City Council could make progress in 2011
Will the City Council make actual progress on key issues in 2011, including Old Town redevelopment, state-mandated low-cost housing requirements and revenue problems at the city-owned Black Gold Golf Course?
Based on past experience, the council’s level of achievement will depend on the personal and professional relationships developed among the five members. They don’t have to be Facebook friends, but last year’s relentless squabbling clearly affected city business.
Personal and political differences separated council members and hampered progress on many issues, as exchanges between John Anderson and Jan Horton rivaled bitter battles from past years, including the fierce John Gullixson-Hank Wedaa warfare of the 1990s.
Tellingly, tradition was waived when City Manager Steve Rudometkin presented Horton with a plaque when she left the dais after her failed re-election drive. Usually, such tasks are handled by the mayor (Anderson at the time).
Predictable 5-0 votes on contentious issues also are dangerous, as proven by a past council’s Town Center votes, with details hashed out in closed-door meetings involving council members, top city staff and developers with an exclusive negotiating agreement.
The optimal situation would be five council members acting independently as they make decisions, while respecting the opinions of their colleagues, and refraining from labeling as “lies” and “misrepresentations” the beliefs and judgments of others.
And they should act in a transparent manner and not hide important votes in the “consent calendar.” The increase in council member compensation, for example, should have been the subject of an advertised public hearing, especially with lower tax revenues expected.
One fear expressed by the Horton faction during the election was that the city would be run by a four-member “super-majority” if Tom Lindsey and Anderson won, even though similar alarms weren’t sounded when Anderson was the minority in 4-1 votes in 2007-08.
Again, past experience from the city’s 43-year incorporated history provides a different slant. Council member alliances shift--often--and they shift again, as issues change and new challenges emerge, and council members switch from electioneering to governing.
The new council’s first month showed some interesting vote alignments. Nancy Rikel, selected mayor on a 5-0 vote, had one of her first decisions overturned with a 4-1 vote.
The mayor names council members as city reps on 15 city, county and regional bodies, with the appointments approved by council. Rikel proposed dumping Jim Winder from his seat on the county’s Vector Control board due to “a 79 percent attendance record.”
Rikel’s decision to replace Winder with Lindsey was opposed by Anderson, who moved to reappoint Winder to a seat he’s held for 10 years, with Lindsey voting with Anderson.
And the removal of Mark Abramowitz from his three-year seat on the city Planning Commission also carried 4-1, with newcomer Lindsey on the lonely end of the vote.
While Winder remains the only opponent to transferring eastside’s sewers to the Yorba Linda Water District, don’t expect all future votes to follow a similar 4-1 pattern.
More respect, less bickering and independent thinking might result in real progress in 2011.
Based on past experience, the council’s level of achievement will depend on the personal and professional relationships developed among the five members. They don’t have to be Facebook friends, but last year’s relentless squabbling clearly affected city business.
Personal and political differences separated council members and hampered progress on many issues, as exchanges between John Anderson and Jan Horton rivaled bitter battles from past years, including the fierce John Gullixson-Hank Wedaa warfare of the 1990s.
Tellingly, tradition was waived when City Manager Steve Rudometkin presented Horton with a plaque when she left the dais after her failed re-election drive. Usually, such tasks are handled by the mayor (Anderson at the time).
Predictable 5-0 votes on contentious issues also are dangerous, as proven by a past council’s Town Center votes, with details hashed out in closed-door meetings involving council members, top city staff and developers with an exclusive negotiating agreement.
The optimal situation would be five council members acting independently as they make decisions, while respecting the opinions of their colleagues, and refraining from labeling as “lies” and “misrepresentations” the beliefs and judgments of others.
And they should act in a transparent manner and not hide important votes in the “consent calendar.” The increase in council member compensation, for example, should have been the subject of an advertised public hearing, especially with lower tax revenues expected.
One fear expressed by the Horton faction during the election was that the city would be run by a four-member “super-majority” if Tom Lindsey and Anderson won, even though similar alarms weren’t sounded when Anderson was the minority in 4-1 votes in 2007-08.
Again, past experience from the city’s 43-year incorporated history provides a different slant. Council member alliances shift--often--and they shift again, as issues change and new challenges emerge, and council members switch from electioneering to governing.
The new council’s first month showed some interesting vote alignments. Nancy Rikel, selected mayor on a 5-0 vote, had one of her first decisions overturned with a 4-1 vote.
The mayor names council members as city reps on 15 city, county and regional bodies, with the appointments approved by council. Rikel proposed dumping Jim Winder from his seat on the county’s Vector Control board due to “a 79 percent attendance record.”
Rikel’s decision to replace Winder with Lindsey was opposed by Anderson, who moved to reappoint Winder to a seat he’s held for 10 years, with Lindsey voting with Anderson.
And the removal of Mark Abramowitz from his three-year seat on the city Planning Commission also carried 4-1, with newcomer Lindsey on the lonely end of the vote.
While Winder remains the only opponent to transferring eastside’s sewers to the Yorba Linda Water District, don’t expect all future votes to follow a similar 4-1 pattern.
More respect, less bickering and independent thinking might result in real progress in 2011.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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