• City Council Meeting June 30, 2021

Here are my notes from the June 30th city council meeting. 

1.1 Santa Rosa Plateau Nature Education Foundation (SRPNEF) Special Event Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

This item was discussed in more than one public comment and ended up being tabled until the next meeting. 

There was some confusing and troubling wording regarding this year's Brewfest that is slated for Marna O'Brien park in October.

In short, the city is "partnering" with Santa Rosa Plateau for this event. I'm in favor of this event, though I would like the language of the terms to be changed from what they were.

Link to event website

Here is what the city will be putting into the event: 

City participation would include, but not limited to providing the following and related services: 

1. Park Fencing 

2. Restroom and Janitorial Services 

3. Providing Security 

4. Trash collection bins and pick up 

5. Traffic Control 

6. Special event signage and traffic barriers 

7. On- Site EMT/First Aid 8. Parking and Shuttle Service if needed.

l support this event

It would be great to see this evolve into Wildomar's signature event. Most cities have yearly events that distinguishes them from their surrounding cities, and I see this as a great opportunity.

What I didn't like was the wording in the MOU. Particularly this part: 

2.0 ALLOCATION OF SPONSORSHIP FUNDS 

    2.1     The sponsorship funds identified in Section 1.1 of this MOU will be first applied toward costs and expenses incurred by the City in relation to the Event at the Park. City will provide Foundation with an estimate of the costs it will incur for each Event that will be applied toward the sponsorship amount 120 days prior to the Event based on an estimated attendance of 4,000 people. The cost estimate will include any and all costs incurred by the City associated with the Event, including but not limited to: permit fees, public safety staffing and services, temporary barricades or fencing installed at the Park, parking and traffic control costs, shuttle, sanitation costs including restroom stocking, portable toilets, trash receptacles and pickup and janitorial services. 

    2.2 If the cost estimate provided pursuant to Section 2.1 is less than fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) the City will allocate the remaining sponsorship amount toward Event marketing and promotion expenses. Foundation will present to City a marketing plan and budget for approval. If approved by City, the City will create a purchase order with Foundation to enable payments to be made to Foundation for approved marketing expenses. Foundation will submit an invoice to City detailing the Event marketing-related expenses incurred in sufficient detail so that City can verify the expenses were pre-approved. No more than one invoice will be submitted each month. City agrees to pay each undisputed invoice within thirty days. 

As I said, I support this signature event in the making, and I'm ok with the city spending up to $15,000 on it. 

Nice things cost money, and even if you aren't personally down with it, even if it's not something you personally are going to attend, that doesn't mean it's not a good event for the city to sponsor.

What I'm not ok with, and will not support is if the language above remains in the MOU. Staff time and the things mentioned in the list are costly enough, but still understandable. What is not understandable to me is gifting cash to the plateau, if there's any left in the $15,000 budget.

We shall see if it gets hammered out, I hope so. 

3.1 Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) Policy and Resolution Implementing (35 minute mark of the meeting)

The city is going to install 14 cameras throughout the city that will be used for investigative purposes. Seems like a great deal for under $40K per year and the start up costs are small too. Plus, this is year to year and a lease, we won't be buying the equipment that may well be out of date in five years, and it can be discontinued if so desired.

A slide from the presentation that showed the success in a local city.

I voted yes for this. 

I can hear the civil libertarians out there decrying this as an unconstitutional intrusion on our rights. Sorry, I disagree. It's the out of control civil libertarians that have greatly contributed to cities having their hands tied when it comes to urban campers. 

For the complete presentation and discussion please watch the video link below. 

3.2 Wildomar Active Transportation Plan

Here's my take. 

This is something that is forced on all cities to do. The work done by staff was top notch, but that doesn't mean it makes sense when looked at through the prism of reality.

80% of the people that responded to the survey said the current biking conditions in Wildomar are neutral or difficult. I'm not sure if you can read the options listed in the graphic, but high temperatures wasn't among the "challenges" options to choose from.

We all know it's going to get parked on a shelf until it has to be updated some distant time in the future... where it will then go back on a shelf, again, for another generation, ad infinitum until the Earth falls into the Sun. 

Thank you Sacramento, nothing like forcing all the cities in the state to do expensive work that will never see the light of day. 

Since I knew that was the case, I didn't bother going into everything that didn't logically measure up but I did ask about something in the agenda packet, but not gone over in the meeting.

I mentioned that I was confused by the cost of the #1 Bike Project – Sedco Boulevard Bike Lanes & Roundabouts.

