Council starting to gel
(This is the complete version. A slightly edited column appeared in the newspaper.)
With two City Council members completing a year in office and a third finishing a six-month return engagement this past week, report cards with mostly high marks could be distributed to John Anderson, Jan Horton and Hank Wedaa.
The trio engineered a new openness to council proceedings and even convinced seven-year veterans Allen Castellano and Jim Winder to support some procedures that allow greater public input at more open-door meetings.
No longer do council members return from closed-door sessions with everyone on the same page on key development decisions, as occurred during the recent high-density Town Center planning fiasco.
Of course, this new open process lengthens meeting times and creates a need for more review groups, such as the Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee and that body’s well-thought recommendation for a Town Center Specific Plan Citizens Advisory Committee.
But the return to a democratic governing style has resulted in more residents than ever volunteering for open council seats, city commission positions and posts on short-term committees, such as the blue-ribbon body.
Now, after a rocky start, council members appear able to work together, as shown by naming Winder mayor, adhering to a sensible rotation system established by the first council in 1967 and putting aside personal and political animosities.
And Anderson, who recently dropped comments critical of Horton’s voting patterns from his Web site, nominated Horton to serve as mayor pro tem, putting her next in line for the top job.
A complete list of the city’s mayors and mayors pro tem and a voting history of the city’s 22 council elections is posted at http://yorbalindahistory.blogspot.com.
A FINAL NOTE
Some officials are worried that an unusual confluence of tax and fee hikes might hurt chances for passing a city landscape tax increase and a $200 million school bond early next year.
Yorba Linda Water District directors already hiked a monthly sewer fee, and they’ll vote today on charging more for water. The county Sanitation District is phasing in increased fees on annual property tax bills, and costs for two 2002 school bonds remain on tax rolls.
A simple majority from weighted assessment ballots scheduled for mailing Jan. 18 with a March 4 return date is needed to boost the arterial landscape tax, while the threshold for a successful Feb. 5 school bond vote is 55 per cent.
With two City Council members completing a year in office and a third finishing a six-month return engagement this past week, report cards with mostly high marks could be distributed to John Anderson, Jan Horton and Hank Wedaa.
The trio engineered a new openness to council proceedings and even convinced seven-year veterans Allen Castellano and Jim Winder to support some procedures that allow greater public input at more open-door meetings.
No longer do council members return from closed-door sessions with everyone on the same page on key development decisions, as occurred during the recent high-density Town Center planning fiasco.
Of course, this new open process lengthens meeting times and creates a need for more review groups, such as the Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee and that body’s well-thought recommendation for a Town Center Specific Plan Citizens Advisory Committee.
But the return to a democratic governing style has resulted in more residents than ever volunteering for open council seats, city commission positions and posts on short-term committees, such as the blue-ribbon body.
Now, after a rocky start, council members appear able to work together, as shown by naming Winder mayor, adhering to a sensible rotation system established by the first council in 1967 and putting aside personal and political animosities.
And Anderson, who recently dropped comments critical of Horton’s voting patterns from his Web site, nominated Horton to serve as mayor pro tem, putting her next in line for the top job.
A complete list of the city’s mayors and mayors pro tem and a voting history of the city’s 22 council elections is posted at http://yorbalindahistory.blogspot.com.
A FINAL NOTE
Some officials are worried that an unusual confluence of tax and fee hikes might hurt chances for passing a city landscape tax increase and a $200 million school bond early next year.
Yorba Linda Water District directors already hiked a monthly sewer fee, and they’ll vote today on charging more for water. The county Sanitation District is phasing in increased fees on annual property tax bills, and costs for two 2002 school bonds remain on tax rolls.
A simple majority from weighted assessment ballots scheduled for mailing Jan. 18 with a March 4 return date is needed to boost the arterial landscape tax, while the threshold for a successful Feb. 5 school bond vote is 55 per cent.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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