Sep
29
Lessons from Team Teemu
Filed Under Teamwork | 4 Comments
Teemu's team spirit brings results!
(by Dave Emerson) The good news just keeps coming for OC sports fans. Our Angels are heading into the postseason with the best record in baseball & home field advantage in all 3 series. Then last night our Ducks finally signed their Teemu Selanne, their all-time leading scorer, to a two year contract, pretty much guaranteeing a highly competitive hockey team for the next two years.
Significantly, Teemu signed for a fraction of what he could have gotten as a free agent, and therein lies our lesson in teamwork for today: Great things can happen when individuals put the common good ahead of their egos or ambitions.
As the world’s best college basketball coach, John Wooden, put it, team spirit is “An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for the welfare of all.”
Which is exactly what we need on our City Council and in our city streets.
Here’s what the today’s Orange County Register had to say about Teemu’s salary:
The value of Selanne’s deal. . . is miniscule for aplayer who has scored 100 of his 552 career goals the past three seasons despite missing 2/3 of the games last season.
“This is a guy who’s taking a pay cut to play for Anaheim,” ducks general manager Brian Burke said. “Any time an athlete does that, it should be noted, singled out, and praised. By taking the salaries he’s taken, he’s given us money to spend elsewhere to try to win. My admiration for him has always been considerable, but it just goes up all the time.”
I think every one of our Los Alamitos City Council Members ran for office because they wanted to make our town a better place to live. They’re all sacrificing a lot of time in that effort.
Perhaps it’s precisely because of the sacrifices they’ve made that they sometimes are quick to dismiss opinions they might disagree with. They forget everyone on the Council and every citizen in the audience may have a valuable insight to offer.
There are reasons we have a five member council, not a dictator. One is to represent the broad spectrum of views and perspectives in the community. When any one side ignores or simply votes down the other side, they are sewing seeds of discord that can grow into a garden of weeds.
How much better if all of us, like Teemu, recognized the need to work with our teammates, and to make personal sacrifices to help the team achieve it’s full potential.
Sep
27
It’s a sign!
Filed Under Election Issues, Teamwork, Traffic | Leave a Comment
More Teamwork! Less Gridlock!
I’ve actually identified 7 priorities for our city and 8 key issues in the Los Alamitos City Council election, but I only have two sides on my yard signs.
So I went with two of my four most important priorities: Teamwork and traffic. Traffic because I see lots of things that could be done to improve traffic flow in our town. Teamwork–on the council, with our neighbors where possible, with other local agencies–because it’s the best way to get the most done.
If you agree that it’s time for our City Council to bicker less and focus on traffic and other key issues like long term planning and increasing sales tax revenue, I could use a little help. Would you be kind enough to let me put one of my signs in your yard?
Just give me a call at 562.430.0262 or e-mail me at Dave@LetsFixLosAl.com.
You’ll have the perfect accent touch for your yard for the next month. Plus a reminder that we really can make Los Alamitos better if we work together!
Sep
24
Again this week, we’re providing a specific post for anyone wishing to comment on any Los Al related items in this week’s News Enterprise. (Rossmoor readers click here for an ongoing section dedicated to your issues.)
Los Al items in today’s paper (10/1):
2 Guest View pieces, one by yours truly, proposing holding off on the planned $250,000 Katella median extension at the race track to allow negotiations with Cypress on cheaper alternatives as well as other traffic mitigation issues. The council will vote on this Monday, 10/6, and it’s a hot issue I’ve been advised to stay away from. I’ve devoted a separate post entirely to this issue, and suggest you go there to read more or post your thoughts on it. A lively discussion’s already begun! (See “Siboney median: What do you think’s the best solution?“)
Former Council Member Art DeBolt also had a guest view rebutting the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos’ flyer of a couple weeks ago against Mayor Parker. We’ve already got a post up on that topic, too, with some very interesting comments (See “Memo to C.P.L.A.“). Again, that’s a better place for your comments on those issues.
Rossmoor incorporation seemed to dominate the Letters to the Editor this week (click here for Rossmoor discussion post), but there were two letters from CPLA supporters Carol Sylvia and Richard Vardeman. Vardeman discussed budget and spending concerns and endorsed what is appearing to be the CPLA unofficial slate of Marilyn Poe and Ken Stephens. Carol Sylvia went into detail about two recent displays of “Mayor Parker’s. . . POWER.” I actually thought both Vardeman and Sylvia showed a little more restraint than we’ve seen in some CPLA print media, but the validity of their issues is for you to comment on below.
To do so, scroll down to the comment box, please try to use polite language and a respectful tone, and your comment will post to the world as soon as you click the “submit” button. Your e-mail stays private, and you can use initials or a pseudonym for your “name” if you wish.
Los Al items in 9/24 paper:
This week’s paper provided Los Al residents some relief from the ongoing disputes that have been so prominent in City Council sessions. There were only three items about Los A on the editorial pages, most relatively positive. If you have something to say about any of those items, or about the articles about the 9/15 City Council meeting on pages 1 or 3, just fill in the comment box below. If there isn’t one, then click on the headline above and scroll down. Please keep your language “family friendly” and your tone relatively respectful–we all share the same home town!
A few words about this website:
To view posts on other topics, you can click on one of the ten most recent articles in the upper left hand column, or click on a specific category from the list just below the most recent posts, or pick a month from the archives below that. There’s also a “search” box below that for looking up all articles using certain words or names.
In the column to the right you’ll find some local links, from weather to traffic to movies, other useful links, additional posts I hope to get up, and links to the most recent comments. Under that is a “tag cloud” where you can click on a topic and find related posts. By clicking any blue date on the calendar below that you can read what was posted on that day.
We hope you find this site a useful resource for both learning about and discussing Los Alamitos issues. It’s only a little over a month old, but the usage has been growing every week.
Who I am:
As you’re probably aware, I’m running as an independent candidate for Los Alamitos City Council on a platform of building team spirit on the Council and in the community. I’ve lived and worked in Los Alamitos since 1988. You can find a little more about me by clicking here.
I’ve also decided to self-fund my campaign so I won’t feel obligated to any businesses, employee uniions, or other special interests. This website was originally conceived as a low-cost way to help people learn who I am and what my priorities and issues are.
Trust rewarded
Respectful discussion of different views helps bring people together, so there’s open posting of comments here. Right now, it’s the only place in cyberspace that I know of where anyone can freely discuss Los Alamitos issues online. Sure, I put up my views, but you’re just as free to put up yours. As you’ll see as you visit various posts, some of the comments have been pretty lengthy and detailed.
There are obvious risks in open comments, and so far I’ve been gratified at the restraint most commenters have shown. Some are definitely partisan, but the language has been kept quite clean as opposed to most open comment blogs. Some comments are less diplomatic than I’d like, but anyone is free to respond. The best way to lead is by example.
The bottom line is to get people working together, discussing their differences in a respectful manner, and eventually generating some concensus on specific steps to make Los Alamitos an even better place to live!
Whether you comment or just browse, you’re welcome here. Additional posts are planned regularly, from campaign issues to some other local items. Please come back from time to time.
Sep
23
8 Priorities for our City Council
Filed Under About Dave Emerson, Election Issues, Teamwork | 3 Comments
Priority # 2: Improve traffic flow!
(by Dave Emerson) In an earlier post (“8 key issues in the Los Al Council Race”), I said “clear, mutually acceptable priorities” are critical to our City Council’s success. Some of the current chaos at Council meetings results from not having a clear set of priorities that both our citizens and our Council Members agree on.
