Nov
21
Coming soon to a Joint Forces Base near you?
Filed Under City Council Meetings, Community News, Education & Schools, George Briggeman, Traffic | 2 Comments
Ready for a commmercial recycling plant at the Base?
This post is the second installment on the Monday, 11/17 Los Alamitos City Council meeting, which included a revealing discussion of possible long term leases of Joint Forces Training Base land, including relocating City Hall and building a major recycling center. We’ll also touch briefly on two significant budget updates and the scheduling of the next meeting. For the first installment, including how Troy Edgar and Chuck Sylvia could cost Los Alamitos over $50,000 in legal fees, see “Monday night’s Council Meeting: Brutal!“
(by Dave Emerson) Besides the shocking disclosures of the legal fees run up by Troy Edgar and Chuck Sylvia, last Monday’s Council meeting also brought talk of two different recycling plans at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base.
This is somewhat confusing, and wasn’t clarified that well at the Council meeting. Near the end of Sean Belk’s excellent article in The Sun on Thursday, Sean lumped them together, but there were actually two different recycling programs at the Base being discussed.
The Base’s plan for recycling to create fertilizer for use on the base
From what I understand, the base is in the process of implementing a plan to recycle treated sewage for use by the strawberry farmer on the base and other on-base uses. This apparently does not involve George Briggeman, and appears to be something initiated by the Base. Supposedly the additional traffic and odor will be minimal. This program is about to be implemented, as I understand it.
Mr. Briggeman’s Desire for a Commercial Recycling Plant in Los Alamitos
The second program is in the discussion stage only, and involves our “former” trash contractor George Briggeman’s open desire to build a large recycling center in our town.
Mr. Briggeman has reportedly discussed with several Council Members his desire to move his tenant, Gemini Forest Products, from their current location on Briggeman Way to a property he hoped to acquire on Sausalito north of the Royal Oak Mobile Home Park. That property, however is owned by “Sausalito Partners,” who have been trying for four years to build a public storage facility there. Their representative appeared before the Planning Commission at their last meeting (see item 7 on the 11/10 Planning Commission agenda) and indicated he has been working on this for four years now. He also expressed a willingness to pay the city a $18,000 use fee to offset loss of sales tax revenues, since there’s no sales tax involved in storage rentals.
Digression: I sure wish the hospital and all those medical offices would offer a sales tax mitigation fee! Cypress gets the Costco, Seal Beach gets the Target, Kohl’s, Home Goods & restaurants, and we get very minimal sales tax revenue from a hospital & doctors offices. Oh yeah, and a pool on the base that cost the City $134,540 last year, according to the 4th Quarter FY report given to the Council on Monday. (Maybe that’s why some of us weren’t that thrilled with Sylvia & Poe’s accomplishments on the Council.) Marilyn, I remember you stating at the Parkewood Candidates’ forum that the Pool was no longer costing the city anything, and that you had set it up that way. Wish you’d been right on that one. Sigh. I guess we’ll see if your team can do better for our city this time. A really good first step would be to make like our President elect & try to recruit the best possible people to work with you, even if they were your opponents in the last election. Because it’s going to take all of us working together to get Los Al where it needs to be!
But I digress.
Back to Briggeman’s Recycling Plan A: I’m not sure what’s been holding up Sausalito Partners’ storage place for 4 years, although I have a suspicion. I’d love to see Gemini relocate there, since they’re a major sales tax generator for the city, but I’m not real enthusiastic about the extra heavy truck traffic and related problems of a recycling center going in on Briggeman Way. I’d like to see that land used for retail sales, which ideally should be viewed as the revenue generator which could drive our city forward. (I’ve got a few more ideas about that in a few paragraphs.)
Regardless, the residents of the adjoining Royal Oak Mobile Home Park apparently prefer the storage usage, and showed up in force at the last Planning Commission meeting to say so. That may well have been at the urging of Sausalito Partners’, but their attendance did make an impact on the planning commission.
In any case, Mr. Briggeman’s been looking around for a “Plan B,” for his recycling plant, and leasing land from the base appears to be one of the options.
The recycling at the Bae came up at Monday’s Council meeting when Mayor Parker asked about “Expand recycling programs,” one of the “Departmental Goals” listed for the City Manager on page 11 of the 1st Quarter FY 2008-09 Financial Report received by the Council.
According to City Administrator Rudat, the money the base was getting from the farmers who lease land there is now going to the E.P.A., so the Base is looking for new sources of funds through long-term, non agricultural leases. I believe he referred to it at “advanced use leasing.”
Move City Hall onto the Base?
One of the options which I know at least some of the continuing Council Members are interested in would be moving the City Hall and City operations onto leased land at the Base in order to free up the current location along Katella for possible retail development. Some traffic studies would be needed, and other locations on the Base might be more viable, but the concept’s well worth exploring.
I believe that it is imperative that the City of Los Alamitos focus on ways to bring additional major sources of sales tax revenue into our town. The City’s land along Katella, combined with that of the Chamber of Commerce and the office buildings to the west of City Hall are an great location for retail.
Ideally, I’d combine that with the current site of Oak Middle School, and relocate Oak to a location further South, possibly off Lampson on Base land or off Seal Beach Blvd. either on Boeing land or Naval Weapons Depot land. This would be a win-win that would actually reduce traffic caused by parents from Rossmoor, College Park East, and all of Seal Beach driving their kids to and from Oak every day. It simply makes no sense for all three of the Los Alamitos Unified School District’s three secondary schools to be located at the far north of the school district.
