There’s a lot on the schedule for this week’s City Council meeting. I’m going to cover it in two parts. Today we’ll look at some general items and tomorrow we’ll look at the campaign finance and ethics issues raised by Mayor Pro Tem Adam Nick.
BURNING DOWN THE CITY (Item 18)
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The City Council is considering allowing “state approved fireworks” as a result of a request from an ETHS booster club to raise funds. Because the Council refused to allow a community foundation that would be able to help the booster club raise funds, the booster club people are eyeing the idea of firework sales which do generate income in several other cities.
But we are not like many other cities. The staff report points out that -
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“Lake Forest is uniquely located in an area that is likely sensitive to firework activity. Specifically, the City is located near County and Federal parkland such as Whiting Ranch, Limestone Park, and the Cleveland National Forest. In addition, the City features unique communities such as the eucalyptus forest in the area of Jeronimo Road and “The Woods” area along Toledo Way. Additionally, parts of the City are located in either “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones” or “High and Moderate Fire Hazard Severity Zones.”
So what works in cities like Costa Mesa and Westminster is not suited for Lake Forest due to our vulnerability to fire.
Here are some factoids from the staff report about the use of fireworks -
Only 8 cities in OC allow them (Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Stanton, Westminster, Villa Park). Huntington Beach allowed it for a 2 year trial period and then resumed the ban in 2013.
In 2013 there were 39 firework related injuries in OC - 23% of these were from “state approved” fireworks and 54% were from unknown fireworks.
The group most at risk for injuries are children below the age of 7 (36% of all injuries), followed by adults (28%), children 8 to 16 (23%), and young adults 17 to 21 (13%).
In 2013 there was $202,500 in property damage for OC Fire Authority cities alone.
5 of the top 6 cities requiring police services for fireworks were cities that allowed fireworks, and they averaged 5 to 10 times as many calls on a per capita basis.
Here is brief summary of the downsides (identified by staff) to allowing fireworks
Fire dangers to “high risk areas”
Increased Police calls
Increased street cleanup costs
Disturbances to household pets (and possible dog runaways)
(BTW – Kudos to Carlo Tomaino, Senior Management Analyst, for an excellent report chock full of data, good analyses, and sound conclusions. It’s rare to see in a City report, so keep up the good work!)
So it makes no sense to consider allowing fireworks, unless, of course, the fireworks manufacturers are planning to contribute to the campaign committees of the City Council members. But for the rest of us, it could be nothing short of disastrous.
As a result, the staff report urges the Council not to approve the sale of fireworks. It suggests other ways to raise funds -
“As an option to fireworks sales, staff suggests that the City Council could provide an opportunity to work collaboratively with the high school booster clubs to develop alternative fund raising opportunities. In this fashion, it may be possible to realize the additional fundraising goals of these groups without potentially creating other risks and costs to the community.”
You really have to laugh when you read this. Is this the same staff that refused to activate the Lake Forest Community Foundation? Is this the same Council that refused to vote for the staff to investigate the idea of activating the foundation? In light of the City’s new found desire to help community groups, doesn’t it make more sense to have a central mechanism in place to do this, rather than handle each one of the issues on an ad hoc basis?
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (Item 16)
The Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce (LFCC) is asking for $15,000 to continue the good work they do in promoting business in the City. Among other things, in the past year the LFCC
Co-sponsored the “Introduction to Government Contracting” workshop with the City of Lake Forest and the Small Business Administration.
Held monthly “Lunch and Learn Roundtables Lunches” at various business locations to provide the hosting businesses with added exposure.
Co-sponsored the State of the City/Meet the Mayor event held in March 2014.
Collaborated with the City on a New Business Reception event welcoming new businesses to the City and providing access to ample business resources.
Organized various ribbon-cutting events throughout the year and coordinated with City staff to promote new businesses.
Looks like a no brainer. It seems to me that Lake Forest is still behind our neighbors in filling vacant retail stores, and the people at LFCC work extremely hard at promoting our City and our businesses. $15,000 is a good investment in our economic well being. The only addition I’d like to see to their contract is some KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that show us what the results are from each of the events the LFCC sponsor. After all, the goal is not to have an event per se (although some Council members seem to think it is), but rather to increase sales, create more jobs, bring more businesses into the City, prevent more businesses from leaving the City, hire more Lake Forest residents for Lake Forest businesses, etc. So a few more KPIs would make their ambitious plans even more valuable.
PUTTING LAKE FOREST FIRST (Item 17)
The City is going to spend about $30,000 to print the booklets for the annual “Shop and Dine” program that will be held Sept. 7 to 14. The good news is that the money is going to a Lake Forest business, the PM Group. Now if we could only get more of the other 98% of our budget that is spent outside the city to be spent on people and businesses in the city, things would be really looking up. Kudos to Jessica Gonzales and Dave Belmer for spending Lake Forest money in Lake Forest.
BTW – The “Shop and Dine” program started by Ms. Gonzales is great fun and if you haven’t already attended, please plan on doing so this year.
COMING UP THIS WEEK
Outside the exalted chambers, there are a few items to remind you about –
Traffic Education Forum
Wednesday May 7 – Foothill Ranch Library, 6:00 pm to 7:40 pm
Come to the forum and learn why everything is OK and how whatever isn’t OK will be fixed. Bring your questions and comments.
Planning Commission
Thursday May 8 – 7:00 pm, City Hall
Some interesting stuff, including more booze in the City and discussion #3 on residential parking standards.
Secrets and Strategies to Business Success
Friday May 9 – 8:30 am to 1:30 pm, City Hall
This is the 8th annual popular event co-sponsored by the City and the Chamber of Commerce. This event is free and many people find it worthwhile. Contact lisatooley@cox.net for more info.
BTW - I’ll be at all of these events so please come by and say hello.
Tomorrow we’ll discuss Mayor Pro Tem Adam Nick’s efforts to improve our government. On Wednesday we’ll resume our series on “Voigts’ Broken Promises” with Part 2 of a six-part series. On Thursday we’ll cover the upcoming Planning Commission meeting, and get back to Voigts for your weekend enjoyment.