Such priorities are developed over time as we explore the challenges and opportunities facing our town together respectfully and candidly. As an initial step in that direction, here’s my take on seven of the most important priorities for our next City Council. They’re in approximate order of importance.
They’re offered as a starting point for discussion, because no one individual or group has a monopoly on wisdom. More important, the Council must set priorities with broad public support to avoid the ongoing factionalism that has plagued Los Al for the past ten years.
Your comments can continue the discussion and interaction that’s necessary for my priorities to evolve into our priorities, the “clear, mutually acceptable priorities” that help build an effective team approach to moving our town forward.
1. Safety. I guess that’s just the Scoutmaster in me: Safety is Job 1. We live in one of the safer towns around, but maintaining and improving safety here should always be a top priority.
Safety includes everything from crime prevention to traffic and pedestrian safety, especially for our kids, to safe play equipment and playing fields without gopher holes at our parks.
2. Improve traffic flow and reduce “cut-through” traffic on residential streets. This isn’t easy, but it’s important, and there are many areas where improvement is possible. See my post on “7 Ways to Cut Local Gridlock” for my general approach and my post on Farquhar for some specific examples.
3. Maintain and build our sales tax base. Sales tax is our largest single source of revenue, generating almost three million dollars most years. The current council has shown some commendable unanimity on this priority. Good job–let’s keep it up!
4. Long range planning. Our culture tends to overestimate what can be accomplished in a short time and underestimate what can be accomplished over a longer time. If we can define what we’d like our city to look like in 20, 40, and 60 years, we have a better chance of steering things in that direction. However, if we aim at nothing, we’re sure to hit it!
This would involve community participation through a variety of venues and the promotion of creative, long range thinking. More freeway access and better freeways, perhaps light rail or a monorail system down Katella or using existing abandoned rail easements, a quality regional sports park for our youth and adults, possibly on the base, possibly using some of Cypress’ Race Track land. More trees, bikeways, more uniform signage, possibly a village or early California theme throughout the town or just in the business districts. That’s just some of my ideas–just imagine what we all might come up with if we put our heads together! The possibilities are practically limitless. Why shouldn’t Los Alamitos be “the little town that could!”
At the same time, the current economic slowdown is the perfect opportunity to review both our general plan and our building codes. The time to review development standards is while the developers aren’t busy! Do we have adequate open space, parking, and traffic mitigation requirements in our multi-family neighborhoods? We should also review our setback and height requirements in both multi and single family neighborhoods, with an eye to avoiding the blight of mansionization. Doing it now, while few builders are active, reduces outside influences and lets our residents have the primary voice in what our neighborhoods will look like in ten, twenty, and thirty years.
5. Communicaton. It’s often too hard for residents to make a suggestion, find an answer, or have a disucssion. There’s lots of room for civic interaction on important issues in cyberspace, in print, on LosAlTV, and in community forums and town halls. An on-line suggestion box should be featured on the city’s website, which could also use interactive blogs from the City Manager, Chief of Police and Mayor, among others. Effective 2-way communication is another critical element to effective team building.
6. Resident (and business) services. I’ve found city staff to be courteous, pleasant, professional, and helpful, but it’s still often hard to get answers. I think we need an “Troubleshooter Team,” possibly composed primarily of volunteers, who are available by phone or e-mail to help with problems from coyotes to noisey trucks unloading behind Vons early in the morning. All too often I find that nobody’s really responsible for or responsive to the concerns that voters have brought to my attention as I’ve been canvasing our neighborhoods. You shouldn’t have to bring your injured dog to a City Council meeting to focus city staff on a resurgence of coyotes!
7. Build strong working alliances with our neighboring communities and other governental agencies. Sure, we have things that divide us, but we have plenty of things in common as well. Prudence and discretion are required, but so are diplomacy and sincerity. Lots more gets accomplished when we work together than when we fight each other. We can’t make our neighbors work with us, but our goal should always be to identify and build on common ground for mutual benefit.
8. Be thrifty and wise in spending your money. I believe elected officials need to be at least as careful spending the taxpayers’ money as they should be spending their own. Get the most out of every taxpayer dollar. (Maybe even drive themselves to the airport sometimes.) Get matching funds or grants wherever possible.
The budget the council just approved has a significant structural deficit that’s only going to get worse as we work through the current economic downtown. It would be prudent for the Council to review the budget now to find ways to save, rather than to put off the hard decisions and burden the 2009 -2010 budget.
Well, that’s my take on priorities, one month into the current election, 20 years into living and working in Los Alamitos, and 50+ years into living in the general area. But I’m just one guy, and setting priorities is a community project.
You can share your thoughts and ideas by simply completing the Comment box below. If there’s no box, just click the blud “Comment” or “Comments” below the headline at the top of this post. Your comment posts instantly, so it’s a good idea to re-read it before hitting “Submit.” Please try to keep the language “family friendly” and the tone constructive and respectful. The goal is to find ways to work together for the betterment our our fine little town!
Sep
21
Memo to C.P.L.A.: Could you please be more forthright?
Filed Under C.P.L.A. & L.A.T.A., Election Issues, Teamwork | 10 Comments
A couple of problems
(by Dave Emerson) Yesterday I received an oversized, 4-color, professionally prepared “Update for the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos” attacking Los Al Mayor and Council Member Ken Parker.
When I opened it up, a 3/4 inch, all caps headline screamed “HIGHER TAXES FOR YOU. PAY RAISE FOR HIM.”
According to the mailer, Parker voted “for a MASSIVE 61.5% increase to your property tax bill. (Source:OCSD Meeting Minutes 2/27/08)”
“Even worse,” the C.P.L.A. Update continued, “he used that money to pay for a 25% PAY INCREASE FOR HIMSELF! (Source: OCSD Meeting Minutes 11/28/07)”
Well, I sure am against most tax increases, and I don’t sure object to our elected officials themselves pay raises during difficult times like these. I don’t know about you, but my pay went down, not up, last year.
But I sure don’t remember my property tax going up anything like 61.5% last year. So I asked myself, “What’s wrong with this flyer?”
The source cited by the CPLA for both claims is “OCSD Meeting Minutes.” I’m guessing the OCSD isn’t the Occidental College Surfer Dudes or the Old Codgers of San Dimas, but the Orange County Sanitation District.
Last time I checked, they couldn’t raise my property taxes or set the salary for Los Alamitos Council Members. So I’m pretty sure the CPLA Update is talking about Ken Parker, as Los Alamitos Representaive to the Orange County Sanitation District, voted for a 61.5% increase in their fees, which are collected by the county treasure via property tax bills. That also would mean that 25% pay increase wasn’t an increase in Parker’s pay as Mayor or as City Council person, but as a member of the Sanitation District’s governing board.
Now a 60% increase in our Sanitation District fees and a 25% increase in their board members’ pay are both legitimate issues. Probably not the biggest issues facing Los Alamitos, but certainly legitimate.
If the CPLA wants to initiate a discussion of OCSD fees and board salaries, they should go for it. But I would hope Mr. Silvia and his colleagues would be forthright about exactly what taxes and pay Ken Parker was voting to increase.
It may be technically true, but I’d hardly call this “Update” forthright. Actually, I’m thinking it’s not even accurate technically: Parker voted to raise a “fee,” not a “tax.” Which also makes the claim that Parker broke a promise not to raise taxes also inaccurate.
