| December 13, 2013 |
 |
Volume 1 Issue 48 |
|
|
| Support for Social Host Ordinance Grows Before Consideration by Board of Supervisors at Tuesday’s Meeting |
|
 This week, the Orange County Register printed an op-ed by Mission Viejo Councilwoman Trish Kelley (pictured at right) and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) California Executive Director Mark Dandeneau. Kelley and Dandeneau wrote in support of the proposed Social Host Ordinance scheduled to be heard at the December 17 meeting of the Board of Supervisors.
“Social host laws fix two legal loopholes which are not covered by California law. State law only prohibits underage drinking in a public location – not in a private setting,” Kelley and Dandeneau wrote. “Furthermore, state law attaches criminal liability to those who publicly sell or furnish alcohol to anyone under 21. However, there is no law penalizing an individual who furnishes alcohol to groups of underage drinkers in a private home.”
Proposed at the County level by Supervisor Todd Spitzer, the Social Host Ordinance would hold people responsible for knowingly hosting “a party or gathering of three or more persons at a Property at which Alcoholic Beverages are furnished to, possessed by, or consumed by one or more Underage Persons.”
While Supervisor Spitzer’s proposal at the County level is to be considered on Tuesday, Social Host Ordinances have already been adopted by eight Orange County cities, six other California counties, and more than 30 states. Upon passage, the Social Host Ordinance would be enforceable in unincorporated areas of Orange County.
“The goal of the Social Host Ordinance is to increase safety for our young people and our communities,” Kelley and Dandeneau said. “Alcohol is killing our young people.”
The op-ed by Kelley and Dandeneau can be read in its entirety here.
For more details about the proposed Social Host Ordinance, see Supervisor Spitzer’s November 8 newsletter. The text of the proposed Social Host Ordinance to be considered on Tuesday can be read here. |
| |
 |
| |
| Supervisors Approve Construction Contract for La Pata Avenue/Camino Del Rio Extension Project |
|
|
| |
At this week’s meeting of the Board of Supervisors, the Board unanimously awarded Sukut Construction the contract for the La Pata Avenue/Camino Del Rio Extension Project.
“This extension will help relieve congestion by connecting two major thoroughfares,” Supervisor Todd Spitzer said.
The Board voted to throw out the bids for the project on November 19 after the lowest bidder, Papich Construction, requested that their low bid be thrown out due to a Papich mistake.
State law (Public Contracts Code Section 5105) states, “A bidder who claims a mistake or who forfeits his or her bid security shall be prohibited from participating in further bidding on the project on which the mistake was claimed or security forfeited.”
Consequently, Papich was prohibited from bidding in the replacement round of bids. In the new round of bids, California Coastal Development was the low bidder. However, the Board found that Papich was a significant subcontractor in the California Coastal Development bid, as California Coastal Development had never done a project like La Pata while Papich has done this kind of project with great regularity.
Since Papich was participating in the bid, the Board of Supervisors found that the California Coastal Development bid was prohibited by Public Contracts Code Section 5105. The next lowest bidder, Sukut Construction, came in at $72.7 million, which was $5.6 million below the County Engineer’s Estimate of $78.3 million.
Under normal bidding procedures, the County Engineer’s Estimate is sealed, and all bids on a project are submitted sealed. They are then all opened at the same time to ensure no one has an unfair advantage from knowing what other bidders submitted. Without Public Contracts Code Section 5105, a low bidder could claim they made a mistake in the bidding after finding out that other bidders and the County Engineer’s Estimate were much higher and then resubmit a higher bid that could cost taxpayers millions of dollars more.
The 4.1 mile extension of La Pata Avenue between San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano is expected to take two years to build. Additionally, the existing portions of La Pata Avenue between the Ortega Highway and the Prima Deshecha Landfill will be widened from three lanes to five lanes. |
| |
|
| |
| Spitzer Opposes $1.8 Billion Refinancing of 241 Toll Road Bonds That Add 13 More Years of Tolls |
|
|
| |
The 241 toll road runs from the 91 freeway in Anaheim Hills to Oso Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita. Financed by bonds that borrowed against revenues from tolls, the 241 bonds were to be paid off in 2040, at which point the 241 toll road would stop charging tolls and become a freeway. Instead, the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA) Board of Directors voted to refinance the bonds with $1.8 billion in additional payments and delaying the payoff date to 2053.
TCA Director Todd Spitzer opposed the vote, instead proposing a strategy to deal with the financial situation of the 241 toll road by negotiating directly with the bondholders, as the TCA did with the 73 toll road.
“The toll road is not being refinanced in order to satisfy a promise to the bond holders who understood the risk when they invested, but to maintain a credit rating that will possibly allow the TCA to finance a new road project in the future,” Director Spitzer said. “Extending the debt and tolls for another 13 years should only have been utilized after negotiations with existing bondholders was attempted and failed.”
Today, the rate covenant is 1.3 times debt service coverage; if TCA had lowered the rate to 1.0 times debt service coverage and gave up control of toll setting as it did with the 73, the 241 would have had financial breathing room.
