Yesterday we discussed the term limit ordinance that is coming before the City Council Tuesday night. Click here for that article.
DIRECT ELECTION OF MAYOR
In addition to term limits, the Council is going to consider whether or not to directly elect someone to the position of Mayor. For those of you who aren’t already aware, in Lake Forest we are a “general law city” and we elect 5 council members at large, and they decide who will be the Mayor. When Herzog’s “Gang of 3” ruled the roost, this meant that the Mayor’s title circulated almost exclusively among Herzog’s in-crowd, and he himself held the position for many years.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Being Mayor carries some ceremonial duties, but other than ribbon cutting, public relations, and presiding over meetings, being Mayor carries no real responsibilities over and above being a Council member. Being the Mayor of Lake Forest is not the same as being the Mayor of New York City or the Mayor of Los Angeles. Of the total 34 cities in Orange County, only 6 elect their own Mayor.
The staff report lists no benefits of having direct elections for Mayor, and nothing on the websites for the 3 “general law” cities indicates that having a directly elected Mayor makes a difference one way or the other.
Find out what's happening in Lake Forestwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Bottom line – unless there is a reason to directly elect a Mayor, why do it?
WHAT ISN’T BEING DISCUSSED?
The focus on term limits and directly electing a Mayor obfuscates more important issues faced by the Council. As I reported many times, members of our City Council have accepted tens of thousands of dollars from people and businesses who come before the Council seeking concessions, usually for purposes which enrich them. If this were done outside the loophole written by politicians themselves to allow this to occur, we would normally call this “bribes” and “payoffs”. So it’s not illegal, but almost anyone I ever talked to about the subject agrees that it is improper.
Despite a Code of Ethics that specifically forbids this type of behavior, City Council members continue to engage in this conduct. Click here for more information.
Let’s do some real good and enact the following ordinance –
“If a majority of the members of the Council, excluding the member in question, conclude that a member of the Council has violated the Council’s Code of Ethics, that member will be required to vacate the position and resign within 30 days.”
To this we can add –
“If anyone resigns from their seat on the council, or dies while in office, or is otherwise incapacitated, they will be replaced by the unelected person who received the next most votes in the most recent election, if that election was held within 12 months of the resignation/death. If the event occurs beyond 12 months following the most recent election, the council shall be free to designate whomever they choose."
This provision is good to have regardless of whether or not we institute any of the other changes. It allows for an orderly transition that prevents the powers that be from “stacking the deck”. Unfortunately for all of us, Lake Forest has suffered through 2 decades of “power politics”, and succession provisions would be a step in the right direction of reducing the infighting.
Finally, since we’re on the subject of what goes on at the City Council, we should address the recent DUI arrest of a sitting Council member. Apparently, for whatever reason, Peter Herzog has not resigned his position, so we have someone sitting on the Council, making laws, who is a habitual law breaker and, even worse, recently convicted of a pretty serious offense – a DUI.
Some people argue “forgive and forget” while others have called on him to resign. After all, how seriously can you take a city that professes “family values” when our law makers are law breakers. Let’s allow the people to decide. Here’s a proposed new ordinance -
"No one who is elected to serve on the Council shall continue in their term if they are convicted of a felony or any crime of moral terpitude (e.g., child sex abuse, DUI) or any crime in which their neighbors were put at risk of loss of life or property. If convicted, they must resign within 30 days of the conviction, or if there is an appeal, of the denial of the appeal.”
These are all additional items that can be put on the next election ballot so that the people of Lake Forest can decide how best to be governed.
