City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to call the July 21st, 2026 regular city council and special housing authority meetings to order. Let the record reflect that all council members are present tonight. Votes this evening will be recorded using the city's electronic voting system. Move on to public session. At this time, the city council will convene to consider public matters. If you wish to speak, please fill out a blue speaker card and provide it to the clerk. If you wish to submit any written materials, please provide those to the city clerk. They will be distributed to the city council. As required by state law, when speaking on an item listed on the agenda, limit your comments to the subject of that item. If you wish to speak... on a subject not listed on the agenda, you may speak under the public comment portion of the meeting. Finally, please address your comments to the City Council. Staff will only respond to questions from City Council, not from public speakers. We'll now move on to the invocation. The invocation will be provided by Chaplain John Fosberg of the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Heavenly Father, we come before you with gratitude for the privilege of gathering to serve our community. We thank you for the City of Lake Forest, for its residents, families, businesses, first responders and all who work each day to make this city a place of safety, opportunity and hope. We ask for your wisdom to rest upon the members of the council, grant them discernment as we consider the matters, as they consider the matters before them tonight. Help them to listen with respect, speak with integrity, make decisions that promise justice, unity, and the common good. Bless those who serve our community, our law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency personnel, public work employees, teachers and volunteers. Protect them as they carry out their responsibilities and strengthen them in their service. We also pray for the citizens of Lake Forest. May we be people who treat one another with kindness, patience, and respect, even when we differ. Help us to work together to build community where families flourish, neighbors care for one another, and future generations are blessed. Finally, may we all, that is said, and done in this meeting be guided by wisdom, humility, and sincere desire to serve faithfully. We ask for your blessing upon this council and upon our city. In Jesus' name, amen.

Thank you. We'll move on to the Pledge of Allegiance. The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of our country will be led by Scouting America Troop 787.

Put your right hand over your heart. Please say with me the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Come on across all the way over here. With me, there you go. Thanks so much for being here. Yeah, just get right in here, fill in the gaps. There you go. Oh yeah, we got a couple rows. Come on across, everybody. Come on. There we go. Got playroom on this side. Come on over, guys. Ready, three, two, one. Don't move, let them take pictures. What are they getting? What badge are they getting? Citizenship badge.

If you're all wondering why we had so many, they're here for their citizenship badge. So after the meeting, they'll be interviewing myself and the mayor pro tem. Okay, we'll move on to public comment. If you would like to make a comment, please fill out a blue speaker card and give it to the city clerk and your name will be called. Comments are limited to three minutes per person. Council and staff will not respond to questions or comments during this period. If you leave your contact information, staff may contact you to address issues raised during your public comment. When you're called to speak, come to the podium. Your three minutes will begin when the green light is on. The green light will remain on for two minutes. When the light changes from green to yellow, speakers will have one minute left to conclude their comments. When the light changes from yellow to red, your time is concluded, and please return to your seat. A timer is not displayed on the screen. Madam City Clerk, have we received any requests to speak?

We do have public commenters, Mayor, and my apologies, your script is flipped. We do have presentations tonight. Would you like to take those before we take public comment?

Yes, ma'am. Let's do that. So for presentations, do I have a motion?

I'll move presentations one and two, please.

Okay, let's vote.

Thank you, council members. That motion passes unanimously.

Okay, Madam City Clerk, please read the title of item number one.

The title of item number one is the Wildfire Awareness and Prevention Season Proclamation.

Okay, Madam City Manager, please introduce this item.

Thank you, Mayor. Making your way to the podium, we have Orange County Fire Authority Division Chief Reed Gibson, as well as community educator Milton Niera, who are going to give us a short presentation tonight.

Welcome, gents. Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council, and citizens of Lake Forest. My name is Reed Gibson. I'm your division chief for Orange County Fire Authority Division five. And as all you know, that Orange County Fire Authority is an all risk fire agency, truly your one stop shop for all of your fire and emergency needs. And it's not just the operations that we perform every day. It's also our fire prevention and our community education. Tonight, I brought with me my community educator. Milton Niera, as well as our assistant Fire Marshal Kim Brown, who's in the back over there. Milton's going to give you guys a short presentation regarding wildfire awareness and prevention. Thank you. Thank you.

Good afternoon evening everybody public everyone citizens everybody good afternoon evening I just do want to encourage you guys to please do 2 things tonight and moving forward one of them is please be prepared and the old one be proactive a lot of the fire agencies do and have been doing a lot of the heavy work we've done a lot obviously to to help our communities and we want to make sure that you guys can it can have the resources and be proactive about it. but if you do have any questions please reach out so I'm going to be giving you some phone numbers I'm going to give you giving you some websites and a couple of things that are extremely important two steps simple create a wildfire action plan please that includes your family create a family evacuation and communication plan also for your pets as well very important please think about them as well and then get to know about your workplace and your child's school evacuation plan so that way they can match. We bring those together and we're going to be better prepared. Number two, create a disaster supply kit, just like the one I'm holding right now. You should have medications, maybe a USB port with all of your important paperwork like passports, medication, anything that you can take with you right away. And please help your community, your neighbors, your friends, your family members by being proactive. Please, wildfires are unpredictable. No one knows when, obviously, right, and they will spark, and then of course when they will happen, but we know for a fact that we live in a beautiful community close to the mountains and the hills and the wild lands, so please be proactive and be prepared. Thank you for your time. Thank you all. Thank you so much. Thank you for what you do.

Mayor, we do have a proclamation if you'd like for them to come to the stage. Sure.

They don't want me to speak tonight, which is fine with me. So, no, thank you for what you do. Thank you for both yourself and the Orange County Sheriff's Department for providing the public safety for our city and keeping us safe. And, well, thanks for always for what you do. This is super important. And we're getting into fire season, aren't we? Sorry. Yeah, we're there. All righty.

All right, ready? One, two, three. Thank you.

And last but not least, if you don't mind, I would like to just give everybody the phone numbers to call. If you would like to have a home assessment, we encourage all of you guys to go to your website, OCFA.org. However, please, here's the number, 714-573-6774. Once again, 714-573-6774. We'll be more than happy to come over and help you guys out. Thank you guys for your time. Appreciate it.

Thanks again. Thank you. Madam City Clerk, do we have any requests to speak on this item?

We do not, Mayor.

Thank you. Madam City Clerk, can you please read the title of item number two?

The title of item number two is the 2026 Taste of Lake Forest Participant, Sponsor, and Volunteer Recognition.

Thank you. Madam City Manager, please introduce this item.

Thank you, Mayor. Tonight, we'll have a brief presentation by Management Assistant Ian McKeever.

Good evening, Mayor and members of Council. Tonight's staff would like to provide a recap of the 2026 Taste of Lake Forest event, as well as recognize the event participants, sponsors, and volunteers. Featured are some photos from this year's Taste of Lake Forest. The event was held on Saturday, June 13th at Heritage Hill Historical Park for those 21 and older and featured samples from 21 Lake Forest restaurants, live music by the trip, and numerous beer and wine gardens. The event culminated in an awards ceremony where attendees voted for their favorite taste. Last year's first place winner, Bored and Brew, second place winner, A Little Something Sweet, and third place winner, Urban Grill and Wine Bar all returned for this year's event. The Taste of Lake Forest was once again met with overwhelming praise from vendors, attendees, and volunteers alike. Before you are select restaurant and attendee comments taken from post-event surveys. One in particular says, this was a great event. We had a blast and enjoyed the music and atmosphere. You guys did a wonderful job. One select attendee comment says, I love that I get to discover restaurants that I either have never heard of or had always been meaning to try. I also like that I get to meet some of the folks that work at or own the various businesses. That makes me feel more connected to the business and makes me more motivated to support them going forward. The Taste of Lake Forest this year was co-hosted by the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by Orange County Third District Supervisor Donald P. Wagner, OC Parks, and CRNR. All sponsors will be receiving certificates of recognition tonight. Additional support was also provided by the Orange County Healthcare Agency, and also through the generous time and assistance provided by volunteers. This included 23 members of CERT and STARS, over 30 chamber volunteers, 18 members of city staff, and even three volunteers from the community. Staff sincerely thank all of those who worked to make this year's event another success and a positive experience for everyone involved. All volunteers will be recognized with certificates tonight. Staff would also like to thank all of the vendors that participated in this year's 2026 Taste of Lake Forest. This includes A Little Something Sweet, Amici Pizza Kitchen, Aroma Pizza and Pasta, Bagels and Brew, Bored and Brew, Boba Bee, Bravo Avo, Cafe Rio, California Fish Grill, Crimson Coward, Crumble, Inka Mama's, La Casita Olvera, La Tia Tacos, Lupe's Mexican Eatery, Mamone Hillside Eatery, Mitossi Cafe, Paris Baguette, Yubabchi, Uma's KBBQ, and Urban Grill and Wine Bar. All participating restaurants will also be awarded certificates of recognition tonight. That being said, I am pleased to announce the winners of this year's Best Of Taste of Lake Forest as voted by the attendees. For Best New Entry, the award was given to Mitase Vegan Cafe. In third place was La Casita Olvera. In second place was A Little Something Sweet. And the first prize went to Lupe's Mexican Eatery. I would like to conclude this presentation by sharing a video created by the city's PIO team highlighting the 2026 Taste of Lake Forest event. Thank you so much. That concludes my presentation and we will begin with the recognition and awarding of those involved in this year's Taste of Lake Forest event. When your group is called, please come up to the front where you will be handed certificates and please join city council on stage for a photo. Will all sponsors please step forward? Will all volunteers please step forward? And will all restaurants please step forward? We can go up as well. We have a certificate for you as a holder, so we'll be handing this out. Yes, here we got one for cert for you.

