City and developers are too close

Evidence continues to surface showing a too-close relationship between city leaders and developers seeking to influence Yorba Linda’s future residential and commercial growth.

According to recently released documents, City Manager Tamara Letourneau twice participated in Building Industry Association-led strategy sessions on Yorba Linda’s citizen-sponsored Right-to-Vote on Land-Use Amendments initiative.

The BIA is a powerful, developer-funded lobby opposing the initiative, which would require voter approval for major changes to city planning documents. The initiative appears as Measure B on the June 6 primary election ballot.

The sessions were held Dec. 6 and 20 at Costa Mesa’s Center Club. Letourneau and City Attorney representative Jeff Dunn were listed on the meeting’s Dec. 6 agenda. (City officials said they couldn’t find a copy of the Dec. 20 agenda.)

Later those same days the City Council approved zoning ordinances that would have led to massive new residential and commercial development in the Old Town area.

Although council rescinded the ordinances after residents gathered 9,790 signatures in 21 days calling for a vote on the new laws, a BIA lawyer joined several city-paid attorneys in an ill-fated challenge of the Right-to-Vote initiative at a March court hearing.

City officials blacked-out Letourneau’s handwritten notes on the Dec. 6 agenda before releasing the document to Jim Horton, a board member of the grassroots Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Redevelopment, citing attorney-client privilege.

But the prepared agenda listed an initiative overview (from Letourneau), research done to date (from Dunn), political climate and polling, the Yorba Linda perspective (from Letourneau and Dunn), strategic alternatives (including legal action, public affairs, campaign and funding) and a final “call to action.”

Other recent examples of too-close developer-city ties include council participation in the developer-funded $115,000 campaign against petitioners seeking the zoning vote and a charge to the former downtown developers to include density levels they thought necessary for the project’s financial success rather than adherence to Yorba Linda’s historic standards.

And, of course, the best example of developer influence continues to be the large contributions they and others associated with the building industry make to council members’ campaign treasuries. Whether the contribution level is 20 per cent or 80 percent of a candidate’s expenditures, the practice is undesirable for this city.

Naturally, council members hope to rehabilitate their reputations as the November election approaches. They’ll get a chance for some political spin Tuesday night when developers request fewer homes for a 300-acre project north of the Yorba Linda High School site on Fairmont Boulevard.

A FINAL NOTE--Somebody must be putting something in the water served during the closed meetings of the City Council and the Yorba Linda Water District. Both agencies have listened to some goofy legal advice the past few years during their secret sessions.

Unfortunately, the legal maneuvering has cost tax and ratepayers plenty, because we’ve paid the attorney fees for both sides of the unnecessary tangles they’ve voted to pursue.

The law allows the council and water district to meet behind closed doors for certain matters, but such sessions aren’t mandated. Maybe we’d save some money if they’d discuss their legal matters in public, where logic might play a more important role.

Asset statements show connections

Dinners, golf outings and baseball game tickets were the most popular gifts developers, lobbyists and others bestowed on city, school and water district officials this past year, according to documents filed with the three public agencies this month.

The gift reports are part of the economic interest statements local elected and appointed leaders are required to file each year. Other reportable items include business positions, income, investments, real estate holdings and loans.

But except for gifts, the reporting requirements generally apply only to income or holdings worth $2,000 or more that are associated with each agency’s jurisdiction.

And since gifts can’t total more than $360 from one source each year, they’re often used more to build relationships with officials, rather than directly influence decision-making.

For example, the city’s law firm paid $85 each for dinners with Councilmen Allen Castellano and Mike Duvall, and the Disney organization provided Councilman Ken Ryan with a $137 dinner.

The influential lobbying group Smith Public Affairs gave Ryan and Councilwoman Keri Wilson each two sets of four Angel baseball tickets, valued at $208 by Ryan and $192 by Wilson.

Golf outings were provided to Ryan ($80 from Vista del Verde developer Aera Energy) and Councilman Jim Winder ($200 from Fullerton businessman Tom Duncan and $150 from St. Jude Hospital CEO Bob Frushetti).

Parks and Recreation Director Steve Rudometkin enjoyed two $65 golf dates, from Aera Energy and city trash contractor Taormina Industries. City Manager Tamara Letourneau noted 13 wedding gifts, mostly Waterford items valued at more than $100 each.

School trustees and water directors didn’t report any gifts. Superintendent Dennis Smith listed nine lunches and dinners valued from $12.50 to $80, as well as Nissan Open and Disneyland event tickets he didn’t use. Water district assistant general manager Ken Vecchiavelli reported a $120 golf tournament and dinner from the district’s law firm.

Duvall’s Lemon Street insurance business and building, Wilson’s real estate appraisal service and water district General Manager Mike Payne’s Pomona Valley Towing business and Pomona property, which he listed as worth more than $1 million each, were among the business interests reported.

In addition, water district directors Mike Beverage and Bill Mills each listed marketing or consulting income. Beverage worked for developer Shapell Industries and engineering company Metcalf and Eddy, as well as providing design and printing for Yorba Linda and Placentia. Mills noted three major water-related agencies among his accounts.

A FINAL NOTE

Barrett Garcia, the San Juan Capistrano-based treasurer of Citizens and Taxpayers to Restore Old Town Yorba Linda, sponsored by the former Old Town Yorba Linda Partners, officially ended the political action committee’s brief existence last month.

The controversial group spent $115,000 in December and January in a failed attempt to stop Yorba Linda voters from signing petitions calling for a referendum on the City Council’s hastily approved and quickly rescinded Town Center zoning ordinances.

The two contributors to the committee’s coffers were former downtown developer Michael Dieden’s Los Angeles-based Creative Housing Associates ($75,000) and Greg Brown and Ed Hanley’s Newport Beach-based BH Urban Equities ($40,000).

