has been assigned to Laguna Hills for 5 years and during that time he has consistently led Laguna Hills Patrol Deputies in DUI arrests.  He was commended for making the streets safer for citizens. Laguna Hills Police Chief, Lt. Tom Behrens spoke and mentioned that this is the 3rd time Deputy Watson has received this award.  He also noted that Deputy Watson had expressed that he was a little embarrassed that his numbers weren't as high this year as they were in the last 2 years. Lt. Behrens explained that the lower numbers this year were because Deputy Watson had done such a good job previously that he was taken out of patrol car and put him on a motorcycle working days instead of nights so he no longer has the opportunity to stop as many drunk drivers during the day.  Lt. Behrens added Deputy Watson, is a fine Deputy, a hard worker, he really cares and it's an honor and privilege to have him working with us in Laguna Hills. There was a lot of applause as Deputy Watson looked a bit uncomfortable with all the adulation, but smiled appreciatively.

PUBLIC COMMENTS - William and Rebecca Frey - had spoken on February 14, 2012 and requested help from the City Council at that time regarding 3 issues:
1. Highly toxic Oleander bushes planted along the sidewalk where children walk and pick the pretty but toxic flowers on their way to Valencia Elementary School. 
2. Valencia School Playground that borders La Paz Rd. which is a very busy street blowing auto exhaust fumes onto the playground.
3. Sports Field at the Laguna Hills Community Center that borders another very busy street - Alicia Pkwy. where auto exhaust fumes are also blown onto the field.

The Freys thanked the Council for listening, noted that Council Member Kogerman had assisted them and said Ken Rosenfield, the Laguna Hills Director of Public Services did call them about the Oleander problem and said he had spoken with the Vista Firenze HOA about removing the Oleander that is around the perimeter of the school.  Mr. Frey asked if there was any additional information related to a timeline, for that, etc. (Ken Rosenfield was absent from this council meeting so unable to supply information.)  Mayor Carruth stated, "Why don't the two of you make your entire presentation, then we will try to answer some of your questions."  Mr. Frey noted the issue of the playground at the school and offered to help in any way they could. He noted how effective trees are at absorbing CO2 from cars and that protection is needed around the school and the sports field at the Community Center.

Mrs. Frey noted that when Valencia was built, La Paz Rd. was probably not nearly as busy as it is now.  She said she was especially concerned for children with allergies and asthma.  (Editor's Note - according to the school's office staff, Valencia Elem. School was built in 1969)  Mrs. Frey added that the Community Center is beautiful, she would just like to see more trees and bushes to protect the children on the sports field. The Freys thanked the Council again and offered their assistance.  Mayor Carruth responded, "Thank you both very much for being here this evening, as you know the property owner's have been contacted."  Mrs. Frey asked about progress so far and Mayor Carruth  responded, "We're working on it."  "The staff has been very responsive so thank you very much for being here."

LHHS STUDENT LIAISON REPORT by Adam Wong - Welcome to Adam, this was his first report.  Adam said LHHS is currently undergoing accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.  In the past the school has won the highest accreditation for 6 years and intends to do as well this year. The 1st semester honor roll was released for 2012 and almost 700 students (almost half the student body) qualified with a 3.5 or higher GPA.  This Thursday is the I Can Make a Difference Conference where over 100 students, chosen by the faculty of LHHS, meet to discuss problems of the world and to train to become the leaders of tomorrow. 

In Sports, Girls Basketball team is in the CIF finals (CIF Girls Division 3AA playing against Bishop Alemany High) this Wed. at 6:30 pm at the Anaheim Convention Center. This is their first time at the finals since 2007, they have qualified for the State Playoffs and if they win tomorrow, there will be a home game the following Wed. where they will have a chance to advance further in the League. LHHS has had a habit of winning wrestling tournaments and Wrestling has won their 8 consecutive CIF title, 12th overall.  They are on to State Playoffs Wednesday. Adam noted he believes that one of the wrestlers has won the 3rd best wrestler in the State of CA.