What’s needed is for the new Council to invest some of the remaining surplus into a study by the very best consultants out there on both short and long term strategies to maximize Los Alamitos’ sales tax income. With our location on the 605 freeway, with Katella running through the heart of our town, with major upscale residential neighborhoods surrounding us, and with lots of underdeveloped and even undeveloped land, we’ve got an economic engine just parked on the tracks! Again, I digress. Why talk about sales tax when the man who paid for our incoming City Council would rather talk about trash trucks. . . .
Mr. Briggeman’s On-Base Recycling Inquiries
Gerri Mejia indicated that George Briggeman had spoken to her about building a solid waste recycling plant at the base, and indicated that he was “very interested.”
Dave Rudat indicated that such “enhanced use leases” would be negotiated by the Army Corps of Engineers, and appeared to confirm that Mr. Briggeman does have an interest in such a project. He indicated that a variety of environmental studies would be required, and stated that “While I’m here, I’m watching closely.” Of course, the problem is that Mr. Rudat will most likely have to move on within a few months, and General Combs will probably be moving on fairly soon as well. And we all remember how the Base tried to sneak in a fleet of Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Helicopters without even notifying the city of Los Alamitos.
At this point, Mayor Parker indicated that Mr. Briggeman had also discussed a recycling center at the base, possibly at a location just east of Rossmoor Highlands, with the trash trucks entering on Orangewood (just north of St. Hedwig’s Catholic Church. Parker indicated he told Briggeman that the community would not be interested in the increased traffic and potential pollution.
Then Mr. Briggeman suggested routing the traffic in off of Lampson, but Parker again indicated he wouldn’t support that. I’m guessing this may have had something to do with Mr. Briggeman apparently spending so much money to defeat Mayor Parker and Cat Driscoll (and me) ( (see “The $20,000 tip of the Briggeman/Poe/Stephens iceberg“).
Parker wanted to approve the 1st Quarter Financial Report with some sort of statement by the Council opposing major recycling at the Base. The City attorney indicated “multi-level reviews” would be required before such a center could move forward, and that seemed to end the discussion. For what it’s worth, Dean Grose paid close attention during this discussion, while Troy Edgar sorted through papers most of the time. (I thought paying attention was the more appropriate behavior, in case you’re wondering.)
Next Meeting. . . 12/1?
The next scheduled Council meeting comes immediately after the 4 day Thanksgiving weekend this year, which is actually 5 days since Friday 11/28 would normally be a “dark Friday” for city workers anyway. (The city workers work 9 hour days most days and get every other Friday off.) That means the City Clerk would have to prepare and mail out the agendas next on Tuesday, 11/25. It also means that the Orange County Registrar of Voters might not have the election certified by that time. (For details from the City Manager, see “Special Meeting 12/8 for the Installation of new Council Members”.)
Normally, the first meeting in December after an election is opened by the old council, then the new Council is sworn in and, after a reception, elects the new Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem. Most years there’s also only one Council meeting in December. Staff suggested meeting on Monday the 8th instead of the 1st, but several Council Members indicated they couldn’t make it then. Mayor Parker and Interim City Manager Dave Rudat disagreed on an earlier conversation, when Parker either indicated he could or couldn’t make that date, and I guess they finally “agreed to disagree.” Marilyn Poe had told Rudat that she would be out of town on 12/15, the second regularly scheduled meeting. Apparently staff had not checked with Cat Driscoll, who also couldn’t make the 8th, or with Gerri Mejia, who thought she might be out of town then for her Uncle’s funeral.
I’m actually available on the 15th & would be happy to fill in for anybody, but I’m not sure Marilyn would go for that. Hey, if we couldn’t schedule a forum, I guess it’s no surprise that they can’t schedule a Council Meeting either?
Things were left with the current schedule, but with the provision that staff would continue to seek a mutually acceptable date. I’ll let you know if I hear, & you let us all know via a comment if you find something out.
With that we moved on to Council Member remarks & the meeting gracefully was over by 10 p.m.
Like I said, brutal. We’ll see what the future holds. . .
Your comments, as always, are welcome. If you don’t find a comment box or any comments below, scroll to the top and click on the blue “Comment(s)” under the headline. Please try to use polite language and be relatively respectful. Everyone’s comments are welcome, and post instantly. Your “name” becomes public, but not your e-mail. (I just sell that to spammers to help pay off my campaign debt.) (Just kidding!)
Nov
17
Monday night’s Council Meeting (11/17): Brutal!
Filed Under City Council Meetings, Teamwork | 27 Comments
This post covers the first part of the 11/17 Los Alamitos City Council meeting. The second half, including an interesting discussion about a solid waste recycling plant on the Base or elsewhere is in my 11/27 post, “Coming soon to a Joint Forces Base near you?”
Looks like we’ve got an interesting discussion going on & possibly the groundwork for some community action in the 26 comments on this post so far. If you’re currently on our home page you won’t see the comments below unless you click the blue “Comments” under the headline above. If you don’t see the blue “Comments” under the headline, you’ll find the comments if you scroll down to the end of the post.
BTW, the comments have been pretty one-sided so far. I’m told there are CPLA supporters who check out this blog fairly often, and you’re encouraged to join the discussion. Let’s just try to keep it relatively civil. This isn’t really my blog–it belongs to the people of Los Alamitos.
Confusing signals from Mr. Edgar
(by Dave Emerson) Wow.
One Council Member being served with a summons or two during the public comment.
Another Council Member and the City Manager having exact opposite memories of a recent conversation.
Accusations flying.