I took the position that even if we were gifted this money, I couldn't imagine voting for something like this. This was probably a pretty cool street before the freeway got put in, but why would we put roundabouts there (even in a report that is going straight to the shelf)?

I thought I was making a reasonable point that temps are too hot and distances too far in our part of the world to address WRCOG's stated goal of By providing more bicycle lanes and better connections between existing bicycle lanes, WRCOG jurisdictions can increase the viability of bicycling as an emission-free commute option.

Come on Emperor (WRCOG), you're as necked as a jay bird and I'm happy to point it out to you since everyone else seems to think that you're decked out in some highly bedazzled duds.

[CAPLOCKS WARNING]

NO ONE IS EVER GOING TO COMMUTE BY BICYCLE IN ANY PART OF SOUTHWESTERN RIVERSIDE COUNTY. NOT NOW, NOT NEVER [sic]. 

Therefore, the idea of creating "emission free commuting options" with bike lanes is flat out bogus. 

But my colleagues all disagreed with me, sort of.

None of them actually tried to refute my points about it being too hot here to commute by bicycle, or that the distances were too far for such a thing to even be considered in polite company. 

Instead they all seemed to praise bicycles in one fashion or another, but not one of them mentioned the point that this item wasn't about recreation, but about workers commuting by bike in hopes of reducing GhG emissions. 

So, I chimed back in with, "I love bikes, but it's 100 degrees here often and it's far from one street to another." Which brought a good laugh from those in attendance.

3.5 Position Classification Schedule Update (1:35:00 in the video)

This is where the the cart came off the rails a touch. 

The updated pay rates for city employees showed very generous compensation marks for all who work at the city, especially the closer to the top of the pyramid you get.

Mayor: I haven't verified the numbers, so I'm just asking the question [...] have you been able to check any of that, does it add up (referencing the above graphic)?
Robert Howell: Based on what we put in the budget plan for 22-23 it does, but however that number (regarding the assistant city manager salary) is high, but will be adjusted downward when we get to (indecipherable).

If you look at the numbers, our staff gets far more than their counterparts in the private sector (and believe it or not, they do have counterparts). I'm talking about comparable work, with comparable responsibilities and comparable education requirements.

The rest of the council doesn't see what I see, and that's ok.

Where things went off the rails is when counterarguments were nothing more than weak strawman attempts to belittle my points.

Maybe my points don't hold up, if that's the case, ATTACK THE POINTS, don't put words into my mouth.

I used a district manager of Home Depot as an example.

According to reputable sources on the net, they have a salary range of about $120K to $180K according to salary.com. Other sites like glassdoor and ZipRecruiter also offered figures on the position.

Please show me where the qualifications and requirements of this job are less stringent than the jobs in Wildomar. Having different opinions, even about city salaries, shouldn't be the cause for resorting to logical fallacies.

As a refutation of my points that our staff compensation nearly dwarfs what their counterparts make in the private sector, this was a offered: 

"We could go get the guy from Home Depot for $95K per year and we'd get crap service. He doesn't know what he's doing [when it comes to running a city]. The guy may be really good at separating paint, and ordering supplies but [won't know the finer points of running a city]."

My brain was melting.

Where did I even suggest to pay $95K? Or that I was talking about any particular position?

Did you honestly think I was suggesting that anyone from HD's paint department could run our city, or head any other department? Really?

I used the District Manager position for a reason, and not a local store manager, because I was looking for similar levels of expertise and responsibilities to illustrate a point. 

How is that lost on people? 

Watch the video, perhaps I'm plumb loco, or perhaps I just have different opinions that, if you want to argue against, how about let's go apples for apples and just attack what I actually said and not something that sounds close to what I said? 

I ended up interrupting two of my colleagues when they tried to rephrase my points into something ridiculous. Both were on Zoom, and perhaps it's time to no longer allow that option unless someone is truly on vacation or laid up in the hospital.

I do owe an apology to my colleagues for not allowing them to intentionally mischaracterize my points in attempts to make thier points stronger. I should have exercised better decorum and addressed it when it was my turn to speak. Lesson learned.

Public Comment of the Night 

The prize goes to Veronica Langworthy when she called us out for only having 2 of the 5 members of the council actually at the dais. 

She pointed out how all five members were basically cheek to cheek "in close proximity" at a ribbon cutting for Stiiizy (Wildomar's first cannabis retailer) just a few days earlier, but used Governor Newsome's emergency covid rules to continue using zoom instead of attending in person. I have to agree with her. 