In the Arts - LHHS is putting on a play entitled A Child Shall Lead, directed by a Senior Student. This will be from Thurs. March 1 to Sat. March 3. This is a true story about children from Terezin, a Jewish Concentration Camp who played, studied, created poetry and art and wrote an underground newspaper under the peril of being executed.  Some of the work of the actual children who were in the camp is included in this play. Tickets are $8 with an ASB card and $10 without.  Sunday, March 11 is a Rock and Roll Concert from 5:00 to 8:00 pm put on by Laguna Hills Musicians.  Win Win Wednesday is tomorrow at TOGOs next to the Laguna Hills Mall and next Wed. at Pick Up Sticks on Oso Pkwy.

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 = $1,139,688.19
Items of interest from the Warrant Register - None

Items of interest from the Consent Calendar -
4.3 - Resolution authorizing Community Assistance $2,500 in funding for the 2012 Laguna Hills High School PTSA EVERY 15 MINUTES program for 2012.
4.4 - Progress Payment of $112,111.38 for Avenida de la Carlota Widening Project
4.5 - Progress Payment of $225,028.65 for La Paz widening at I-5 Project.
4.6 - Claim against the City, for an estimated amount of $52,899.54 by AFNI Insurance Services - Staff on behalf of a resident due to a tree from McKezie park that fell on the resident's property in 2010. Recommendation - Reject the claim and send a rejection letter.
Vote - the Consent Calendar was Passed 5 - 0 with no items pulled for discussion.

PLANNING AGENCY PUBLIC HEARINGS - None

CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARINGS -
Administrative Reports - Assistant City Manager 7.2.1 - Cox Communications opted to switch from their local Laguna Hills Video Franchise to a State of CA. Video Franchise - How will this affect Franchise Fees paid to the City and the City's Responsibility to Monitor and enforce Customer Service Standards?

The City Council Agenda title for this item is - Introduction of Ordinance implementing the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2001, Replacing the Cable Television Franchise Regulations -

This item was presented by Melissa Au-Yeung, Senior Management Analyst, who said that AT&T operates under the State of CA. Franchise as well. The Staff Report for this issue is lengthy and can be read online, but basically it reports that Cox Communication has announced that they have opted to switch to the State of CA. Cable Franchise rather than continuing with the local City of Laguna Hills Franchise.  However, it appears that under the new State Franchise (DIVCA - Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2006) the City will retain the same powers and responsibility to monitor and enforce the State and Federal Customer Service Standards (to Safeguard the Public Interest) that it had previously and the City will continue to collect the same 5% franchise fee annually plus the City has the option of collecting an additional 1% PEG (Public, Educational and Govmt. Access, Facilities and Equipment fee) until Nov. of 2023 when the current contract between the City and Cox Communications expires. Providers like Cox must also make available to the City at least 3 of these PEG channels.

The only change noted was under Section 53088.2 of the Government Code - Staff Report states the City may no longer establish or enforce their own standards for Customer Service.  Additionally the Staff Report states that Franchise fees collected by the City can be used by the local entity for any lawful purpose and all these fees are pass through from the subscribers.
From City of Laguna Hills online Biennial Budget - FRANCHISE FEES (p. II-17)  Franchise Fees are imposed by the City on gas, electric, and cable television for the privilege of using public rights-of-ways. Each of these utility companies is assessed between 1 and 5 percent of gross receipts. Amounts received and expected for the future from Cable TV were reported in the FY 2100/12 - 2012/13 Total Budget to be - Utility Franchise Fees - Cable TV - Actual FY 09/10 = $481,669; Amended Budget FY 10/11 = $492,656; Year End Estimate - FY 10/11 $520,000; FY 11/12 = $530,400; FY 12/13 = $542,069

Click on http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=gov&group=53001-54000&file=53054-53056  to see Customer Service Standards for CA. State Government TV and Video referred to in the online staff report, and click on ftp://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/05-06/bill/asm/ab_1101-1150/ab_1104_bill_20050930_chaptered.pdf  for additional Government Service Standards for TV and Video Customers also referred to in the staff report.
Vote - The new ordinance implementing the Digital Infrastructure and Video Competition Act of 2001, Replacing the Cable Television Franchise Regulations - Passed 5 - 0

