Put Lake Forest First - Part 8 (September's Song)

A few weeks ago in Part 1 of this series I looked at city spending and reported that based on July 2012 it looked like less than 5% of the city’s spending went to people and businesses in Lake Forest.

After a city worker wondered if it was fair to look only at July, I looked at August in Part 5. Turns out August was worse! Of more than $4,000,000 spent in that month, only 2% stayed in Lake Forest.

So now that the City has paid its bills for September 2012, it seemed like a good idea to re-examine the findings.

In September the City of Lake Forest spent $3,847,848.30. Here’s a list of the top 15 recipients (excluding utilities) for the month of September, along with their city.

•  Environmental Construction, $756,554.09, Woodland Hills
•  All American Asphalt, $422,437.36, Corona
•  EBS General Engineering, $386,947.87, Corona
•  Best Best & Krieger, $181,253.96, Irvine
•  Spectrum Care, $115,241.46, LAKE FOREST
•  CREF Pacific Vista, $100,831.74, Goleta
•  Marina Landscape, $46,229.39, Anaheim
•  RJM Design Group, Inc. $38,521.13 San Juan Capistrano
•  Griffin Structures, $37,890.00, Laguna Beach
•  Synoptek, $34,567.91, Boise, Idaho
•  Anderson Penna, $33,382.50, Phoenix
•  Civilsource, $29,061.25, Irvine
•  Toyota of Huntington Beach, $29,994.71, Huntington Beach
•  The PM Group, $19,085.70, LAKE FOREST
•  Grand Point Bank, $14,306,69, Los Angeles
•  Shelterclean, $12,755.00, New York

The good news is that in contrast to July and August, where only one Lake Forest business appeared in the Top 15, here in September we found two Lake Forest companies.

The bad news is that lots and lots of money is still being spent outside our city. The two Lake Forest companies combined earned a mere $134,327 while the other 13 businesses received $2,259,061. In other words, among the top 15 businesses, Lake Forest businesses received only 6% of the total. That’s not much, but it sure beats the 2% our businesses earned in August.

But that’s not the whole picture. While the top 15 companies earned $2.2 million, the City spent an additional $1.6 million and when we  look at total spending, Lake Forest businesses and people received $158,128.71 of the $3.8 million – just 4%.

If you’re interested, here’s a list of the 23 people and businesses in Lake Forest who received checks from the City in September –

1. Debby McCamon, $160.00 (Teen Camp)
2. Ameci Pizza, $56.80
3. Award Creations, $80.81 (lapel pins)
4. C&V Consulting, $1550.00 (design services)
5. Din Ho, $560.00
6. El Conejito, $149.61
7. ETHS, $1860 (refreshments for Parade volunteers)
8. Kids Imagine, $200.00,
9. Minuteman Press, $124.94
10. LF Chamber of Commerce, $3750
11. LFCA, $425 (room rental)
12. LF Electric, $7448.21
13. Monogram Magic, $24.24 (uniform)
14. Peppinos, $422.13
15. Saddleback Signs, $1454.75
16. Schlotzky, $343.63
17. South Coast Trophy, $59.27
18. Spectrum Care, $115,241.46
19. Spectrum Awards, $1523.87
20. Studio Two, $94.82 (printing)
21. Sunrise Bagel, $66.45
22. Team One, $3447.02 (janitorial)
23. The PM Group, $19,085.70 (printing)

This is good news for Lake Forest businesses, but we are still sending checks to other cities for printing, food, maintenance, instructors, entertainers, auto repair, janitors, office supplies, etc.

As I said earlier, this research isn’t fool proof. The motorcycle mechanic who bills us from Orange might actually live in Lake Forest. OTOH, the only Lake Forest company that shows up consistently in our list of top recipients might be located in Lake Forest, but it may employ people from elsewhere.

Research like this is suggestive, not definitive. It calls to our attention a way in which the City can better serve our residents. The economic problems we have are going to continue, unfortunately, for the foreseeable future. If we start now, we can make a big difference to the people who live in our city.

Here are some things I’d like the city to do –

1. Commit to “Put Lake Forest First”

2. Begin collecting and reporting data so we know where we are, and we can see if we are making progress. I’d like to see the monthly reports include a statistic that shows how much of our money was spent in the City (BTW – this will save me hours and hours of research).

3. Start an affirmative program to make it easy for residents and business owners to see where the City spends its money. It would help to enlist the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce and I’m sure they’d be happy to help.

4. Every time you consider spending any money, I’d like you to ask yourself – “Is there someone in this city who could provide this product or service?” And I do mean “every time” and “any money” because in these tough economic times I’m sure every little bit helps.

5. If this looks like it’s too much for the City to handle, let’s get our community involved. Think of what a great job volunteers from the city do on the Parade Committee (where I’m proud to say I served for 5 years). These same kinds of giving, intelligent, and involved people can surely be recruited to help the City spend more of its money here at home.

The City spends more than $30,000,000 per year. For every 3% we can shift from paying people and businesses in other cities, it will mean $1,000,000 coming to people and businesses in Lake Forest.

Together we can make a difference and make our city better. It starts with the commitment to “Put Lake Forest First.”