It's eager for the photos.

That's OK.

Thank you so much.

Yes, I do.

This will be for this one right here. Thank you. Hello, hello.

We've got Yubabchi, Umas, CERT, STARS, and then all of the volunteers from the public.

All right, so first I want to thank the staff, Adrian, Ian, Hope, and Megan, and the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce, and of course the volunteers who made this happen. This year was awesome, so thank you all so much, and of course our great community partner, CR&R, and Don Wagner's office, so let's give them all a hand. You know I'm old. This is going to hurt.

All right, my quad's here.

So thank you all.

Do you see any other restaurants? No.

Are there any requests to speak on this item?

No request to speak on this item, Mayor.

All righty. So I guess now we can go to public comment. Should I read that again?

Nah.

I already read it, so. All right, Madam City Clerk, are there any requests to speak tonight?

Yes, our mayor. There are several general public comments. We will start with the in person public comment first and our first public commenter is Walter Nobrega.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council Members, City Staff. Walt Labriga, Lake Forest resident since 1978. I have two requests. My first request is I respectfully request that the City Council consider upgrading the Lake Forest Special Host Municipal Code to the City of Staunton model concerning illegal fireworks. See my additional page with other specified wording. I have sent given copies to the council and the staff members. the first step is needed to implement my second request. The reason for my second request. July 5th, Orange County Register headline. Woman killed in Lake Forest fireworks explosion on July 4th. This fake headline was a real Orange County Register article about a Chino woman's death caused by illegal fireworks, but it could have easily happened in Lake Forest. Lake Forest and the OCSD's 2026 plan to control the barrage of fireworks exploding in our neighborhoods failed. Let's learn from this failure and take the needed corrective actions to keep our community safe. I respectfully request that the city council explore a drone program for the 4th of July, 2027. I am proposing two possible directions that the city could go. Option one, hire a licensed FFA-5 private drone contractor for the third, fourth, and fifth of July, 2027. The estimated cost would be $35,000 to $40,000. Cost recovery at $1,000 per violation would only require a minimum of 40 citations. Proactive action now would assure the city would have a private contractor available for the next 4th of July holiday. The benefit of going in this direction is no upfront costs, no in-house training required, and the vendor has full liability. Option two, the city purchases an enterprise grade thermal drone and trains a city code enforcement employee under FFA part 107 rules to fly the unit. The unit could be used in conjunction with the OCSD's fireworks enforcement and reduce the time wasted with useless patrol drive-bys. Estimated cost, $86,000 for the initial setup of the equipment, software, and employee training, and in the low 20s for ongoing yearly maintenance. During the entire July 4th holiday period, the drone could be focused on detecting illegal fireworks and video the proof for citations. The citations would offset some of the costs, if not all of the costs. If the city owned the drone, it would be an asset that could do public work surveys.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Jubin Mateen.

Good evening, Mayor, Pro Temp Mayor, and City Council members. My name is Lojan Juvain Matin. I'm a member of the Bahá'í Faith. Thank you for your dedicated service to our community and for allowing me the opportunity to share with you what I have. We are here to present a statement called a Common Endeavor. We have given it to all of you. This statement is prepared by the National Baha'i Community of the United States. It's been given to almost all the cities around the country. It is written on the observance of the 250th anniversary of the birth of our nation. In a few minutes, my friend Alex will present part of a summary of the statement with you. Just as one of the aspirations of the Founding Fathers of our nation was to establish liberty, justice, and prosperity for all. The aim of the Baha'i faith is the same ideals, however, extended to the entire human family, thus a common endeavor. My friend, Alex, thank you very much.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Alex Kadank.

Thank you, council members, for the opportunity to share a few thoughts as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation's founding. To mark this occasion, the Baha'is of the United States have issued a statement entitled One Common Endeavor, recognizing our common endeavor as Americans to build a more perfect union rooted in freedom, equality, and justice. These ideals are not merely social or political aspirations. They are moral and spiritual principles and a part of humanity's spiritual heritage. Together with qualities such as courage, trustworthiness, generosity, integrity, and love, they are the animating force behind lasting progress and need fresh expression in our time. Despite differences in race, culture, religion, political outlook, or economic background, we are all one family capable of transcending those differences through understanding, cooperation, and a shared purpose. One common endeavor reminds us that society advances when we move beyond what is best for me and ask instead what is best for all of us. It calls on all of us to contribute our talents and resources toward stronger and more unified communities, which enable us to solve problems creatively and compassionately. This statement also highlights the importance of consultation, listening respectfully, seeking truth together, and working collaboratively even when we disagree. This spirit of consultation can restore trust, and strengthen civic life. Ultimately, the future we seek, a future of justice, peace, and unity will be realized when we join together in one common endeavor. Thank you very much.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Frank Denny.

Good evening. My name is Frank Denny. I'm the president of the Normandale Homeowners Association. I have several issues regarding streets and roads in Lake Forest. I feel that the city did not manage the construction and installation of city side fiber. Our community streets are a patchwork of asphalt that has reduced the aesthetic appearance of our neighborhoods. The overlay has created many speed bumps. What is the city's plans for resurfacing these streets? It should not be years away as the current condition reduces property values. I was informed by the Department of Public Works that Normandale and Regency were scheduled to be repaired this year. Now I'm being told that the city will not go out for bids until fall. More than likely, the project will not begin until 2027. Both main roads have high traffic and are in desperate need of repair. The city needs to review no parking signs and or red paint curbs at intersections leading out of tracks to ensure safety. The major road construction on El Toro has caused traffic jams and long wait times. This week, El Toro was reduced to a single lane between Geronimo and New Orleans, in addition to the lanes on both sides being closed for extended periods of time with very little work being done during the lane closures. Caltrans and other high-volume roads in other cities do road work at night to avoid the inconvenience to drivers. think the city needs to publish all future road repair schedules in the leaf list magazine so that we are all aware of road projects thank you for your time thank you for your comments our next public commenter is sean fletcher good evening council members and members of the public my name is sean fletcher and i have been a lake forest resident for 24 years

I watched your last Marathon Council meeting online, and I was surprised that nearly four hours into the meeting, item 12 once again proposed revisiting Measure S. In 2018, Lake Forest voters overwhelmingly approved Measure S with nearly 85% of the vote. Yet the council is again considering spending taxpayer dollars to place a measure on the ballot that would allow council members to sit out one term, and then run for another two terms, repeating that cycle indefinitely. I thought the council had already heard the community's position on this issue. When it was discussed in January, speaker after speaker opposed spending city resources to weaken or overturn the will of the voters. Has the council conducted any public outreach or survey showing support for this proposal, or is it simply based upon the opinions and thoughts of the council? One argument made in favor of changing measure S is that some council members ran opposed. However, Lake Forest has many qualified residents who could serve on council, but running for office is difficult without significant financial backing, political support, despite this being a nonpartisan position, and the flexibility to devote countless hours to campaigning and then serving. Those barriers discourage many excellent candidates from stepping forward. We also cannot ignore the political climate brought by those in charge of that last council period, that we hope we never have to revisit. The harassment by proxy, organized by those in charge at that time, which continues to this day, directed at council members, city staff, and even private citizens who participate in the local government process, discourages many people from even considering public office. That's unfortunate, but extending term limits is not the solution. Council Member Voigt stated that most cities do not have lifetime term bans. However, here are the cities that do. Cypress, Seal Beach, Stanton, Villa Park, Yorba Linda, and as you should know, Council Member Voigt's Irvine. All who have adopted similar limits. Irvine voters back in 2014 approved theirs with nearly 75% support. Lake Forest voters were even more decisive, approving Measure S at nearly 85%. Council members, the voters have already spoken clearly. If the voters want to modify Measure S, let the voters propose it. I believe any city funds or staff time spent modifying or overturning Measure S is unnecessary use of public resources. Please remember that the next time you bring up on the dais the city being fiscally responsible. I respectfully urge you to honor the will of the voters, reverse course, and instead put your efforts into seeing how the city can improve the process to get highly qualified candidates to run. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Brian McMillan.

