“Smiling faces sometimes pretend to be your friend
Smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within
Smiling faces, smiling faces sometimes
They don't tell the truth uh
Smiling faces, smiling faces
Tell lies and I got proof”
“Smiling Faces Sometimes”, 1971, Norman Whitfield & Barrett Strong
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Pretending that he’s still the Mayor of Lake Forest, Scott Voigts sent out an e-mail last week asking for help “seeking re-election.”
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
VOIGTS WORK IS NOT DONE.
In his e-mail Voigts says “my work is not done”, but those of us who know his record know that it was never started. For example –
Voigts said “I’ll increase law enforcement…” but the only thing he increased was the cost of law enforcement. We are paying more now than when he entered office and getting less. For example, for more than a year the City went without an officer coordinating the vital Neighborhood Watch program.
Voigts said he would “…keep our community safe.” But we are much less safe now than ever before! There have been more murders in Lake Forest since Voigts took office than in 9 other South County cities combined! In 2013 murder, forcible rape, robberies, offenses against children, DUIs, narcotics and weapons violations all increased!
Voigts said he would “Synchronize traffic signals…” but 3 years after he took office, traffic lights still aren’t synchronized and he voted to delay it even longer.
Voigts said he would “…attract and retain businesses and create jobs…” but we lost more businesses and we now have more vacant storefronts. Projected growth in sales tax revenues for Lake Forest is only half the level for the rest of the County. We now spend less money on people and businesses in our City than 3 years ago when Voigts joined the Council.
I could go on, but you get the point. Voigts has done almost nothing that he promised to do. Click here for a more detailed examination of his broken promises.
VOIGTS’ CONSERVATIVE RECORD?
In his e-mail, Voigts talks about his “conservative pro-business principles” yet during the past 3 years this is what he’s actually done –
He voted himself and other officials expensive iPads instead of less expensive tablets that would have done the job just as well. Then he voted to continue getting paper copies of the agendas, obviating any savings achieved by buying the iPads.
He voted to spend $14K per year to save his time filling out state mandated campaign forms, with no value for the taxpayers.
He spends thousands of taxpayer dollars taking trips on the City’s money while his peers (Council members Nick, Robinson, & Bass) spent $0.
He voted to impose new fines and to impose the greatest increase in waste hauling fees in the City’s history, impacting small businesses the most.
Is that what we expect from a “conservative”?
VOIGTS’ RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In his e-mail, Voigts does not list a single accomplishment. He is being too modest. There are a few good things that happened on Voigts’ watch, even though most of them were supported by other members of the Council. But in terms of a single important step the City took in the past 3 years that was initiated by Voigts, he’s right to leave the paragraph blank.
Tomorrow we’ll discuss the harm that Voigts has done to the City. That list is a long one, compared to his list of achievements, which is essentially a blank page.
