Mayor Pro Tem Serbo pushes for stepped-up e‑bike enforcement after local death

Mayor Pro Tem Serbo urged Lake Forest City officials on Monday to step up enforcement of e-bike rules after community complaints and a recent local death involving a resident identified in the meeting as Ed Ashman. "This is something that's very concerning," Serbo said, calling e-bike safety the "most important thing on my agenda right now."

The council asked staff to review existing authority and enforcement options. The city attorney told the council that regulations addressing bicycles and e-bikes are found in Chapter 12 (12.24) of the city code and said the ordinance gives police broad discretion to act against operating an e-bike in a manner that "endangers the safety of anybody else." The attorney said those provisions were adopted about a year and a half ago in an ordinance update.

Captain Puls of the Orange County Sheriff Department told the council the department has scheduled specific e-bike enforcement over the next couple of weeks focused on youth gathering areas, including the sports park and Pittsford Park. "We have specific e bike enforcement scheduled out for the next couple weeks," Captain Puls said, noting the detail will operate outside of the department's normal staffing pattern.

No formal motion, ordinance amendment or vote was recorded in the portions of the meeting on the record. Mayor Pro Tem Serbo said the mayor and Serbo serve on an ad hoc public safety committee and that the council will "be taking steps" to consider further options; the city attorney and Captain Puls provided the council with the current legal framework and planned enforcement actions.

The meeting proceeded to other agenda items after the enforcement briefing; the council did not adopt new legislation on e-bikes during the session.