** Editor's Note -  Some good news for Cox Subscribers is that we checked the onscreen Cox Communications TV Guide that is used by subscribers to find and to record programs and it finally appears to be fixed!  We will continue to check this system in the future to be sure this problem has been solved.  This was a problem that persisted for many months, not hours or days and significantly interfered with subscribers use of the "record" feature and the "accurate listing of programs"  system for which they were paying.  Since this issue was addressed by Laguna Hills Watch Dog Readers in the COMMENTS Section of the Jan 24th and Feb. 14th blog postings, Council Member Barbara Kogerman addressed these issues directly with City Staff, and they have actually been fixed for Citizens.  Thank you to Council Member Kogerman from many LH Watch Dog Readers and other Laguna Hils Cox Subscribers who also had this problem.  Council Member Kogerman asked Melissa Au-Yeung, Senior Management Analyst, how many complaints the City has received about Cox and Melissa responded that there had only been one complaint in 10 years. The City is paid to be the protector of the public interest for customer service standards so be sure to let the City know if there is a problem with Cox Services that you are unable to resolve with Cox.

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 - None

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER COMMENTS - 

Merger of Santa Ana Fire Dept. with OC Fire Authority. 

Council Member Bressette introduced Battalion Chief Chris Concepcion from the Orange County Fire Authority to assist in bringing the Council up to date regarding the merger of the Santa Ana Fire Dept. with the Orange County Fire Authority.  Bressette said the Santa Ana City Council voted on Feb. 21, 2012 to outsource their fire fighting services to the OC Fire Authority after 128 years of having it in house. The City of Santa Ana reported saved about $10 to $12 million.  All 10 of Santa Ana's fire stations will remain open and become the property of the OC Fire Authority. 192 fire fighters and 12 non sworn personnel were all absorbed by the OC Fire Authority. OC Fire Authority takes over servicing Santa Ana on April 20, 2012.

There have been questions related to any advantages to existing member cities related to this move by the City of Santa Ana and the OC Fire Authority. Bressette said he believes this is mutually beneficial because it provides additional opportunity to streamline our overhead, decreases our expenses and increases the effectiveness of our entire regional protection system.  Gives OC Fire Authority direct control of additional emergency response assets from the center of OC that can be moved throughout the region to maintain short response times. Santa Ana's firefighters bring a high level of expertise, experience and professionalism to the Fire Authority, and improve expertise in specialty areas such as Arson Investigation, Planning Review and High Rise Inspection.  Another advantage is the high number of bilingual fire fighters especially in Spanish and Korean, they bring. They will stay in Santa Ana but will be available for emergency situations.  Battalion Chief Chris Concepcion added this merger also increases the safety of the responders in that it helps standardize the operating procedure.

Council Member Kogerman said she heard some of the board members express concerns about how Santa Ana would be held accountable if they can't pay their bills, etc.   Bressette responded, it's his opinion that the City Council of Santa Ana knows and understands their responsibilities. This merger is a great opportunity for them to improve their budget and maintain and improve their fire fighting capabilities for their residents. He said the Santa Ana firefighters merged into the Fire Authority at their own level of seniority and if Santa Ana did default and the merger didn't last our fire fighters might be in some jeopardy for their jobs but all the unions have agreed to the deal.  He said he can't image that Santa would default but we do have some contingencies for that. Council Member Songstad asked what contingencies do we have and how is Santa Ana, as a contract City, going to effect the Equity issue with member cities? 

Battalion Chief Chris Concepcion clarified that Santa Ana is going to be a contract city with the OCFA.  He said there are 7 contract cities in the OCFA now that pay for their services 3 months in arrears.  Santa Ana will be paying a month in advance and will have a maturity bond of an additional month. The equity issue was brought up at the last OCFA Board Meeting and staff was directed to report on it at the next board meeting in March. Bressette interjected that the equity issue report was from a many years old report and will be updated at the request of the City of Irvine and part of that update will address whether a City can reduce it's amount of service to save money.  In Sept. Santa Ana needs to have a bond equal to the amount of 2 months payment or an equivalent amount of money in the bank guaranteed for OCFA. Bressette noted that this is thin and sketchy but we need to have some confidence in the City of Santa Ana.

Questions and Answers re. Reports of County asking for preliminary funding for the proposed new Orange County Animal Shelter.

Council Member Kogerman stated she asked questions of staff and was directed to bring her concerns to the City Council about recent reports of the County asking for preliminary funding sometime this Fall for the proposed new Orange County Animal Shelter. She said that we need to be sure that many issues are resolved before we start paying money. Some of those issues are: Governance not giving the County uncontrolled authority for decisions related to standard of performance, care of the animals, issues of costs and uncertainty related to paying for a project with uncertain plans, and uncertain dates, etc.

