Oversight or Aftersight on Measure LL

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Editor,

Do you want to know where Measure LL funds are going? Remember when the city sold it to voters by saying that there would be an oversight committee to ensure that funds went for vital services and undergrounding? Well, there is a committee, but they are not an oversight committee. They are nothing more than a rubber stamp well after the fact. The city’s fiscal year closed June 30 and the committee met this past Monday, Sept. 25, three months after the money was spent and put to bed.

I attended that meeting and was shocked by what the committee members didn’t know about their role. Committee members were presented with charts on how the city spent the money. It was then made clear that their job was to comment on whether funds were spent according to what the City Council stipulated and nothing more.

These very well-informed and well-intentioned citizens were not happy to realize that they have no input, no ability to question allocations and no ability to change directions in the future. They are window dressing and that’s just what the City Council wanted when they created this eunuch committee. Give the people the illusion that they have a say, but they count for nothing.

After a 40-minute discussion on what their role was and what they could do about it, they agreed to try to change it. Good luck. It’s not what City Council wants.

This committee has a five-year life; four years are now left of this charade. And what happens then? The city doesn’t have to spend one penny of the expected $2.2 million per year on public safety and undergrounding after that.

Mark my words folks: this money will be diverted in year six as interest for a bond measure. I’m not sure what it’s going to fund, but it’s coming. And we residents will have no say in where this money goes.

I feel badly for the committee. They actually thought they could make a difference when they were selected by the City Council to serve. It was only an illusion.

 

Michele Monda, Laguna Beach

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