I know a number of people associated with the C.P.L.A. I know they care deeply about Los Alamitos. Chuck and Carol, Pat, & others, isn’t this sort of thing beneath you? I know you can be more constructive than this. To me, this sort of distortion is beneath you. How much better to simply be accurate, not misleading.
- Instead of saying “City Councilman Kenneth C Parker Raised Your Property Tax Bill This Year?” why not say he “Raised Your Sanitation District Fees This Year?”
- Instead of “HIGHER TAXES FOR YOU” why not “HIGHER SANITATION FEES FOR YOU?”
- How can you say Parker and friends raised our taxes “only to turn around and give themselves a pay raise” when the pay raise was voted on three months before the the fee increase, by your own flyer’s dates! Maybe instead of “turn around” you should have said “only to travel back in time and give” himself a pay raise?
You may have a legitimate issue here, but trying to sell it in this manner reduces it’s ligitimacy and almost seems to insult our citizens intelligence. Or at least my sense of decency.
This misleading approach to Los Alamitos election issues does more harm than good. If this campaign is run cleanly, we have a much better chance of having a healthy discussion of important issues, instead of a food fight. We’ve also got a better chance of both sides working together after it’s over. Because mutual respect and teamwork is what we need to get the best results from our the city council, regardless of who “wins” this election.
Please understand, I’m not attacking the CPLA or supporting Ken Parker’s votes to increase sanitation fees, although I do believe there may have been some justification for those fee increases. (The pay increases are another item but I haven’t yet found access online to those 11/28/07 OCSD Minutes.)
I’m just saying issues need to be discussed forthrightly and language should communicate clearly with no intent to deceive or mislead.
I also think it would be appropriate for the CPLA to reveal the major sources of their funding, because so far, from what I’ve seen, the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos have spent far more on issues related to this election than any of the candidates, who do have to disclose their funding sources.
I’d hope to see all four of my fellow candidates join me in both these requests, and in condemning the duplicitous nature of yesterday’s CPLA mailer. Because two of the five of us are going to be serving on the Council, and it’ll be a lot easier to work together in the future if we work together now to move this election to a cleaner, more respectufl, more issues-oriented level.
That’s what I think. You can let us all know what you think in the Comment box below. Comments on this blog are open to all, including CPLA members and my fellow Council candidates. All I ask is you try keep a respectful tone and “family friendly” language. In other words, let’s be diplomatic. It’s one more small step towards building a winning team here in Los Alamitos that includes all the members of our community.
(If that comment box isn’t at the bottom of this post & any comments, just click on the blue “Comment” or below the headline at the top of this post.)
Sep
20
Like it should be--11:45 Sat. morning, no cut through, local traffic only
October 7 Update: This post is a good example of the value of an interactive blog. It’s also a good example of how challenging a problem traffic is in Los Alamitos,which is why it has to be a very high ongoing priority for the Council.
I originally wrote this post when I thought I had a great idea on one way to reduce rush hour cut-through traffic on Farquhar. I live near the west end of Farquhar, & I’d missed a few things that were obvious to those who live on the opposite end. Fortunately, by posting their comments, they pointed out some flaws in my approach. Nobody’s found the solution yet, but as we keep interacting and looking, ways will emerge to at least reduce the gridlock.
(by Dave Emerson) I’m sure that just about every Los Alamitos resident or businesperson gets frustrated with traffic on Katella and on Los Alamitos Blvd. Although traffic on our town’s throughfares is a major challenge, I think there are is much that can be done to to make traffic flow more smoothly, from adding some strategically placed left turn pockets to synchronizing signals.
For residents of our Carrier Row, Apartment Row, Old and New Dutch Haven and Suburbia neighborhoods, however, “cut through” traffic on our local streets is sometimes an even greater problem.
Farquhar Ave. is a prime example. It is clearly designed to be an access road for local residents. It’s a two lane road that’s exactly one mile long, is primarily lined with residences, has a 25 mile speed limit, and is frequently lined with police officers to enforce it’s five stop signs. I think that’s good, since the local residents are rarely the ones barely slowing down for the stop signs. The local residents are the ones waiting at the stop sign to get to the store.
If traffic on Katella and Los Al Blvd. flowed smoothly, Farquhar would actually be used primarily by residents of the adjoining neighborhoods, plus some visitors to Little Cottonwood Park, the ball fields, and the Base. But when traffic jams on Katella, which is primarily during rush hours, traffic moves onto Farquhar just as water flows downhill.
As a result, at 4:30 in the afternoon on a weekday, it’s almost quicker for me to walk to Vons than to drive. At that time I used to ride my bike to get to the bank formerly known as World Savings. (Unfortunately, when the median was added to Los Al Blvd. the Council knowingly chose a width that not only makes it impossible to add bikeways there, and also puts the traffic way too close to my bike for me to be comfortable biking there. (At this point, hypothetically speaking, I might be tempted to indicate that I sometimes avoid that hazard by riding on the sidewalk, which I believe may be illegal. In the current election climate, however, that might open me up to a lawsuit, or at least charges of being a lawbreaker, so I won’t bring up that hypothetical situation except to say it’s only hypothetical.)
Now I may be missing something, but I’m thinking Farquhar exists so people like me who live near it can use it to get in and out of their neighborhoods. Five years ago much time and money was spent on a study by an outside firm on what to do about this sort of cut-through traffic. Now I’ve found that the best solutions don’t come from outside experts or from the top down, but from the people who deal with the problem on a daily basis.
Possible long term solutions:
Ultimately, the major bottlenecks that force traffic onto Katella need to be corrected. That includes the 605/405 interchange, the 405 west of Valley View, the infamous Katella/Los Alamitos intersection with left turn arrows that don’t allow everybody to turn left, and the lack of access from Cerritos to the 605 southbound or from the 605 northbound.
Some of those items, along with synchronization of signals on thoroughfares, are already targeted for our 1/2 cent OC transportation sales tax. Our Council needs to join with our neighboring cities and our elected officials to push the County to make those improvements a top priority. Too many County officials in Santa Ana barely know we’re part of the County–if they know at all! We’re gonna have to squeak a bit more to get the grease we need to make our traffic flow as it should.
Even longer range solutions might include light rail incorporating abandoned rail easments or even a monorail or light rail system from Metrorail’s Blue line down Willow/Katella through the Anaheim resort to the metrolink station at Angel Stadium. From their it could split to continue east out the 91 easement to the Inland Empire and and south down the 57 to John Wayne airport and Irvine.
Your input needed:
To find the best solutions to our traffic challenges, we need to put our egos aside and work together. We also need to thing both long-term and short-term.
We know traffic on Katella will never be what it was when I was a kid riding in Mom’s car past strawberry fields to visit “Gramps” and “Grandmuddy” (my mispronunciation, I’m told) at their 3/4 acre retirement “farm” of orange trees in Garden Grove. But that shouldn’t stop us from working together to make it better than what it is today. And to work with our neighbors, who must commute through our town to get to the 605, to make sure traffic mitigation is a priority in ongoing development in all of our communities.
That’s what I think–but I’m just trying to kick off the discussion! You can join in by completing the comment box below. If there is no box, click the blue “Comment(s)” under the headline at the top of this post. Comments post instantly, use or make up a nickname if you want, but please try to keep the language “family friendly,” by gosh, and the tone respectful, ma’am.
Sep
17
Your News Enterprise responses: Los Alamitos issues
Filed Under C.P.L.A. & L.A.T.A., Election Issues | 2 Comments
(Note: If you want to respond to an item about Rossmoor, please scroll down to the next post.)
