Feb
2
Seven Los Alamitos Goals for 2012:
Filed Under 2012 Issues, City Council, Highlands Guy's Thursday column | 4 Comments
(2/2/20120 by Highlands Guy:
I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a list of needs and wants or even a list of goals set forth by our esteemed City Council. So I thought I would offer a bit of fodder that they could incorporate into the process of developing a simple list of rational and achievable goals for the coming year.
A sidelight of this process, is that it might help the voters make a more informed decision in choosing their elected representatives, apart from campaign ads and opinions from neighbors.
These are not in any particular order, and obviously not comprehensive, but could offer those in City Hall some insight into the thoughts of those they govern.
Balanced Budget:
Our brethren in City Hall must absolutely treat the City budget like it is their own personal account. And unlike the next levels of government bodies, the City must not Read more
Jan
24
(1/24/2012 10 p.m. update:) Last night the Los Alamitos City Council moved forward on appointing a Deputy City Clerk to work for 20 hours a week, most likely through the end of the year.
The plan appears to be to not hire a full time City Clerk until next year, with the City Manager continuing to hold the formal title of City Clerk, with Department Secretary Windmera ”Windy” Quintanar and the new Read more
Jan
2
Your dreams for Los Alamitos?
Filed Under 2012 Issues, City Council, Inspiration | Leave a Comment
(Los Alamitos, 1/2/2012) In an excellent New Year’s Eve post JM Ivler discussed the power of sharing your goals for the new year with others, and provided us all with an opportunity to do just that.
Specific goals often flow from a broader vision, especially when it comes to communities. Most well run organizations devote significant resources to developing a shared vision.
What is our town’s vision statement? What vision drives goals and decisions made by city staff and elected officials? Read more
Dec
15
New Mayor, emergency repairs, trash, expanded staff & more onMonday’s Council Meeting
Filed Under 2011 Issues, City Council, City Council Meetings, Trash contraact, Troy Edgar | 10 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 12/15/2011, revised 12/16/2011) Monday night, 12/19/2011, will be the last Regular City Council meeting of the year, the last for City Manager Stewart, and the last for the next four weeks. There’s no shortage of interesting items on the agenda:
- Yet another “Consent Calendar” recommendation to postpone the second reading of the proposed trash contract revision, probably to Read more
Dec
8
Council votes to appeal trash suit while pursuing settlement
Filed Under City Council, Trash contraact, Troy Edgar | Leave a Comment
(Los Alamitos, 12/8/2011)Beginning at 7:30 this morning our City Council majority met in closed session with the City Attorney, City Manager Jeff Stewart, and incoming City Manager Angie Avery and for almost two and a half hours to discuss how to respond to Judge Banks ruling against the City. (Minority Council Members Mejia and Kusumoto had previously recused themselves.)
Mayor Stephens, Mayor pro tem Edgar, and Council Member Poe emerged with a response that kept their options alive. As our incoming City Manager stated, “The Council unanimously directed the City Attorney to Read more
Dec
6
Council Member Kusumoto recuses himself from Closed Sessions on trash suit
Filed Under City Council, Trash contraact | 7 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 12/6/2011) In a letter to Mayor Stephens dated yesterday Council Member Warren Kusumoto recused himself from from further closed sessions on the trash litigation. He cited four reasons (detailed below), including his perception that the fact that he is not a defendant in the 3rd Cause of Action (the corruption charge), while the three majority members are.
Since Council Member Mejia has already recused herself, this leaves only the three Council Members specifically named in the lawsuit to decide for themselves what to do, out of the public eye.
Ironically, it might appear that the Council Members accused of fraud in the suit have a greater conflict of interest in dealing with the matter than either Kusumoto or Mejia. Its pretty hard to put the city’s interest above your own when Read more
Nov
29
Council warned on costs to taxpayers
Filed Under 2011 Issues, City Council, Trash contraact | 6 Comments
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(11/29/11, Los Alamitos) Following is the initial text for J.M. Ivler’s Public Comments at last night’s Special City Council Session (right), addressing both the trash contract and selection of a City Manager, the two main items originally on the Council’s agenda (bolding, titles, & clarifications in brackets added by Dave):
Good evening, I am NOT going to discuss the criminal issue tonight as I want to give the City Manager the time to do the right thing.
Thoughts on hiring our next City Manager:
I am going to discuss the City Manager position a bit. In the LA/OC area a CEO of a non-profit about the size of our city gets a median salary of 90k. So why do we pay so much for a City Manager?
We need a City Manager with City experience, but more than that, with enthusiasm for the job. We were on the right track once before, when we took the City’s financial person and gave her a shot at the job. She did rather well, even Mr. Edgar had Read more
Nov
25
(Los Alamitos,11/25/11)Once again, H.G. comes through with a thoughtful, very timely piece, worth reading and discussing about a “great opportunity” confronting our City Council. Don’t miss the ICMA core values excerpt!)
by Highlands Guy: If you’re reading this you at least scan Let’s Fix Los Al, and are aware of the pending changes at City Hall.
What a great opportunity! Over the past couple of years there has been almost constant chatter about civic abuses, about corruption, and about ineffective City administration.
Please understand I am not pointing at anyone in the current administration: What I am saying is perhaps a change at the City Manager level could have a positive influence that reaches to the depths of City Hall.
