Editor's note: Patch is publishing one candidate statement each day this week from the seven candidates running for Lake Forest City Council. Order of publication is determined by the order in which candidate names will appear on the ballot. This is the statement voters will see on the ballot in November.
Lake Forest City Council Candidate: Jim Gardner
I will
Put Lake Forest First. Currently the city spends less than 5% of the $35,000,000 annual budget at home, hiring contractors, instructors, repairmen, etc. from other cities. We need to give priority to our residents/businessowners when we spend our money.
Avoid worsening our traffic problems by temporarily halting new housing developments. We don’t need thousands of new people/cars in the city until we dramatically improve our traffic problems.
Save Our Pets by opening a no‐kill animal shelter which can be operated for less money than we currently spend using the inadequate county shelter in Orange where thousands of pets are killed each year.
Fight corruption. Council members accept thousands of dollars from people/companies doing business with the city and then give them millions in contracts/concessions. That’s wrong. I propose members refuse contributions from anyone with business interests before the council.
About me
Former University Professor/Department Head
Management Consultant to Fortune 500 companies
Owned software development and internet marketing companies
Past President Lake 1 HOA
Co‐Founder, Friends of Lake Forest Animals
Graduate, LF Leadership Academy
Member/Supporter – LF Parade Committee, Breast Cancer Survivors, Soroptimist International LF, RUFF, SCO
Please visit GardnerForCouncil.com for more information.
Tomorrow: City Council candidate Dwight Robinson
Yesterday:
I started working on a response and I just saw that I was already 5000 characters beyond the allocated space. So I'm going to ask you (and anyone else who is interested) to e-mail me at GardnerForCouncil@gmail.com and I will send you my long response. I'll also post my response on my website at GardnerForCouncil.com. Briefly, I share your concern that so much money was spent on this issue, and the $1,000,000 you refer to is merely the tip of the iceberg and refers only to the legal expenses to date. This doesn't take into account the staff time and energy (that otherwise could be directed at other issues, like traffic), nor does it include the future legal expenses for the appeals.
Heather Gilbert
BTW - we have some great people in our HOA who are involved right now in our committee work, and I can think of at least half a dozen who could "step up to the plate". And our current President David Glick is doing a great job. And even if I did step down at the end of my term, I would certainly continue to be involved in our community's well being, as I was before I joined the Board. Once more, thanks for your kind words.
You and Mr. Anderson seem to be the most qualified candidates. But I am worried that some of the criticism you have of the current council practices and some of the city procedures will make it difficult for you to achieve your objectives (by the way – I am very impressed with how you talk about the issues and have real plans to deal with them). Good intentions and plans are fruitless if you can’t get along with the other city council members and with the city employees. Can you comment?
In my diverse career I worked successfully with a variety of people, including the heads of multi-billion dollar companies, police inspectors, violent offenders, breast cancer survivors, autistic children, etc. I don’t imagine that city council members and city staff will be any more or less difficult than these groups, although it should be noted that our City Council already has a history of interpersonal problems between council members. Consider this – • 3 of the 4 sitting council members refused to endorse Marcia Rudolph, and in fact are endorsing her opponents. • According to Scott Voigts, Council members Herzog and Tettemer refuse to talk to him except at council meetings. • For years the men (Herzog, Tettemer, Dixon) treated the women (Rudolph, McCullough) shabbily and rarely let them hold office. • At one point, Councilwoman McCullough sought a restraining order against Councilman Herzog. I’m pretty sure this is already a dysfunctional group and I can’t imagine that my presence would make anything worse. In fact, as a licensed mental health professional, I’m probably the only one who has a chance of making things better. As to the staff, I have good working relationships with many and I look forward to working more closely with them and getting to know them better. At the end of the day, we are in this to make our city a better place to live, and I’m sure that despite our considerable differences, we can all work together.
I asked some questions of other candidates and yet haven't had a response. So your response is even more appreciated. It's great that The Patch provides a forum for us to do this. I hope the others will follow your example. It's not my intention to put people on the spot, but I think my questions are fair and inquiring minds want to know.
At this point, with the opening of Alton after more than a decade of delays, there has been some improvement in traffic flow on Bake, as far as I can tell from simply being a user. I'd like to see some traffic statistics, but that's my impression and I've heard similar impressions from others. The problem, of course, is that the City plans to add 3,000 more homes and 10,000+ new cars, so any gains from the opening of Alton are surely going to be lost as the streets fill up. BTW - I trust you have been following my series "Traffic Tsunami". Today we need to pause and take a step back and say "What have we done?" and "Where are we?" Piecemeal solutions never work out in the long run. Once we understand the entire traffic picture, it will probably become clear what to do, if anything, with Bake. Having said that, I do think Bake would benefit greatly by adding another 5 North bound entrance lane. Even now traffic bunches up at the entrance and there are dangerous lane switches at the last minute. But whether or not this fits into a long range plan and whether or not there are higher priorities I would have to wait until a complete review was done.
Have you ever declared bankruptcy? Has a business you owned or managed ever declared bankruptcy? Have you ever been arrested? Have you ever been convicted of a crime? Are you currently involved in any lawsuit as a defendant or plaintiff? If the answer is "yes" to any of these questions, could you please supply more information.
Good questions for anyone running for public office. Personal Bankruptcy - no Business Bankruptcy - no Convicted - no Plaintiff in lawsuit - no Defendant in lawsuit - yes. As a Board member of two HOAs we get sued all the time and when people sue the HOA they often name the Board members in their lawsuit. On a personal level I am not a defendant in any lawsuit. Arrested - yes. 25 years ago I was detained in Africa and held as a POW in a Zambian prison during the war between Zambia and Rhodesia. I was suspected of being a spy. They released me after 23 days. Otherwise I have never been arrested.