3/22 1 p.m. update: So far the most controversial aspects of last night’s 2 Los Alamitos City Council meetings appear to relate to Mayor Pro Tem Edgar & Mayor Stephens’ treatment of Rossmoor’s Community Services District President, so I’ve modified the title of our regular “your reporting” post to more accurately reflect the comments to this point. To skip directly to the comments, click here.
(Los Alamitos, 3/21/2011) Once again it’s your turn to be the reporter, whether watching in person, on LosAlTV3 live or delayed. Now that we’re configured for mobile apps you can even report live from the meeting itself!
Please include a brief description of what you’re commenting on–many of our readers don’t have access to LosAlTV3.
Click here for the agenda for the 5:30 p.m. special meeting on LosAl TV3. Scroll down for the staff report. This agenda is in .pdf format.
Click here for the agenda for the 7 p.m. regular meeting, complete with links to all staff reports.
In your comments, please focus on issues and use family
friendly language. It’s fine to just report on the part of the meeting you saw or that intrigued you–the goal is to get impressions from a variety of residents, and to facilitate immediate discussion of what’s going on.
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Related posts:
- Your reporting and comments on tonight’s Los Alamitos City Council meeting, 4/4/2011
- Your reporting and comments on tonight’s Los Alamitos City Council meeting, 4/17/2011
- Your reporting & comments on tonight’s 7/19/2010 Los Al Council meeting
- Your real-time and later reporting and comments on tonight’s (5/18) Los Alamitos City Council Meeting
At the meeting Edgar sat on the dais and did exactly what he doesn’t want the public to do to him. He conducted a diatribe against Rossmoor residents because they care and came to a workshop. Poe also felt the same way. They are still reeling over the fact that 150 people would show up for a workshop.
Rossmoor is different from Los Al, it has residents who pay attention and care. Get used to it.
It seems that Edgar thinks that anyone who comes to a meeting to speak should agree with everything he says. It’s never going to happen, get used to it. You are in the wrong job if you take everything personally. Not everybody thinks the way you do.
Los Alamitos doesn’t need a survey It should go to a vote of the people.
Poe was right when she said a survey can be worded to create an outcome or goal that is desired. She should know, it works the same way when your on an ad hoc to find the best trash company.
Of course now that the shoes on the other foot, both of them are crying foul.
When you dish it out all the time you must know that sometimes your going to have to take it. Stop crying, there is no crying in politics
OK bloggers see it for yourself tonight on Channel 3 LATV at 7:PM. A rerun of last nights dissing of Rossmoor.
Without a doubt that WAS the most embarrassing city council meeting in Los Al this year.
It is running neck in neck with the Lisette toothbrush and dollar bill performance.
First of all the Mayor needs to stop acting like he is the head of the supreme court. He has no opinion and then he does a lock down on all discussion from the council and the visiting General Manager of Rossmoor.
It is so obvious that he is still the puppet and Edgar is the real Mayor. Just watch for yourself Edgar was calling all the shots as usual.
And oh, what happened to the city attorney? Did she have an out of body experience or what? She actually tried to impose the proper Rules of Order and I thought Edgar was going to snap. Ms Levin you better watch your step. or you will be out the door.
Poe said she wanted Rossmoor to do what they want to do, but then as usual she was speaking out of both sides of her mouth. She and Stephens voted with Edgar to crash a party they were not invited to. AKA the POLL.
Edgar is worried that the poll will be unbalanced. I believe he would be correct there because he was involved in a push poll during an election that was also “unbalanced”. So he has some experience in “unbalanced”, he seems to think everyone but himself is “unbalanced”
He thinks that everyone , but himself is irresponsible. The Los Al residents who get up to speak, the leaders of Rossmoor, everybody but him is irresponsible.
I think everybody including Edgar should watch the meeting tonight and judge for yourself or record it and watch it later.
What is the big deal? No one cared when Troy sold out Los Al for the trash contract, big deal he turned his back on the concerns of the residents with regard to the hospital and down town deals made for the revitalization. Ask the Chamber Pres how she had the heads up to move her business just before the plan came out. Now Troy is getting ready to take over the fourth corner cause he can, no matter the consiquence or what any resident might want. I guess I can only laugh now when I see the poor turn out at each council meeting. It seems there are only 4 people who care enough to turn off the TV and drive a block or two.
THE FAT LADY IS SINGING…
IN TROY WE TRUST!
Fair and Balanced missed the main point, that of Warren Kusumoto being JM Ivler’s puppet again as he walks in lock step with Gerri Mejia. At least Edgar sided with Kusumoto on the change in the public addressing the council during agenda items.
