As the year comes to a close, the new Tustin City Council is tying up loose ends and preparing for another year. Among other things, they will have one last opportunity before year end to discuss the lawsuits between the city and the school district. Here is an opportunity to turn thing around and stop the idiocy that has overshadowed the council chamber for the past couple of years.

Open session will also see the awarding of the contract for construction of the Legacy Fire Station and a land swap deal for the District and the Army Reserve which is asking to rebuild a reserved center on the old MCAS property. Sidewalks and street improvements are also on the agenda.

Closed Session

Items 1 & 2 – Conference with Legal Counsel, Initiation and Exposure to Litigation

Item 3 – Conference with Legal Counsel, Existing Litigation – Tustin Unified School District v. City of Tustin

Consent Calendar

Item 3 – Award of Construction Contract, Tustin Legacy Fire Station – Staff recommendation to award bid to lowest bidder, Erickson-Hall Construction Company for $4.1 million dollars.

Item 4 – Approve Cooperative Agreement with OCTA for SLPP funding of projects – Four projects including one held jointly with Santa Ana are slated for funding under this program. All funding is matched by M1-M2 funds.

Item 6 – Annual Review and Adoption of Investment Policy – With Deborah Gavello out of the way, the city council is free to continue to allow George Jeffries to illegally invest funds in accounts he should not be investing in. Of course, never mind the fact that the city appears to be Jeffries only client these days. He is way past is prime and city manager Jeff Parker should be looking at succession planning in this area.

Regular Business

Item 8 – Tustin Response to EA/DFNSI for Army Reserve Center – Apparently the city is not happy with the proposed exchange of property with the District and the subsequent construction of the Army Reserve Center on Barranca Parkway. They are proposing the Army either swap land for another parcel off Redhill and Warner or submit their plans to the city to ensure compliance with federal and state clean water acts. This is pretty laughable seeing as how the city is already on the losing end of a lawsuit with the Tustin Unified School District over these same issues. One has to wonder how much taxpayer money this city council will squander in lawsuits with the U.S. Army. OK, you really have to read the letter here to understand the joke.

Item 9 – 2013 Mayoral Appointments List – The annual list of council appointments to various boards and authorities can be found here. Most of these are of little consequence to the proposed members as they have no fiscal impact. However, if you thought city council members would not be compensated for their time, guess again. Even though Measure HH did away with city council compensation, it did not do away with board and authority remuneration. Beckie Gomez, who is probably still incensed that her gladhanding did not even net her the pro tem position, is the sole loser here with virtually no paid positions to her credit. At least she is consistent.

On the other hand, the Fab Four will net handy stipends of anywhere from $9,000 to $15,300 per year for attending meetings for everything from transporation to sewage. In many cases, this will be on top of health and retirement benefits. It looks like former mayor John Nielsen will pick up some nice change as he is slated for a couple of these jobs. He will need it as I hear he was recently terminated from his employment. Rumor also has it a moving van was seen near his home of record. Laughably, Nielsen has also been nominated by Mayor Al Murray to be the liaison for Tustin Unified School District. I guess Murray is even less interested in resolving the problems with the school district than Amante was.

In the final meeting of the old year, the city council has chosen to live the words from a famous George M. Cohan song, Always Leave Them Laughing When You Say Goodbye. We look forward to many new laughs from the Fab Four and their misguided DINO in 2013.