Placentia : Speaking Rule Is Eased by Newly Elected Mayor

Residents who wish to speak at City Council meetings will no longer have to submit a letter a week in advance, the city’s newly elected mayor said Wednesday.

George Ziegler, named mayor by the council Tuesday night, said he will announce the policy, and guidelines he would like the meetings to follow, today.

“The city should be run like a business,” Ziegler declared, adding that citizens should have a voice in that business. The current policy on public comment at council meetings was adopted last December by Mayor Richard Buck.

Ziegler said residents still will have to file a letter a week in advance if they want the council to make an immediate decision on a specific concern, but if citizens want to make a statement or ask a question without the expectation of a decision, they will be free to do so, he said.

Ziegler, owner of Haz Rentals, has been a member of the council since 1982. Council members Tuesday night also elected as mayor pro-tem Art Newton, owner of AGN Accounting Service. He has served on the council for one year.

In other business Tuesday, the council approved a new ordinance that would, among other things, establish a $10 fee for bounced checks and a $300 “development agreement process” fee for developers.

Council members also gave the initial go-ahead to a $1.66-million bond issue that Placentia residents will see on their November ballot, Deputy City Clerk Betty Wallis said. If voters agree, residents will see a line item on their property tax bill that would finance improvements totaling $1.4 million at Kramer Junior High School, Wallis said. The rest of the money would pay for improvements to three swimming pools.