Good news! You no longer need to wait a week for next edition of the local paper to respond to an article, a letter to the editor, or a “Guest View” column.
Starting today, you can offer your opinion at the speed of light. Your only limitation is how fast you can think and keyboard. Because, once you hit the “Submit Comment” button under “Comments” at the end of this post, your thoughts will post world wide at the speed of light!
Now, I strongly recommend that you don’t overdo this speed thing. For one thing, I’ve found that people are much more responsive to my ideas when I present my ideas politely, thoughtfully, respectfully, and graciously. When I get really worked up about something, it’s usually a good idea to calm down before saying or writing anything.
So I’m trying to maintain a relatively respectful (but not boring!) tone on this website, and encouraging others to do likewise, for everyone’s benefit. As a former school teacher myself, I’m also thinking a few local teachers may find this site useful for bringing government, social studies, reading or even writing closer to home. So I request everyone do their best to use “family friendly” language. There’s a reason some of us refer to our home town as “Mayberry.”
This website has several purposes, but one of them is to facilitate the discussion of issues of importance to the people of Los Alamitos. The respectuful exchange of ideas helps make a town a community, and also leads not just to understanding but often to better ideas. Discussions usually are better when you don’t have to wait a week to respond.
How it works:
(If you’ve commented on blogs before, you can skip this, but just remember to try to use a respectful tone & relatively polite language.) Posting a comment anywhere on this blog is quite easy:
- Be sure you’re in the actual post, not just on the home page scrolling through posts. (If you’re still on the home page, the address in your browser window will read “http://letsfixlosal.com/blog”) The easiest way to be sure you actually in the post is to click on the headline at the top of the post.
- Scroll down to the “Comments” section at the bottom.
- Complete the “Leave a Reply” section. You can use your real name, a nick name, or make up “handle” if you want to remain anonymous. Your e-mail address will remain private and will not be disclosed or added to any lists.
- Think through, then post your comment, thoughts or reply. If you’re responding to an item in the paper, I’d suggest referencing the page number and author and topic.
- I’ve made any number of mistakes over the past year posting on blogs, and it’s hard to correct them, so I strongly encourage you to re-read your comment before submitting it. When I taught English many years ago, I my students’ work improved when they actually proofread out loud. When I proof my writing, I usually find lots of opportunities to shorten things up as well. Finally, please try to be a positive example by being diplomatic. The “Golden Rule” of treating others the way you want to be treated still works!
- Enjoy the opportunity to exchange ideas with others who share your concern for our town!
Thanks for stopping by. To find out more about this blog or topics of local concern, click on one of the more recent articles at the top of the left hand column, or on one of the various Categories below that, or on the “About Us” in the masthead.
It will be interesting to see how long it will take people to stumble upon this effort to bring a virtual town hall to our community.
Today’s News Enterprise Los Alamitos Editorial Content
This week Rossmoor’s incorporation took the front burner, with 7 letters, which is why I made a separate post to allow interested parties to discuss those issues. It looks like it was a bad day in the paper for the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos: I counted one letter supporting the CPLA and 4 letters plus a Guest View by Council Member Gerri Mejia opposing CPLA and supporting Council Members Parker and Driscoll. I’m guessing next week the tables will be turned as the CPLA Empire strikes back.
Gerri explained her position on the management turnover that the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos (CPLA) was complaining about in their flyer of three weeks ago. Art Debolt gave his version in a letter, while Gerri’s husband addressed CPLA’s concerns about Council expenditures.
I’m trying to avoid negativity, disrespect, and personal attacks and to stay neutral in the CPLA vs. Parker/Driscoll/DeBolt fight, because I believe a Council Member and even candidate needs to reach out to all the members of our community.
I’m conflicted about Darin Minter’s “Hitting the road” letter. He offered some interesting and but one-sided background on four CPLA supporters, with too much personal attack to suit me, but then switched to a more conciliatory tone. Like me, he concluded that those same CPLA members as well as our current Council Members actually care “passionately” about our town.
I appreciated Minter’s call for CPLA supporters to “Throw down your axes and try to be a positive, helpful, and uplifting component in our community. . . . Be a part of a solution instead of being a constant toxic, corrosive problem,” although I probably would have deleted that last 8 word “constant problem” phrase.
I wish Minter had also directed that advice to our Parker/Driscoll/DeBolt supporters as well. Yes, the current round sure seems to have been kicked off by the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos. But for the past ten years whichever side controls 3 Council votes has rarely sought to reach out to or seriously consider the opinions of their colleagues in the Council minority.
Neither side has a monopoly on truth or wisdom, and until we all decide to build bridges instead of plant minefields, attention that should be devoted to traffic, planning, and improving our communities will instead be wasted on a costly civil war.
That’s what I think–what about you?
Sep
17
As a Los Al City Council candidate, my main position relative to Rossmoor is that we need to work together as much as possible on issues of mutual concern. Those obviously include traffic on Los Al Blvd. and on Katella, as well as the clogged traffic on our freeways that spills over onto our main streets and then into our communities. From what I’ve observed, Rossmoor has some of the same “cut through” traffic problems that Los Alamitos does. I also think both communities need to continue to explore joint cost-saving measures.
We’re not just part of the same zip code, we’re part of the same community. Our kids go to school and play sports together, and we worship and shop together as well. Incorporation is a complex decision. Hopefully this site will enable you to have one more open but respectful discussion of the pros and cons.
As you are no doubt aware, Officer Rick Pap will be hosting a forum on Rossmoor incorporation on LATV-3 from 7 – 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1, for those of you with cable or FIOS. You can e-mail suggested questions for the panel to rpaap@socalrr.com. Be sure to include your full name and phone number for verification. Questions are to be read on a first come, fist served basis.
With this site running, it’s no longer necessary to wait a week for the local paper to respond to an article, a letter to the editor, or a column.
Now you can offer your opinion at the speed of light. Your only limitation is how fast you can think and keyboard. Because, once you hit the “Submit Comment” button under “Comments” at the end of this post, your thoughts will post world wide at the speed of light!
Now, I strongly recommend that you don’t overdo this speed thing. For one thing, I’ve found that people are much more responsive to my ideas when I present my ideas politely, thoughtfully, respectfully, and graciously. When I get really worked up about something, it’s usually a good idea to calm down before saying or writing anything.
So I’m trying to maintain a relatively respectful (but not boring!) tone on this website, and encouraging others to do likewise, for everyone’s benefit. As a former school teacher myself, I’m also thinking a few local teachers may find this site useful for bringing government, social studies, reading or even writing closer to home. So I request everyone do their best to use “family friendly” language. There’s a reason some of us refer to our home town as “Mayberry.”
This website has several purposes, but one of them is to facilitate the discussion of issues of importance to the people of Los Alamitos. Since we share the same newspaper, and Rossmoor is dealing with the issue of incorporation this November, I thought I’d add a place for Rossmoor residents to discuss their issues. After all, we are neighbors, we share the same school district and congested highways. Just understand that the other posts on this page relate primarily to Los Alamitos.
The respectful exchange of ideas helps make a town a community, and also leads not just to understanding but often to better ideas. Discussions usually are better when you don’t have to wait a week to respond.
How it works:
(If you’ve commented on blogs before, you can skip this, but just remember to try to use a respectful tone & relatively polite language.) Posting a comment anywhere on this blog is quite easy:
- Be sure you’re in the actual post, not just on the home page scrolling through posts. (If you’re still on the home page, the address in your browser window will read “http://letsfixlosal.com/blog”) The easiest way to be sure you actually in the post is to click on the headline at the top of the post.