Impossible-to-schedule meetings.
Talk of George Briggeman’s desire to bring a solid waste recycling plant to Los Alamitos.
Icy stares, shuffled papers.
$30,000 in legal fees from actions by a former Mayor and current Council Member.
Accusations of favoritism by staff.
Talk of moving City Hall onto leased base land.
A revelation that the firm that runs the City’s website also created the CPLA’s.
At least the public comments were brief, and the meeting was over before 10.
7 p.m. Open Session resumes with # 4 & 5, Pledge & Invocation: As I walked into the Los Alamitos City Council Chambers the Council members were settling into their chairs, apparently having concluded the closed session that was held earlier to deal with a legal matter and a personnel matter (for Council agenda, see my November 14 post of the November 17th Los Alamitos City Council Agenda). From what I could gather no reportable action took place during the closed session.
The crowd was relatively light, but there were a fair number of Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos supporters present, as well as Council Member Elect Ken Stephens.
Brian Smith of the News Enterprise was at his customary seat in Press Row, along with The Sun’s Sean Belk but, sadly, I didn’t notice any other members of the traditional press there. Three hours later I picked up an unclaimed information packet on my way out. When I got home I discovered a penciled “OC Reg,” so I assume it was intended for the OC Register. Jamiee, I’m holding onto it for you, but you can follow the above link to my 11/14 post & it’s pretty much all there. (Update: As Jamiee notes in her comment below, she was unable to attend due to an emergency, and she’s letting me keep her packet, too.)
Unfortunately, The Sun is no longer delivered to Los Alamitos homes north of Rossmoor Highlands, and the News Enterprise’s deadline makes it almost impossible for them to cover Los Alamitos City Council meetings the week they occur. This sad lack of timely press coverage of our little town is one more reason I’m inclined to keep this “virtual town hall” up and running, with real time reporting and discussion.
7:03 p.m. #6, Oral Communication: A new lawsuit: “2002 Los Alamitos Citizen of the Year” Dave Dugan vs. Dean Grose & Event Medical Services
This was the fastest Oral Communications I’ve seen at a Los Alamitos City Council Meeting, but also the most unique. unique: First was a brief rundown of coming Chamber of Commerce events, followed by a Joshua Smith announcing “I’m here to serve Council Member Dean Grose with two lawsuits.” Joshua then handed two papers to the Sargeant at Arms, who passed them over to Dean as Mr. Smith hurried out of the chambers and disappeared into the night before I could catch up to him to ask him a question or two. (Doing my best for you, the informed citizenry of Los Alamitos!)
Near the end of the meeting Dean explained that it was actually two papers relating to one small claims action related to his business. With a little more research I found it is indeed a small claims matter set for trial January 7th at Orange County’s West Justice Center.
Interestingly enough, the Plaintiff is Dave Dugan, a CPA, former Citizen of the Year, former Chamber of Commerce Presdient and former Treasurer of the Seal Beach-Los Alamitos Rotary Club, a group that includes Dr. William Poe and the News Enterprise’s Laura Hertzog,
Earlier this year, while Council Member Grose was President of the local Rotarians, Treasurer Dugan fell ill. That eventually led to President Grose discovering a shortage of $37,111.78 in the books, and to the eventual resignation of Treasurer Dugan.
According to an August 12 Orange County Register report, “The District Attorney’s Office investigator has served a search warrant on Dugan’s financial records, and states in a June 30 affidavit that it is his ‘firm belief that between September 1997 and April 2008, Patrick David Dugan embezzled a large amount of money from the Los Alamitos Rotary Club.’” As of the writing of that article, no action had been filed.
At least this litigation does not appear to involve the City of Los Alamitos, and at least it’s only a small claims action. According to the documents filed with the court, Dugan’s company claims that Grose & his company owe Dugan $3,851.79 for “fees for services rendered at defendent’s request.” My guess would be that Mr. Grose doesn’t think the services were properly rendered.
In any case, it seems like a low blow to serve the summons at a City Council meeting when it would have been just as easy to catch Dean at his office during the day. As a citizen I resent our 2002 Citizen of the Year (or at least his process server) abusing our Council in that way, but not nearly as much as I resent the abuse doled out on Council Members Parker and Driscoll during the past election cycle. I guess the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos and their sponsors have lowered the bar of civility in this town so low that any snake can crawl over it.
7:05 Item # 7, Register of Major Expenditures: $10 per voter in legal fees for September!
Almost half of the $67,000 in major expenditures presented was for legal fees by Best, Best, & Krieger, our City Attorneys. $30,115.95, to be exact (billing for the month of September). That’s a lot of our tax dollars, and both Troy Edgar and Gerri Mejia wanted to discuss it, although Mr. Edgar wanted to do it “off the dias.”
Edgar’s $3,000: Ironically, it turns out that $2,327.80 of that was spent researching Council Member Edgar’s appeal of the new sign installed by Ken Parker’s landlord (See “Hizzoner’s sign: Much ado about nothing?“), with an additional $900 anticipated in October billings. That’s about a buck a voter, not to mention the 2 hours of the Council’s time (which was probably another $700 in hourly billing by our law firm) wasted late one September night, when the far more important matter of extending the City Manager had to be put off when the clock struck 2 a.m. (For details, see “Chaos at the Council: Lowlights of the 8 hour September 15 meeting.”)