Good evening. The urgency moratorium extension being discussed later on tonight is totally indefensible, factually unsupported, and politically reckless.

Mr. McMillan, wait for that item to come up to talk about it. This is public comment.

This is general.

Right.

I can talk about anything I want.

Anything that's not on the agenda, you speak about.

Oh, we're making up new rules now?

No, this was in my speech.

Our next public commenter then is Bob Holtzclaw.

Evening, City Council. I'd like to discuss the problem in District 5 with the homeless and illegals. Also, I'd like to remind all five city councilmen that you represent the whole city and not just your districts. I know it's mandated, but you still represent the whole city. As a resident, I don't live in District 5, but I still look at it as part of my city. When Larissa Clark ran for office, I supported her and became some of the neighbors in the area I traded emails with. Some tried to clean up the area. I got a report that a homeless woman went crazy and started throwing things at one of the homeowners off El Toro Road near the Chinese restaurant and the smoke shop in the back of them. The road is interesting that the drug dog they carry around didn't even wake up. He was still sound asleep. I urged the sheriff's department to clean up the area because it's just filthy and it's bad. I've got the... The area right here, this is South County. Aliso Viejo has six unsheltered homeless. Dana Point, 15. Irvine, 49. They're pretty close to us. But we have 50. We're second place in the entire South County. Irvine is three times the size of us. Laguna Beach, 29. Laguna Hills, 6. Laguna Niguel, 20. You know, the only one that beats us is San Clemente, 74. And speaking of the drug dog, you know, let's get out there and take that dog away. If you're a company and you're working on animals and stuff like this, everybody freaks out. Well, they're doing the same thing with these dogs. Let's take care of them too, okay? Take care. Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Mark Hermanson.

Mr. Mayor, let's have some truth tonight. Leah Basil, when she was Councilman, was fined $4,700 for campaign contributions, mostly from Councilman Adam Nick. According to various websites, Adam Nick was accused of voter fraud, business tax suspension, caught stealing Councilman Boyd's signs, and multiple accusations of bribery. 44% of the signatures for the recall were unverifiable, meaning they had an issue. Now, Josh Visque was the third person in the stream team there, and according to an online lookup, already had a conviction for forgery. Now let's fast forward. This same Josh Visque has been given nine months in jail and probation for fraudulent charges, perjury, bribery of a witness, and solicitation of a crime. Recently, a video was posted of the mayor being accosted at a city event. This was posted on Josh Visque's Facebook page. We now have a resident who has been given a cease and desist letter for following consultants and staff outside and verbally confronting them, following disruption at City Hall, and following consultants to vehicles. To be clear, I did not witness any of this. I have also been informed that Recall Councilman Adam Nick was at this case trial and decided to plead the fifth. People come in here and they question the integrity of this council, but let's have some facts. I know for a fact Councilman Boyce went head-to-head with Nick and Basil when they tried to stop businesses from opening up here that would hurt Adam Nick's sales. There is unverified reports that it was Councilman Boyce who helped prosecutors with the bribery accusations against Adam Nick to help stop them. We have Councilman Teddemer who came back to help fix this city when he really didn't want to. And I have never heard of Mayor Pecaino and or Mayor Pro Tem Serbo having issues with campaign contributions, and even when Councilman Yu went against his colleagues, it's not enough for some people. We have two issues in Lake Forest, and I don't believe it's council ethics. Not liking a vote is an election issue, not an ethics issue. People are apathetic here. They don't show up unless they're mad, and I see the same 25 people come every week. We have stupidity, like Mr. Johnson calling our mayor Pecchiano, or silly comments like, I am glad I'm not there so I don't have to see your faces. And let's be honest, what kind of person treats our city clerk the way Mr. Johnson did last week? That was disgusting, and he 100% owes her an apology. The previous meeting, he kept referring to our city manager as Deborah before insulting her. I don't get those kind of things. What I see is two successful females up here. Now I know personally, I can be a jerk and I'll own my faults, but I would never think to refer to our city manager by first name at a city business meeting. So madam city clerk, madam city manager, someone owes you an apology. And if the person who did it can't do that, my family will be more than glad to say, we're sorry. You were treated that way. It should not have happened. The council always addresses us by.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Eileen McGurvy.

Good evening. Uh, I Eileen McGurvy, uh, once again here before the city council to talk about Serrano park. Um, thank you for that wonderful fire presentation. Uh, our firemen that were here tonight. I appreciate them. Uh, they have been very busy in our city. I have counted myself five home fires just in my neighborhood in the last three months. It's real, um, to use their words, be prepared. Be proactive. We never know when. And I'll use the mayor's words. This is super important. Those were said tonight in the first, what, 10 minutes of this meeting. I don't understand. I agree about the fireworks. They're going off in Serrano Park. with dead trees, trees that are leaning over so far that if anyone were to be walking under them, which they are constantly, these trees will fall on them. My house is close enough. I hear these trees falling. I suspect that the five council members don't even know where Serrano Park is. Excuse me. Mr. Voigt did come out and meet with us. And Mr. Voigt, you also looked me in the eye right here and promised me that there was money to take care of this city issue. Now I talk to Mr. Doug Erdman, who is supposed to be in charge of this, and he tells me now it's going to be paid for by some supposed federal grant. Federal grant? I don't know anything about this, but something needs to be done and it needs to be done now before we all lose our homes. We are going to light up and not in the right way. It needs to happen now. Can you all take the time to come and see what I'm talking about? Come to Serrano park, walk under those trees and tell me you're not a little nervous. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

That's it, Mayor.

Okay, thank you. We'll move on to presentations. I'm sorry, no we won't. We'll move on to the consent calendar. All matters listed under the Housing Authority and City Council Consent Calendars are considered routine and will be enacted by one vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless members of the City Council or City staff request specific items be removed from the Consent Calendars for separate action. Have there been any requests to remove an item from the Consent Calendars?

No request from staff or council members to remove items, but we do have a public commenter on item number five.

Okay, before we do that, I'll let my colleague make a statement.

Yes, I have a public comment. There are warrants on the register of the County of Orange. I am an employee for the County of Orange, but I do not work for the departments that generate the warrants. Because the County of Orange, the public agency, and because I do not work for the departments in question, I have determined that I have a non-interest in these warrants, and I will be voting on the item. Thank you, Mayor.

Okay, I'll take a motion.

