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.”