Interestingly enough, Edgar capped off the discussion on legal fees by encouraging everyone to think twice before seeking costly advice from the City Attorneys. Later he and Dean Grose raised concerns about spending $1,500 for the city to contract with the highly regarded Trauma Intervention Program for a year due to the budget crunch. Seems to me like that’s a better investment than $3,000 in legal fees to challenge a sign that met all the legal requirements but just happened to include the name “Ken Parker.” Talk about “confusing signals!” When it comes to spending, Edgar seems to be flashing stop, go, and wait simultaneously. (See photo above.) If it’s attacking Parker, it’s a go, if it’s providing help for victims of trauma, that’s a no!
Sylvia’s $10,000 to $35,000: Remember when Chuck Sylvia sued the City Clerk and Ken Parker because of the word “Mayor” and mention of Cat Driscoll in Ken’s candidate statement? Parker agreed to remove the offending language, but that little adventure has already cost our beloved city $9,930 in legal fees. And Sylvia now wants an astounding $25,000 to cover his legal costs. This is the guy that got offended because the city had to pay for a toothbrush for Cat Driscoll while she was out of town on city business!
Now, to be accurate, Sylvia’s attorneys at this point want Ken Parker to pony up the $25 grand, not the city. But the city attorney indicated the city could still be held responsible.
To me, that’s not even the point. Here a guy gives up 8 years of his life to serve our city for $400 a month, then he gets sued for $25,000 because neither he nor the City Clerk was aware of a change in the candidate statement requirements? Guess I’m lucky Sylvia left me alone, but that sure doesn’t increase my desire to serve the city in the future. Personally, if I had to choose, I’d rather have a small pile of dog poop in my front lawn than a $25,000 legal bill. And that doesn’t count what Parker’s already had to pay his own attorneys tp defend what I consider to be Sylvia’s frivolous lawsuit! Actually, I was running against Parker, & it didn’t bother me that he mentioned Driscoll in his statment. Seems like it should have bothered me more than Sylvia!
I’m going to call it quits for tonight. Maybe tomorrow I can get up a different post about some of the other matters that came up at the meeting, like the proposed recycling plant or relocation of city hall. I’ve got a family and a real job, & the time I spent on this post may have already cost me a $12,000 listing commission. If you know somebody within 15 miles of Los Al that needs to sell, tell them to call Dave at 562.822.SOLD. Mention the blog & I’ll give 10% to the Parker Legal Defense fund.
In the meantime, your comments are welcome below. Even if you don’t want to leave a comment, we already have some very interesing ones posted, so be sure to check them out. (No comment box? Just click the blue “Comments under the headline.) Polite language please, I’m an old school teacher & want to keep this site safe for school kids. So please try to disagree agreeably as well, whether you’re disagreeing with me or with one of the many characters at our bi-monthly Los Alamitos City Council soap opera.
Nov
16
So Cal on Fire
Filed Under Southern California | 2 Comments
(by Dave Emerson. Pasted in from my real estate blog, SoCalRealEstteNews.com. Saturday afternoon, 11/15/08) Being a second-generation native Californian, I tend to take our local disasters in stride. Local’s joke that we really do have seasons out here in So Cal, they’re just not the traditional winter, spring, summer, & fall outsiders are used to. Our seasons are more like flood & mudslide season, riot season, fire season, and earthquake season. (I left off “drought,” but that’s more like a year-round thing every few years).
Trouble is, in the last few years fire season keeps getting longer.
I just flew back from a wet, chilly, but fall-foliage beautiful two days in Nashville on Thursday night. During the last half of my non-stop Southwest flight home the “Tea Fire” in Montecito ignited, spread, and burned several dorms and other buildings in my wife’s Alma Mater, Westmont College. I teased my son-in-law that he needed to keep I couldn’t leave the state for two days without Barb’s college burning down. Fortunately, injuries and loss of life was minimal, but hundreds of gorgeous acres and scores of expensive mansions were lost, along with the Tea Garden well known among Westmont students.
The winds died down on Friday, but when I got up this morning and saw the Santa Ana winds gusting through our Los Alamitos neighborhood, I knew the fires would be back today. Before we even turned the TV on for the non-stop coverage I told Barb to expect at least 4 new fires and 500 homes destroyed. Sadly, it appears that I may have underestimated.
Most of our natural disasters aren’t really that widespread in their devastation. This week’s fires, for example, will probably devastate less than a hundredth of 1% the homes in Southern California. That’s still hundreds of homes and millions of dollars, but most of us aren’t severely impacted.
The smoke and pollution will be felt by millions, lots of patios and cars will need to be washed off sometime early next week, but life essentially goes on.
Fire season is brought on by the infamous “Santana” winds, often mistakenly called “Santa Anas.” The word is probably a contraction of vientos de Satan, Spanish for “winds of Satan.” These are hot, dry offshore winds that descend from the Great Basin through the Mojave desert down into Southern California, primarily in spring and summer. While the threat of fire is generally greater in the fall, with recent dry winters fire season has extended to include spring and, now, late fall as well.
Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse, and, just as the reliably long and bitter winters of New England determine the way life is lived there, so the violence and the unpredictability of the Santa Ana affect the entire quality of life in Los Angeles, accentuate its impermanence, its unreliability. The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.
—Joan Didion, “Los Angeles Notebook”
Ultimately, additional restrictions will be imposed on construction and additional clearance and greenbelt requirements imposed in fire prone areas. Our wildfire challenges are actually easier to manage and less widespread than California’s earthquake risks.
To most Californians, our natural disasters are less ominous than those in so many other regions of the nation or the world. Most of us regard them as one trade off for 360 days of temperate sunshine a year and the many other benefits of living in a dynamic, diverse land of opportunity.