I'll move this consent calendar for housing authority. I'll second that motion. except for five for number five we're pulling five but i'll make for the remainder for the housing authority and city council i'll move the consent calendar second oh second the motion all right very good all right let's vote and the motion for the remainder passes unanimously

and the item for public comment is item number five the certification certification of warrant register and our public commenter is brian mcmillan hello another try um this is regarding the consent or the warrant uh the warrants on uh

There are two warrants on the register for a total of $316,409.82. And much of this, this was for Best, Best and Krieger, your city attorney. Much of this was to defend the illegal actions of the city. On February 20th, 2025, the California Superior Court issued a de novo ruling that could not have been clearer. The city's code enforcement's actions are unlawful. Despite that ruling, The same code enforcement officer issued two more citations to me personally for the very same issues. No notice, no legal basis, just more citations issued and direct contradiction to a court order. That is not ordinary enforcement that is deliberate indifference to a court ruling. Courts hate that. This is also deliberate misinterpretation of your own laws. This is harassment of city businesses. This pattern has consequences. It has cost me and other business owners time, money and reputation, but is also costing the city best. Best in Krieger has now spent hundreds of hours, tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars defending conduct that could have been avoided simply by following the municipal code and respecting the superior courts ruling. And it would have been avoided if you had respected your own consciousness consciences. The city is now paying for multiple attorneys, multiple hearings, both federal and state civil rights lawsuits, all because you continue to instruct your staff to refuse to correct unlawful enforcement practices that are intended to ruin people's lives, including mine. I'm here to ask the city one more time to follow its own laws, respect judicial rulings and treat property and business owners fairly. The massage moratorium extension to be discussed later is not fair to anyone except best best and Krieger, of course, and my attorney. I'm just getting started on this. The California case is up next, as well as future filings with various writs to stop the city's evil practices and policies. Tonight's agenda is 767 pages long. I'm sure you haven't all read all 767. Thank you for your comments.

That's it, Mayor.

Okay, I'll take a motion for item number five. So moved. Second. Okay, let's vote.

And the motion passes unanimously.

Thank you, we'll move on to public hearings. We'll now move on to public hearing item number 17. I would like to open the public hearing. Madam City Clerk, please read the title to item number 17.

The title of item number 17 is the second extension of urgency ordinance for moratorium on massage establishments.

Thank you. Madam City Manager, please introduce this item.

Thank you, Mayor. We have a presentation by our Assistant Director of Community Development, Amy Stonich.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. tonight i am presenting a request for a second extension of the city's temporary moratorium on massage establishments in august 2025 the city council adopted a 45-day urgency ordinance establishing a temporary moratorium on massage establishments in september 2025 the council approved the first extension allowing staff additional time to study the issue to conduct outreach and to coordinate with the Sheriff's Department and the City Attorney's Office. Over the past year, staff has continued research, investigations, and stakeholder engagement efforts. The current moratorium expires August 18th, 2026. Tonight, staff is requesting the second and final extension through February 18th of 27, as authorized under state law. It is important to note that the moratorium does not shut down or restrict existing lawful massage businesses. Licensed massage establishments may continue operations and renewals. Other personal care businesses may also continue operating. However, the moratorium temporarily pauses the establishment of new or unlicensed massage establishments while the city completes its regulatory review and develops updated ordinances. The purpose of the extension is to provide additional time for staff to complete stakeholder outreach and finalize regulatory and zoning amendments that will strengthen the city's oversight of businesses offering massage services. City staff in the attorney's office have been actively evaluating regulations governing massage establishments and related personal care businesses. While significant progress has been made staff is currently evaluating outreach feedback to better understand industry practices. To date staff has created an online survey and mailed them to individual businesses. Code enforcement has also made personal contact with over 60 massage establishments and personal care businesses. We've received written survey responses from 12 business operators posted the draft ordinance for massage and personal care licensing on the city's website and provided contact for more information. Additional time is needed to complete this effort. to evaluate this feedback, refine proposed standards and finalize comprehensive code amendments. Our goal is to draft regulations that protect public health and safety, prevent illicit activities, address unlicensed massage operations and provide the city with clear enforcement and abatement tools. in conclusion staff has made substantial progress toward developing updated regulations however additional time is needed therefore staff recommends that the city council adopt the proposed urgency ordinance extending the temporary moratorium on the establishment of new massage businesses for an additional six months, or until revised regulatory standards become effective, whichever occurs first. That concludes my presentation, and I am available to answer any questions.

Thank you. Before we do that, Amy, Madam City Clerk, do we have any requests to speak on this item?

We do have public commenters for this item, and our first in-person public commenter is Sherry Weldon.

Good evening, mayor and members of the city council. My name is Sherry Weldon and I am a owner and practitioner of holistic health services here in the beautiful city of Lake Forest. I've been in this city for nearly 10 years and in the industry for 30. I want to begin by saying that I support the city's efforts to investigate and eliminate unlawful activity. Protecting the public is vital and I appreciate those efforts. My concern is the unintended impact that another extension of the moratorium is having on legitimate professional small businesses like mine.

I apologize. I'm a little under the weather.

For nearly a year, massage businesses have been operating under a cloud of uncertainty. That uncertainty has real consequences. Clients have expressed concern about committing to treatment plans because they don't know what the future holds. Many of them rely on therapeutic massage for their quality of life, managing chronic pain, mobility, recovering from injuries, et cetera. They want to continue supporting my practice, but they also want reassurance that I will be here to continue their care. I'm sorry. Despite my efforts to understand my property status through public records search, I've come up empty-handed, and I still do not know how the city classifies my business or how the proposed ordinance will affect it. That makes it very difficult to answer my clients questions or make responsible decisions for my business. I respectfully and humbly ask that the counts provide clarity for long established professional massage businesses before extending this moratorium yet again. Please clearly identify how existing businesses will be treated how they will be if classified under the proposed ordinance and what the path forward will be. I believe we can collectively protect the public while recognizing the professional CAMTC certified therapists who have faithfully served this community for many years. I respectfully ask that you process this moratorium in a timely fashion so that businesses like mine can continue serving the residents of Lake Forest with confidence, certainty, remain or become compliant due to the proposed changes and trust that we have worked so hard to earn. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Sarah Oliva.

Good evening honorable Mayor and members of Lake Forest City Council. I'm here addressing article line number 17. My name is Sarah Oliva. I'm the sole owner of Le Chateau Enchanté des Spas. I am a CAMTC certified massage therapist and now as of January 1st of this year legislature has adopted us as health care providers. I have a Master of Eastern Healing Arts and a medically trained esthetician with over 25 years in healthcare, dentistry, fitness, nutrition, and holistic wellness. I fully support the city and the state's efforts to investigate and eliminate human trafficking and illegal activity. protecting our communities is crucial and critical. However, the prolonged moratorium and strict regulations are unintentionally harming legitimate small businesses like mine. In 2020, I was forced to close my newly remodeled spa after investing 75K while I was shut down during COVID. An illegal happy ending operation opened in the very same spot where i operated and they operated freely while i was not allowed to work without a doctor on staff legitimate massage therapies are being unfairly targeted and treated as the problem and we are not real criminals are using our professional as a cover while they honest practitioners that we are following the rules and helping heal people all the days of our lives you know people that are paralyzed seniors people in our community that are un um undeserved are really the ones that are going to suffer as we are being picked one at a time off of the list and only the large corporations and the happy ending funny money places are able to pay a doctor to stay on staff the red tape that we've been struggling with has been affecting the honest practitioners and yet the criminal activity continues i have attached the webmaps.com list of the so-called businesses in that are called massage therapy and lake forest that start with Neurostar, Golden Spa, Lake Forest Spa Massage, Massage Square, Oasis Relaxed, Biotherapy, Biorelaxed, Beauty Relaxed Massage. I am a Christian-owned business, and I dedicate my life to heal people every single day. I am allowed to open in the city of Lake Forest as an aesthetician but not as a massage therapist that makes no sense at all we both work on people's skin and we both do massage and people are in the room trusting us um undraped so what is the difference between allowing an aesthetician to open up and as a massage therapist why are we being penalized Please reconsider this moratorium as it's affecting us. I'm still trying to open up again after 2020 back in the city.

Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Brian McMillan.

The prior speaker probably said it best. It makes no sense. I'll just talk about the legalities tonight. California code 658 58 requires a current and immediate threat to public health or safety. Your own staff reports prove you don't have one. You cite four incidents from 22 to 20, 2022 to 2024 all years old, nothing from 2025, nothing from 2026. How on earth Do you say this is an immediate threat and it's a current threat? This is not bad policy. As it turns out, it's a violation of law. California, the state of California has already determined that beauty spas, therapy spas, massage businesses do not violate health, safety, or welfare laws. Come on, let's be honest. This isn't about public safety. It's about optics, isn't it? You guys all want to be able to walk around the city and say, I did everything I could to eliminate illegal activity in service businesses. Well, you didn't. You haven't come close. All you have to do is turn over here and ask the Madam City Manager, to enforce the city codes the way they were written. You don't need to change them. All you have to do is enforce what you already have. Come on. Your own report limits, uh, admits illegal activity happening at day spas and personal care businesses with private rooms. Yet the moratorium only applies to massage establishments. Why are you being so unreasonable? It's arbitrary. It's irrational. If the threat is day spas, why are you not regulating day spas? Why are you ignoring the very business your report says are involved? You're punishing innocent people right here in front of you. You're throwing the baby out with the bathwater. This is absolutely crazy. It is California law that they do not threaten health and safety or public welfare and they are not a threat to the city. You made all this up. for political expediency. You made up that there's a problem in Lake forest. There's no problem. You haven't proven one single even charge of prostitution, let alone, uh, uh, sex trafficking. Come on. What are you guys doing? What's wrong with you? Okay. That's all I have to say. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

That's it. Mayor.

