Editor, Several weeks ago City Council voted to advance the village entrance project. Council members showed leadership in presenting proposals each having a number of redeeming features. This coming Tuesday, June 11, the Council will consider actions after nearly 20 years of studies, consultants, debate, and consternation, to determine design, costs, financing and to determine [...]
Editor, It is true, very true, as Councilmember Bob Whalen said that “there is a steep learning curve when you go on the [Planning] Commission,” (“Incumbents Prevail on Arts, Planning Boards,” May 31 edition) Planning commission is important as well because it is so frequently a stepping stone from which candidates run for City Council. [...]
U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter last week dismissed all claims but one in a lawsuit filed last March by Leonard Porto, alleging civil rights violations and challenging the legality of Laguna Beach’s treatment of the homeless on multiple fronts. Laguna’s City Attorney Phil Kohn sought to dismiss the suit in its entirety last [...]
Few surprises surfaced in the public workshop held Tuesday as Laguna Beach’s city staff presented a proposed two-year budget, outlining estimated expenditures of $68.5 million for the coming fiscal year and of $67.6 million for the following year. City Council members largely endorsed staff recommendations for use of a $1.1 million windfall in the general [...]
Comments raised during a hearing Tuesday served to highlight key points of contention in a draft Laguna Beach view ordinance, such as balancing the right to a view with the pleasure of foliage, the perimeter allowed for a claim, and whether the date of purchase matters in determining view rights. Of a smaller crowd of [...]
Editor, What has happened to our City Council? They are cutting all the trees down! What happened to informing the public about these changes? What if the “view ordinance committee” gets their way? Then all the trees may be cut down, even in the public parks. Two of the members of this view ordinance committee [...]
Editor, Did I read correctly that the Council voted to authorize $50,000 for another study of the broken Blue and White City bus system? (“Debating Ways to Keep the Buses Rolling,” April 12 edition) And this is because the Council needs a “real expert” to tell them that the buses are empty most of the time [...]
“Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you got till it’s gone They paved paradise and put up new sidewalks” –with apologies to Joni Mitchell There is one thing for certain. Everything eventually comes to an end. That certainty is particularly disquieting for me as the City Council has elected [...]
Editor, Would you mind letting the community of Laguna Beach know the next City Council meeting to discuss the downtown tree removal is April 23 at 6 p.m.? I understand the media will be there. It would be nice if the community knew of the opportunity to oppose the tree removal. Thank you. [...]
Whole Foods manager Richard Dinan was still talking to Laguna Beach police dispatchers, describing a shoplifter that had exited the store with more than $200 worth of groceries last week, when Detective Larry Bammer and a motorcycle officer showed up. Bammer, who was reassigned to foot patrol that day, was right around the corner from [...]
The village entrance project to beautify the area between Forest Avenue and the festivals and put in a parking structure has been on and off the table for so long that many have given up on it. “We have been romanced and courted for too long,” said George Nelson, owner of the downtown gift store [...]
Editor, I applaud the school board for not wasting more staff time, energy and resources defending its indefensible unilateral decision to end summer early. If not rescinded, that policy – falsely touted as a truancy prevention measure - would have triggered a boycott with 75 percent truancy on any school days in August. The school [...]
Laguna Beach faces a number of important planning decisions in the near future and residents should take advantage of the opportunity to participate in the process, City Manager John Pietig told members of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy on Monday. Pietig provided an overview of current and upcoming city projects, including development of a comprehensive strategy [...]
The Alternate Sleeping Location, which nightly houses about 45 homeless people in Laguna Canyon, will remain open during the daytime for a trial period of 10 weeks this summer thanks to a last-minute $30,000 allocation approved by the City Council earlier this month. After an audit revealed a general fund balance of $3.2 million more [...]
Editor, I have recently become interested at the process in which our city selects individuals for a committee. For example, let’s take the recently formed “View Equity Committee”. My understanding is these individuals were hand-selected by our mayor. It appears that they were not asked to fill out applications and explain why they were [...]
Ill Prepared Hiker Rescued from Hillside
A sheriff’s helicopter was used to extract a hiker who suffered an anxiety attack and was unable to move from a steep trail in Laguna Beach’s open space about 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9, police said. Lifeguards in an all-terrain vehicle coordinated the extraction from thick brush and a steep slope between Alta Laguna Park [...]
