Highlighting this week’s public meeting agendas is a scheduled vote by the Mission Viejo City Council on banning sex offenders from city parks, the latest city to consider the move after the Orange County Board of Supervisors first passed a ban in 2011.
District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has been pressing cities to adopt a ban. County supervisor candidate Todd Spitzer, who was seen as Rackauckas’ groomed successor until Spitzer was fired from his post at the DA’s office, has also been at council meetings supporting a ban.
The San Juan Capistrano City Council is set to hear a sobering update on the state Supreme Court’s recent decision to allow the elimination of redevelopment agencies.
The decision also struck down legislation that would have allowed cities to preserve their redevelopment agencies by making payments to the state.
City officials throughout the county have called the decision a worst-case scenario. The agencies fund many urban renewal projects, including the 13.47-acre Great Park in Irvine and the widening of the Ortega Highway sidewalk in San Juan Capistrano.
Here is a rundown of what’s happening during this week’s public meetings:
Costa Mesa City Council, Tuesday, Jan. 3
• A request for proposal to outsource facilities maintenance services.
• Increasing the city’s tow rates.
• Creation of an economic development director/deputy city manager position.
• Approval of the city’s financial and budget policies.
Closed Session
• Labor negotiations.
• Existing litigation: Costa Mesa Employees Association v. Costa Mesa; Timothy M. Slappy v. Robert Harris, Costa Mesa.
Mission Viejo City Council, Tuesday, Jan. 3
• Banning sex offenders from city parks.
• Mayor Frank Ury’s proposal to waive home improvement building permit fees from Jan. 1 to July 4.
• Adding portable toilets to the Marguerite Tennis Center renovation project.
• City Council committee and regional board appointments.
Closed Session
• Labor negotiations.
• Real estate negotiations for the city to acquire a 7.1-acre site at 26742 Oso Parkway from Mission Viejo Oso Parkway Development.
Tustin City Council, Tuesday, Jan. 3
• Appointment of George W. Jeffries as city treasurer.
• Developing a governing structure for the Tustin Legacy Project.
• City Council appointments to committees and regional boards.
Closed Session
• Exposure to litigation involving two unspecified cases and initiating litigation involving two unspecified cases.
• Liability claims against the city by Edgar Pacheco, Cameron Santos and Cindy Johnson.
• Real estate negotiations.
• Existing litigation: Tustin Unified School District v. Tustin; Tustin v. Tustin Unified School District; T-Mobile West Corp. v. Tustin; Tustin v. Keybank; Mira Properties v. Tustin.
San Juan Capistrano City Council, Tuesday, Jan. 3
• An update on the state Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing the elimination of redevelopment agencies.
• Discussion of the placement of municipal signs throughout the city.
• Discussion of the city’s waste-hauling agreement with CR&R.
• Discussion of the allusion to deities during City Council invocations.
— ADAM ELMAHREK