Here are the coming attractions for the next few months for the "City Watch” column.
CONTINUING SERIES
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Put Lake Forest First
Once per month we’ll re-examine spending by the City on people and businesses in the City. In 2013 the City sank to an all-time low of spending less than 2% of the budget on our own. And we’ll report any new developments to help Lake Forest businesses.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Bad City Reports
Once per month we will dissect a City report to see how many flaws we can find. Bear in mind that the Council uses City reports to make decisions, so if the reports are flawed, how can we expect good decisions.
The Voigts Void
The bumbling Mayorship of Scott Voigts left us with more than a dozen unresolved issues of major importance to the City. Each month we’ll see how many of these issues remain unresolved. So far the index is a big fat 0% - not a single issue has been resolved. In fact, not a single issue has even been addressed. Of course it’s only January and there has been only one meeting so far. Let’s hope things change.
Is it Safe?
That’s what Laurence Olivier asked Dustin Hoffman, and that’s the question we’ll be asking. We’ll continue to look at the City’s record with regard to crime statistics and crime solving abilities. And we’ll report any new developments about Musick Jail and the threat of maximum security prisoners living less than a mile from our City boundary.
NEW SERIES
House of Lies
Our City Council was the home of so many lies last year that it’s a disgrace. In a 10-part series we’ll delve into detail about each of these lies and show you the evidence, and more importantly, the people who told the lies. And as new lies come up we’ll expose them too.
I Can’t Get No Satisfaction
The Rolling Stones couldn’t get it, but apparently the City does. The City refers to its biennial satisfaction study as “the bible” and trots it out every few weeks whenever anyone is critical of something the City is doing. We’ll go in depth through this survey and you will be amazed about some of the things we’ll find.
Public Notes/Open Letters
Last year I send a box load of personal notes to City staff, Council, and Commission members. Most of them were to no avail, and many of them went unanswered even though they were legitimate questions asked or issues raised by a taxpaying citizen registered to vote in Lake Forest. This year, when I send such a note I will also put in on The Patch.
FUTURE SERIES
Of course there’s no telling what kinds of good things and what kinds of mischief the staff, the Council and/or the Commissions will be up to, so it’s hard to know what we will cover. But if it’s good or bad, and it’s happening in City government and it’s going to impact our lives in Lake Forest, you can expect to find it here.
BTW – many people are kind enough to e-mail me their comments about stories, and while I definitely and whole heartedly appreciate the feedback, a lot of this material would be better suited as comments on The Patch rather than personal e-mails to me. There are a lot of good ideas and valuable feedback, and it’s better to share it with a wider audience than merely with me.