OK. I will now close the hearing. And colleagues?

I do, Mayor. Can we go back to the slide for when we started our moratorium? You got anything? So this started in August 19, 2025. you're you're asking to go for a six months extension from august 18th and to february 18th um what what what more um input do we need from the community i can respond to that to the mayor uh council member of whites we are we have collected information from the businesses we had code enforcement go out and make contact with each business

uh, massage and personal care. We conducted a survey that was online on our website and we are now assessing that information. And from that response, we're preparing our updated code requirements. While we have a draft posted on the website, we are still taking this comments into consideration.

And according to your staff report, there's 60 businesses that fall into this category and we got 10 responses back.

Yes, 12 responses, yes.

12. I'm going to let the council ask some questions.

Thank you, Mayor. May the justice to our city attorney, can you give us information on what was the genesis of us starting with this moratorium originally? Is this something that we just decided we were going to do, or is there some kind of evidence or activity or reports that prompted this action?

Yes, Mayor and Council. There have been a number of police reports involving instances of prostitution. These are established instances of prostitution. We've listed four in the ordinance where sexual favors were offered to police officers. There have been further complaints made to the city and investigations that are ongoing with code enforcement and OCST, but the genesis was those instances of prostitution where sexual favors were offered to undercover officers.

Okay, and I just wanna make sure I understand correctly that the current moratorium that's in place for those businesses that are established in Lake Forest, by their permitting and by being a legally established business, there shouldn't be any issue with this moratorium.

Am I missing something? There's zero impact on existing legally operating massage establishments, day spas, aestheticians, any kind of business that's currently operating can continue to operate. The only thing the moratorium does is not allow the establishment of a new massage business. during that moratorium period. An establishment can submit an application that can be processed, but it can't be approved until the moratorium expires. But again, an existing establishment can continue to operate with no changes at all to their operations.

My current understanding is that the ordinance says that these establishments, I guess specifically massage often includes the day spas or the personal care services, that there's an ordinance that says that they can't be within so many fees, a 500 feet or something between these businesses. Is that accurate?

there's there's currently no distancing requirement that's one of the issues that's being looked at by staff if if that would be something that makes sense for the city um there are no regulations currently that apply to day spas and those those those kinds of businesses again we only regulate massage establishments right now we're looking at whether IT MAKES SENSE TO CHANGE THE REGULATIONS THAT APPLY TO MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENTS AND WHETHER IT MAKES SENSE TO REGULATE IN ANY WAY THESE OTHER KINDS OF ESTABLISHMENTS, DAY SPAS AND SO FORTH.

SO AS LONG AS A MASSAGE ESTABLISHMENT OR A DAY SPA OR A PERSONAL CARE SERVICES HAS DRAWN A PERMIT, THEY HAVE A BUSINESS LICENSE, THEY'RE OPERATING LEGALLY IN THE CITY OF LAKE FOREST, THEN THIS VIRTUALLY HAS NO EFFECT ON THEM. AM I CORRECT WITH THAT STATEMENT?

Zero impact on existing legally operating businesses. That's correct. Okay. Thank you.

Mr city attorney. So, um, in the event that we get our information in and staff. Follow up with the existing businesses. Are we in the process of with the ordinance being drafted?

Yes, so the outside date for the moratorium's expiration is February 18th, 2027, assuming the council approves the ordinance this evening. But the moratorium could expire before that date if the ordinance was brought to the council and adopted by the council. The council could end the moratorium at any point before that final date of February 18th.

Okay, so the fact that if staff completes the research and the ordinance is drafted, you bring it forth, how long after city council votes on it, it's enacted?

The moratorium can end the very night the council deems that it should cease. So there's no requirement for, say, first reading, second reading. When the council votes to end the moratorium, it ends that night.

So in other words, Councilman Serbo just asked, it doesn't affect those that are currently operating, even if illegal, that are operating in the City of Lake Forest, that are legally operating in the City of Lake Forest.

If they have a permit to operate and are properly licensed, then there's no effect on that business from this moratorium.

It will follow up. I appreciate Sarah and the information that she provided to us with this rub maps or something you referenced there. Do we take that kind of information and reports and then we follow up with code enforcement and or the sheriff department to validate whether or not those are operating businesses? uh through the mayor and council mayor pro tem if i understand your question do we confirm whether or not they're operating appropriately through the sheriff's department yeah i mean the first thing is are they licensed you know businesses in the city of lake forest and if someone reports to us today we think there's some kind of illicit activity going on in those do we act on those

Yes. So each year we ask that each applicant renew their license and we do ask for an updated report from the sheriff's department each year. We consider that upon renewal. If there were not to pass, if they were not to pass the, uh, sheriff's department test, then they would not receive a renewal.

Okay, I'd like to recognize Sarah just for a second. She had some additional, if you'd like to come up and just give me a one minute piece of information on that, I'd appreciate that if we could do that.

I actually got involved with the state of California, California Massage Therapy Council with Beverly May. That's her. She's the president of the human trafficking for California. I had been reporting previous to COVID even that we had human trafficking going on in the city of Lake Forest. To even on even Facebook, because no, I wasn't being heard. I literally went on Facebook because they're. Chairs department so busy posting about saving kitties and puppies and we have serious stuff going on. That's just not even checked out. When I was making, I put it on Facebook, I put the website and what I was told is that I was just jealous of the competition. um that's definitely not it uh we're being penal penalized for stuff that we're not even doing and we can't control um if i think they should just be allowed to have their own profession and not dirty our own profession because we're being punished and i was here and i need to reopen here this is where all my clients are so i i'm being punished and i've been punished since covid because i didn't have a doctor on staff what is the doctor going to tell me they don't know anything about massage

Okay. Well, thank you. We're not going to have a dialogue necessarily, but I appreciate your feedback. Yeah.

So the police did nothing. They never searched it. I even got followed home when I was reporting the stuff from somebody that was following me home.

And I reported that to mayor, if I may, we did close the public hearing for this. So if we are going to take more public comment, we will need to open up this public hearing and we're done.

All right. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion.

I'll move staff recommendation. I'll second. Let's vote.

I do need one more vote, please. Thank you. And that motion passes unanimously.

All right, we'll move on to discussion and action items. Madam City Clerk, can you please read the title for item number 18?

The title of item number 18 is the Lake Forest Municipal Code Amendment regarding electric bicycles.

Thank you. Madam City Manager, please introduce this item.

Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to introduce Senior Management Analyst Robert Baumann. This is his first City Council presentation, I'm sure the first of many, and he's going to be talking about e-bikes tonight.

