Rossmoor Approves Power Grab

After months of debate, Rossmoor leaders voted to press the county for power over animal control, police and trash services Tuesday.

The decision represents a major shift for the governance of Rossmoor, and it came after several residents spoke up to encourage the move and an equal number spoke vehemently against it. Seen as a means of staving off the threat of annexation by neighboring Los Alamitos, the decision to pursue “latent powers,” comes with caveats.

While Rossmoor Community Services District Henry Taboada now has the Board of Directors’ approval to petition the county for the additional powers, several things have to happen before he can do it.

According to a resolution by Board of Directors Vice President Alfred Coletta, Taboada must first:

• Attain confirmation from the state attorney general that Rossmoor has the right to contract for law enforcement services despite the county’s legal stance that Rossmoor doesn’t have the right to do so.
• Attain and verify – possibly through a forensic accounting audit – a report from the county demonstrating the costs for each service as well as the revenue that Rossmoor generates to pay for it.
• Attain a proposal from Long Beach Animal Care Services to provide animal control services to Rossmoor.
• Verify that Rossmoor could get better animal control services by contracting with Long Beach instead of Orange County and better law enforcement services by contracting directly with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
• Verify that the services would not increase costs to Rossmoor taxpayers.

The stipulations are deisgned to address reservations in the community about the power grab, but many residents remain unconvinced that move is good for the community.

Former RCSD Board of Directors President Linda Goodrich said she opposes the move, describing it as a way to achieve cityhood even though residents recently voted against incorporation.

“If we had tried something like this when I was on the board, we would have been run out of town on a rail,” she said. “No question about it.”

Several residents expressed concerns that the additional services would lead to increased costs and would require more staffing for the Rossmoor Community Services district to oversee. Others said the district is pursuing the wrong strategy to fend off the threat of annexation by Los Alamitos. Without voter approval by the residents of Rossmoor, the annexation could not take place, they pointed out. Instead of worrying about the unlikely threat of annexation, the community should consider ways to combat the threat by County Supervisor John Moorlach to impose a 11 percent utility users tax on Rossmoor to offset some of the county’s costs to provide services to the community, said residents.

However, not all Rossmoor residents see pressure from the county to merge with Los Alamitos as an idle threat.

30-year resident Susan Johnson said she and her husband support the move to stave off attempts by the county to force Rossmoor and Los Alamitos to merge. “He and I are definitely for as much control (needed) to keep Los Alamitos at bay,” she said. “Their presentations have been more like a hostile takeover.”

Resident Jim Alexander said he supported the move because they days when Rossmoor had good communication and support from the county are over. Rossmoor needs to centralize control over those services because the county no longer works with the residents to address concerns when they arise, he said.

While opinions varied about the best course for the community to take, residents at Tuesday’s meeting generally agreed that Rossmoor could get better animal control services than residents are currently getting from Orange County. Residents also expressed an overall satisfaction with the services provided by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Diane Rush praised the community’s current sheriff services. “I think they are great. I wouldn’t change a thing,” she said. “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

“If we like a service, shouldn’t we have the right to say we want to be able to keep the service,” countered Jeffrey Rips, President of the RCSD Board of Directors.

Director Ron Casey said he’s heard from many residents who don’t want to see any changes in Rossmoor, repeating the mantra ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.’

 “I mostly think that, except for animal control, it ain’t broke, but I do believe that John Moorlach is going to try to fix it anyway,” added Casey.

Local Agency Formation Commissioners, including Moorlach, have identified Rossmoor as a priority in the county’s drive to eliminate unincorporated islands. Moorlach has floated numerous suggestions for Rossmoor, although few of them are popular with residents.

He suggested merging Rossmoor with Seal Beach and Los Alamitos to form a supercity, or merging Rossmoor and Los Alamitos, since Seal Beach leaders have made it clear they want no part of a supercity. Moorlach has also proposed transferring police and animal control services for Rossmoor from the county to Los Alamitos, giving the city Rossmoor’s only commercial corner in exchange for the services. He has threatened to hold a countywide election, asking voters if residents in unincorporated islands should pay a utility users tax to cover the cost of their services. Last, he has offered to transfer police and animal control services over to the Rossmoor Community Services District if the residents volunteer to pay an 11 percent utility users tax.

It could be several months before Rossmoor would petition LAFCO for the latent powers, a move that would cost more than $8,000.

The commission will scrutinize the petition, asking for proof that the transfer of services would result in improved services for the residents without increased costs, said Carolyn Emery, LAFCO’s assistant executive officer. The commission would also want a demonstration of Rossmoor’s ability to pay for the services if the community was granted oversight.