Veronica Langworthy:  "[...] all five of you were at the opening of that business, in person, very close and no partitions between you... jus' sayin'."                                          

Veronica made a great point.

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The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.

– Dolly Parton

Wildomar Rap is neither rain nor rainbow, more like condensation on the outside of a glass of iced tea on a hot day.

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• City Council Meeting: Budget Meeting June 2020

Another Zoom city council meeting in the books. 

TOP NEWS FROM THE MEETING

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• Budget cuts of 8%
• Bundy Canyon Project will come back to council in September to approve a contract
• Future agenda items: Revamp the fireworks ordinance and making Juneteenth an official City of Wildomar holiday

Meeting Recap

3.1.A-B FY 20-21 Budget Amendments
Look around the 20:00 mark of the video below to watch the item 

Due to the Covid19 induced downturn in the economy there is an anticipated shortfall in the budget. There were a couple of ways to approach that. 

Numbers aren't easy to report on when there are rows and rows of them. If you want specific details, please use this link to access the agenda packet. The budget item starts on page 10.

One suggestion was to wait another couple of months to see if the cuts are indeed necessary (when it comes to things like projected sales tax revenues, there is a considerable lag time between an event like the onset of a pandemic, and when the treasury starts to notice a reduction in anticipated moneys). 

The other option was to make cuts to the budget now, and if it turns out that they weren't necessary (or as necessary as feared), adjust back as those facts come in. 

It was a 5-0 vote to cut the budget now, but it was originally looking like a 3-2 vote at the start. 

The two newer members of the council (Mayor Nigg and Joseph Morabito) wanted to follow staff's suggestion and "ratify the [existing] budget and take another look in August" to see if changes needed to be made or not.

The three seasoned council members all wanted to make whatever corrections now. They've all gone through difficult budget times in the past, and it didn't take much persuasion on their parts to shift the other two members' viewpoints to make it unanimous. 

Whenever there are budget cuts, there are reductions to services too. The services that take up the lion's share of the budget, such as law enforcement, will be affected. 

Areas that will see a cut

a. *Reduction in law enforcement service level (70 hours of daily patrol to 63 hours of daily patrol,10%) temporarily until City finances recover from COVID-19 effect. A net reduction of $479,700. 

b. Adjustments to Fire Service estimated labor costs. A net reduction of $126,700. 

c. A salary freeze and deferral on staff merit increases as of July 1, 2020. The net reduction is $58,500. 

d. Limiting the use of City Attorney legal consulting to only services covered by the monthly retainer fee and developer-reimbursed work in private development. A net reduction of $213,500. 

e. Reducing attendance at meetings, conferences, travel, and training to cut costs and avoid possible staff exposure to COVID-19. The net reduction is $55,700. 

f. Reduction of $50,000 in the Housing Element Study and delaying of the Landscape Design Guidelines projects ($35,000) in Community Development until later. The net reduction is $85,000. 

g. A reduction in service hours and hourly billing rates from contract staff providers. A net reduction of $113,100. 

I went off the board with a non-baseball analogy to explain that I'd rather take my lumps earlier than later when I mentioned famous people that end up with jail sentences (Michael Vick, Martha Stewart, etc) when they don't have to report to jail for several months. 

If I were in that situation, I'd just report as early as possible so that I'd be able to be finished with it months earlier.

So though I was initially happy to do a two month wait and see on the budget cuts, I was even more happy to see that the council wanted to get the pain out of the way now and if it turned out to be overly cautious, readjust at that time.

*Note: the reduction in law enforcement services won't take effect until after 4th of July, and Lieutenant Kent will be keeping a close eye on the service levels and will make recommendations as needed.

2.1 Capital Improvement Program Status Report – 4th Quarter
Look around the 1:32:00 mark of the video below to watch the item 

The biggest news involved Bundy Canyon Rd and parts of Lemon St. 

If you visit the agenda packet, beginning on page 63 you'll see several graphics like this one that will give you details on the current CIP projects. (Capital Improvement Program) LINK

There are still three "little loose ends" that need to be buttoned up, one includes everyone's favorite state agency, Caltrans, for the right of way. 

The aim is to bring a construction contract to the city council at the September meeting. Construction to begin this year. Remember, this isn't the entire stretch of the road. This is in several parts, but the first part is just about in the chute now. 