“If the TCA is ever able to connect the existing 241 toll road to the 5 freeway and provide much needed relief to the 5 (the only north-south connector between Orange County and San Diego), the new road will actually go somewhere, namely areas of inland/eastern OC, like Ladera Ranch, Coto de Caza, Mission Viejo, and Rancho Santa Margarita,” Director Spitzer said. “If this happens, the 241 will finance itself because it will make money by having actual traffic going from the 5 to inland/eastern Orange County.” |
| |
|
| |
| Internal Audit on Clerk-Recorder Fund 12D Presented to Board of Supervisors |
|
 On Tuesday, the Orange County Internal Audit Department presented its audit of the Orange County Clerk-Recorder’s Fund 12D to the Board of Supervisors. Fund 12D consists of money received from fees for recording real estate documents, copies of birth/marriage/death certificates, and other similar items. Under state law, the money in 12D can only be spent on:
- Modernizing, creating, retaining, and retrieving recorded documents
- Converting real property documents to micrographics
- Improving and modernizing systems for birth, marriage, and death certificates
- Improving collection and analysis of birth and death certificates and other community health data
- Securing birth, marriage, and death records against fraudulent use
“There are lessons to be learned from the Internal Audit report,” Supervisor Todd Spitzer said. “When a department head signs off on a disbursement, they are signing off that a transaction complies with all laws and policies.”
The audit examined Fund 12D revenue sources, expenditures, and accounting practices from July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2012. (During that period, Tom Daly served as Clerk-Recorder. Daly resigned as Clerk-Recorder to enter the State Assembly in December 2012. The Board of Supervisors appointed Hugh Nguyen as Clerk-Recorder in April. Read more about Nguyen’s appointment from Supervisor Spitzer’s April 4 newsletter.)
The audit found twelve critical control weaknesses (the most serious level of concern), three significant control weaknesses, and four control findings. Among the findings were:
- Inadequate documentation related to expenditures of Fund 12D
- Limited oversight of Fund 12D
- No study of costs related to Fund 12D
- Errors in fees charged for Fund 12D
- Incomplete or erroneous information on Fund 12D submitted to the Board of Supervisors and the State of California
- No strategic plan for managing Fund 12D
Since Clerk-Recorder Nguyen took over in April, he has changed accounting staff and implemented new financial tracking and documentation procedures.
“I appreciate the work that Hugh Nguyen has done to reform the Clerk-Recorder’s office since his appointment by the Board eight months ago,” Supervisor Spitzer said. “I look forward to the follow-up audit in the spring that will tell us what progress has been made.”
The Internal Audit report can be read here. |
| |
|
| |
| Supervisors to Hold Open House on Tuesday |
|
 On Tuesday, Supervisors Todd Spitzer, John M.W. Moorlach, and Shawn Nelson will be holding an open house at their offices at the Orange County Hall of Administration.
“Orange County residents rarely visit the Hall of Administration except on official business,” Supervisor Spitzer said. “This open house is an opportunity for residents to visit these offices in a more casual setting to see where Supervisors and their staff get the people’s business done.”
Supervisors Spitzer, Moorlach, and Nelson will have their offices open from 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM on Tuesday, December 17, 2013, on the Fifth Floor of the Orange County Hall of Administration, 333 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, CA 92701. |
| |
|
| |
| Free Metrolink from Tustin to Winter Wonderland in San Juan Capistrano on Saturday |
|
Click on the image above to view a PDF version. |
| |
|
| |
| 26th Annual Holiday of Lights Boat Parade in Yorba Linda This Weekend |
|
Click on the image above to view a PDF version. |
| |
|
| |
| Christmas in the Canyons on Saturday |
|
Click on the image above to view a PDF version. |
| |
|
| |
| Pet of the Week |
|
Click on the image above to view a PDF version.
Click on the image above to view a PDF version.
Click on the image above to view a PDF version. |
| |
|
| |
| Events Around the District |
|
Anaheim
The Living Nativity
Saturday, December 14, 2013, 8:00 PM
Hepatha Lutheran Church, 5900 E. Santa Ana Canyon Rd.
Irvine
Winter Holiday Extravaganza
Saturday, December 14, 2013, 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Orange County Public Library – Katie Wheeler Branch, 13109 Old Myford Rd.
Orange
Here Comes Santa Claus!
Saturday, December 14, 2013, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
El Modena Branch Library, 380 S. Hewes St.
Tustin
Holiday Cello Concert
Saturday, December 14, 2013, 7:00 PM
Orange County Public Library – Tustin Branch, 345 E. Main St.
Villa Park
Hooked on Hallmark Ornaments Meeting
Wednesday, December 18, 2013 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Villa Park Community Room, 17855 Santiago Blvd.
Yorba Linda
Breakfast with Santa
Saturday, December 14, 9:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Yorba Linda Public Library, 18181 Imperial Hwy.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
