Since he took office in December of 2012, councilman Adam Nick has been able to introduce and help pass a few initiatives. He has also been working on the backlog of issues that he inherited from previous council members.
During the calendar years 2013 and 2014, Lake Forest has been one of the safest cities in Orange County. Nick is certain that the city can do even better. As such, the city has adopted, in each of the previous two fiscal years, budgets with surplus balances which have been proven accurate.
For 2015 to 2016, the proposed budgets stand to remain balanced with a surplus of $800,000. The last audit of financials in June 2014, found that there was an unreserved fund balance of 105 percent of total revenues that fell above the reserve policy set by the city council.
No new litigation has emerged since 2013 and 2014. What this means, is that during Nick’s term, he has simply been working to clean up the business messes caused by previous councils.
Changes and Measures Introduced
Nick has introduced a few measures beginning in 2013. The items that follow with an asterisk are measures introduced specifically by Nick and passed by the majority of council members. If not, they are measures brought up in the ordinary course of business and passed unanimously.
*Open Government – In order to facilitate the public’s access to information, the Lake Forest website includes a newly implemented Open Government section. This is organized around the basis of there being a transparent government. The city website has other new features as well.
There is a user-friendly website design that offers plenty of information and an array of functions that were not available before. These features and functions are easily accessible. Select buttons take users to information regarding financial payments or reimbursements to council members. Users can find out city employee salaries and benefits. There are listings of the receivables at City Hall.
The processing or granting of waivers which grant special privileges are also listed. These indicate where re-zoning has occurred for land developers or where waivers for retailers are issued to permit retailers to sell alcohol even though state law deems them unduly saturated. The public can also view budget information and read the Budget-at-a-Glance brochure where there are easy to understand highlights of the operating budget.
Additionally, reports on council members’ travel expenses are also available online. Campaign disclosures are also available council members, as are Statements of Economic Interests or Form 700. These are especially helpful for council members, city attorneys, commissioners, and staff.
The online Lake Forest Records database at lakeforestrecords.com continues to grow with about 80,000 records available. A list of current planning projects and decisions about them are also listed in the Planning and Development section together with staff contact information. This section is updated once a month. A prominent icon is featured on the city homepage to draw attention to the Bid and Proposal opportunities. This is meant to increase awareness of any procurement activities.
* Council Members Expenses are Curtailed - Payments and reimbursements to members from taxpayer dollars have been curtailed. There are many more expenses which are now ineligible for reimbursement. Some of the expenses that are eligible for payment are now under mandatory Federal guideline compliance. These require actual receipts. Nick considers some of these expenses still too “personal” and will not reimburse them. A more strict version of this has yet to be passed by the co-council.
* There is a new requirement that any tax increase by the council has to be approved by a super majority or four out of five members instead of a simple majority of three out of five council members.
Other Improvements
Close to 300 new businesses have been added in Lake Forest allowing for the creation of almost 2000 new jobs. Unemployment in Lake Forest is nearly 3 percent lower than Orange County and is lower than California and the Nation itself. Commercial building occupation is up to 90 percent. A new Sheriff’s substation has increased efficiency and thereby saved the city almost $300,000.00 per year.
Of all the traffic signals, 80 percent have been synchronized. Nick will not rest until this number hits 100 percent. Ramps in the area have been improved so that they are handicap accessible. The first dog park has been permitted and construction has begun.
Adam Nick is making strides but has unfortunately been straddled with issues that were caused by councils before him. After 20 years as a city and collection of three-quarters of a billion dollars in taxes, there has yet to be a City Hall. Currently, the “hall” is the part of a 10,000 square foot space in another building. With millions of dollars in taxpayer money going to rent in 20 years plus, a separate and more suitable building could have been purchased.
There is comfort, however, in knowing that when Nick took office, taxpayers paid more than $250,000 for City Hall rent. Now that sum is much less. It is actually about $300,000 less to rent the same building and the same facilities as when the city was first established.
Today, plans are being started to build a multi-purpose City Hall. There will be a community center, a senior center and a center for young people. This project is going through permitting and design. It will go on about nine acres of land acquired in the Irvine Ranch area several years ago. This was before Nick’s administration, it should be noted.
A setback came when it was found that there are some geological issues with the property. There are watershed drainage issues on the land but they are being fixed with the help of the proper agencies. At this point, it is safe to assume that not all of the land will be usable. The city conveyed nine acres of which one will not be available for the facility.
Despite all the progress that has been made in the past few years, the system is still broken and corrupt. City Hall has been influenced by a plague of special interests, self-indulgent agendas, and inefficient, unfair cronyism.
Adam Nick is fighting these influences and practices and strives to make the government in Lake Forest as transparent as can be no matter what critics have to say. It is now a more public-friendly council and Nick has proposed many helpful measures. However, each one introduced in 2013 and 2014 was lost with a one-to-four vote.
Two of the four members who voted these measures down are still on the council. These members include Council Member Voigts and Council Member Robinson. It is up to the public individuals to decide for themselves who they are better off with to promote beneficial measures and changes.
http://adamnick.org/lake-forest/
http://patch.com/california/lakeforest-ca/nick-anti-establishment-thus-target-council-rivals
https://www.facebook.com/teamadamnick/
https://twitter.com/AdamNickCA
https://adamnickblog.wordpress.com/
http://adamnickblog.tumblr.com/
https://plus.google.com/116936621734661087133/about
http://www.lakeforestca.gov/590/City-Council-Members
www.citizenstoendcorruptioninLakeForest.org
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