The other item that was highlighted was parts of Lemon. There wasn't a start time nailed down, but it's getting near the top of the list and I see it getting addressed within the next year. 

City Manager Report

• Public city council meetings are tentatively set to restart in July, and city hall is slated to reopen July 13th. The situation is fluid, so there could be changes to one or both.

• There is a website for reporting fireworks to the sheriff's department, here's a link to it. 

• A Hospital Heros video was shared. We all made videos with our phones and sent them in. I believe it was early April. I'd been wondering if anything was done with them... and here it is, thanking the local healthcare workers. 

Future Agenda Items

There were two items put forward by Joseph Morabito (that's me)
1. Make Juneteenth an official holiday in Wildomar
2. Revamp the fireworks ordinance.

Call me anything you want to. Go ahead and try and make the asinine comparison to WWII Germany where people were encouraged to inform on their neighbors (we've all heard such ridiculous comparisons before)... because, well, you know, reporting illegal fireworks and 'sending people to death camps' are practically the same thing, right? (Insert combination eyeroll/facepalm here). 

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Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.

– Harriet Tubman

Wildomar Rap hasn't completely mastered patience yet, but is getting closer.

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• City Council Meeting June 2020

There were several noteworthy items that came from the three and half hour, June 10th city council meeting.

TOP NEWS FROM THE MEETING

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• Commercial Cannabis Ordinance Second Reading NOT COVERED in this blog. Use this link for a stand alone blog on it. 
• Trash Liens
• Public Works Annual Report
• Speed Survey Results

Meeting Recap 

2.1 Large Family Day Care Home Code Amendment
This item was mostly to acknowledge new state rules. It removed some hurdles for family daycare business that serve between 7 and 14 children.

BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION: (details from the agenda)
On September 5, 2019 Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 234 (SB 234), referred to as the “Keeping Kids Close to Home Act.” SB 234 is intended to ease the process for family childcare homes located in residential zoning districts. This new law went into effect on January 1, 2020. Before the enactment of SB 234, state law, authorized a city to either classify “a large family daycare home” as residential use of the property or to provide a process for applying for a permit to use the property as a large family daycare home. This bill now requires a large family day care home to be treated as a residential use of property for purposes of all ordinances. 

Family daycare homes are licensed in two categories: large family daycare homes, which may care for 7 to 14 children and small family daycare homes which provides family day care for 1 to 6 children. Procedurally, large family day care homes currently require a plot plan application and processing fee in accordance with Section 17.212 of the municipal code. After an application is deemed as complete, the Planning Director has 30 days to schedule the time and date on which the Department’s decision on the application is to be made. No less than 20 days prior to the decision date, the Planning Department sends out a notice to surround property owners that a large family day care home application is being considered. Surrounding property owners may request a Director Hearing in writing. If no request for a hearing is made, then the planning department is required to approve, conditionally approve, or deny the application. The decision of the Planning Director shall be considered final unless within 14 days of the date of the notice of decision to the applicant an appeal there from is filed.

Under SB 234, large family daycare homes that provide childcare will now receive the same land use and zoning and permitting exemptions small family daycare homes receive. Therefore, all family based childcare options beginning January 1, 2020 are now considered a residential use and cannot be considered a change of use for building or fire code purposes. They also cannot be made subject to a business license, tax, or any other fee. This means the city can no longer require a business registration for large family day care homes. State law had also given some property owners the impression that absent a written agreement with a licensed childcare provider, they can refuse to rent or sell a home to childcare providers. SB 234 clarifies that childcare providers can have remedies and procedures available to them under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. This bill further clarifies that licensed family daycare homes are allowed to operate in apartments and other types of multifamily units.

2.2 Urgent Care CUP Code Amendment
Without adopting this code amendment, an urgent care that would like to open in Wildomar could have done so "by right" and now they'll have to get a Conditional Use Permit first. There is an urgent care in the process of getting ready to open in Wildomar Square.

2.3 Trash Collection Services Liens
This is pretty much a yearly item. In short, ALL residents are required to be part of trash service even if you are willing to cart your garbage to the dump yourself. When I first learned of this I thought, "That seems unAmerican to me." 

From a June 2014 blog on this subject

  

Before you go off on a "How dare they tell me I have to pay to get my garbage hauled away" rant, the rationale makes sense. If it wasn't mandated, so the story goes, many people would illegally dump their garbage or just stack it up in their backyards. It's a health issue and they are contracted to pick up your trash if you pay them or not.