While we don’t have any Read more
Nov
19
A stinky job? Stewart kicked off his two and a half years here smelling compost at the Base.
(Los Alamitos, 11/19/11)An unconfirmed report from a usually reliable source indicates that Los Alamitos City Manager Jeff Stewart will be leaving Los Alamitos on December 31 to become City Manager of Bellflower.
This is consistent with previous reports of Stewart applying for the City Manager positions in Lakewood and Seal Beach earlier this year. All three positions are also consistent with the desire Stewart expressed to me a year ago to work close to his Long Beach home.
At the time he told me that, Stewart was Read more
Nov
16
“Can’t we all just get along?”
Filed Under 2011 Issues, City Council, Teamwork, Trash contraact | 1 Comment
(Los Alamitos 11/16/11)For our readers who may not receive the News Enterprise, below is my submission on this coming Monday’s City Council Trash Contract vote that was published today as a Guest View)
Once again a not-so-civil war seems to be breaking out in Los Alamitos. What’s really going on? The roots of the current conflict go back over 50 years!
Nov
10
Increased crime, traffic, noise? This is why:
Filed Under 2011 Issues, City Council, Crime & Police, Highlands Guy's Thursday column, Rossmoor, Seal Beach, Traffic | 13 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 11/10/11) by Highlands Guy: Over the last year I have read a number of Let’s Fix Los Al posts from a bunch of disgruntled local folks in Rossmoor and Los Alamitos. Their comments revolved around an increase in crime, traffic, noise and air pollution, and any semblance to the area’s former small town ambiance.
It’s not rocket science, this is Read more
Nov
7
Your reporting & comments on tonight’s Council Meeting
Filed Under City Council, Trash contraact, Your reporting & comments | 14 Comments
(11/7/2011, Los Alamitos) Tonight’s 7 p.m. Los Alamitos City Council Meeting includes a brazen attempt to force local residents to continue with the fifth highest trash contract, despite Judge Banks ruling of three weeks ago.
How the Council got this far with no Read more
Oct
11
What I learned from the City Manager’s Trash Talk Challenge
Filed Under 2010 Candidate Statements, City Council, Trash contraact | 50 Comments
(10/11/2011, Los Alamitos) Did you know that the process adopted by our Council for bidding the trash contract penalized six of the seven bidders for bidding too low?
Yup–you read that right. . . Ken Stephens & Marilyn Poe’s ad hoc committee picked a process that penalized 6 of the 7 bidders for bidding too low!!!
That and several other interesting facts were originally revealed here a year and a half ago in the following post.
I’m repeating it because it provides a great deal of background into the details of the trash fiasco Council Members Edgar, Stephens, and Poe got us into when they voted to break the law Edgar had voted to pass and force local residents and businesses to pay the second highest bid amount for trash service.
The article also contains several suggestions which could have saved the city extensive staff time and legal costs, not to mention the cost of rebidding. Oh yeah, it could have saved the residents and businesses roughly $700,000 for every year we’re still paying Consolidated’s inflated fees. The comments from a year and a half ago are also interesting.
So, time for a little history lesson, as we take a stroll down (bad) memory lane. . .
[Text added today is in brackets, like this]
(5/14/2010, Los Alamitos) As I indicated elsewhere on this site, a week ago Los Alamitos City Manager Jeff Stewart challenged me to read through key documents related to the ongoing Waste Disposal bid dispute.
I’m glad I did, but the results may not have been what Mr. Stewart apparently hoped for. The more I read, the more furious I became. Looking in detail at the process by which our City Council decided to go with the found additional support for some of my concerns. Here’s some of what I learned:
I’m glad our Trash Contract went out to bid
For one thing, we all owe a big “thank you” to Read more
Oct
10
“The process was corrupted. . . NOW is the time”
Filed Under 2010 Issues, 2011 Issues, City Council, George Briggeman, Trash contraact, Troy Edgar | 7 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 10/10/2011)Note from Dave E. Last Friday I requested statements from the “Citizens,” from the City, from C.Mgr. Stewart, from Mayor Stephens, and from Mayor pro tem Edgar. So far the following is all I’ve received. I look forward to printing statements from our city officials, both elected and hired, once I receive them.
Citizen For A Fair Trash Contract press release:
On Friday 10/7/11 the Hon. Andrew P. Banks issued a ruling from the bench in favor of the Citizens for a Fair Trash Contract, stating the City Council violated their own City Ordinance in the awarding of the Read more
Oct
10
Judge rules Los Al City Council “broke the law!”
Filed Under C.P.L.A. & L.A.T.A., City Council, Decency, George Briggeman, Trash contraact, Troy Edgar | 29 Comments
(Los Alamitos, 10/7/2011, updated) This afternoon, after reviewing hundreds of pages of documents submitted to him by the attorneys for Los Alamitos, Consolidated Disposal, and Citizens for a Fair Trash Contract, Superior Court Judge Alan Banks ruled that, despite months of obfuscation by the city, Consolidated, and the best attorney’s a seven million dollar overcharge could by, the obvious is still true: The Council Majority broke the law when the awarded the solid waste disposal contract franchise for Los Alamitos businesses and residents to the fifth highest bidder. As a result, Read more