Questions are: Is there a timeline from the County for funding? When is preliminary funding expected? What is the estimate for the total cost? What will the annual fees be? City payments documents show that the City paid about $68,000 or about 1.2% of the County's $5.7 million cost. If the new shelter costs $25 million, 1.25% would be $300,000 a year. In 2008 Assist City Manager Don White said a new county shelter would cost Laguna Hills about $450,000. Where will the funds come from? Where is the money budgeted, not in the 6 year Capital improvement Projects, nor in the Public Safety budget (where Animal Shelter is normally budgeted) in the General Fund? Will we have performance guarantees? If we start funding a new shelter will we be tied to it forever or will our financial obligation be on a year to year basis to enable us to opt out for a better opportunity? Once a shelter is built will our fees increase?  Do we have any leverage to demand significantly improved services? Will there be any change in philosophy including change in the high kill rate? A Grand Jury report said animals were euthanized for space despite laws forbidding that. Recent shelter updates in the News show an overall euthanasia rate of 53% and 74% for cats. (see below under News Stories about Laguna Hills). Will the old shelter be preserved as back up?

Kogerman suggested that the City must be Proactive in our demands related to seeing a site that is free and clear and owned by the County and the completed plans for the shelter, an opt out agreement, a refund for failure to perform and guarantees for standards of care and service, for neuter and spay programs, for Trap, Neuter and Release for Cats, etc. Failure to obtain guarantees would be a breach of our fiduciary responsibility to our taxpayers. We can't pay based upon vague concepts and dates, no alternatives, etc.

She noted that Assistant City Manager Don White reported on March 11, 2008 that we rejected an opportunity to join the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter in 2005 because of increased expenses and "unknown and serious contractual problems that exposed the City's budget to unknown and uncontrollable cost increases and expenditures."  Then Allan Songstad, as Mayor, wrote a letter in 2008, after 500 Laguna Hills Citizens had submitted an informal petition urging the City to negotiate with Mission Viejo, stating that Mission Viejo's final offer would cost Laguna Hills $1 million in additional costs over the first 5 years of the contract, he wrote that the worst problem was that the proposed contract gave Mission Viejo uncontrolled authority to increase costs of services and pass them along to Laguna Hills.  He wrote that this was a threat to the General Fund and a breach of fiduciary responsibility to residents of Laguna Hills.  It turned out to be a sort of catastrophic worst case exposure scenario, not an actual costs, and neither Laguna Niguel not Aliso Viejo have experience any increases like that. (Laguna Niguel and Aliso Viejo both share the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter).  Despite the lack of Governance or abrogation of authority perceived by the Council at that time, do we as a council propose to move into an extensive relationship with the County without answers to the questions raised here? She concluded with a request for support from the council to get a report and answers to these questions.

City Manager Channing opted for some "short answers" from Assistant City Manager Don White from information that is available at this time. He stated that, "Most of those questions are probably unanswerable."  Don White stated, there are no plans for funding in this calendar year for expenses to build the new animal shelter. He also said that the old shelter will be closed when the new one is constructed. Once the Navy makes a decision on the land, the construction plans can be drawn. The estimate for the new shelter is between $25 and $30 million.  Regarding where that estimated expense is located in the budget he said, he thinks they had identified it in 2014-15 that the annual operating expense would go up about $25,000 a year over 10 to 12 years to pay for our part. If you take a look at our percentage of our use of the shelter, not field services, our part would be about 1% or $250,000.  The $250,000 would be a one time expense. County is looking a financing this but no details have been worked out.  He continued that our operating expenses are going down now due to the canvassing operation and increased licensing and he doesn't expect them to go up with the new shelter. There will be a discussion this year with the other contract cities related to developing a Memorandum of Understanding regarding a commitment and most of these questions will come up then but there is no additional information at this time. He said he doesn't think there will be any funding commitments at least for a few years.

Council Member Kogerman asked again for verification that there is no chance that we will be asked for funding for the County Shelter this year and Don White responded, "No, that is not in the cards at all. The County has a lot of money in the bank right now that they can use for all the start up costs." He also said the answers to Council Member Kogerman's questions will happen at the appropriate time.