- Scroll down to the “Comments” section at the bottom.
- Complete the “Leave a Reply” section. You can use your real name, a nick name, or make up “handle” if you want to remain anonymous. Your e-mail address will remain private and will not be disclosed or added to any lists.
- I’ve made any number of mistakes over the past year posting on blogs, and it’s hard to correct them, so I strongly encourage you to re-read your comment before submitting it. When I taught English many years ago, I my students’ work improved when they actually proofread out loud. And try to be a positive example by being diplomatic.
- Enjoy the opportunity to exchange ideas with others who share your concern for our town!
Thanks for stopping by. To find out more about this blog or topics of local concern, click on one of the more recent articles at the top of the left hand column, or on one of the various Categories below that, or on the “About Us” in the masthead.
Sep
16
Chaos at the Council: Lowlights of the 8 hour September 15 Meeting
Filed Under City Council Meetings, Teamwork | 4 Comments
Plodding ahead at 11
If you liked “War and Peace,” you’ll want to catch last night’s Los Alamitos City Council meeting on channel 3. Two powerful empires collide in a major television event that takes way too long to watch.
For the third Council meeting in a row the Mayor threatened to throw a citizen out of the meeting. Accusations of lies, influence peddling, corruption and cronyism were flying like baseballs off of Vlad’s bat at Angel Stadium. They were still going strong after four hours when I finally took off after 11.
It be replaying on LosAlTV (channel 3 on local cable & FIOS) at 8 p.m. most nights this week. 8 p.m. Tuesday update: For some unknown reason it was apparently moved back to 11 p.m – 4 a.m. tonight. If I get solid info about the rest of the week, I’ll post it here. If you’re having difficulty getting to sleep tonight, this might just be your cure. I’d recommend TIVO, unless you plan to stay up past midnight, but that probably means you’ll have to figure out the “manual” record system on your DVR.
I sure don’t want this post to be anything near as long as the meeting, so I’ll post a synopsis with a few highlights for now. I hope the humor I tried to interject doesn’t offend anyone. If I wasn’t laughting, I might be crying!
If you were there or caught it on TV, perhaps you could share your perspective with a comment at the end of this post. Please try to be concise, respectful, and use “family friendly” language.
6:15: Pre Game Show
Believe it or not, our key city staff and Council Members “warmed up” for their marathon regular meeting with a closed session meeting at 6:15. All I know is it was a conference with their lawyer about Elizabeth Mahone’s lawsuit against our fair town, OC Superior Court Case # 07CC10022.
7:01: Pre Game Activities
The parking lot was overflowing & the crowd approaching capacity as Mayor Parker called the Regular Meeting to order promptly at 7:01.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Council Member Grose opened with a heart felt invocation, which I’m pretty sure was the high point of the meeting. In an eloquent non-sectarian, non-partisan prayer Dean began by asking the Almighty’s guidance and blessing on the meeting. I’m not sure if the Almighty was able to stick around for the whole meeting, and I sure can’t say I blame Him, but it sure couldn’t hurt to ask for God’s help. God certainly knows we need it! Maybe the smartest thing anybody did throughout the meeting.
But Dean didn’t stop there. He went on to remember those suffering across our country from the hurricanes and our troops overseas. I’m guessing Dean wrote it out in advance, but I was afraid to look up to see because I was in the front row & might be on TV. Pretty silly actually–I don’t think God needs LosAlTV to check up on me.
Anyway, they really should have stopped the meeting right then. Just gavelled it closed right after Dean said “Amen.” Leave the whole thing with God. Probably would have been the best Los Alamitos City Council meeting this millenium. Maybe ever. Unfortunately, they went on to. . . .
7:05: Oral Communications Begin: Back to Mayberry
This actually got off to a good start as well. Announcements from Heather, the Public Information Officer at the Base (Volunteer orientation 9/26, Wings, Wheels & Rotors 10/26), followed by “wearing two hats” Judy from the Chamber (Mixer 10/6, Wings 10/26), and from Casa Youth Shelter (Mildred Jones Sports Court being dedicated).
Then came my friend and neighbor Alice Jempsa (to avoid losing the support of a significant number of voters, let me note that Art DeBolt is also my neighbor and friend) (OK, maybe I just lost another significant number of voters, but they both seem like nice people to me, and I’ve lived around the corner from both of them for over 20 years. 2 different corners–one to the left, one to the right. Anyway, you can’t question the commitment to the city of either one of them!)
Alice shared about the rededication of the 1997 Centennial plaque marking the approximate location of the sugar beet factory that was once located near the post office. If you look in the middle of a patch of grass The plaque was lost in the construction over there and somehow was recently found, restored, and rededicated. Alice didn’t say if they found Jimmy Hoffa at the same time, but it was apparently a lengthy process, and it’s always nice to have some good news nobody argues about at a Council meeting.
Again, that would have been a great place to end the meeting. For ten minutes, at least, Dean Grose’s prayer had been answered! Small town tidbits, everybody happy, good news, events at the Base, a fitting memorial to Casa Founder Mildred Jones, a historical marker recovered. Reminds us of what we like about this little town.
There’s really no reason the audience and the Council couldn’t have moved forward to discuss the issues and challenges confronting Los Alamitos in the same cordial, respectful tone set by those first three speakers. It’s really not that hard to disagree respectfully and politely. I’ve found I get a lot more accomplished when I take that approach. Even in an election year.
7:15: “Oral Communications” Begin to Heat Up
Next up was a lady from New Dutch Haven with concerns about the median work being planned for Katella at the entrance to the Race Track. (See “What’s wrong with this picture.”) I thought she made some good points.
Pretty soon J. M. Ivler took the floor to protest some of the actions of the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos, & I knew we would soon be descending into another epic battle between the forces of good and evil, just like we’d seen at the last Council meeting. (The epic battle might actually be between the forces of good and good, because everyone I talk to tells me they’re the good guys.)
Of course J.M., just like all of us, sees himself as aligned with the forces of good, and who am I to argue. He said that, as a non-profit educational group the Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos (C.P.L.A.) is not supposed to be involved in political activities. Ivler felt that it’s pretty obvious they are trying to influence an election. Ivler asked the Council to put an end to that, which I’d imagine the current majority would be happy to do. “Just who’s funding the C.P.L.A.?” he asked. Good question! Since they’re a non profit, non-political educational organization, they don’t have to disclose their contributors. “They must have a great financial reason to get rid of their opponents.”
After that came a variety of speakers opposing the CPLA and supoorting Parker and Driscoll or supporting the CPLA and oposing Parker and Driscoll. One lady opposed coyotes. I don’t recall anyone supporting coyotes, but I’ll bet about half the people there would support coyotes who opposed Parker and Driscoll.
Former Councilman Art DeBolt gave an interesting history lesson, then began a debate on cleaning implements and positive change, proclaiming “a new broom sweeps clean!” A CPLA supporter countered that “It takes an old broom to find the dirt.” Now I’ve got to admit the CPLA knows a thing or two about finding dirt, but I’ll bet that Helpful Heloise has lots of creative uses for both old and new brooms. There probably was a certain element of truth, and possibly of distortion, in every “Oral Communication” presented.
In the middle of it all, another neighbor of mine, Pat Blancher attempted to reply to Mayor Parker while he was attempting to reply to her Oral Communication. This is a major no-no, according to our city attorney, because items which are not on the agenda cannot be “discussed” althought they can be commented upon briefly, according to our state’s Brown Act, which is supposed to promote open government but sometimes seems to have the opposite effect. (Hey, it came out of Sacramento–what do you expect?)