Yes, thank you city manager. Uh, good evening mayor and members of the city council. Uh, the item before you tonight is a 1st, reading of an ordinance, updating the lake forest municipal code pertaining to electric bicycles or otherwise known as E bikes. All right. So to provide some background, e-bike usage has increased substantially in recent years, both in Lake Forest as well as throughout the Southern California region. As a result of this uptick in usage, the city has received a number of complaints related to e-bikes recently. These complaints generally fall within a few different categories. There's unsafe use on roadways and sidewalks, damaged city property. and disruption of crowded events at Lake Forest Sports Park. Since high volume e-bike usage is more of a recent phenomenon, issues related to unsafe operation and riding behaviors is an emerging problem that municipalities are having to deal with in real time. So, for reference, this slide shows the current regulations contained in the lake forest municipal code related to bicycles and bikes, which are listed here. So, as you can see, currently, there's a 5 mile per hour speed limit on sidewalks, 10 miles per hour. Overall. Must yield right away to pedestrians and bicycles and emails cannot be left on their side in a road or a trail to obstruct any sort of traffic. Uh, in addition to these, um, the code also currently, um, provides that unsafe operation of, uh, bicycles and e-bikes is prohibited. So you can see the definition there, uh, operating in a manner that endangers any person or animal at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for other users and the surface width and grade of the road or trail and in no event in excess of 10 miles per hour. So while these regulations are useful baseline to have, you can see that they are a bit broad and can be open to interpretation on what is considered unsafe. So given that, staff is recommending updating the municipal code to add more specificity and make clear and unambiguous where e-bikes are and are not allowed. While this ordinance was developed primarily in response to concerns involving e-bikes, it would also apply to traditional pedal bicycles. Uh, so the updates to the, uh, those updates are listed there. Uh, the most notable is probably the 1st bullet point. Uh, no person shall operate a bicycle or bike on any playground or on any field or court dedicated to sports of any kind. So that would prohibit usage on. Uh, sports facilities, uh, that that you typically see at, uh, many of the city parks. In addition to that, uh, staff is enabled to establish temporary perimeter, uh, beyond which, uh, used is prohibited and, uh. Place signage designating these prohibit areas and declare other and have the discretion to declare other areas prohibited as well. So by making these updates to municipal code and clearly prohibiting usage of e-bikes in certain areas, the city intends that the ordinance will have a few different effects, deter unlawful and disruptive activities by individuals on e-bikes, make it more difficult to disrupt crowds, particularly at large events like you see at the sports park, and also allow for park visitors to more easily participate in programs or their general use and enjoyment Of the sports park or other city parks without fear of disruption. And in addition to that, by kind of updating the language to make the provisions more clear, it'll provide more clarity for enforcement. So, I did want to note as well, while these updates do further regulate and restrict usage in specific areas, it is not an outright ban. Are still allowable at the sports park and other city parks, um, provided that they are written on sidewalks or designated by bike paths and, um, users are exhibiting, uh, safe writing behavior and are in compliance with the municipal code. So I'd mentioned earlier that e-bikes and e-bike safety are kind of an emerging issue that all cities are dealing with. So with that in mind, the city is working on a multifaceted approach to address this issue that I wanted to highlight here. So we've already begun some crowd management efforts at the Lake Forest Sports Park for large events. So that includes barricades. signage, prohibiting e-bikes, designated e-bike parking or storage area. So you can see that there's two photos on this slide. So the first one shows, this is from a very recent event at the sports park. So you can see an example of the barricades, signage, and the designated e-bike storage area. So in addition to those things, there is also enhanced staffing and security presence that's already in place for these Uh, larger events at the sports park, uh, the next aspect of this approach is what we are discussing tonight, uh, which is updating the municipal code to make it more specific on what constitutes prohibited E, bike operation. Uh, so this, like I mentioned earlier, this will put something on the books that improves ease of enforcement. Um. And in terms of future actions, uh, the city is is looking at. Different avenues for enforcement mechanisms to further deter unsafe for unlawful operation of bicycles and bikes throughout the city. So, while tonight's action is strictly a municipal code update to prohibit. Use on playground sports fields, et cetera. I did want to give kind of a bigger picture that shows the whole context of what the city is doing to address this issue. So you can see there the recommended action. So introduce the first reading an ordinance amending the municipal code chapter 12.24 relating to electric bicycles. And that concludes my presentation and I'm available for any questions.

Thank you, Robert. Before we go to public comments, I'll bring it to colleagues.

Yeah, um, you know, I think that everybody in the sea lake forest, in fact, and I think in every city, um, as I stated in my, um. Warrant registry vote I am an employee of the county of orange and there's 11 districts. 11 cities in the district that I serve, which the 3rd district supervisor Don Wagner and probably the number 1. question we have coming into the county office is regarding e-bikes and the rudeness of some of the youth that are riding them. I find that every city that we deal with and every city that I've been in touch with throughout the County of Orange is dealing with some kind of problems, the same problems that we're dealing with. And so this is a baby step in the right direction, but the mandates and the new laws have to come from Sacramento to try to tighten this up. And so I think this is a great step in the right direction, trying to make it safer for our residents when they're on the fields, when they're playing sports, and when they're not looking at what's going on around them, and an e-bike zips by them. I've had reports of e-bikes racing by horses. They're silent, and so when they go by the horses, it startles the horses. We've had one accident along Serrano Creek that actually broke a shoulder of a rider because the e-bike went by there. So I think that... everything that we do that make it more um accountable to those that are writing it is a step in the right direction so i i like the ordinance and i just want to say thank you for your time and thank you for the presentation sure thank you

Thank you. The University of California just released a study this week talking about everything that we've observed, we've seen for ourselves, we've heard about from other cities, and the fact that injuries in 2018 went from two to over 1,500 last year. So there's data now that supports this, and it's also for the average age for these injuries is 14. So we know that it's the youth is where largely this problem is occurring. And the thing I appreciate about our city staff and our council is that we're not a knee-jerk, reactionary type of decision-making body. And this is a practical solution, a simple way for us to take the next steps that are within the bounds of what we can do here to try and mitigate this issue and hopefully solve Again, get the attention of parents to do the right thing and educate their youth, their kids, on how to be responsible with this, yes, fun activity, more mobile for the kids to be able to get around. So I'm really happy that we're making this step, and I agree that, you know, thank you, Robert, for the report and how we're going to proceed on this. So thank you, Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor. I just want to know what's the penalty for the violation?

Yeah, I believe currently, as the code is written, it would be an administrative citation. I know we have Captain Pultz here. He may be able to speak more specifically to penalties. But yeah, that's my understanding based on what's currently in the municipal code.

All right, thank you.

I think the next ordinance that we talk about, we'll talk about penalties and other things. So, uh, it's a future council or a future agenda item. So we'll definitely be talking. I had a bunch of questions today at lunch and got shot down. So I have to wait. So, um, thank you, mayor.

Um, I, I agree with council member whites. This is a good step in the right direction. I think ultimately I think it needs to go further. We have these vehicles, and we've had people come up and make it known that they've had very close encounters, even going out to walk around, say, the sports park. We don't allow cars to drive up next to the parks. We have a parking lot. Stop there, park your car. We don't allow you to ride your motorcycle up and around. we have a parking lot keep it in the parking lot i think that same philosophy should apply here the notion of the barrier signage or whatever it is i think makes the most sense i know that's not for discussion tonight i'm saying that's where i think we need to go with this and saying that people should feel like they're within a barrier inside that zone they should not be at all concerned about being run over hit or harassed by somebody on an e-bike we don't allow cars and motorcycles why do i allow these other things up there I THINK THAT IS WHERE WE ULTIMATELY NEED TO GO TO LET PEOPLE HAVE A SAFE PARK EXPERIENCE WHEREVER THEY ARE. AGAIN, I SAW THAT THERE IS THINGS UP FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION. I HOPE THAT IS ONE OF THEM. I WOULD ENCOURAGE IT. I AM NOT SURE IF I WILL BE HERE FOR THAT DISCUSSION, BUT I THINK THAT IS WHERE WE ULTIMATELY NEED TO GO TO REALLY GET THIS WHERE IT NEEDS TO BE. THANK YOU.

OKAY. MADAM CITY CLERK, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM?

We do have public commenters, and our first public commenter is Bob Holtzclaw.

First, I want to thank the City Council for bringing this up on the agenda. A few weeks ago, I asked some of the neighbors what laws they want for e-bikes, and the top request was e-bikes should not be on the pedestrian sidewalk that's including pedal bikes. I sent Councilman Servo and our city manager our suggestions, and some of them are mine. But that was the top request. My personal incident with e-bikes was I was walking on the sidewalk, and an e-bike came behind me, and he didn't say anything. And we brushed each other, and he fell out onto the curb. No injuries, but they don't say anything when they're coming behind you. The average person walks around two to five miles an hour, and an e-bike goes 20 miles an hour. And if you don't have any time to move out of the way, you're going to have an accident, and they shouldn't be on the sidewalk at all. Thank you. Thank you for your comments.

Our next public commenter is Mark Hermanson.