Dennis DeSnoo, a former consultant to all five council members, was paid $23,000 for his work and expenses in the aggressive 21-day effort to block the petitioning process.

Latest on June 6 primary election

Here’s the latest on activities regarding the upcoming June 6 primary election ballot:

Leaders of the grassroots Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Redevelopment are planning to spend from $15,000 to $20,000 on mailers and other campaign materials for Measure B, the Right-to-Vote on Land-Use Amendments initiative on the June 6 ballot. The initiative requires a public vote on major changes to the city’s planning documents.

YLRRR hopes to have some mailers ready when absentee ballots start arriving in voters’ mailboxes May 8. But board member Ed Rakochy said the group has only about $3,000 banked for the spirited battle they’re expecting with deep-pocket builders and developers.

Rakochy declared YLRRR would take the powerful Building Industry Association lobby “head on.” He told about 100 attendees at a March 30 public meeting, “We can do it.”

City Council members wisely backed off signing the arguments against the initiative that will be mailed with sample ballots beginning April 27. Then-Mayor Keri Wilson asked Ken Ryan and Jim Winder to write the arguments and rebuttal back on Nov. 15.

However, former Placentia Police Chief Manuel Ortega, Planning Commissioner Carl Boznanski and Main Street insurance agent Dale Madsen submitted the arguments. YLRRR leaders Jim Horton and Jeff Winter wrote arguments supporting the initiative.

Ortega, Madsen, Ryan campaign treasurer Randy Youngblood and businesswomen Kelli Sprinkel and Cindi Williams submitted a rebuttal opposing the measure, while Horton, Winter and Lizbeth and Michael DeSanctis penned a rebuttal favoring the initiative.

Obviously, council-signed arguments against the initiative might result in more votes favoring the measure, just as the council’s developer-funded letter to residents opposing the Town Center zoning referendum brought out more residents to sign the petitions.

So far, the city has paid three sets of attorneys a total of $132,104 for legal work in the recent court challenge of the Right-to-Vote initiative. The city clerk’s attorneys collected $30,640 and the city’s attorneys $49,964 for labor and expenses billed through Feb. 28.

More billings from these two attorney groups are expected on statements for March, according to city finance director Susan Hartman. The city also paid $51,500 for the attorneys hired by “real parties of interest” Jim Horton, Dennis Wilson and Jeff Winter.

Council members who promised to end the lawsuits and legal squabbling during their 2000 and 2002 campaigns authorized these expenditures.

A FINAL NOTE--Students at El Dorado, Esperanza and Valencia high schools will take nearly 2,500 Advanced Placement examinations during a grueling two-week period that begins May 1. Students with high scores (3 or better out of a maximum 5) can earn college credits.

El Dorado students will take 376 tests, Esperanza students 1,173 and Valencia students 889, according to assistant principals Jennifer Graves, Libby Moore and Jim Bell, who administer the college-level testing program at the three schools.

In addition, Valencia students will take 246 International Baccalaureate exams. The Tiger campus has 28 full-diploma candidates for its first IB graduating class in June.

The schools offered 51 AP classes this year: 14 at El Dorado, 17 at Esperanza and 20 at Valencia.

Blue-ribbon committee needs identity

Citizens selected to serve on Yorba Linda’s new Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee will undertake an important task: charting a future for the Old Town area, while preserving the city’s heritage as a refuge from high-density residential and commercial development.

Initially, at least, the 25-member group will enjoy a level of trust from hopeful residents that is not now possessed by City Council members, who for the past several years have fumbled away many opportunities to build a solid base of support for a revitalized downtown.

Committee members--19 from community organizations, four from council-appointed city commissions and two at-large representatives--need to quickly establish their own identity, independent of the agendas of the council and city staff assigned to the group.

Many Yorba Lindans view the council’s recent actions to amend its eminent domain authority, revoke the hastily adopted Town Center zoning regulations and drop developer Michael Dieden as political moves, meant to avoid a recall and aid in re-election efforts.

And some complain that the council has designed a committee membership that will put a fresh face on the same Old Town proposals that drew widespread community opposition and sparked two successful petition drives.

But the council’s “no fingerprints” approach in allowing community organizations to name committee members can be applauded. However, residents should be concerned about the council’s decision to restrict the committee’s authority regarding zoning issues and the creation of development standards.

If the selection process results in the seating of strong, results-oriented members, the group should formulate its own plan of action and propose a zoning policy that mandates low-density residential and commercial development for Town Center.

Committee members should be selected by May 12. City officials anticipate the group will begin meeting this summer and complete its task within 18 months. Meetings will be open to the public, and the committee will disband after making its recommendations.

Clearly, the future success of a downtown revitalization plan depends on the committee attracting independent-thinking members. They should assume a leadership role on the density issues that council members had unwisely turned over to the former developer.

The 23 organizations responsible for selecting the committee’s members must choose individuals willing and able to correct the council’s past mistakes and devise a plan that builds true citizen support by preserving the community’s low-density heritage.

A FINAL NOTE--A big bash to “raise funds to support pro-housing candidates and elected officials” is coming to the Richard Nixon Library’s East Room on April 20.

Sponsored by the powerful Building Industry Association lobby, the event is billed as a “political action committee gala” and “one of the building industry’s premier events.”

A BIA lawyer recently joined city-paid lawyers in the failed attempt to prevent a June 6 vote on the citizen-sponsored Right-to-Vote on Land-Use Amendments initiative, which would require voter-approval for major changes in Yorba Linda’s planning documents.

Among local officials who’ve accepted BIA campaign cash are council members Ken Ryan and Keri Wilson, who occupy the two seats that will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot.