Among this week’s happenings in local government are the approval of a ban on pot shops in Lake Forest and movement toward the appointment of a new police chief in Huntington Beach.
Lake Forest City Council members are set Tuesday to ban medical marijuana dispensaries within city limits after the state Supreme Court ruled in July that the city’s dispensary ban is legal.
Such a move often sparks an outcry from medical marijuana supporters, who argue that ill patients deserve reasonable access to the drug.
While at least 21 dispensaries used to operate in Lake Forest, none do today, according to a city staff report.
Huntington Beach could be close to getting a new police chief. A special City Council meeting is scheduled Monday for discussing an unspecified candidate for the job.
The current police chief, Ken Small, announced his retirement in May after 11 years with the city.
His successor will oversee a $63-million budget and about 360 employees, about 200 of whom are police officers.
Also this week: Fullerton and Cypress update their citywide housing plans, and Laguna Beach considers installing video cameras downtown.
Here’s a rundown of what’s up for debate this week across Orange County:
Monday, Oct. 14
Huntington Beach City Council Special Meeting — 6 p.m.
Closed Session
- Discussion about an unspecified police chief candidate.
Cypress City Council — 7 p.m.
- Updating the housing element of the city’s general plan.
Tuesday, Oct. 15
Fullerton City Council — 6:30 p.m.
- Presentation by state Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva of an update on state policy issues.
- Approving legal services agreements with three law firms, including Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo.
- Updating the housing element of the city’s general plan.
- Discussing an ordinance laying out the public process for labor negotiations.
- Update on the emergency homeless shelter at the Fullerton National Guard Armory.
Closed Session
- Discussion of lawsuit by Ron Thomas, the father of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man who was beaten to death by Fullerton police officers.
San Clemente City Council — 6 p.m.
- Approving a contract with Vision Internet to redesign and host the city’s website for $59,000.
- Approving a special mail ballot election for renewing the clean ocean fee.
Costa Mesa City Council — 6 p.m.
- Considering whether to hold a rehearing on the Fairview Park entryway concept plans.
- Upgrading the city’s Internet access with Verizon for a new bandwidth of 11 megabits per second for $91,000 per year.
- Purchasing $440,000 of desktop computers from Golden Star Technology.
- Awarding a $125,000 contract to Civil Source of Irvine for designing alleys.
Laguna Beach City Council — 6 p.m.
- Approving a contract with Pro-911 Systems to install nine video cameras in the downtown area for $55,000.
- Rejecting claims filed for the alleged wrongful deaths of Alberto Casique-Salinas and Armando Garcia-Gonzales.
Lake Forest City Council — 7 p.m.
- Expanding a contract with Tyler Technologies for implementing EnerGov software.
- Banning medical marijuana dispensaries.
- Discussing a potential ban on use of electronic devices by members of the City Council or commissions during public meetings.
Wednesday, Oct. 16
Oversight Board of the Garden Grove Successor Agency — 2 p.m.
- Approving the implementation agreement with Garden Grove MXD Inc. for the Waterpark Hotel.
Garden Grove City Council Special Meeting — 6 p.m.
- Directing staff on how to address the presence of coyotes within city limits.
Aliso Viejo City Council — 7 p.m.
- Approving $50,000 in costs to develop a Town Center specific plan.
Brendan Wiles contributed to this report.
You can reach Nick Gerda at ngerda@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter: @nicholasgerda.