• City Council Meeting: April 2020

Well, that was a first. The meeting was held through the video meeting app called Zoom. Mayor Dusting Nigg was the only council member in the actual council chambers and the other four of us, and most of the staff, were present by way of two way video.

The view from my monitor.

Considering that there were no presentations, only a couple of public comments on non agenda items, which were read into the record by the Mayor, and it appeared to be a light agenda at first blush... I was surprised how long it lasted. 

TOP NEWS FROM THE MEETING

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• Many commercial restrictions have been relaxed to help our local businesses.
• Discussion of whether to have the Wildomar mayor elected at large, instead of on a yearly rotational basis.
• Joseph Morabito declared his candidacy, and asked his fellow council members to endorse him if the mayor at large option goes forward. 

3.1 FY 2019-20 3rd Quarter Budget Report 
(16:10 mark in the video)
It's far too soon to tell, but my humble prediction is that the fallout from the Covid19 restrictions on business will have a long lasting effect. Not only on local businesses and the employees of such, but on the city's budget too, which relies heavily on sales tax (about a 20% to 25% chunk of it).

3.2 Suspension of Certain Enforcement Activities to Address COVID-19 Crisis
(29:25 mark in the video below)
Some of this made sense, and other parts didn't make sense. I was against this the way it was originally presented. It relaxed many things that, in my opinion, had ZERO to do with the current Covid19 crisis and shouldn't have been attached to it. 

Things like suspending the new guidelines on temporary banners, which also included allowing the developer billboards seen all over town, for developments NOT in Wildomar mind you, to remain up.

There are several such examples of this throughout the city.

 Also, for some inexplicable reason, project site signs (see image for example) were going to be omitted during the self isolation period too.

This sign is 100% more effective in letting the community know about a project that will be coming to the planning commission, or city council, than 1000 emails that get deleted before being opened. These signs only came about a handful of years ago, and have been greatly appreciated. Yes, they cost the applicant money. I heard they're near $500 to have put up, and that could be a hit they take twice if they have multiple meetings, but if the price tag is the problem, looks like we need a new vendor to put them together. 

There is a streamlined way for businesses to put up a temporary banner letting the public know that you're open for business during these Covid19 times. The permits are free so if you need this, contact city hall and take advantage of it. 

Another thing that was thrown in there was suspending the newly enacted rules about storing your RVs/boats/trailers in the street.

If you need to quarantine, and you have an RV, we all get it and wish you well. There will be no restrictions on such things. However, on the other hand, those of you that think the street is an extension of your backyard, and you can park your eyesore anywhere you damn well please... it's on. 

That's still not ok!

Your rights to park your monstrosity end where your driveway ends. Have some respect for others and store it properly... which is NOT in the street, or hanging over into the sidewalk.

A modified version of this item passed 5-0. 

Removed from the original were the developer billboards, project site signs, most temporary banners (especially the ones that have long since faded and turned to threads, but the business owner cares so little that they leave them up anyway), and reined in the time the suspensions were to be in place to that of 30 days after the city's state of emergency is declared over.

Wildomar Rap opinion time

I understand the sentiment in coming up with the suspension of those items, we all feel somewhat helpless and want to show that we're doing everything we can to mitigate the real economic pain that is hitting much of our community, but the measures that were first suggested were NOT things that I agreed with.

I want to point to this item as a model of how things should be done in Sacramento and in DC. 

This item came full of things that I wasn't in favor of. I'd say that is also true for other members of the council too. 

We discussed it, we mulled it over a bit, and we compromised. The final wording isn't 100% the way I would have made it, but the same is true for each member. Give and take, aka "compromise" is the way to get things done. 

3.3 COVID-19 Update
(1:08:20 mark in the video)
This was a rather lengthy item, with updates from several departments. It was all interesting, but if you've been paying attention, you already know most of it. If you haven't been paying attention, they you probably have already stopped reading this far down in the blog. I suggest that you watch the video for the full item.

3.4 Directly Elected At Large Mayor 
(1:48:30 mark in the video below)
This was probably my favorite part. First, this came about from the January meeting's "future agenda items" segment. At that meeting, Mayor Nigg asked that we discuss the merits of an at large mayor, along with city council districts instead of five.

I love discussions and I came prepared with several paragraphs of concerns. You can read them below, or cue up the video for them as I read them at the meeting.

Item 3.4 Directly Elected Mayor at Large

Like with many other topics I see both good things and bad things in this item.

Let’s start with the good. It would allow residents a chance to vote for TWO members of the city council instead of just one.

That is a good thing.

It would also allow for continuity that doesn’t get interrupted year after year by rotating the position, which requires at least weeks, if not months to readjust to.

The negative aspects of this include getting a mayor that is in over their head or, possibly worse, one that becomes headstrong.

Those are things that would have to be endured for four years instead of the remainder of a given year. I believe it would be less likely for a Mayor in a rotational system to start thinking they’re above the council… and if the mayor isn’t really up to snuff, their time in that position would also be limited.

Like most things in our city, this is something that, if pursued, needs to be done reflecting the will of the people.

For me to vote in favor of this, we would need to agree to hold at least one special meeting.

Perhaps a workshop where all five members of the council attend, but being a less formal meeting than a city council meeting where people could freely express their thoughts and views, and ultimately having it end up on the ballot.

As an aside, I won’t be in favor of spending any amount of money on a survey that is looking to divine what the voters might think about it.

A serious concern when it comes to electing a mayor at large is which year will the election be in?

In most cases, we can expect at least one of the candidates for mayor to be a sitting city council member, which would then create issues of fairness to consider.

If It’s in a presidential year, such as this year, that would put council members from districts 2 and 4 at a disadvantage. If it were in an off year, that would put council members from districts 1, 3 and 5 in a bad position if they chose to run for mayor.

I came up with three suggestions to consider.

First, a “resign to run” mandate. If you want to run for mayor, you need to resign your seat first if it isn’t already up at that election, and no running for both mayor and a seat on the council at the same time.

Second option, make it a two year term similar to a member of the state assembly or a member of the US Congress.

Third, Though it would cost more, put the election either in an odd numbered year or make it during the primary instead of the general election.

However, if this does go forward, I’d like to announce my candidacy for Mayor of Wildomar now, and I’m looking for endorsements from my colleagues on the city council… Who can I count on? All of you?

Side note: Though my declaration of running for Wildomar mayor was somewhat tongue in cheek, I was serious. I'll be running for that seat if it gets established.

This wasn't a formal topic requiring a traditional motion, second and vote. This was just to let staff know whether to keep working on it or not. This passed 4-1 with me being the lone no vote.

I'm all in favor of further discussion, but only AFTER the public gets brought into it... and I was against spending any additional money or staff time on it, but I was overruled. 

It was going to be 3-2 to spend up to $10,000 on this, but once it was obviously going to pass, the second "no" vote change to a yes. If you want specifics (like who voted which way) watch the video below. 

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"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."
– Oliver Wendell Holmes (1841-1935)

Wildomar Rap prefers to hang out with people that don't make a habit of swinging their fists about in the first place. Come on Ollie, shake yourself!

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