Kinsman to Return to Politics?
Cheryl Kinsman, a former City Council member who lost a bid for re-election in 2008, said Tuesday she’s considering running again but will wait to see who else enters the contest before making her candidacy official.
“It depends on who’s running,” said Kinsman, a Republican, who describes herself as a supporter of kindred GOP incumbent candidates Mayor Elizabeth Pearson and councilman Kelly Boyd. Both Pearson and Boyd have already announced their candidacy for the nonpartisan election.
Even though the third council incumbent, Toni Iseman, a Democrat considered pro-environment, has yet to declare whether she’s a candidate in November, Kinsman said her plans won’t solidify until learning if any others are joining the race.
Council candidates must file nomination papers by July 12.
Should she seek re-election, Iseman would be the third incumbent running for three available positions. She would be seeking her fourth consecutive four-year term on the council, first elected in 1998. Should she win, Iseman would be the longest-serving council member in Laguna history, according to the city clerk’s office.
Kinsman served two terms on the council, from 2000 to 2008. In 2008, she lost to Verna Rollinger. It was Rollinger’s second candidacy for a council seat after being successfully re-elected as city clerk for 30 years.
Rollinger and incumbent Jane Egly will be up for re-election in 2012.
Without officially declaring her candidacy, Kinsman did describe her platform, consistent with her previous interests while in office. As an accountant whose office and home are in Three Arch Bay in South Laguna, Kinsman “of course,” is keen on keeping the city budget in check during a time when city’s revenue streams are retreating.
She also wants to keep a watchful eye on Mission Hospital Laguna Beach, ensuring that it continues to become a “true hospital” that locals can count on for 24- hour care.
“I would love to see more stateof the-art operating rooms,” she commented. “I would love to see a new power plant.” Kinsman, who is a member of the hospital’s advisory board, said hospital administrators are fully aware that the facility needs to upgrade its power source and infrastructure, but that takes “years of permits and millions of dollars.”
She is unhappy that hospital fees are now higher. Last July, the former South Coast Medical Center was sold to St. Joseph Health System’s Mission Hospital Mission Viejo, which now operates the Laguna Beach facility under one license.
Keeping an eye on Laguna’s institutions is the watchdog role of elected officials, Kinsman said. “It’s like anything in a government or a democracy, you just have to remain vigilant to make sure that it stays what it is. When you’re a small isolated city that needs an emergency room and needs a full-service, 24-hour hospital, you have to keep watching all the time.”
Without vigilance, the community could lose an irreplaceable service, she said. “When we didn’t watch, we almost lost the festival, we almost lost our art museum.”
Her other pet peeve is a neighborhood concern, a sidewalk along Coast Highway in South Laguna.