I don’t even show up and Chukie-poo has a conniption fit.
@ JTF III:
Please be sure to get your facts straight. I’ve known Warren Kusumoto since our sons were in Boy Scouts together years ago, and Warren Kusumoto is nobody’s “puppet” (with the possible exception of his wife, for Warren is also a wise husband!).
The facts are that JM Ivler wanted 5 minutes max per speaker at public comments at the start of each meeting and at the start of each item on the agenda.
Council Member Kusumoto structured a compromise of 5 minutes at the start and a maximum of 3 minutes per speaker at the start of each agenda item, a proposal which all five Council Members voted for on Monday night.
For me, that was the highlight of Monday’s Council Meetings, and hopefully an indicator of things to come.
Our community and our Council will function best when we all work together to find compromises we can all support.
And that, my friend, is a fact!
@ Just the Facts III
I would hope to change your opinion about puppets and the like, but I doubt that I will. However, please feel free to contact me at my home number and I can share my thoughts and viewpoints regarding any number of topics that you want to discuss. At the very least you’ll have something more than just hollow words to post that provides a good chuckle for me once in a while.
As I stated during the Council meeting: I believe that we are too late to join in with the RCSD poll, and I do not see where we as a City would have any interest in how a neighboring community gathers information from their constituents, nor do I see where there is any value to our City by joining in and teaming up with the RCSD in order to hear the voices of our constituents, the Residents of the City of Los Alamitos. We can do this independently of any action or initiatives that are enacted by the RCSD. “Let Rossmoor do what Rossmoor needs to do”.
And just for my understanding; where do you stand on the issue of Los Alamitos belatedly attempting to join in with RCSD on a telephone poll to gather Rossmoor Resident’s input, as well as Los Alamitos Resident’s input, on the notion of petitioning the County Government to have specific ‘latent powers’ to purchase specific services from whoever they desire?
And, presuming that you’re a Los Al resident, what input can you provide to the Council regarding your opinion on RCSD’s desire to understand the wants and needs of Rossmoor Residents? Why should we as a City have an interest in a joint poll?
I believe that we as a Council body (yes, this includes both Council Member Graham-Mejia and me, despite that we voted against the motion), we approved the expenditure of up to $10,300.00 to join in and participate in the RCSD telephone poll. I’m concerned that we allocated this money without clear expectations and specific outputs or products defined. What is the statement of work, the schedule and the deliverables?
I would like to see the Council gather information from our Residents and business owners on the “big picture” issue of the dynamics between LAFCO and Rossmoor before I would be willing to make any motions, discuss and debate any Agenda items, or arrive at any decisions that have the potential for significant impacts to our City.
A final question for “Just the Facts III”: after all that I said during the discussions on this Agenda Item, if I had voted in favor of Mayor Pro Tem Edgar’s motion, along with the other Council Member and Mayor, so that the motion passed 4-to-1, then in your opinion, I wouldn’t be viewed by you as a ‘puppet’?
Actually, I’m waiting for Troy to fight as hard for the City of Los Alamitos to poll the citizens over the comment that the newspapers have attributed to both he and Mr.Stewart. At the meeting prior to this, in discussion over the development of Los Al Blvd. our news reporters have indicated that there was some discussion of the TWO MILLION DOLLAR price tag coming from the City Reserves.
Troy doesn’t seem to have any interest in outreach to anyone who will be affected with the plan to choke traffic on the cities major north-south street. He doesn’t have any interest in holding any types of public meetings that would permit the parents of the almost 2000 affected students from LAHS to have any input in the process. And now it seems he is willing to raid the City Reserves to pay for the boondoggle. Again, without public meetings, polls or anything other than getting Briggeman and Green Street Interiors to agree that it’s good for them (Since they are the same Chamber of Commerce people that funded and supported his campaign, after he voted to give them $6K of our tax dollars).
Yet he has the audacity to attempt to dictate to the governance of Rossmoor. He has the audacity to say that the citizens of this city want to take away our neighbors primary sales tax revenue against their wishes. Without a poll. Without a so-much as by-your-leave. Without community discussion. He knows all because he says so!
No! King Edgar knows all, he is wise, he is all knowing, he is omnipresent and omnipotent. We must change the sign behind him to In Troy We Trust.
And before ANYONE says that this is an unfair attack on Mr. Edgar. I have the last two meetings on DVD and will be more than willing to put together a clip of where he blows off the idea of getting community input on spending over two million dollars of our money on his Los Al Blvd boondoggle for his financial contributors, and how he whines about polling over Rossmoor getting input from their community on whether they should get latent powers.
