Concerned Citizens In Lake Forest To Begin The Recall Process Against Three Incumbent Members Of The City Council

The following is a press release from an organization unaffiliated with Voice of OC. The views expressed here are not those of Voice of OC.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  A committee of concerned citizens in Lake Forest received official petitions on December 22, 2015, to begin the recall process against three incumbent members of the City Council.   The three are:  Mayor Andrew Hamilton, Mayor Pro Tem Scott Voigts and Councilman Dwight Robinson.

The main reasons in the petition to recall them are:

• Corruption – taking money from special interests
• Cronyism – appointing their campaign contributors instead of the best qualified people
• Collusion – creating a voting bloc to stifle progress

The straw that broke the camel’s back and started the recall was a major design failure on the Saddleback Ranch Road in Portola Hills.  The bad design that made this road very dangerous to pedestrians and commuters (a change order to correct the errors will cost about $70,000) was a major factor, but the idea that the City Council simply did not want to listen to citizens’ concerns promoted the petition drive.  Other factors bringing about the recall include:

• The heavy handed manner the Council majority holds control over all issues.  The three targeted council members vote as a bloc:  all are for an agenda item, or all are against an agenda time.
• The three have refused to provide space for Meals on Wheels to operate in the city, and Mission Viejo provides that service.
• The Council has promised for years to fix a health and safety issue at Village Pond Park, but keep kicking that can down the road.
• The three have accepted large sums of money from developers, and the pay back has been to rezone commercial space to residential, resulting in more than 5,000 homes being added to the city.  However, these developers have been excused from providing school sites or affordable housing, among other infrastructure needs.
• The Council appoints people to committees that are not qualified, actually stating in one instance that an individual was appointed because:  “She is my best friend.”

Because of receiving the petitions just a few days before Christmas, the effort did not gain traction until after the holiday season.  However, the committee members are working daily to garner the necessary signatures to put the issue on a ballot.  They have until April 20th to get a minimum of 8,500 signatures but their goal is to get at least 10,000, to have a buffer against signatures that are not valid, or duplicates.  Signatures are being gathered door-to-door and at major retail locations.

If you are interested in supporting this effort contact:

LeahBasile@hotmail.com; Tcagley@earthlink.net;

Visit the web site:  http://citizenstoendcorruptioninlakeforest.org

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