Mayor Pro Temsorba, respectfully, I disagree with you. The parents are not going to take responsibility. Let's be honest. If they were, they would have done that a while back. And I can tell you the only problem I had with e-bikes was in the streets. But I've had more problems with those spandex-wearing bike Nazis on Sunday that like to take over El Toro and block traffic. My question would be, and I'm going to use Pittsburgh Park near where I used to live as an example. nobody was ever on that basketball court that is a place where the kids on e-bikes would go do wheelies play around and do things like that from understanding this right they would now be banned so my question is we keep squeezing them and squeezing them and squeezing them then what they end up in the parking lots of walmart and target where they're interfering with traffic in there people going in and out of parking spaces and we could end up with more injuries Or we end up with more problems on the street. California has put you into a lousy position because even if the sheriffs do something. Everything has to be diversion program 1st. And quite honestly, a lot of them would probably do better being thrown in juvie for a week or 2. So, the question would be, how much are we going to push these kids away from the parks? At least at parks, we know where they are. I completely understand with a lot of people here and the issues. I have seen some of these kids. Their lack of respect for older people is nonexistent anymore. But I think we need to be careful. We don't want to push them to areas where it's going to even be a worse issue. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

And our last public commenter for this item is Sean Fletcher.

Good day, City Council. I've spoken about this issue several times with you. And again, some of my experiences with the e-bikers, other than being a teacher in our school and seeing some of the kids and how idiot they are, I've talked about the fact that, yes, it should be a sacramental thing. And to me, I think what will take care of a lot of the asinine behavior by these students is to limit class two and above to having a driver's license because I never see a kid with a class one pedal-only assist causing problems. It's always the kids with the throttle where they get instant speed, instant torque. And as I mentioned, e-bikes can be anywhere from 50 to 70 pounds versus a regular bike, what, 20 to 30 pounds at the most. It's a matter of physics. I'm also a volunteer in the park, and I do visit our parks quite a bit. I also volunteer and I participate at the sports park. I've seen the asinine behavior for these kids and as a volunteer in the park I've seen the damage they've caused to our local parks specifically Rimgate Park if you go to the sports court it's crisscrossed with tracks right next to the sports park there's a whole dead zone where the kids were using the launch off at Tamarisk Park where I live by Constantly seeing kids doing donuts in the in in the infield of the newly renovated infield at Tamarisk Park for Little League and plus the fact that the city's left the Portable mound there. It's supposed to be a portable mound that has Increased the amount of kids that will drive onto the field because they want to use the mound as a ramp I But I do agree with the fact that, again, it needs to come from Sacramento. And I also think that you need to coordinate your rules with the surrounding cities. Considering how close all the cities are to each other, having one rule in one area and one rule in another makes no sense. But I do think, for the most part, e-bikes should just be banned from our city parks. I don't agree they should be banned from the sidewalks because, unfortunately, too many of our streets are not well-designed for bikes. But I also think that one thing we need to look at here is making sure that kids, when they ride the bikes, that they have to follow the flow of traffic so they're not going against traffic. And hopefully you can look at that, is the fact that If they're driving on the sidewalk, they have to follow the flow of traffic and not go against it. Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

That's it, Mayor.

Okay, I'll go ahead and move staff recommendation.

I'll second that.

Let's vote.

And then motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. Madam City Clerk, please read the title to item number 19.

The title of item 19 is the declaration of the Whispering Hills site as surplus land and authorization for staff to issue a notice of availability pursuant to the California Surplus Land Act.

Thank you. Madam City Manager, please introduce this item.

Tonight we will have a presentation by our Housing and Economic Development Manager, Adrienne Grijalva.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. Tonight I have a brief presentation regarding Whispering Hills and the Surplus Land Act. Included in the strategic plan is strategic initiative number 13, Whispering Hills Affordable Housing Development. The initiative aims to identify an affordable housing developer to partner with and develop the parcel into affordable housing dedicated to seniors, parking, and a park. The following actions have been completed to date. The city mailed letters to over 800 surrounding property owners and invited them to two public workshops. The city established a monitored email address for the project. And staff sends out email notifications to workshop attendees and individuals that have emailed the Whispering Hills email account when a related item is placed on the agenda, such as this evening. The city also completed the municipal park abandonment law process which included adoption of a resolution of intention, required publications were completed, a public hearing was conducted, and the park abandonment was approved by the city council. The next phase of the strategic initiative is the Surplus Land Act. This process would begin with the City Council declaring the property as surplus and staff issuing a notice of availability to HCD and other eligible entities. Following issuance of the NOA, interested parties would have a 60-day period to notify the City of their interest in the property. If interest is received, the City would be required to engage in good faith negotiations for a minimum of 90 days to determine acceptable terms, including price and development parameters. If no agreement is reached during the negotiation period, the City may proceed with disposition of the property, subject to HCD's review and confirmation that the City complied with the SLA. Upon completion of the solicitation and negotiation process, staff would submit a report to HCD documenting its compliance with the SLA. In the event of a violation, the city would have 60 days to remedy the issue. Prior to this evening's meeting, staff worked with HCD to review a draft notice of availability. HCD requested revisions, staff sent an updated NOA to HCD for another round of review, and was deemed adequate. That updated NOA is attached to the staff report for City Council review. A preliminary timeline illustrating how the SLA process could be coordinated is provided on screen. Should the City Council approve the recommended actions this evening, staff would issue the NOA tomorrow. That initiates the 60-day solicitation period, which would conclude in September of this year. If interest is shown, that would initiate 90 days of good faith negotiation with responding entities, which would conclude in December. At the conclusion of the negotiation period, staff would send a report to HCD showing compliance with the SLA. As previously noted, HCD would have 30 days to review, and if they determined the city did not comply with the SLA, the city would have 60 days to remedy. Following HCD's review, staff would return to the city council and report on results of negotiations and next steps. I would like to add the timeline is intended for planning purposes only and may be adjusted on City Council direction, public input or any other procedural requirements. At this time, staff recommends the City Council adopt a resolution declaring the site a surplus land, approving the notice of availability, and authorizing the City Manager to comply with the SLA and taking related actions and find the actions are not subject to CEQA. The recommended actions are to authorize staff to move forward with completing the SLA process. That concludes my presentation and I'm available to answer any questions. Thank you.

Okay. Colleagues, before we go to public comment, any questions? All right, let's go to public comment. Thank you, Adrienne.

We only have one public commenter, and that is Jackie Jordan.

Hello, Mayor and City Council. Thank you so much for everything you've done for the City of Lake Forest. I moved out here in 1969, just a little side note. And I love what you've done with our city, what farmers have done with our city as well. I've been working with homeless since 2007. We did it in host homes to begin with, and we now have a transitional house. couple other things going as well but about 92% success rate of the people that we house acquire housing on their own whether through affordable housing or some have to because they are at minimum wage will never be able to afford of their place on their own until they get affordable housing they may have to rent a room but 92% of the people we help due to the wraparound services that we offer and partnering with others like families forward South County outreach fam and several others We have a good success rate. This is my first time speaking at Council and I'm excited to be here and maybe a little bit nervous, but I wrote up a proposal because two years ago we formed an affordable housing board. So we spent the first year identifying the people who are passionate and equipped to work on an affordable housing board and make it come to be. The second year, we came up with some steps. We've been saving our funds, and now at the end of this year, we're looking to acquire property, which just so happens to fit in time with what you're doing here. As I was doing research, I came across Whispering Hills, and I ran into Mayor Pro Tem Doug Serbo and mentioned to him that I was interested in this property. He said, well, it's going to be on the city council like in two days.

So here I am.

I have a proposal for the property, and I guess I'm going to give it to whoever, probably you, and in hopes that I can have a fruit meeting, that we can get our affordable housing together, our team together, and meet with your city developers and Mayor Pro Tem Doug Serbo and present what we have laid out for developing your 6.5 acres of four acres of it being housing, between single parents and senior citizens. I know you've identified it for senior citizens, but I do want to say that this is a really good fit because senior citizens are usually alone and home, and they don't drive single parents usually have to go to work and they do drive and they have kids single senior citizens have wisdom single parents need wisdom and it's just a really good fit it has been shown in seniors that when they are around younger people that they come back to life they get enthused about living again so it is our preposition that we would be able to do both single parents and seniors with a 30% to 80% of the median income. There's a lot.

Thank you for your comments.

That's it, Mayor.

Okay, I'll take a. I'll move staffers. And I'll second staff recommendation. There you go, first and second, I spoke. I meant to say motion.

