A look back would be good
Councilman John Anderson’s renewed call for an independent investigation into certain aspects of the recent failed Town Center redevelopment process should be supported by Yorba Lindans who value open government and treasure a low-density environment.
Anderson wants a third party to examine allegations that some of the city’s top officials worked hand-in-hand with developers to thwart a citizen-led, grassroots petition drive to overturn higher-density zoning ordinances approved for the Old Town area in late 2005.
The then-City Council rescinded the ordinances after low-density advocates gathered 9,790 and 9,771 signatures on two petitions in 21 days during the 2005-2006 Christmas and New Year’s holiday period.
Anderson also wants to determine if an extension of an exclusive negotiating agreement was tied to developers funding a signature suppression effort, for which they raised $115,000.
City Manager Tammy Letourneau has stated the city didn’t require the developers to fight the petitions, and “it was not ever a condition of any contract or extension.”
The inquiry also should look into possible open-meeting law violations involving a developer-funded letter mailed to residents and signed by four council members, Anderson noted.
Anderson said Greg Brown, a principal with Michael Dieden and Walter Marks in the now-defunct Old Town Yorba Linda Partners development team, has agreed to turn over pertinent documents to an independent investigator.
The documents include notes Brown took during the Town Center Ad Hoc Committee’s closed-door sessions attended by city staff, council members and developers as well as letters and e-mails among developers, consultants, lawyers and council members.
I first quoted from Brown’s 59 pages of documents in an Oct. 26, 2006, column. Anderson said at the March 4 council meeting that he’s proposing an investigation now because a one-year statute of limitations has expired and the city would no longer be liable in a civil lawsuit.
Anderson supports “moving on” when the council considers projects based on a report from the Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee, but the veteran county prosecutor also champions accountability for past actions.
Whether or not Anderson’s council colleagues agree to an investigation, the matter certainly will be one of the contentious issues in this fall’s campaign for a majority of the seats on the five-member council.
A FINAL NOTE
I recently wrote that Councilwoman Jan Horton wisely returned a $1,250 campaign contribution she received from the union representing Orange County Fire Authority firefighters after she was named the city’s rep to the agency’s governing board.
But the union didn’t cash the refund check, so the money remains in Horton’s election account, despite two additional letters Horton says she sent the union.
“I am making one final attempt to return the money, and if that is unsuccessful, I will be donating the money to an organization [the union] suggests,” Horton wrote in an e-mail.
Anderson wants a third party to examine allegations that some of the city’s top officials worked hand-in-hand with developers to thwart a citizen-led, grassroots petition drive to overturn higher-density zoning ordinances approved for the Old Town area in late 2005.
The then-City Council rescinded the ordinances after low-density advocates gathered 9,790 and 9,771 signatures on two petitions in 21 days during the 2005-2006 Christmas and New Year’s holiday period.
Anderson also wants to determine if an extension of an exclusive negotiating agreement was tied to developers funding a signature suppression effort, for which they raised $115,000.
City Manager Tammy Letourneau has stated the city didn’t require the developers to fight the petitions, and “it was not ever a condition of any contract or extension.”
The inquiry also should look into possible open-meeting law violations involving a developer-funded letter mailed to residents and signed by four council members, Anderson noted.
Anderson said Greg Brown, a principal with Michael Dieden and Walter Marks in the now-defunct Old Town Yorba Linda Partners development team, has agreed to turn over pertinent documents to an independent investigator.
The documents include notes Brown took during the Town Center Ad Hoc Committee’s closed-door sessions attended by city staff, council members and developers as well as letters and e-mails among developers, consultants, lawyers and council members.
I first quoted from Brown’s 59 pages of documents in an Oct. 26, 2006, column. Anderson said at the March 4 council meeting that he’s proposing an investigation now because a one-year statute of limitations has expired and the city would no longer be liable in a civil lawsuit.
Anderson supports “moving on” when the council considers projects based on a report from the Town Center Blue Ribbon Committee, but the veteran county prosecutor also champions accountability for past actions.
Whether or not Anderson’s council colleagues agree to an investigation, the matter certainly will be one of the contentious issues in this fall’s campaign for a majority of the seats on the five-member council.
A FINAL NOTE
I recently wrote that Councilwoman Jan Horton wisely returned a $1,250 campaign contribution she received from the union representing Orange County Fire Authority firefighters after she was named the city’s rep to the agency’s governing board.
But the union didn’t cash the refund check, so the money remains in Horton’s election account, despite two additional letters Horton says she sent the union.
“I am making one final attempt to return the money, and if that is unsuccessful, I will be donating the money to an organization [the union] suggests,” Horton wrote in an e-mail.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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