Business owners file claim for damages; City Council hires lobbying firm for monthly fee

Two topics this week: A claim for damages related to Yorba Linda's recent Town Center roadwork filed by longtime, prominent business owners and a renewed attempt to lobby state politicians and agencies on matters of financial concern to the city.

The claim, filed by Walt and Jeanne Tamulinas, owners of the ERA North Orange County real estate firm on Yorba Linda Boulevard in Town Center, alleged $261,882 in lost business income due to road construction during six months from December 2014 through May 2015.

The company “saw sales plummet 35 percent compared to a year earlier, while the Orange County real estate market enjoyed the same or better sales than the year before during the same period,” noted the Tamulinas claim against the city.

In a separate letter to the city, Walt Tamulinas stated, “On many occasions there was limited or no access to our office. There were numerous occasions our agents, clients, vendors and employees couldn't get in and out of the parking lot.”

The loss, Walt Tamulinas noted, was $243,249 for the real estate firm and another $18,633 for New World Escrow, whose primary customer is ERA. “As soon as construction vehicles, contractors and traffic congestions were reduced, our new sales soared....,” he said.

In denying the claim earlier this month, the city stated the staff “monitored the traffic control provided by the contractor throughout the road improvement project” and “ensured that the entrance ways” to company offices “were unimpeded and fully accessible during construction.”

Walt Tamulinas told me he's “trying to avoid” a lawsuit that would be “a last alternative” and that he expects to reach a compromise agreement with the Town Center developer “soon.”

An agreement for “professional legislative advocacy and government services” – commonly called “lobbying” – has won City Council approval on a unanimous vote. Hired for a $4,000 monthly fee is Joe A. Gonsalves & Son, which also lobbied for the city from 1990 to 2005.

“The city currently requires assistance on matters involving state agencies,” according to a report from Dave Christian, the city's assistant city manager, finance director and treasurer.

“As one example, the city is seeking assistance in determining how to proceed with its lawsuit with the Department of Finance regarding the repayment of a loan between the former Redevelopment Agency and the city and the potential use of the...Agency's 2011 bond proceeds,” Christian noted.

The agreement, which can be terminated with 30 days notice, requires the Gonsalves group to communicate city interests to “elected representatives, key staff members, state agencies and other individuals as needed.”

Also, the firm will develop, coordinate and execute city efforts to influence legislation or administrative action, review legislative bills affecting the city and identify state funding available for city programs and capital projects, among other duties.