And that motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. Madam City Clerk, please read the title to item number 20.

The title of item number 20 is the Strategic Plan Quarterly Update.

Madam City Manager, please introduce this item.

All right. To close us out tonight, we have Management Analyst Hope Harrell, who is going to report on the progress made on our strategic plan.

Thank you city manager rose and good evening mayor and members of the City Council this is a quarterly update on the progress completed so far on the city's strategic plan. The current plan cycle in review is a strategic plan that was adopted June 3rd of 2025 and this is our 4th update this update includes accomplishments during the quarter starting April 1st 2026 we typically highlight major project completions or milestones on a quarterly basis. We track the strategic plan from two perspectives. First, we track initiatives based on overall progress. Out of the 60 initiatives in the implementation matrix of the strategic plan, 17 or about 28% of initiatives have been completed, 27 or 45% of initiatives have reached substantial progress, 13 more have been started, and three initiatives have yet to be started. We also track progress in the plant from a goal point of view. We've been able to start, reach substantial progress on, or complete 37 projects for Goal A so far, for Goal B, 14 projects, and for Goal C, 6 projects. As we progress, these bars will begin to show a higher percentage of green to indicate completion of initiatives and will show the progress for each goal. Goal A is that our livable city is well planned, attractive and safe. Under Goal A for this quarter, we have five initiatives that we are highlighting. The completion of the analysis of industrial and business park inventory and trends, hiring a broker for retail recruitment, and the community preservation program. And substantial progress on phase four neighborhood park renovations at Peachwood Park and the conversion of the sport rink at Foothill Ranch Park. Goal B is that our connected city is engaged, informed, and technologically current. Under goal B for this quarter, we have four initiatives that we are highlighting, completion of business attraction marketing, Lake Forest flavors, and integrated reduction services, and substantial progress on the celebration of the United States 250th anniversary. Goal C is that our healthy city government is sustainable and well-run with committed people. Under Goal C for this quarter, we are highlighting two initiatives, substantial progress on the conduction of a comprehensive fee study and cost allocation plan, and the review of contract versus in-house services. Analysis of industrial and business park inventory and trends sought to procure a consultant to conduct an in-depth analysis of the city's current industrial and business park inventory and produce a comprehensive report. The final report was presented to the city council on April 21st with complete review of different strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats facing the city's business park inventory. Hiring a broker for retail recruitment includes procuring a consultant to support retail recruitment and business attraction efforts. Staff has executed a contract with the retail coach. The consultant is actively supporting the city's retail recruitment efforts through market analysis, ICSC conference coordination, business attraction activities, and ongoing outreach to prospective retailers. The community preservation program aimed to develop and implement a new citywide community preservation program to assist residents in need. Staff engaged a consultant to successfully implement a labors of love program to assist with deferred home maintenance assistance program for residents in need. Additional upgrades have been completed to address neighborhood concerns for safety, anesthetics, preserving the housing stock, and neighborhood quality in the city. Phase four of the neighborhood park renovations at Peachwood Park intended to procure design services for renovations at the park and move into a construction phase. Procurement for construction opened on June 1st and proposals were opened on June 30th. Staff anticipate presenting potential award of contract at the August 18th, 2026 City Council meeting. The Foothill Ranch Park Sport Rink Conversion Initiative aims to convert one hockey rink to a box lacrosse facility. The contractor is actively working on the project and staff anticipate project completion in August 2026. The Business Attraction Marketing Initiative sought to develop impactful marketing materials with the updated branding and showcase Lake Forest as an ideal place for business at the ICSC Las Vegas Conference. Staff and council member Tedimer attended ICSC Las Vegas from May 18th to the 20th, 2026. The city hosted an informational booth designed with the city's new branding and included marketing materials. The event included meetings with brokers representing various retailers. The celebration of the United States 250th anniversary's goal is to commemorate America's 250th birthday by incorporating unique features in the city's annual 4th of July parade and or other commemorative symbols throughout the community. Staff have implemented a variety of initiatives throughout the community, including themed 4th of July parade elements, commemorative banners, flags, promotional giveaways, historical recognitions at city council meetings, and a proclamation. And staff have also initiated an RFP for a commemorative mural. The Lake Forest Flavors Initiative is designed to establish Lake Forest as a dining destination by showcasing the city's vibrant restaurant scene through marketing efforts. Staff created a dedicated web page and Lake Forest Flavors Instagram account to promote local dining spots, and staff also boosted the 2026 Taste of Lake Forest event. The integrated redaction services initiative includes utilizing subscription-based redaction software to redact and upload city permits to the Laserfiche public portal accessible on the city's website. Staff have procured subscription-based redaction software and have made progress in redacting documents and making them available to the public. This item will transition to operations. This initiative's goal is to conduct a comprehensive fee study and cost allocation plan. Staff anticipate presenting the study and updated fee schedule at the August 18, 2026 City Council meeting. Review of contract services versus in-house services seeks to evaluate the city's contract service model to determine whether key services are best provided through contract or in-house operations. Staff are transitioning building division services from a contracted model to in-house operations. The City Council approved new in-house positions and supporting on-call contracts and recruitment for building division staff is underway. This concludes tonight's update and I'm happy to address any questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Hope. Colleagues?

Thanks, Hope. Got a lot of good energy here right at the end. Appreciate your report. And I just wanted to kind of mention, you know, for those of there here watching us tonight and watching online, this is a cooperative effort between our residents, our staff, and our council being proactive under my favorite phrase, the biggest room is the room for improvement. You can see all the work that we're doing in the background here for the amenities and making Light Lake Forest that much more of a really great place to live. So I appreciate the effort that staff takes on this. They bring us ideas. Our residents give us good information. We've taken the initiative to go to Vegas this year and look at ways how we can attract businesses that our residents are telling us that we need here. We're taking all that feedback, taking that information and applying it in a way that really benefits us all here in Lake Forest. So thank you for that quick summary report and the details on what we're doing for our strategic plan.

Thank you. Madam City Clerk, do we have any requests to speak on this item?

We do not, Mayor.

Okay. Well, thank you, Hope, for everything. This is a receiving file. We'll move on to the City Managerial Report.

I have nothing further to see.

Oh, look at you. All right. We'll go to Council Comments and AB 1234, Reporting. Council Member Teddemer.

Thank you, Mayor. Just want to recognize the scouts that are still here. Is this part of a civics patch, maybe? Yes, citizen. Either one.

Yes.

Anyway, thank you for being here. We appreciate that. I hope you learned a lot seeing local government in action.

That's it.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Council Member Voits.

I attended the second of our series of concerts in the park, and I appreciated the A-frames and the staff members warning people that bikes and e-bikes were not allowed at the sports park on the field during the concert. So I just saw a great improvement with that, and like I said in the item number, We are making improvements to try to make our citizens safer. So I want to commend our staff. Thank you for the great presentation. We are making great strides in making the city of Lake Forest safer and more beautiful. Thank you.

Council Member Yu.

I attended the concert in the park. It's a great show by the Tijuana Dogs and I enjoy it very much. Thank you for the work of the staff. Nothing further. Thank you.

Mayor Pro Tem Serbo.

Thank you. Well, I know it's been pretty warm for a lot of us having to deal with the heat. And I was just at my mother-in-law's house the other day. Her air conditioning had gone out. She's got a perfectly square kitchen. And I asked her, I said, what is the temperature in that corner? She said, I don't know. I said, well, it looks like it's 90 degrees. Okay. Thank you, Mayor.

I had to move over for that one. So I attended the Sheriff's Department graduation for Class 270, along with a couple of my classmates, because I graduated from Class 170 20 years ago, so that was good. I also was a speaker for the 968th Quartermaster Unit and the 340th MCD for their deployment to SENTCOM AND INTO THE PERSIAN GULF AND I ALSO ATTENDED THE CONCERT IN THE PARK WITH THE PO1 GOGS WAS A GOOD CONCERT AND VERY GOOD TURNOUT AND STAFF DID ACTUALLY A GREAT JOB SEAN THEY ALSO HAD A BOUTIQUE ALSO IT WAS IT WAS GREAT SO IT WAS A REALLY GOOD SHOW AND SO WITH THAT I'LL ADJOURN BOTH THE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL AND SPECIAL HOUSING AUTHORITY MEETINGS