Laguna Woods names Cynthia Conners as city’s mayor, Noel Hatch as mayor pro tem
Laguna Woods City Council on Wednesday, Dec. 19, named Cynthia Conners as the city’s mayor, and Councilman Noel Hatch as mayor pro tem.
The mayor and mayor pro tem are elected by the five-member council and serve in their positions for one year.
Conners was initially appointed to the council in 2009 and is serving her third consecutive term.
Conners thanked outgoing mayor Carol Moore for her leadership this year, particularly for her work with the homeless population and the nonprofit Laguna Woods Civic Support Fund, which supports the Laguna Woods branch of OC Public Libraries and other city programs.
“You have very attractive shoes to fill,” Conners said.
At the meeting, Moore and Councilman Joe Rainey were sworn in for four-year terms.
Both incumbents were re-elected on Nov. 6 — Moore with 35.3 percent of the votes, Rainey with 32.6 percent of the vote.
More than 80 percent of Laguna Woods residents voted in the election, Hatch said.
Joint Powers Agreement
The council approved a fourth amendment to the Orange County Fire Authority Joint Powers Authority Agreement that would embed an accelerated pension payout plan into the U.S. Fire Administration governing documents.
USFA adopted the 20-year plan in 2013, scheduled to fund pension liability quicker than regulations require, Deputy Chief Lori Zeller said.
Unfunded pension liability was at its highest point ever — $473.8 million, following the recession.
To date, Zeller said that the plan has proven to be successful by increasing funding from 65 percent to 79 percent, dropping unfunded pension liability to $400 million.
Zeller said the accelerated plan projects to increase funding up to 85 percent in two years.
“That’s the goal right now,” she said. “We’ll continue paying it down (once we) hit 85 percent, but the acceleration will move to normal pace as we focus on other liabilities that the fire authority needs to fund.”
The item must reach a two-thirds majority vote — 16 cities — across Orange County to become effective.
Laguna Woods City Council unanimously voted in favor of the plan, becoming the ninth city to approve the amendment.
Financial report
The council received a report from Lindsey McGuire, an audit partner at Brown Armstrong Accountancy Corporation.
Laguna Woods City Manager Chris Macon said this independent audit was the first year of a three-year engagement with the company.
No control issues were found in all major processes — cash receipts, cash disbursements, payroll, payments to contractors as well as the detail terms of the processes of each area.
After completion, McGuire and her team tested year-end balances as of June 30. This phase verified accounts receivable, cash receipts, confirmation of cash investments and pensions.
A new statement from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, known as GASB 75, went live this fiscal year, impacting the city reporting. According to GASB’s website, the primary objective is to improve accounting and financial reporting by state and local governments for post-employment benefits other than pensions.
Post their year-end balances, auditors brought in a cold partner, someone who was not involved in the audit, to confirm findings and evidence of audit opinion.
“I’m happy to report we have issued an unmodified or clean opinion on financials,” McGuire said.