While our thoughts and prayers and help will be going out to our neighbors in these days of loss, while it’s annoying to curtain outdoor activity and deal with the smoke and ash, most Californians still consider this our Golden land of opportunity, and really wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
(photos from L.A. Times’ Gallery)
Nov
14
Agenda for Monday’s Los Alamitos City Council Meeting
Filed Under City Council Meetings | Leave a Comment
(by Dave Emerson) It looks like this is likely to be the last meeting of the current Los Alamitos City Council, and the agenda is fairly light.
Rather than hold a special session at 5:30 or 6:00 the regular meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. and then move directly into closed session to discuss two items; a lawsuit and a personnel item relating to the interim city manager’s appointment. (see item 3 below)
I’m guessing that the assumption is that those mattters will be done around the Council’s regular start time of 7, but it’s a bit more of a guessing game when to show up. Assuming that Verizon’s FIOS will be up and running this time, you might want to set your VCR/DVR to start recording around 6:30 or even 6?
It will be interesting to see what sort of public comments are made as well as Council Comments. My guess is that it will be fairly quite, but you never know.
I plan to be there, and hope to report back on Tuesday. In the meantime, this post is available for your thoughts and comments.
As always, I’ll embed links within the agenda to more detailed city reports where available.
Staying on top of what the Council’s doing may be more important than ever in the months ahead.
Here’s the agenda, as posted by the City Clerk:
AGENDA, LOS ALAMITOS CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING November 17, 2008 – 6:00 p.m.
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL
3. CLOSED SESSION
A. CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL
Number of potential cases: One
Authority: Government Code Section 54956.9(b)
B. PUBLIC EMPLOYEE APPOINTMENT
Title: Interim City Manager and City Manager
Authority: Government Code Section 54957
4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
5. INVOCATION Council Member Edgar
6. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
At this time, any individual in the audience may come forward to speak on any item within the subject matter jurisdiction of the City Council. Please state if you wish to speak on an item on the Agenda. Remarks are to be limited to not more than five minutes.
7. REGISTER OF MAJOR EXPENDITURES November 17, 2008.
Roll Call Vote
8. CONSENT CALENDAR
All Consent Calendar items may be acted upon by one motion unless a Council Member requests separate action on a specific item.
* * * CONSENT CALENDAR* * *
A. Approval of Minutes (City Clerk)
1. Approve minutes of the Regular Meeting - September 15, 2008
2. Approve minutes of the Regular Meeting - October 6, 2008.
3. Approve minutes of the Special Meeting - October 30, 2008
4. Approve minutes of the Special Meeting - November 3, 2008
B. Warrants (Finance)
November 17, 2008.
C. Trauma Intervention Programs, Inc. Agreement (PD)
Trauma Intervention Programs, Inc., TIP, provides emotional first aid services to victims experiencing emotional trauma. This agreement authorizes the City to utilize these on-scene emergency services for community members in crisis.
Recommendation: Approve and execute the Agreement between the City of Los Alamitos and Trauma Intervention Programs, Inc. for crisis intervention services.
* * *END OF CONSENT CALENDAR* * *
DISCUSSION
A. Fourth Quarter Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2007-08 and First Quarter Financial Report for Fiscal Year 2008-09 (Finance)
This report provides the City Council with an assessment of the City’s financial performance compared to the amended budget through the end of Fiscal Year 2007-08 and through the end of the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2008-09.
Recommendation: Receive and file the Fiscal Year 2007-08 Fourth Quarter Financial Report and the Fiscal Year 2008-09 First Quarter Financial Report.
B. Special Meeting on December 8, 2008, for Installation of Newly-Elected Council Members and City Council Reorganization (Admin.)
The ‘canvass of returns’ conducted by the Orange County Registrar of Voters, for the November 4, 2008 election, may not be completed and documented prior to the full 28 days, which the law allows, for the Registrar to complete this process. The first meeting of the City Council in December, which traditionally is the date for the installation of newly-elected Council Members and City Council Reorganization, falls within this 28 day period. Conducting a special meeting on December 8, 2008, allows for the timely receipt and documentation of the Registrar’s and City Clerks’ reports, and allows for a second meeting of the City Council on the regularly set schedule of December 15, 2008.
Recommendation: Adjourn the City Council Meeting of November 17, 2008, to an Adjourned Special Meeting of December 8, 2008, to conduct the installation of newly-elected Council Members and City Council Reorganization.
10. MAYOR AND COUNCIL INITIATED BUSINESS
Council Announcements
At this time, Council Members may also report on items not specifically described on the Agenda that are of interest to the community, provided no action or discussion is taken except to provide staff direction to report back or to place the item on a future Agenda.
11. ITEMS FROM THE CITY MANAGER
12. ADJOURNMENT
The next meeting of the City Council is scheduled for Monday, December 1, 2008, in the City Council Chambers.
Nov
13
Job # 1 for our new City Council: Reach out!
Filed Under C.P.L.A. & L.A.T.A., Post Election Analysis, Teamwork | 6 Comments
As I spoke with hundreds of Los Al residents over the past two months, there was one comment that consistently received the most agreement and the greatest enthusiasm.
“I’m running to try to get our Council and our community to work together as a unified, effective team.”
I never got close to knocking every voter’s door, and I didn’t get close enough to win the election either, but I did receive the votes of over 1,000 of my fellow citizens.
Even more significant, with absolutely no campaigning, no signs, no mailers, no flyers, no door knocking, three flyers and an expensive website attacking her, and widespread publicity of her withdrawal from the race, Cat Driscoll still received over 700 votes!
