Yorba Linda ethics ordinance, temporary sign ordinance play roles in City Council candidates campaigns for positions on council dais

 Several sections of Yorba Linda’s ethics ordinance place restrictions on candidates for City Council positions as they conduct campaigns to win terms on the city’s governing body.

The ordinance, in part, addresses campaign contributions from city contractors and endorsements from city employees, commissioners, city contractors or labor associations affiliated with city contractors. The ordinance was adopted in 2010 on a 3-2 council vote.

The Nov. 3 election includes the 32^nd council ballot in the city’s 59-year history. Five candidates are running for two four-year positions, two incumbents and three challengers.

One incumbent is Carlos Rodriguez. He is seeking a third term after running second out of three candidates for two positions in 2018 and first out of three candidates for two positions in 2022. A 30-year-old city ordinance limits an individual to three council terms.

The other incumbent is Janice Lim. She is seeking a second term after running second out of three candidates for two positions in 2022.

The three challengers are chemical engineer and former planning commissioner Robert Pease, engineer and current traffic commissioner Sean Phayakapong and entrepreneur Raymond Potter.

Each of the candidates paid a $776 deposit to have a 200-word statement of qualifications printed in the county’s voter information guide mailed to voters earlier this month. The fee includes translating the statement into Chinese, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.

One of the ordinance’s 11 sections is a “prohibition against seeking endorsements from city employees, commissioners, city contractors or labor associations affiliated with city contractors.”

The prohibition applies to “any city official, candidate for public office or person promoting or opposing a municipal initiative or referendum.” One exception is if a solicitation is part of one “made to a significant segment of the public that may include city employees.”

Another section prohibits campaign contributions from current city contractors or someone who “desires to contract to do business with the city” and applies to any city official. One exception is an employee of a city contractor when the employee resides in the city.

Other ordinance sections regulate when council members can accept campaign contributions from contractors, vote on matters involving contributors and ban misuse of city resources or staff involvement in elections.

An enforcement section calls for violations to be reported in writing to the city attorney, who then notifies the council, which could lead to investigation by the district attorney or special legal counsel.

Candidates for all ballot position are required to follow the city’s temporary sign ordinance, which places restrictions for posting signs on public rights-of-way and bans signs on city property, in tree wells on sidewalks and center roadway medians. Signs must be removed within five days after Nov. 3.

Yorba Linda city officials renew effort to find a public use for city-owned site once leased to organizers of Friends Christian High School

 

A renewed effort is underway in Yorba Linda to determine a public use for 27 acres of city-owned land purchased from the Shell Oil Company in 1996 and 2005.

The undeveloped property is located south of Lakeview Avenue between Casa Loma and Eureka avenues. A provision in each of the sale documents prevents the land from being used to build housing, and any use of the land must be for a public purpose.

A recent “community conversation” was held at Lakeview Elementary School “to connect with the neighborhood surrounding the site and the community at-large,” according to a report to the City Council from City Manager Peter Grant.

“The goal of this transparent and collaborative process is to engage the community to help define and shape what might become of the site,” Grant told council members.

He also said the council “will consider a plan for additional community engagement at an upcoming meeting. The next steps...are expected in early 2027, after the year-end holiday season,” depending on state approval of a council-passed resolution.

The resolution declares the property to be “exempt surplus land” because of the deed provision that prohibits housing on the property. Without the exempt status, the acreage would be subject to the state’s Surplus Land Act.

The act mandates that cities must offer surplus properties for affordable housing opportunities unless an exemption applies. The law allows an exemption when legally binding restrictions prohibit housing, as in the case of the land the city identifies as the West Bastanchury Site.

The resolution, part of a 5-0 consent calendar vote by the council, “does not authorize sale, lease, development or any specific future use. It ensures compliance with state law and preserves flexibility for future community engagement and decision-making,” Grant reported.

Among public uses permitted for the property: city hall, fire, police, recreational or athletic facilities; child or adult day care facility; civic center buildings; city vehicle and equipment storage; community center or garden; library; museum; post office; private or public high school.

Most of the property was once part of a larger 32-acre parcel proposed for a Friends Christian High School for 1,200 students. The city leased the land to school organizers for a 10-year period from 2003 through 2012, with payments beginning in 2007.

The campus, expected to cost $53 million, was slated for a 2013 opening. Before the plan was dropped, organizers spent $14 million, $3 million on lease payments and $9 million on entitlements and improvements.

Organizers asked council to allow purchase of the land or an option to purchase in the lease; otherwise, they said, large donors would not continue their contributions. They said the lease terms were “onerous,” and they couldn’t obtain a $39 million bank loan.

After several missed lease payments, the council terminated the lease on a 4-0 vote in 2012.