Mayor Pro-Tem Lautenschleger - Reported that he attended the last SCAG (Southern CA. Assoc. of Governments)  Meeting in Los Angeles. Talked about the Regional Transportation Plan. SCAG was accused of being too strident and intrusive related to the cities with some of their comments so they are trying to correct that through revision of some of their statements. Parameters of Clean Air Standards were discussed.

Mayor Carruth thanked Council Member Kogerman for attending and representing the City at the WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) meeting at Laguna Hills High School on Sunday Feb. 26 at 4:30 during the Academy Awards Presentation.

CLOSED SESSION – Conference with legal counsel re. Existing Litigation.  Conference with Real Property Negotiators re. the sale of City Property at the corner of Moulton Pkwy. and La Paz Rd.

The Next regular City Council Meeting is Tuesday, March 13, 7 pm, at City Hall. Contact Laguna Hills City Council Members at ccouncil@ci.laguna-hills.ca.us
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CITY COUNCIL and CITY MANAGER REPORT CARD - Categories - (T) Transparency for Citizens, (A) Accountability to Citizens, (CI) Championing Citizen Related Issue, (AG) Achieving Citizen Related Goal Grades - (P) Pass, (A) for Authoring a Citizen Friendly Item, (F) Fail, (A+) Extra Credit. City Manager will be scored related to online and agendized Staff Reports and Requests.

Bressette - P - voted for Consent Calendar Item 4.3 - Resolution authorizing Community Assistance $2,500 in funding for the 2012 Laguna Hills High School PTSA EVERY 15 MINUTES program for 2012 to assist in preventing Drunk Driving. 

Carruth - P - voted for Consent Calendar Item 4.3 - Resolution authorizing Community Assistance $2,500 in funding for the 2012 Laguna Hills High School PTSA EVERY 15 MINUTES program for 2012 to assist in preventing Drunk Driving.  

Kogerman - P - voted for Consent Calendar Item 4.3 - Resolution authorizing Community Assistance $2,500 in funding for the 2012 Laguna Hills High School PTSA EVERY 15 MINUTES program for 2012 to assist in preventing Drunk Driving.  A - took the wide-spread problem for residents with Cox Cable to the City for action and the problem is now corrected.

Lautenschleger - P - voted for Consent Calendar Item 4.3 - Resolution authorizing Community Assistance $2,500 in funding for the 2012 Laguna Hills High School PTSA EVERY 15 MINUTES program for 2012 to assist in preventing Drunk Driving. 

Songstad - P - voted for Consent Calendar Item 4.3 - Resolution authorizing Community Assistance $2,500 in funding for the 2012 Laguna Hills High School PTSA EVERY 15 MINUTES program for 2012 to assist in preventing Drunk Driving. 

City Manager - Nothing


INFORMATION, COMMENTS QUESTIONS and CONCERNS from Watch Dog Readers:

Anonymous said...
Hey Watch Dog, the wind direction blowing from the East to the West you detected at the Community Center is due to Santa Ana Winds which are very common in CA.
See http://www.atmos.ucla.edu/~fovell/ASother/mm5/SantaAna/winds.html   The Santa Ana Winds - Named after Southern California's Santa Ana Canyon and a fixture of local legend and literature, the Santa Ana is a blustery, dry and warm (often hot) wind that blows out of the desert. The Santa Anas develop when the desert is relatively cold, and are thus most common during the cool season stretching from October through March. If Lautenschleger has been on that Soccer Field regularly over the past 8 years, he has experienced Santa Ana Wind conditions many times so who knows why he is saying the wind always blows the other way?

Anonymous said...
Please see the links below regarding the dangers of the Oleander bushes. Thank you for your time on this.http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/poison/oleander/news-and-features.html  http://oleander.org/toxic.html
http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/top-5-poisonous-plants10.html
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/lawn_garden/poison/poison.html
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002884.html  http://library.thinkquest.org/C007974/1_1ole.html
http://www.ehow.com/info_7753722_toxic-oleander-humans.html  

Anonymous said...
The Santa Ana Winds blow from the East to the West frequently in California and everyone in CA. and everyone who lives here should know that including Councilmember Lautenschleger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ana_winds  - this high altitude air mass spills out of the Great Basin and is propelled gravitationally towards the southern California coastline, generally as a northeasterly wind.