Long story short. If you don't want to show up in a city council agenda for being a deadbeat, and worse, having a lien against your property, pay your bills. There is one homeowner that has amassed an unpaid bill of $2,371.94 so far. Congrats... I guess. 

Here is a link to the agenda packet if you want to see if you're on the list. We have more than 10 people that owe over $1000, and I think I know at least two of those names... YIKES! Skip down to page 357 and it goes to 365.

Do you rent your property out? 

If you were wise you would pay the trash bill yourself and then just add it to the rent. Otherwise, if they try to skip out on their trash bill, the trash haulers will be coming after you anyway, not them.

3.1 FY19-20 4th Quarter Budget Report
There will be a special budget meeting on June 24th to go over this in detail. Due to the Covid19 economic fallout, we are looking at cutting the budget. The question is were, and how much. 

3.3 Public Works Maintenance Annual Report

Call outs: Responded to approximately 20 after-hour calls for service for collisions, spills, fallen trees, roadway debris and other incidents 

Recap Items:

• 11,000 SF of potholes repaired, approx. 66 tons of AC cold mix used

• 165 New signs installed or replaced, including new Vehicle Regulation, Wildomar Trail & No Trespassing signs

• 80 Hrs of graffiti removal completed o Approx. 225 Hrs spent removing illegal dumps from ROW and roadway

• Approx. 92,260 LF of ROW cleared of weeds & tumbleweeds (approx. 17.5 miles)

• Trimmed 220 trees blocking signs & sidewalks o Refreshed approx. 50 Stop bars & legends

• Installed new Palomar & McVicar/Frederick crosswalk

• Conducted striping & stenciling work citywide as requested o Refreshed red & white curb along school & hospital zones

• Completed citywide catch basin cleaning

• Completed citywide arterial sign inventory o Completed School zone sign inventory

• Conducted several storm patrols during various weather events

• Conducted non- glysophate pre and post emergent weed spraying along ROW citywide

• Addressed sidewalk complaints at Marna O’Brian and Windsong Parks

• Addressed sinkhole issues as requested

• Removed weeds along Grand Ave Trail & ROW 2

• Repaired fencing as requested o Cleared mud & debris several times after storms

• Boarded up abandoned house as requested o Utilized Hot mix crew to address issues citywide as directed

• Utilized equipment to repair wash out on Cottonwood, importing 40 tons of rock base.

• Graded both Cottonwood & Lost Roads twice o Restrung approx. 50 sections of rope at Grand Ave trail

• Began cataloging info on new Collector App

The part I am most eager to share is the new way to report issues in Wildomar. You'll be able to attach photos starting July 1st. 

Use this link to report an issue in town

Remember, this is your city too, and if you see something you want addressed, to wait around for others to report it... and then whine that an RV has been in a field for months when you should have reported it long before. 

I plan on doing a stand alone blog regarding this shortly.

3.4 Establish Speed Zones on Various Streets: Phase III and Final City-Wide List of Streets

Some of the speeds seem far higher than they should be, but the city does NOT have the discretion to put up any speed limit we'd like. There is a prescribed method of doing speed surveys that must be adhered to in order for the limits to be legal. 

I was taken aback by the speed limit on Gruwell St. After reading the legal speed limit in the agenda (see above) I went over and drove it heading east from Grand. With my normal driving habits, I barely got to 40 MPH. 

This road is going to be a ZERO TOLERANCE speed zone. Other roads you can expect a cushion of a few MPH over the limit and still not get cited for speeding... but not here, or on Union St. 

Last note on this item. 

Councilman Ben Benoit spoke about potential legislation from Sacramento that may make it easier for local jurisdictions to set speed limits that don't rely solely on speed surveys. Let's hope that gets through.

I don't get how we would be setting speed limits based on the fact that many drivers are speeding. Then again, when has government mishmash made sense?

Below is the video of the entire meeting, including the second reading of the commercial cannabis ordinance which was covered in its own blog. LINK 

  

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When we're young we're tempted to leave it up to time to correct mistakes, and when we're old the temptation is to lapse to that bittersweet attitude of remorse — if only we could go back.

– EG Marshall (CBSRMT)

Wildomar Rap chooses bittersweet remorse over milk chocolate remorse every time.

This blog was produced for viewing on a desktop or a laptop. Though it's been optimized for smartphones, the formatting can look odd on a smartphone or if you get this delivered through email (such as missing video links). Link to proper format.

• 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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