And, despite poor ballot placement, a three-month mudslinging campaign, and tens of thousands of dollars spent on the most expensive negative campaign in the history of Los Alamitos, Ken Parker still received over 1300 votes.
The new Los Alamitos City Council majority now has a choice to make: They can reach out to the thousands of voters who did not vote for their candidates, or they can further alienate them. They can attempt to tear down walls between citizens, or they can build them higher. They can attempt to make peace, or continue a war that has divided our community for well over a decade.
Our town has a sad history of the Council majority ignoring and alienating their opponents. I had hoped that would change with a new majority taking charge four years ago. Sadly, it didn’t change as much as I had hoped. Although a number of positive changes passed with 5-0 votes from 2004 - 2006, the unified team effort I had hoped for never really came to fruition.
Hopefully this time it will be different.
Is it possible?
Over time, almost anything is possible if enough persistence, sincerity, and grace are involved. It is certainly possible to make positive steps in the right direction. It is also possible to drive people further apart. That’s not only counterproductive, but just plain wrong!
One key is for both sides to attempt to put the past behind and move forward. That will probably take some apologizing and distancing from some of the dirtier aspects of the past campaign. Hopefully some reflection by the new majority will lead to an overdue but sincere condemnation of some of the extreme practices of the CPLA and LATA’s campaign advisers. If not, those who have been wounded by those attacks need to find a constructive way to move forward.
Two more steps to building an effective team, as I’ve mentioned repeatedly, are to begin with the goals everyone agrees on, and to make sure all sides feel like their views have been heard and understood.
I’ll be talking more about this over the next few weeks, but tomorrow I hope to get up the agenda for this coming Monday’s Los Alamitos City Council meeting, along with a few more thoughts of my own. In the meantime, your thoughts and comments are always welcome.
Thanks for stopping by.
Nov
11
(by Dave Emerson) “If you aim at nothing, you’re sure to hit it.”
We all know that setting goals and establishing priorities are critical to getting things done. Even more critical is staying focused on those goals, not letting the “tyranny of the urgent” or of mundane operations divert our focus.
I still believe that a first step towards uniting our community and truly moving our town forward is for the Council to find a few critical goals almost everyone agrees with, then to get everyone working towards the achievement of those goals. Working together towards goals we all “own” builds teamwork.
The Council regularly adopts goals, and regularly ignores them. Cat Driscoll recently mentioned that part of the problem may be adopting too many goals. Certainly when we attempt too much we accomplish too little. The question is, are there two or three key goals that almost everyone can agree should be a top priority for the council this year?
Many come to mind. Improve traffic flow. Improve resident and business service at city hall. Reduce wasteful spending. Reduce the utility tax. Increase sales tax revenue. Establish long term plans for where we want our city to be in 20, 30, and 50 years. Improve team spirit. Improve employee morale. Hire an outstanding City Administrator. Hire more police officers. Plant more trees. Work with our schools. Try to relocate one middle school to the south to reduce traffic and increase sales tax income.
You may have a few of your own.
I’ve got some thoughts about goals and priorities I want to share in a few days, but first I’d really like to hear from you.
What do you think? Just indicate your answer in the comment box below. (No box? Scroll up, click on the blue “Comment(s)” below the headline, & the box will appear.) Your “name” can be anything you want, but it becomes public. Your e-mail does not. Please try to maintain the respectful and polite tone we strive for.
Working together, we really can fix Los Al!
Nov
10
Closer than it looked?
Filed Under Election Issues, Post Election Analysis | 7 Comments
[Coming Tuesday: What do you think should be our new City Council's top priorities?]
Los Alamitos City Council Election Results, Monday, 11/10, 10 a.m.
| CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS Member, City Council |
| Number To Vote For: 2 |
| Completed Precincts: 10 of 10 |
| Vote Count | Percentage | |
| MARILYNN POE | 1,711 | 25.9% |
| KEN STEPHENS | 1,668 | 25.2% |
| KENNETH C. PARKER | 1,372 | 20.8% |
| DAVID “DAVE” EMERSON | 1,132 | 17.1% |
| CATHERINE “CAT” DRISCOLL | 726 | 11.0% |
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(by Dave Emerson) Well, that surely was an interesting election, with some very interesting results.
Today I’d like to address a couple interesting items in addition to some of the items we discussed in Wednesday’s “The Day After” post and Friday’s precinct-by-precinct results post.
Anyone who kept track of what they got in their mail know that the winners sent out at least three to six times the mailers that their opponents did, depending on if you count the eleven “slate mailers” paid for by the Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association, not to mention the hit pieces from CPLA and LATA. But we’re going to ignore the obvious money disparity for now and look at two less noticed items.
The impact of ballot order:
It has long been known that candidates whose names appear first receive additional votes. One grizzled veteran of many California campaigns told me that in his experience about 10% of voters automatically vote for the first two candidates in races where the ballot instructs voters are to “vote for two.”
In case you forgot, here’s the ballot order for all precincts for Los Alamitos City Council:
- Ken Stephens
- Marilyn Poe
- Dave Emerson
- Cat Driscoll
- Ken Parker
Back in 1998 a study was conducted on the topic by Jon Krosnick, an Ohio State Professor of psychology and political science (an interesting and appropriate combination.) He found that on average candidates in Ohio received 2.33% more votes when their names appeared first. However, he found that number was dramatically higher in non-partisan contests, and in contests that received less media attention. The factor would be greatest in a Presidential election, especially one with a high voter turnout. It might well be higher in California than in Ohio, and in 2008 than in 1998.
