Campaign finance reform changes landscape

Updating the civic scene:

--The make-up of past City Councils might have been very different if a recently passed ordinance had been in effect 25 years ago, when thousands of developer-donated dollars began paying for the professional consultants, colorful brochures, full-page newspaper ads and cable TV spots that dominated 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s elections.

Candidates whose platforms didn’t match the plans of companies whose bottom-line profits depended on rapid growth and higher densities had far fewer dollars to match outside-the-city, special interest financing for favored contenders.

Now, new regulations prohibit candidates from seeking donations from city contractors or accepting contributions $250 or more from anyone benefiting from council decisions the past year or voting on contributors’ matters for a year after $250 or more is received.

The ordinance also promises that a “whistleblower” law outlining a procedure to protect city employees who report improper governmental actions and a resolution with a “code of conduct” for elected and appointed city officials will be enacted.

--Budget cuts eliminated the October Fiesta Day parade in 2009 and the July 4 fireworks show for 2010, but money might be found for the latter, based on comments at the Jan. 5 Finance Committee meeting with Mayor John Anderson and Councilman Mark Schwing.

Parks Director Steve Rudometkin noted that cellular towers at Black Gold Golf Course, perhaps disguised near the driving range, could bring in $2,000 per month that could be dedicated to fireworks funding. Further discussion is expected at a future meeting.

--Another tiny turnout from Yorba Linda voters helped send Chris Norby to fill former Mayor Mike Duvall’s 72nd District state Assembly seat. Just 4,318 of 22,097 registered westsiders voted, 3,489 by mail and 829 at 14 precincts in the Jan. 12 election.

Turnout in the Country Club and Fairlynn county islands was a bit stronger, with 264 of 1,109 voters casting ballots, 188 mail-in and 76 at two precincts. Norby won 3,216 city and county island votes, Democrat John MacMurray 1,109 and Green Jane Rands 239.

My recent column noting the small number of voters in Nov 17’s Assembly and other special ballots drew a bunch of e-mails from readers saying they didn’t receive voting materials for the Nov. 17 contest. But they were among 20,775 voters in the eastside’s 60th Assembly District, represented by first-termer Curt Hagman.

--Longtime resident Wendell Bainter, a former Parks and Recreation Commissioner who moved to Banning after retiring from the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, won the most votes in a Banning Unified election for two trustee seats.

Bainter, a social science teacher at Bernardo Yorba Middle and Valencia High schools, played a key role in developing PYLUSD’s community service graduation requirement.

Pricing new grass for Black Gold Golf Course

Next month, the full City Council is expected to tackle one of Yorba Linda’s thorniest financial issues: turf replacement options for the city-owned Black Gold Golf Course.

Recently, the matter has been before the city’s Finance Committee, whose members include Mayor John Anderson and Councilman Mark Schwing. For the past few weeks, the group has narrowed the project and substantially reduced costs from initial estimates.

Last June, the outlay for converting about 170 acres from ryegrass to Hybrid Bermuda was estimated to be nearly $4.8 million, plus a revenue loss of $2.4 million to close all 18 holes at once or $2.7 million to close nine holes at a time during the renovation period.

Earlier this month, the finance body looked at a plan to convert 112 acres of fairways and rough from ryegrass to kikuyugrass and perform soil enhancement for about $1.7 million, with further adjustments likely to be presented at a committee meeting this week.

The change to kikuyugrass would take place over a five-year period “and have the least amount of negative impact on the revenue-generating potential of the course and the golfing experience during the conversion process,” according to a study by city staff.

Anderson stated the $1.7 million estimate was “a huge improvement” but still “beyond our means,” while Schwing’s goal is “to do it within [the golf course] revenue stream.”

Schwing, a member of the council that planned course construction in the late 1990s, commented last May that the course’s anticipated annual $1 million profit, after bond payments, “hasn’t yet been achieved.”

A determination of Black Gold’s profit or loss status depends on what bottom line figure is examined. A report prepared for a May 2009 council meeting listed a “projected to close” number of $742,965 as “net income from operations” for the 2008-9 fiscal year.

But “net income after direct/indirect revenues/expenses” was a $645,493 loss and “net income for financial statement purposes,” with depreciation, was $1,647,706 in the red.

And beginning two years ago, council voted to forgive interest payments on the city’s loans to Black Gold. So far, forgiven interest totals $226,944, including $178,269 for 2007-8 and $48,675 for 2008-9, according to Finance Committee minutes for Sept. 1.

A FINAL NOTE

“End of an era” isn’t a cliché when applied to the death of Paul Armstrong at age 82: he was this community’s longest-serving elected official, with 40 years on the Yorba Linda School District (1969-1982) and Yorba Linda Water District (1982-2010) boards.

