Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/westminster-city-council/)
City officials have convened another special meeting for today to revisit the possibility of putting a sales tax increase before voters in November.
The meeting ended, and the window closed, without enough support by policymakers to put the question before voters in time for the November election.
At the beginning of the City Council’s Wednesday teleconference meeting, Westminster City Attorney Dick Jones announced staff would be pulling Thai’s city manager contract off the meeting’s agenda.
Without an extension of a voter-approved sales tax increase, Westminster officials say there’s a $17 million budget deficit on the horizon — one they can only sate with an equal amount in spending cuts.
When the Council unanimously approved the program Wednesday, they also approved the program’s funding source, which took out $1.1 million from a city fund that was initially set up for improvements to poorly maintained properties and structures in the city’s west end. Residents and watchdogs quickly pointed out that the fund is still needed for that area, but has remained untouched for years.
With so many remote local government meetings on the horizon, and so many technical glitches on the part of the county and cities regarding public comment, there’s a rising tide of worry. Some are calling for delays on public planning hearings, like tonight’s debate on a controversial building project in Santa Ana called One Broadway Plaza, until video and audio feeds at city council and other public chambers are adapted for remote viewing audiences.
It would be the latest city to join a growing list banning evictions throughout the county amid the coronavirus public health emergency. Many residents in Little Saigon area live in rental units with many others living in accessory dwelling units and mobile homes.
In-person voting has been cancelled for a special recall election in Westminster. It’s still up in the air whether Santa Ana’s special recall election will follow suit.
Eddie Manfro’s planned retirement from his city manager post was made public by City Councilman Tai Do on Facebook, who called it “totally unexpected news.”
Two recall movements in two neighboring cities are on the move against elected officials this year – one in Westminster that’s guaranteed a recall election and another in Santa Ana that has gathered the signatures but won’t find out until next month from county officials whether it can move forward.