It’s most logical that the influence would be even more pronounced when the first candidate and the last candidate on the ballot were both named “Ken,” with the first being a newcomer and the last a two term incumbent and Mayor. But if we just stick with the California political pro’s 10% of the voters picking the top two, here’s how the results would stack up if Parker and I were listed 1st & 2nd on the ballot instead if Stephens and Poe:
- Ken Parker, 1705 votes
- Dave Emerson, 1462 votes
- Marilyn Poe, 1381 votes
- Ken Stephens, 1338 votes
- Cat Driscoll, 726 votes
If you went with a 5% difference, which seems really conservative in this race, the order would have been:
- Marilyn Poe, 1546 votes
- Ken Parker, 1540 votes
- Ken Stephens, 1518 votes
- Dave Emerson, 1297 votes
- Cat Driscoll, 762 votes.
None of this changes the results. Ballot placement, like bad calls by refs at sporting events, are just part of the program. But it is interesting.
Cat’s 726 votes:
This is the tough one for me. Catherine “Cat” Driscoll’s withdrawal from the race on her doctor’s recommendation was announced by a press release from the City on Tuesday morning, October 7, almost a full month before the election. Cat made it clear that she would not serve if elected. It was posted here and on the city website the same day, and made the OC Register on Wednesday, 10/8. It was also at the top of the left hand column of the News Enterprise on Wednesday, 10/8, although it was dwarfed by the AutumnFest headline and huge color photo of the event’s Ferris wheel.
The newly created “Los Alamitos Taxpayers Association” lost no time getting out a $5,000 full color card stock, oversized flyer announcing Driscoll’s withdrawal in bold 60 point type. Apparently they wanted to be sure she didn’t beat either of the two candidates they supported and then change her mind. I also made mention of her withdrawal in several flyers I distributed targeting absentee voters, who began voting shortly after Cat’s announced withdrawal.
A little while later Cat went on to endorse myself and Ken Parker. In two subsequent flyers I both mentioned Cat’s withdrawal and her endorsement. As I visited homes and called voters even on election day many were surprised to learn that Cat had withdrawn.
Even so, 726 of about 3,300 voters–about 22%–still voted for Cat! That in spite of being listed 4th on the ballot! If 80% of Cat’s votes had gone to me, I would have finished first, with no change in ballot name order. If 75% had gone to me, I would have finished second. If 40% had gone to Ken Parker, he would have finished second, with 45% he would have taken first, despite being listed last on the ballot.
The sad truth about Los Alamitos’ media coverage
22% of the voters apparently were not aware Cat had withdrawn, despite front page coverage in the News Enterprise, on the City’s website, on this blog, and coverage online and in print in the Orange County Register. Plus one of the most expensive mailers this city has ever seen for a local race going to every voter in the city. Plus my one full page two sided color flyer left on most porches the weekend just before the election.
This shows how hard it is to inform voters in our community. We get virtually no coverage in TV and radio, other than LosAlTV3. Unless you live in Rossmoor Highlands, Los Al residents now only get one local weekly paper to one, now that the Sun has cut out the rest of our residences. Less than a third of our residents get a daily newspaper, you really have to search to find coverage of Los Alamitos in the dailies. It’s usually buried on page 5 or 6 of the Register’s Local section, almost never in the Times, and rarely in the Press Telegram.
Which is one reason I intend to keep this blog up and hopefully even growing in the months ahead!
It’s also why everyone is free to post their thoughts, questions, and concerns in the comments box below. (No box? Just scroll to the top and click the blue “Comment(s)” below the headline.) Please remember to use polite language and a relatively respectful tone.
Because the easiest way to Fix Los Al is to learn to work together, starting with the things we all agree on.
Nov
7
[Coming Monday: Why the Los Al election was closer than it looks.]
(by Dave Emerson) Over the next few days I’m going to try to get up several more post-election posts. There is much to discuss, including some interesting info on ballot placement and how close I might have been to winning with a couple of changes. I appreciate the visits and comments of the hundreds of citizens whose interest in our town didn’t end on election night.
Over the next week we will also be refocusing this web site to serve as a valuable tool for information, discussion, and monitoring of what’s going on in our little town of Los Alamitos. Thanks so much for your visits, participation, and insights! We want this to be a place where friend and foe can learn about & discuss the issues & needs of our town 24/7/365 in an effort to find both truth and common ground. A virtual town hall where good ideas bloom.
The Orange County Registrar of Voters election results pages for Los Alamitos contain a wealth of data by precinct on every race, if you’ve got the time to click through precinct by precinct and notes on which precinct is which. The numbers below were current as of 9 a.m. on 11/7, but there are about 300,000 absentee ballots county-wide that still need to be tabulated.
I’ve done the work for you on the Los Alamitos City Council Election results, moving from South to North and from west to east: (I’ve posted some brief remarks after each precinct. I hope to get more election analysis up in another post later.)
Results for Parkewood:
| Precinct | 33134 - LOS ALAMITOS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contest | CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS Member, City Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Parkewood is the small S & S tract of “patio homes “off Lampson at the far east end of town. I passed out flyers here once but never door knocked.
Results for Rossmoor Highlands:
| Precinct | 33117 - LOS ALAMITOS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contest | CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS Member, City Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This is the large tract on the south end of town. I passed out several flyers here, and did a little door knocking, but never had the time to cover even half of the tract. I expected to do better here.
Results for Old Dutch Haven, Suburbia Estates, and part of central Apartment Row:
| Precinct | 33121 - LOS ALAMITOS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contest | CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS Member, City Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This includes my small neighborhood of Suburbia, 100 homes total, as well as neighboring Old Dutch Haven, where I did most of my campaigning early on. That’s partially offset by a small part of Apartment Row where I never campaigned or left flyers, as well as a fair number of strong CPLA supporters in this precinct. Even so, people who know me apparently tend to vote for me.
Results for Apartment Row West:
| Precinct | 33128 - LOS ALAMITOS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contest | CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS Member, City Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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I never made it to Apartment Row, West or East, and very few of my flyers went out there either. All they had was two small mail pieces from me.
Results for Apartment Row East:
| Precinct | 33122 - LOS ALAMITOS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contest | CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS Member, City Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This is Ken Stephens home precinct. I never made it through this section of Apartment Row either. Ran out of time.
Results for Carrier Row and New Dutch Haven:
| Precinct | 33126 - LOS ALAMITOS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contest | CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS Member, City Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- - -
Now this is more like it! This precinct includes the homes of Marilyn Poe, Ken Parker, and Cat Driscoll, and Chuck Sylvia. I got a few flyers out here later in the campaign but nothing for absentee voters. Never did much door knocking here. Ken Stephens, Ken Parker, and I all carried our home precincts. Marilyn Poe finished fourth in hers. Interesting.
Results for Old Town and North Los Al (Greenbrook, College Park N, etc.):
| Precinct | 33601 - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contest | CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS Member, City Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This used to be two precincts. I left several flyers in some parts of it, but never did any door knocking.
Results for Northeast border of El Dorado Park Estates
| Precinct | 33901 - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contest | CITY OF LOS ALAMITOS Member, City Council | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This is an interesting precinct that used to be combined with the Greenbrooks & the rest Los Al north of Cerritos. It’s basically the homes in El Dorado Park Estates south of Ball/Wardlow that back on Coyote Creek. They have a Long Beach mailing address, and the street they live on is in Long Beach.
What’s interesting is that I walked and knocked the 2/3 of these homes that are on Marna Ave., and Ken Prker knocked the 1/3 that are on Lilly Ave. I’m guessing that Marilyn Poe knocked all of them and Ken Stephens didn’t knock any, and I’m also guessing the city employees didn’t make it over there. Interesting.
I’ll be posting more on the election results and my thoughts moving forward in the days ahead. Please feel free to post your thoughts as well. If you’re new here, the only rules are to use polite language and try to be respectful of all. If you don’t see a “comment” box below, scroll up to the headline, click it, then scroll back down. Your “name” is public and can be initials or a pseudonym. Your e-mail is kept private. Thanks for visiting!
For more post-election thoughts, see “The day after.”
Nov
6
Important Questions
Filed Under Election Issues, Los Alamitos Priorities | 1 Comment
Coming mid day Friday: Election review–my thoughts on what happened & why. The race was actually closer than it looked! See you then. In the meantime, we’re adjusting to our new post-election role, as indicated below. Would appreciate your feedback & input as requested, if you’re so inclined!
(by Dave Emerson) We’re in transition here at “LetsFixLosAl.com.” Moving from a combination candidates site and political blog to a place in cyberspace to learn and discuss what’s going on in Los Alamitos.
I’ve changed the tag line on the mast head to “Los Alamitos’ 24/7 virtual town hall meeting: Where good ideas bloom!”
As we’re switching modes, I’ve got a few more posts reflecting on the election in mind, but I also want to keep the focus primarily on moving ahead. With that in mind, I’ve got a couple questions, and maybe you can help answer them:
- Why did you vote (or not vote) the way you did in our Los Alamitos City Council election?
- What are the key priorities you would like to see our new Council focus on?
Of course, the right to a private ballot is one of the cherished principals of our democracy, so feel free to use a pseudonym if you want for your “name.” Even a generic one like “voter.” (Your e-mail is kept private).
I’m especially interested in voters who didn’t vote for me (and there are quite a few of them!), voters that only voted for one candidate, and voters who voted for Cat.
Even more important is where you’d like to see the council move now. Having that info with who you voted for and why could prove enlightening.
If there isn’t a “comment” box below, just scroll up and click on the headline for this post, then scroll back down. Polite and respectful, please. We want this site to be a place where all can discuss what’s going on in a cordial, respectful atmosphere.
A place where good ideas bloom!
Nov
5
Wednesday sermon: “Be an Example”
Filed Under Decency, Election Issues, Inspiration | Leave a Comment
Warning: Religious content on this particular post. I found it quite appropriate and helpful for me this morning, but If it might offend you, there are plenty of non religious posts on this blog. You have been warned. (By tomorrow afternoon I hope to get up an election analysis post. This one just spoke to me today.)
(by Dave Emerson) This year I’m reading through Wisdom for Today, a new daily devotional book by my pastor, Chuck Smith. I’m guessing each day’s thoughts are drastically condensed from a sermon. I found today’s especially helpful the day after a defeat that was a little tough to swallow:
Be an Example [sections especially appropriate to me are underlined]
“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” –I Timothy 4:12
Because Timothy was young, some in the church looked down on him and refused to receive from him. So Paul wrote to him, saying “Look, just be an example.” Paul outlined six areas where Timothy should be an example to the believers:
In word–This could be interpreted two ways. First, Paul may have meant, “Be an example in your language.“ But he could also have meant, “Be an example in your knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures–be a man of the Word.” Both are important.
In conduct–Let your lifestyle be an example of what a believer is. Model Christ in your actions and your attitudes.
In love–The love that Paul described in