Highlighting this week’s public meeting agendas in Orange County is the Board of Supervisors’ move to appoint Chandra Wallar county CEO, the first public acknowledgment that supervisors have been for weeks courting Santa Barbara County’s chief executive.
Wallar’s appointment was facing a split board as of last week. A key stumbling block to negotiations so far has been the cost of Wallar’s pension.
County supervisors, who unanimously imposed a labor deal on county attorneys over the issue, have publicly stated that a central goal of their labor negotiations is to have all employees pay their share of annual pension payments.
Last month, supervisors’ private talks accelerated after Voice of OC revealed that Wallar was being courted as CEO.
Meanwhile, supervisors are also set to receive an audit that claims county staff failed to inform supervisors in 2008 that a building to be purchased would need renovations that cost more than the price of the property and that the actual revenue source to buy the real estate was a restricted account under the clerk-recorder’s office.
Withholding such information key to deciding whether to buy the property was identified as “two critical control weaknesses” in the audit.
It also places blames on the clerk-recorder’s office, county Public Works and the county CEO’s office for failing to disclose some of the information.
News of the audit comes just as the clerk-recorder’s office is embroiled in another controversy over paying Anaheim City Councilman Jordan Brandman $24,000 for a draft report that in Supervisor John Moorlach’s estimation could have been prepared in about five hours.
In Moorlach’s view, the county paid 24 times the report’s actual value.
In Lake Forest, City Council members will discuss waiving the deliberative process privilege, which allows public agencies to deny requested disclosure of some communications under the California Public Records Act.
The privilege is controversial because local government officials in some cases have interpreted case law regarding the privilege so that agencies could deny requests for elected officials’ public meeting calendars and email conversations.
Open-government experts have disputed that the exemption can be used to withhold such documents.
Here is a rundown of noteworthy meeting agenda items:
Orange County Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, March 19, at 9:30 a.m.
- Appointing Chandra Waller as county CEO for a two-year term and approving her employment contract.
- Accepting and filing internal audits for the month of February, including a report that shows county staff failed to inform supervisors about the renovation cost and true source of funds for a building the county purchased in 2008.
- Directing county staff to respond to a grand jury report harshly critical of Supervisor Janet Nguyen’s push to remake the agency’s governing structure.
- Selecting Macias, Gini & O’Connell or alternatively Vavrinek, Trine, Day & Co. for independent auditing and related services
- Setting dates to interview candidates for the auditor-controller position and narrowing the candidates pool.
- A public-private partnership with Related California/Griffin Realty Corp. to build a new office building in the county civic center.
Santa Ana City Council, Monday, March 18, at 5 p.m.
- Nominations to various city boards and commissions by Mayor Miguel Pulido and council members Vincent Sarmiento and Roman Reyna.
- Request for proposals for closed-circuit television monitoring of city sewers.
- One-year extension of Measure M2 funding for the Grand Avenue widening project.
- Application for Southern California Edison funding for an online permitting program under the Public Works and Planning departments.
- Two-year extension of the solar permit fee waiver program.
- Deciding whether to place an initiative on the 2014 November ballot to allow a limited number of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
Closed Session
- Santa Ana Station District, LLC Santa Ana Station District LP, et al vs. Matosantos, state Department of Finance, Santa Ana Successor Agency, et al.
- Hilda Cuenca, Claudia Castaneda, Enimia Hernandez and Evangelina Avalos vs. state Department of Finance and Ana Matosantos (Department of Finance director).
- Anticipated/potential litigation with state Department of Finance. Interim city manager evaluation and appointment.
Fullerton City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 5 p.m.
- Study session at 4 p.m. to review Office of Independent Review recommendations for police department oversight and citizen advisory roles.
- Approval of a 52-unit housing project on a 2.7-acre site on the south side of Orangethorpe Avenue.
- Extending an exclusive negotiating agreement with FTX Acquisitions for development of the Fullerton Transportation Center.
- Extending a memorandum of understanding between the city and Las Vegas Railway Express regarding a train line to Las Vegas.
Fountain Valley City Council, Special Meeting, Tuesday, March 19, at 5 p.m.
- Rezoning five properties from agricultural to residential.
- Decreasing the city’s contribution for various employee groups’ pension plans.
Brea City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 6 p.m.
- Orange County Community Development Block Grant application for $119,500 to make parking, ramp, kitchen and dining improvements at the Brea Senior Center.
La Habra City Council, Monday, March 18, at 4 p.m.
- Obtaining earthquake insurance from Landmark Insurance Co. at a policy limit of $5 million.
La Palma City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 7 p.m.
- Orange County Sanitation District presentation on proposed rate increases.
- Setting a fee schedule and direct cost calculation model for residents’ use of city facilities.
Closed Session
- City manager evaluation.
Los Alamitos City Council, Monday, March 18, at 6 p.m.
- Designating Joshua Brooks as finance director.
- Budget adjustment to complete the city’s speed hump project.
- Changing the council policy on keeping meeting minutes.
- A list of the council’s prioritized concerns for Congressman Alan Lowenthal.
Closed Session
- Appointing a city attorney and city manager.
Yorba Linda City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 5:30 p.m.
- Increasing the medical benefit compensation for council members.
Dana Point City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 5 p.m.
- Interviewing applicants to fill two expiring terms on the Planning Commission and two expiring terms on the Traffic Improvement Subcommittee.
Aliso Viejo City Council, Wednesday, March 20, at 7 p.m.
- Receiving a midyear budget report and the status of the city’s reserve fund, which is projected to be $25.3 million at the end of this fiscal year.
Laguna Beach City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 6 p.m.
- Approving a $70,000 purchase of two boats and rescue equipment from funds donated to the city to be used by the Marine Safety Department.
- Discussing regulating stand-up paddle boarding businesses that offer instruction and board rentals.
- Submitting a grant application to the Orange County Transportation Authority for up to $525,000 in Measure M Project V funds to be used to augment or expand the city’s trolley service in the summer.
Laguna Niguel City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 7 p.m.
- Approving a three-year contract with Fireworks America for Fourth of July firework shows.
Lake Forest City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 5:30 p.m.
- Approving a request for proposals for information technology support services.
- Submitting a grant application to the Orange County Transportation Authority for purchasing additional passenger vans to transport employees from the train station to their place of work.
- Approving a $35.8-million contract with Park West Landscape to construct an 86-acre sports park.
- Discussing a possible waiver of deliberative process privilege or “executive privilege” to be included in a sunshine ordinance to increase government transparency.
San Clemente City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 6 p.m.
- Appointing Mark Taylor as the new city treasurer.
- Appointing Pall Gudgeirsson as city manager.
San Juan Capistrano City Council, Tuesday, March 19, at 6 p.m.
- Accepting a $2,500 donation from Doctor’s Ambulance Service to be spent on equipment and supplies to train city residents with basic first aid skills.
- Accepting a $4,735 donation from the San Juan Capistrano Equestrian Coalition for the purchase of an emergency storage container to store response supplies and equipment for equestrian evacuation and sheltering in the event of an emergency.
Brendan Wiles contributed to this article.