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Although council rescinded the ordinances after residents gathered 9,790 signatures in 21 days calling for a vote on the new laws, a BIA lawyer joined several city-paid attorneys in an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.