Possibly fearing that we would all be struck by lightning, or maybe just annoyed that Pat was talking over him, Mayor Parker raised his voice to talk over Pat, threatened to have the Sergeant at Arms (who’s also our Chief of Police) remove her from the meeting, and promptly called a rather lengthy break to “restore decorum.” It made me wonder if Parker’d be interested in founding a Committee for the Restoration of Decorum in Los Alamitos, but when I realized that the Sergeant at Arms was indeed well armed I decided not to ask.
After the break Mayor Parker read us the rules of decorum, which included no doggone profanity and not even applause (I wanted to clap for that one!).
By the time we got to the Council initiated business near the end of the meeting, it became sadly obvious that the Council was just as polarized and dysfunctional as the audience.
Sep
13
One candidate’s notebook: The 5 hour filing that took 40 years
Filed Under About Dave Emerson, Election Issues, Teamwork | Leave a Comment
I began the process of filing to be a candidate for Los Alamitos City Council about five hours before the deadline. The fastest filing in city history, I’m told. An interesting five hours, I must admit.
But in some ways the process began over 40 years ago. Maybe it goes back to my days as a student at Lakewood High where I helped organize one of the school’s largest on-campus clubs, was active on the speech and debate team. . . and lost when I attempted to run for City Council on a platform of allowing off campus lunch and unlocking one of boys’ restrooms that the administration had decided wasn’t necessary. (Both campaign themes were vetoed by the Administration.)
I know it includes my time on the speech team at Biola University and my years at UCLA while John Wooden was showing the world the value of teamwork. Also years serving on an effective team of young, committed teachers in an inner city school, and then as a real estate broker, where I got paid for bringing people together.
I know my passion for local politics goes back over a decade, when our town was mired down in multiple lawsuits against Cypress, Seal Beach, and even one hapless Rossmoor resident whose back yard bordered on a city tree. Back then Los Alamitos had a lot fewer stop lights and shopping centers on our borders, and we could still buy strawberries in front of the field on Katella.
My interest grew from 1998 – 2002 when Barb and I had two neighbors on City Council who lived within half a block of us. I thought both of them really cared for the city, worked hard, and each one had some really good ideas. . . as well as a few not so good ones. I was surprised to watch a rivalry develop between my two friends which eventually grew into a pretty serious 3-2 split of the council as the new millenium began.
I remember thinking that these are two smart, nice, caring people–why can’t they work together? I was one of the few people who voted for both of them–but I’m also one of the few people who voted for every one of the current five members of our Council. And I’m pretty sure I’m the only one who voted for Ken, Cat, Gerri, Dean and Troy and then filed to run in the current election against two of them.
In 2002, Art Debolt was off the Council and Ken Parker and Fred Freeman replaced Ken and Art as the minority of two that was all too often ignored and rendered irrelevant by the majority of Ron Bates, Alice Jempsa, and Marilyn Poe. It seemed then, as it seems now, that all our Council Members are relatively decent, intelligent, and committed citizens of our little town who could get a lot more done if they learned to work as a team. Kind of like the Lakers during that dismal last year of the Shaq and Kobe years. A talented group that fell far short of their potential due to their failure to work together.
In 2004, the minority became the majority as Ron Bates suddenly resigned and was eventually replaced by “Cat” Driscoll, a popular, diligent concerned neighbor and grass roots organizer who helped mobilized the community to fight development in Cypress. And something strange yet predictable happened.
The new majority behaved just as badly as the old majority.
I was hoping Parker and Freeman would be gracious in victory and be gracious to Poe and Jempsa now that Cat Driscoll gave them that critical third vote to become the majority. Instead, an aggressive house-cleaning of the various Council controlled Commissions began the day after the election. Within 24 hours I was approached by an exuberant Parker supporter proclaiming “To the victors go the spoils!”
Actually, to the victors goes to opportunity to be gracious to their opponents and to steer the Council and the city away from years of squabbling to a new team spirit of working together for the good of the community. Unfortunately, the bitterness from the previous years of oppression was too much.
I can’t say I would do any better if I were in that situation back then: I didn’t go through what Parker did for the previous four years. In hindsight, I know what should have been done, but being gracious isn’t the default setting for most of us.
Please understand: I’m not saying that either side is evil, or perfect. What they are is the same as what you and I are: Human. Imperfect. With some good ideas and some bad, some good tendencies & some bad. That’s actually why we do need each other: Why we need to work together.
In any case, a great opportunity to begin functioning as a team instead of adversaries was lost. Both sides had blown it. And have continued to blow it right up to the present. Not all the time, but most of it. In fact, when three new faces joined the Council two years ago, after we were back to the same 3-2 split in less than a year, with the still-dominant Parker/Driscoll majority effectively rendering Grose and Edgar almost irrelevant all too often.
A great opportunity was lost, but not forever. My passion to join the Council comes from my belief that the opportunity to work as a team can still be seized, and must be if we are to enable our town to reach it’s full potential.
We’ll end this saga here for now, but I’ve written several other posts about local politics and our City Council, including “8 key issues in our Council race,“ “Olympic Silver for Los Al” and “Another wild Council meeting.”
Please feel free to add your comments to any post instantly by completing the comments box below. If there’s no box, try clicking on the headline above, or the blue word “Comment(s)” below it. All opinions are welcome here, but please keep the tone respectful of all our local citizens and politicians, and the language relatively polite.
Thanks for visiting!
Sep
11
Thoughts on Patriot’s Day, 2008
Filed Under Teamwork | Leave a Comment
One of the nice things about living and working in Los Alamitos is that we have heroes in our midst.
If you don’t occasionally run into them at Von’s, Jack in the Box or Denny’s, you’re probably shopping and eating in “Seal Beach” a little too much!
I’m thinking of the soldiers who work and train at Los Alamitos’ Joint Forces Training Base, as well as the many firefighters and police who serve or live in Los Al. (The 18 families on my block include 3 law enforcement officers!) Every one of them willing to make the highest sacrifice for you and me.
Today is the seven year anniversary of one of the saddest days in our history. It’s also one of the proudest, as we recall New York’s finest running into two buildings that others were fleeing. Since then thousands of others have given the ultimate sacrifice for you and me overseas.
I talk a lot about the need for teamwork–on Los Alamitos’ City Council, with our neighboring cities and local organizations and businesses. Those fire fighters and police officers running into the twin towers and our brave troops set the standard for working together for the common good. They may not always like or agree with one another, but they put their differences and egos aside to get the job done.
We who live in Los Alamitos have the privilege of walking among men and women such as those. The next time you see one of these heroes in our stores or restaurants, be sure to thank them, and then thank God for them. I don’t think they–or God–will mind the interruption.
To anyone reading this who serves or has served our city, state, or country in uniform, or who has one of those heroes in their family, may I also offer a hearty “Thank you!” and “God bless you!” You make us all proud!
Sep
10
7 ways to cut local gridlock
Filed Under Traffic | 7 Comments
For the second smallest city in Orange County, Los Alamitos has more than it’s share of gridlock. Gridlock on our streets, on our City Council, with our neighboring cities, even dealing with seemingly simple problems like the invasion of gophers from the Base. They’re all interrelated, and many of the same approaches help address each form of gridlock, but in this post I want to focus on reducing the gridlock on our city streets.
Traffic can’t be eliminated from our town, but traffic flow can be improved. Here are seven steps that can move us in that direction.
1. Make it an ongoing top priority! Cat Driscoll made an excellent point at last week’s City Council meeting. She pointed out that every year the council adopts roughly a dozen “priorities,” but never fully deals with any of them. She thought just focusing on three or four key issues would be more effective.
Cat’s absolutely right! While juggling multiple priorities is a necessary challenge we all face, when an individual or an institution has too many priorities, overall effectiveness is greatly reduced. Institutions especially tend to get bogged down in minutia instead of focusing on major challenges and opportunities. While public safety should always be job 1, in our heavily impacted town traffic needs to always be in the top four, at least for the foreseeable future. One inexpensive way to do that is to
2. Effectively utilize existing staff resources.
- Solicit their ideas: Our police officers and city staff are continually driving our streets. Every one of them probably has some excellent ideas about ways to improve traffic flow and/or increasing safety. Let’s make it easy for them to give their input, and reward those who come forward with the best ideas.
- Make one person responsible for improving traffic flow. A “traffic czar,” as it were. Possibly a top police officer. Restructure his or her responsibilities to make traffic improvement a top priority. Require our “traffic czar” to evaluate every major decision for it’s impact on traffic. Especially zoning issues, business licenses, and new construction. Have someone who’s job is to look at every important decision and say, “Here’s how it will probably affect traffic.” The new Jack in the Box is just one example of how a little foresight and traffic-related analysis ahead of time could have reduced problems that are now very difficult to mitigate. In fact, we should. . .
- Make the impact on traffic a consideration for every staff, Council, and Committee decision. Nothing ponderous, just a policy for all staff to take a minute to think about the impact on traffic of every decision, from when to mow the islands on Katella (how about NOT during rush hour?) to how to modify the median at the entrance to the Race Track.
3. Solicit resident & business input & fast-track and honor the best ideas. Let’s make it easy for our residents and businesses to submit their ideas for traffic improvement in whatever way is most convenient for them. A voicemail box at city hall for traffic suggestions that go directly to the traffic czar. Same for e-mail (maybe something simple like “traffic@losal.com”). The best ideas often come from the people who are on the front lines.
4. Work together with our neighbors. I know. It’s much easier said than done. But over time, focusing on shared objectives, graciously putting the past behind us without being naive, and looking for “win-win” solutions, we must make every effort to improve our working relationships with our neighboring communities. We don’t have to be enemies. Life, and traffic, will be better for all of our residents and businesses if we learn to work together.
An easy place to start might be synchronizing the ten stoplights on Los Al Blvd. south from Farquhar through the 405 freeway. Only one of those lights (at Lampson) regulates a cross street with any stoplights in either direction. Yeah, most of those lights are in Seal Beach, but their residents want to go north to see their doctors just as much as our residents want to go south to get on the freeway. Not to mention shopping at Seal Beach based businesses! There is common ground to build on here. I see no reason why on-demand lights can’t be synchronized as well.
5. Work with the state & counties to unclog local freeways and arterial streets. Why does northbound Valley View dump 3 (count ‘em!) left turn lanes of traffic onto Katella headed towards Los Alamitos? Think it has anything to do with how congested the 22 and 405 westbound becomes from Valley View through the 605 intersection? Many traffic problems are caused beyond our borders, and we must be diligent in directing county and state traffic funds to Orange County’s neglected western frontier.
6. Eliminate unnecessary signals and red left turn arrows, or at least don’t add more. I could be wrong here, but I agree with what Ken Parker told me years ago when the signal was added on Los Alamitos Blvd. at Florista, just north of Hoff’s Hut. “I never had a problem getting across there,” Ken told me when the previous majority approved that stop light. Neither did I. With Katella blocking traffic to the south and the stop lights at Sausalito and Cerritos to the north, I never had a problem when I crossed at Florista. It actually takes me longer now, waiting for a light, whether I’m crossing Los Al or turning left onto Florista. How long will it be until we also have signals on Los Al at Serpentine, both Catalinas, and Hedwig.
Ditto all the red left turn arrows on Los Al south of Faquhar. I think we need to look at possibly leaving the on-demand green arrows for those who want to use them, but replace the red arrows with a green “yield.” Again, with all the signals blocking Los Al to the south and the north, I rarely have to wait long before having an opportunity to safely turn left on my own. We should also take a serious look at possibly switching some of those lights to flashing orange and red, like Seal Beach does with the lights on Lampson west of Los Al.
7. Reduce u-turns at busy intersections by allowing more left turns where safe. Again, the entrance to the Race Track is exibit A. We’ve been beset with those ugly yellow pilons for over four years now because some people are adament about blocking traffic from entering businesses in Cypress. Even if many of those cars are driven by Los Alamitos residents or businesses just trying to get to the gym or pick up some office supplies.
Rather than make the current situation permanent, I hope our current Council majority is willing to consider some money saving alternatives that might allow eastbound travelers on Katella what they obviously want–the ability to turn directly into those businesses. I’m working on some possible win-win solutions to that situation that improve traffic flow and aesthetics while addressing the valid concerns that have been raised.
Job 1: Safety!
More important than traffic!
Now a final comment about something that’s even more important than traffic flow: Safety. Both as an Assistant Scoutmaster and as the leader of a local hiking club, I’ve always felt my # 1 job is to “bring ‘em back alive!” Whether leading 20 men to the top of Mt. Whitney or 50 students to the base of Sturtevant Falls, my first and foremost concern is always safety. Neither Mt. Witney nor Sturtevant Falls are treacherous, but people die at both locations regularly, and unnecesarily. On our Whitney hikes, I brief all hikers before departing on firm turnaround times. “Our # 1 goal,” I tell them, “is to get you men back safely to your families. If you don’t make it to the top this year, you can always try again next year. But if you suffer a serious fall or heart attack today coming back from the top, nobody will really care if you made it or not.
Traffic’s the same. Getting places quickly is important. But getting there alive is even more important. The photo above of two of Barb & my three and a half grandchildren is an important reminder that there are things much more important than getting somewhere a few minutes faster. Let’s all remember that every time we get behind the wheel.
Well, those are some of my thoughts on how we can do better at addressing the traffic issues in our community. But the best ideas are those that have been scrutenized and discussed by the community. That’s why we allow for open, instant posting on this website. Your feedback is essential. If you don’t see a comment box below, click the blue “Comment” or “Comments” under the headline above. All opinions are welcome and post instantly, but please try to maintain a respectful tone. Let’s be a good example for our kids and grandkids.
Sep
8
2 priorities: More teamwork, less gridlock
(by Dave Emerson) One comment on this site recently suggested I share my thoughts on the direction Los Alamitos should be moving in, then let the voters decide if I’m on the right track or not come November.
Great idea! Here are what I consider to be perhaps the eight most important issues in this race. At this point I’ll keep my comments brief. In cases where I’ve posted more on a specific topic, I’ll include a link to that post if you want to read more. More specifics will be coming as time passes.
In the spirit of this interactive website, they are presented not just for your consideration, but also for your constructive feedback. Because it’s certainly going to take more than just me and my ideas to make Los Alamitos all it can be.
1. A spirit of mutual respect and teamwork on the City Council and throughout the city. Council Members need to respect the opposing view of other members, knowing those views are probably shared by many of our Los Al residents. When we work together to include the best of everyone’s ideas and attempt to address everyone’s concerns we get the best results. (For more on this topic, check out “Olympic Silver for Los Alamitos.”)