Armstrong moved his family to Yorba Linda from Anaheim in 1961, promoted cityhood in 1967, was a Boy and Girl Scout leader and was active on the United Way, Civic Light Opera, Historical Museum, YMCA, Placentia-Linda Hospital and Vet Memorial boards.

'Why not a YL-only police department?'

One often-asked question—especially by new residents and less-knowledgeable City Council candidates—is, “Why doesn’t Yorba Linda have its own police department?”

And the standard answer—provided by most city leaders for the past 40 years—is, “Contracting with Brea provides equivalent law enforcement service for less cost.”

Now, an informative Law Enforcement Service Study wisely commissioned by the city’s governing body outlines how much a Yorba Linda-only department would cost residents.

A 71-page report on the study’s findings is slated for discussion at the Jan. 19 council meeting. The report makes constructive recommendations regarding the existing Brea contract and explores other policing options, related in my Dec. 17 and Jan. 7 columns.

Establishing a Yorba Linda Police Department would take nearly $16.5 million, which includes a bit more than $13 million annual cost and close to $3.5 million “transitional expense,” according to the Ralph Anderson & Associates study.

By contrast, Yorba Linda will pay Brea nearly $11 million for 2009-10, about 38 per cent of the city operating budget. The initial agreement with Brea was signed in 1970, and the current contract expires in 2012. Previously, county Sheriff’s deputies policed the area.

A stand-alone department would require 72.5 full-time equivalent positions—57 sworn officers and 15.5 non-sworn personnel—based on current workload. The report noted a stable population and criminal activity, making a need for future added staff “doubtful.”

Personnel would include a chief, two captains, five lieutenants, eight sergeants, 30 patrol officers, one school resource officer, four traffic officers, six detectives and the 15.5 non-sworn employees for reports, records, parking enforcement and other assorted tasks.

Of course, salaries, benefits, overtime, training and liability would eat up most of the annual budget, about $10.5 million of the $13 million total, with supplies, equipment, building rental and additional staff in other city departments making up the remainder.

“In addition to operating expense, there is the issue of where to physically locate Yorba Linda’s police department,” noted the report, which cited a lack of buildings within city limits that could accommodate a proposed department’s space and parking needs.

A new facility, with furnishings and equipment, could cost at least $545 per square foot, with an estimated price tag for a 21,000 square-foot building approaching $11.5 million.

According to the report, Brea “has prepared some preliminary estimates for building a new police station of $30 million, without land acquisition and utilities.” Chino Hills spent $17 million for a 30,000 square-foot facility, “which was considered a bargain.”

“Finding the available land and adequate funds for a Yorba Linda police station would seem challenging,” the report’s consultants sensibly concluded.

Police study offers recommendations

Constructive recommendations to attain “a higher level of community policing” and gain “higher levels of driver cooperation in obeying traffic laws” are among the several major elements of a recently completed Law Enforcement Services Study for Yorba Linda.

A 71-page report on the study’s findings is scheduled for public discussion at the Jan. 19 City Council session. The report reviews the city’s current police contract with Brea and explores other law enforcement options, as described in my Dec. 17 column.

The informative, council-commissioned study by Ralph Anderson & Associates cost $43,000, as approved last year, with John Anderson, Nancy Rikel and Mark Schwing voting in favor and Jan Horton and Jim Winder opposed.

Yorba Linda’s current contract with Brea expires in 2012. The second council signed the first agreement with Brea in 1970, after three years with the county Sheriff’s Department, which also policed the area prior to incorporation in 1967.

The report states Brea police are “committed to the values of community policing,” but notes “a true community-oriented policing program” planned in 1993 “does not appear” to have “ever occurred,” except for “occasional implementation” based on crime spikes.

“The status quo may get the job done, but…misses the opportunity to attain a higher level of community policing,” advises the report, which makes 13 recommendations to “bolster the Brea police connection to Yorba Linda….”

One involves establishing a “police action team” for each of the city’s four beats, and another calls for written expectations to “assign responsibility, support empowerment, reward initiative and encourage problem-solving participation” by team members.

Elsewhere, the report suggests creating a Yorba Linda Community Policing Advisory Committee with police personnel, city officials and representatives from religious and non-profit organizations, neighborhood associations and the Chamber of Commerce.

Regarding traffic enforcement, the report notes “the demeanor and public relation attributes of traffic officers when they stop a driver for a possible traffic violation.”

The report states: “Even though the number of interviews … was limited, and certainly not statistically significant, it was striking that those who did have contact with the Brea motorcycle officers had a uniform negative experience with the process.”

And continues: “This included city officials, private citizens and members of the law enforcement community who work for other agencies, but who live in Yorba Linda.”

Suggesting the use of warning citations to achieve improved safety without “the negative connotation of giving a driver a citation,” the study claims “some agencies report positive results,” since enforcement can be measured by logging the warnings into police records, which also allows officers to quickly check a driver’s warning history.