Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/westminster-city-council/)
The developer team of the Sheldon Group and Project Dimensions was selected Wednesday by the Westminster City Council to remake the city’s Civic Center into residential, retail and office spaces.
For the first time in years, the city of Westminster will step out of austerity mode and put more money into its budget for staff and services, thanks to an infusion of revenue from the one-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in November 2016.
Revenue from the one-cent sales tax increase passed in November has pulled Westminster out of an acute financial crisis, but it doesn’t solve all its problems.
Westminster residents who buy a new car or recreational vehicle at a dealership in city limits can now get a taxpayer-funded rebate of up to $500, after Westminster city council members Wednesday voted to pass a new residential rebate program.
A free circulator bus in Little Saigon funded by the Orange County Transportation Authority and the city of Westminster is no more, after low ridership prompted the Westminster City Council to cut funding for the project.
With new revenue from a recent sales tax increase starting in April, council members hired two police officers, and plan to add part-time code enforcement workers and other services aimed at helping the homeless.
Questions about the residency of newly elected Councilwoman Kimberly Ho have led to a policy requiring a screening process to ensure that applicants who want to serve on a commission or committee live in the city.
The Fair Political Practices Commission levied fines totaling $3,000 against Westminster Councilwoman Margie Rice and her daughter, Planning Commissioner Anita Rice, for failing to properly disclose the cost of 20,000 campaign mailers.
A one-cent sales tax increase was overwhelmingly approved, but the two council members who championed it lost their races to ideological conservatives.
Westminster voters approved a hotly contested one-cent sales tax increase Tuesday night, with 60.7 percent of voters approving the measure, according to the Orange County Registrar of Voters.