Hey Mr. Edgar (and his majority). If you believe that the Los Al Blvd deal is so good, let the people agree to pay for it. Los Alamitos citizens have no problem taxing themselves when they believe in a project. You have to look no further than the bonds we have approved for the LAUSD time and time again. If this is such a good deal, and you believe the people will support the changes you wish to make to Los Alamitos Blvd, then don’t steal the money from the reserves, but put it to a vote. Have the people vote to put ourselves in debt and pay additional taxes by putting on the ballot a bond issue for the residents to vote on. That comes to about $174.69 per person based on the 2010 census. Add in the interest per person for the 5 years to repay the bond and it’s a bit over $250/person or about $1000 for a family of four. So, this shouldn’t be a hard sell for you Mr. Edgar. For less that $1.00/day for 5 years you can have a nice new downtown with less parking and slower traffic.
Instead of worrying about Rossmoor (and kissing up to your political mentor), why don’t you start worrying about the city where YOU sit on the city council.
After watching the last Los Alamitos City Council meeting, I am thinking there are more than a couple of residents who are sorry they voted for Troy Edgar.
Brad Sheridan would have been a much better choice. In today’s local paper their is a nice item about Brad and Lynn Sheridan on page 10.
They were honored with a Hero of the Heart award for all the hard work they have done for LAE. Brad Sheridan was also a member and chair of the Traffic Commission for many years.
Thank you Sheridan’s for your love and commitment to your community.
To Warren: At the council meeting during which the Medical Center plan was first discussed, JM Ivler, during the Oral Communications portion of that meeting, wanted the City Council to return the issue back to the Planning Commission. Then the item was discussed by the City Council. What did Warren have to say about the Medical Center study. He made the motion to return the item to the Planning Commission, and puppetly seconded by Mejia, just like Ivler told him to do during Oral Communications. Check the record.
If you think for one minute that JM was the only person who was thinking/saying “send this back to the planning commission” you are sadly mistaken.
Since Edgar has said many times the LAMC has been in this process for years, what would another month have hurt in the bigger picture?????
By bigger picture I mean the residents, the traffic, the fact that there is nothing in place to make sure the project is completed. Not everyone is as gullible as you.
I hope you are alive in 10 years so we can revisit this conversation at that time. I can’t wait.
@ Just the Facts III
Ahh – you’re drawing a conclusion based on what transpired in this one example. You have applied inductive logic to arrive at your (wrong) conclusion.
You’re assuming that I made my motion because a member of the public made a suggestion.
I guess you’re assuming that I cannot arrive at my own conclusions based on information that I’m able to obtain by researching, reading and listening.
If you recall, my motion to return the Specific Plan to the Planning Commission is based on my understanding of Los Al Municipal Code 17-52.050 (2)(b), because I believe that there are changes in the Specific Plan application that were not considered by the Planning Commission.
Anyways, please call me and I would be happy to explain my thoughts and reasoning relative to the LAMC Specific Plan, and then perhaps I might be able to convince you that I’m not a puppet and that I can think, analyze and arrive at a conclusion.
According to Chuckie Sylvia it seems that Dave Emerson, Art DeBolt, Cat Driscole, Ken Parker, Gerri Mejia, and now Warren are all under some evil devil spawn spell by yours truly. I am the “puppet master” and these people are all my minions.
When someone loses touch with reality at this level the really should be placed in a nice well padded room and looked after by professional staff.
Dave, Warren and I apparently can not come to the same conclusion based on a review of the same facts unless it’s a conspiracy.
My statement was that there were enough material changes between the original approval by the Planning Commission and the changes instituted by the City Council that I felt that there was a material difference and that both the Planning and Traffic Commissions should take the time to go through another round of reviews. Unlike Warren, I didn’t look at the City Code, I was basing it on what I felt had been enough changes instituted by the City Council as to make the item materially different than what had been reviewed previously.
My background for this was based in software development. We had a spec (set of requirements) and there were major changes to that spec, so the entire project must be reviewed again. It’s how I ran software development when I was a CTO, and how I was taught to do software development when I was a low level droid working in aerospace. It just made sense to run it past the committees one more time, just like software that had major changes in spec would go back through the process from the start one final time.
Chuckie, do the people a favor and seek professional help for your delusions.
JM–
Whatever you say, oh wise one. . . .
During the Council Race Mr Sylvia proclaimed that Candidates Kusumoto, Mejia-Graham, & Sheridan were my “puppets.” So I guess I should be upset on you horning in on my territory.