Anonymous said...
The grandparents who were concerned with exhaust fumes on the Community Center sports field should have been referred to the Parks and Recreation Commission for Laguna Hills. This Commission meets Bimonthly the First Wednesday of February, April, June, August, October, December at 7:00pm. at Laguna Hills City Hall Council Chamber, 24035 El Toro Rd. This kind of concern is what the Parks and Recreation Commission is for. They are concerned citizens and will do the fact finding.

Anonymous said...
Oleander should never be planted in any public areas, along horse trails or in any area where it could extend into the yards of neighboring homes. It is deadly to humans, horses and other animals. There are so many other plant choices that this one should not even be considered. Cities and HOAs need to made aware of this and should be warning their citizens about it.

Anonymous said...
The bridge in Laguna Hills that allows citizens to cross over Aliso Creek adjacent to the freeway has been washed out for some time. Citizens may not be aware that the creek area is maintained by the county.
Pictured is equipment moving (very slowly) down the bike path to be used to remove the debris from the washed out bridge. In talking to one of the workers, they related that a private company has been contracted to do this initial work. I warned them to be very careful because the side of the hill that the equipment is moving along has eroded away. Several years ago the county rerouted the creek from the center of the canyon and sent it towards the embankment on the bike path. So over the years since, the hill is literally losing ground.

Anonymous said...
"One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors." Plato

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 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"  Win-Win-Wednesday 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!

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.

New Reports including 2011 Statistics for the 70 year old Orange County Animal Shelter that Laguna Hills still uses for it's citizens
Fewer Animals Killed at OC animal shelter in 2011http://www.ocregister.com/articles/fewer-338291-killed-shelter.html?pic=1

Total euthanasia rate of 53%. Fewer were killed in 2011 because fewer were impounded at the County Animal Shelter in 2011. January 31, 2012 Teri Sfzora
Three out of four cats still don't leave shelter alivehttp://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2012/02/16/three-out-of-four-cats-still-dont-leave-shelter-alive/148403/ Teri Sforza OC Watchdog

Kill Rate for Cats at the OC Animal Shelter in 2011 was 74% and only 17% adopted, down from 19% in 2010
Euthanasia Rate Stuck at Nearly 50% at O.C. Animal Carehttp://ranchosantamargarita.patch.com/articles/shelter-euthanizes-fewer-animals-in-2011 County Shelter finally admits killing animal for space in this story.

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

February 14, 2012 - Mayor Pro-Tem Joel Lautenschleger said, about concerns from grandparents regarding exhaust fumes from Alicia Pkwy. blowing onto the sports field at the Community Center - "The prevailing wind is always off the ocean blowing East so it's blowing from the soccer fields onto Alicia and across that way."

Another fact checking problem. The Santa Ana Winds which are most common from October through March blow from the East to the West - from Alicia Pkwy. and Paseo de Valencia right on to that sports field.

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."

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.

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 - 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.
.
October 11, 2011 - Regarding Intent to Vacate Public Service Easements (Tree Pockets) along Paseo de Valencia and between Alicia and La Paz.  Mayor Songstad concluded with, "Alright its been moved and seconded. Everybody understand what the action is here? We're setting a public hearing, blah, blah, blah. All in favor"

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 20 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

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR of the Orange County Register Newspaper Letters to the Editor: E-mail to letters@ocregister.com Please provide your name, city of residence and phone number (phone numbers will not be published). Letters of about 200 words will be given preference. Letters will be edited for length, grammar and clarity.

HEADLINES/ ITEMS OF POSSIBLE INTEREST
for the Tuesday February 28, Laguna Hills City Council Meeting

 

1. MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) 2011 Annual DEUCE AWARD. Renee Oaks from MADD will present the award to Deputy Watson reminding everyone that Drunk Driving is not a victimless crime.

 

2. Cox Communications Cable TV Franchise with (their local Franchising Authority) the City of Laguna Hills and the approximately $500,000 a year paid to the City to "Safeguard the Public's Interest." How does the City use that money to Safeguard the Public's Interest"?

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

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR of the Orange County Register Newspaper Letters to the Editor: E-mail to letters@ocregister.com Please provide your name, city of residence and phone number (phone numbers will not be published). Letters of about 200 words will be given preference. Letters will be edited for length, grammar and clarity.