2. Clear, mutually acceptable priorities: Once the Council (and our citizens) begin working as a team, we can work to develop a set of priorities which will keep the Council focused on what’s most important to the citizens they represent, rather than spending excessive time on relatively minor issues. I’ve served as a member and often leader of a variety of civic organizations from Scouts to a church board. In every case, I’ve observed the need for clear cut priorities to keep the group focused on what matters most.
3. Long range planning. One of my favorite quotes about personal or group planning is from the late Ted Engstrom, former CEO of World Vision: “We almost always overestimate what we can accomplish in one year, and underestimate what can be accomplished in five.” Some day I hope our children and grandchildren will thank us for looking beyond the immediate horizon. Truly, the urgent is always competing with the important. Long term planning helps us keep first things first.
4. Build ever stronger working relationships with our neighboring towns and local organizations including our schools, businesses, and the base. Although there are areas we may disagree, there are many areas of common interest where we can accomplish much more working together than separately. These include improving traffic flow throughout the region, the possible development of a regional sports park while open space still remains, and making sure the County and state don’t neglect our little corner of their world.
Those four issues may be too general for some, but I believe they are prerequisites for addressing the following four more specific issues::
5. Prudent use of Los Alamitos’ multi-million dollar reserves.
6. Traffic. I think lots can be done both short-term and long-term to alleviate congestion and thus reduce through traffic cutting through local residential neighborhoods. I’ll be putting up a detailed post on this topic by noon Wednesday, 9/10, but I’ve also addressed some aspects of it in “What’s wrong with this picture?“
7. Development, redevelopment, planning and zoning. The housing crash has created a dramatic slowdown in development, which makes this the ideal time for us to address this issue.
- Here’s looking at you! Coming soon to a lot near you?
I think it’s time to revisit exactly what sort of additional restrictions we need to place on new condos, apartments, and also single rebuilds and remodels. I’m not sure there’s a place for three story homes or developments in our overcrowded community. Working together, I believe we can do better.
8. Put the upcoming disposal contract out to bid. When the city doesn’t put a city contract out to bid, but just allows the current contractor to be the sole bidder, that can cost the taxpayers a lot of money. When that contract is for trash pickup, it costs every one of us twice–first for city trash collection, second for our own trash collection. I see no reason why the upcoming contract shouldn’t be up for bid. It’s my understanding that the current council majority agrees with me on this. They were not in the majority when the current, no-bid contract was approved. I intend to post more on this issue in the future.
Well, that’s where I stand on eight key issues, at least based on the info I currently have. There are many more issues facing the city, from coyotes to park maintenance to travel expenses, but the above eight are the biggest ones, from my perspective.
I’d love to hear what you think. If you don’t find a “comment” box below, simply click on the blue “Comment(s)” just under the headline, and you can freely express your opinion. Feel free to disagree, but let’s try to maintain a polite, “family-friendly” tone that we can all be proud of.
Sep
3
Yet another wild Council meeting
Filed Under City Council Meetings, Teamwork | 2 Comments
Wow. These Los Alamitos City Council meetings just keep getting stranger and stranger.
The good news is, this time most of the conflict wasn’t between Council Members.
The bad news is, it was between audience members! Primarily, between members of the “Citizens for the Preservation of Los Alamitos” and supporters of Mayor Ken Parker and Council Member Catherine Driscoll.
Audience members were booing, shouting, and applauding like they were watching an old-fashioned melodrama. Maybe they were.
The trouble is, it’s hard to get people to work together–or to work at all–when they’re busy fighting each other. There are too many serious challenges facing our little town for us to waste time throwing mud at each other.
Don’t get me wrong. Every citizen who spoke had serious concerns, and with maybe one or two exceptions they all seemed to be nice people with the best interest of Los Alamitos at heart.
Which is why I just don’t see why we can’t get beyond our differences to the things that unite us and the challenges that confront us.
Challenges like:
- The ever increasing traffic congestion on Katella, Los Al Blvd. and Farquhar, among others.
- Stabilization of city staff.
- Increasing sales tax revenue.
- Beautification of our aging town.
- Development issues like density and “mansionization.”
- Parking.
- Controlling expenditures and balancing the budget.
- Long range planning and goals.
- Controlling pests like coyotes, gophers, skunks and West Nile carrying mosquitoes (more on that later today).
–to name just a few.
I’m not saying our Council Members haven’t worked on these issues: I’m saying that all too often they haven’t worked as a team.
Way too many 3-2 votes–both over the last 4 years, and over the 4 years before. Doesn’t seem to matter which “side” is in control. Whoever has the power just doesn’t seem to think their opponents have anything to contribute. Kind of like the Army fighting the Marines instead of the enemy. Or like that last miserable year of the Shaq and Kobe Lakers.
Anyway, I’ll be posting my positions on each of the above issues over the next few weeks, and you’ll have complete freedom to comment right here on each of the as well.
For now, let me encourage you to post your own thoughts about what the most important issues are in our local election in Los Alamitos. It’s easy, and you can even use a made up nick name if you prefer. Just click “Comment” or “Comments” in blue under the headline above, and the form should appear. Please try to be respectful and concise.
If you encounter problems trying to post a comment, I’ll be your “tech support” at 562-822-7653. No wait, and I speak English fluently and won’t ask for your credit card number or tell you to reboot!
I plan to put up several new posts every week, so please stop by here again. Hopefully we’ll also have several interesting and constructive discussions going on between our citizens here as well.
In the mean time, if you scroll down you’ll find several more topics to explore, even a “What’s wrong with this picture?” challenge.
“BTW,” as the kids say, I could sure use some help, from yards to put my signs in to help passing out flyers in your neighborhood to just telling your Los Al friends about this site. You can use the same number to contact me, or e-mail RealtorDaveE “at” msn.com. You know what the “at” symbol is, but those web-crawling e-mail harvesting “spiders” don’t.
Working together in a spirit of cooperation and mutual respect, we can make our home town an even better place to live and raise a family!
Sep
3
Gophers in the outfield!
Filed Under About Dave Emerson | Leave a Comment
The baseball field at Little Cottonwood Park
I love Little Cottonwood Park here in Los Alamitos.
I’ve been jogging there for over twenty years. If you look real close, you can still find a one mile course marked off in 1/4 mile segments. I used to push our son around it as I ran–now he could probably push me.
I love the playground equipment that our Council had installed there a few years back. Several climbing walls, two age-appropriate play areas, even a bench for “Papa Dave” and “Mimi” to rest as we watch our grandkids play where we watched their mothers play 20 years ago.
But there are at least four things I don’t like about Little Cottonwood Park, and if you look closely, you can see at least two or three of them in the picture above.
See how many you can find–or think of, if you’re familiar with Little Cottonwood. I’ll post my answers in a day or two, along with some more photos, and some thoughts about dealing with the gophers that are invading parts of our city. You can post your thoughts and answers now, simply by clicking on the blue “Comment” or “Comments” under the headline above.
This picture shows are some of the things about Los Alamitos I want to help fix. I’m not saying our past or current City Councils haven’t tried to fix at least some of these things. I’m just saying that they haven’t succeeded yet, regardless of which “block” held the majority votes.
This is a “Web 2.0″ site, where you can participate as freely as you want, and where your comments post at the speed of light without censorship–as long as you maintain a polite tone and keep the language “family friendly.”
Because ultimately we all need to work together to make Los Alamitos as nice a place to live and raise a family as we want it to be.