Just the day before Mr. Sylvia’s comment, one of my evil minions, Candidate Sheridan, being the “LOS ANGELES LAWYER” that he is, politely rebuffed several strong suggestions I made to him, so we both got a laugh of Mr. S’s analysis.
What I wouldn’t give to have our “LOS ANGELES LAWYER” on the City Council instead of our CYPRESS CEO Edgar. Oh well. . . 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.
Especially when you’re massively outspent!
WOW! Talk about egos. Now Ivler knows more than the City Attorney as to what constitutes “material difference”. I know that Warren had a hard time understanding what the City Attorney was saying about “material differences”. It sounds as though you two need to join Chuckie in that padded room.
John, John, John …. everybody knows you are Mr. Los Al, you speak for us all at council meetings and have only “our” interests at heart. Just LOL that you are now the ‘puppet master’ when those that know realize it really is DeBolt who even has you wired. There will never be a Council that you approve of — even if we put Freeman back in power, return the Parker/Driscol team, and ad the Hero of the School Sheridan with Mejia as the balancing act.
We’d no longer need ‘Lets Fix Los Al’ cuz everything would be perfect. People would be dancing in the streets of this little bedroom city, not worried about programs being cut, plasma TV’s being watched by our electeds or visiting his honor in the city’s trailer park. Theres an election in two years, you can have what you want. We can return cigar smoking to the Council Chamber, remove God and put in Islam on the walls. Things will be so perfect. Can’t wait.
“Just The Facts:” (the original, I take it, not to be confused with JTF II or JTFIII)
While your acerbic keyboard always stirs up interest and comments, I really think you’d be more persuasive if you could learn to express your concerns diplomatically.
When you remain diplomatic and focus on the facts you bring a valuable perspective to the conversation, but when you start name-calling, insulting, and making things up, your posts lose their effectiveness.
On the other hand, your latest post does serve to model some of the things we encourage those who post here to avoid, although I do appreciate your using “family friendly language,” albeit in not that friendly a manner.
As a community here, I would encourage our other posters to avoid the temptation to respond in kind, but to diplomatically stick to the facts in your response and not lowering your post to the level of “Just the Facts” last post.
Let’s keep it civil, discuss our differences diplomatically, seek to understand more than to be understood, and work together on the things we all agree on.
I’ve lived long enough to know that someone’s intelligence or character is not determined by how much they agree things the way I do. When I forget that, it reflects poorly on my intelligence and character, not theirs.
I really hope that you don’t stop taking your kind and happy pills.
It’s people like you who give Los Alamitos a bad name. Edgar, Poe and Stephens are going to have to pay a heavy price for what they have done and Edgar whose ego is as big as China will have his hands full now that he has once again shown his true colors of being a self centered ego maniac. I can only sit back and watch the fire burn as my desire to have our local fireman pull out the hose and put out the fire is just not there. Edgar has put himself into the place that he deserves and the wrath that is coming will be fierce.
Thank you for always bringing my name up and trying to slam me. The thing is, people don’t listen to people like you. You are hateful and you offer nothing to help the community. I would really like it if you would step away from being such a coward and actually post your real name and have enough guts to come face to face to those who you wish to insult on this website. Now as for me, I always welcome one you haters to show up and make your comments to my face. Oh that’s right – you can’t do that. You have to hide behind an unknown name.
Regards,
Catherine Driscoll
I was going to respond, but let’s be real. It’s just a series of attacks on me and there is no response that can be made to malicious and hate filled spew that lacks any basis in reality.
For instance, there never was cigar smoking in the council chamber (or at least none that I know of) and considering my argument on the plaque behind the council members had to do with the endorsement of monotheism, and last time I check Islam is a monotheistic religion…
Like I said, the lack of reality testing is beyond the absurd. I’m sure I’m just despicable for pointing that out, but as the third poster to semi-address the incoherent rant over the fact that it’s twisted and warped drivel, one has to wonder why it was even posted.
I really must have pissed Chuckie and his friends off since they don’t even bother to do anything more than attack me personally. What I say in my posts is not the issue, it’s all just attack. Maybe the fact that Chuckie is a certified liar, who published lies to every household in Los Alamitos about three people with the intent to damage their reputations, and he was called out for it, has them foaming at the mouth to find a scapegoat for their anger at their own personal failings. Not being a licensed psychotherapist I don’t have the answer, but I can tell that they have lost touch with reality, and that is a pity.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
I am so glad that we have JM Ivlar to get up and point out the real facts.
Good for him! I wish we had 100 more like him.
We may get our wish if we annex Rossmoor and I’m looking forward to it.
At least those people know how to stand up for themselves.