Editor:
I was there, then, and I am here now.
In her letter (“Holding LB Taxpayers’ Up to Scrutiny,” Oct. 12), Johanna Felder states that The Laguna Beach Taxpayers Association “never wants to pay for anything but ends up the beneficiary of what others have provided.” This is blatantly not true.
The Laguna Beach Taxpayers have historically and consistently supported and facilitated the payout of public funds for those projects and programs where there was/is real value for dollars spent.
The Taxpayers, with the leadership of the three Harry’s (Lawrence, Willis, Moon) and other business leaders conceived of and promoted the establishment of the bond measure funding to pay for Main Beach Park.
The Taxpayers promoted the Save the Canyon bond measure because it was truly open space and had private/public partnership in the pricing and payment for the benefit of all for future generations. I personally joined the grand walk to The Tell and spent countless hours turning opposition into support, person by person, to assure the more than two-thirds vote to tax ourselves to pay to Save the Canyon.
The Taxpayers wholeheartedly supported the temporary sales tax to pay for the Bluebird landslide repairs because the need was for city infrastructure/safety and the tax had a finite end date. I personally spoke to our City Council at the public meeting. I described how the sooner the repairs were completed, the sooner safe transit could be made. The sooner the area was restored, the sooner the properties could be returned to the tax rolls. I urged the council to vote “yes” to take on the restoration project immediately, not wait for non local government review/funding and to apply the temporary tax to pay for the Bluebird landslide repairs.
The Taxpayers with the leadership of our (former) President Gary Alstot worked tirelessly and effectively with the school board, parents and LBUSD to put together a school bond measure which pays not only for much needed reconstruction but also for ongoing review and preventive maintenance .
The Laguna Beach Taxpayers Association continues to monitor and advise on taxes collected and spent, follow the money and get the best use and highest efficiency for every dollar all taxpayers pay.
Bobbi Cox, Laguna Beach
Editor’s Note: In fact, the Taxpayers’ Association opposed the 1990 Laguna Canyon bond measure, says political consultant Paul Freeman, a proponent of this year’s open space initiative as well as the 1990 measure, citing a Nov. 4, 1990 Los Angeles Times’ article that described the Taxpayers as among the 1990 measure’s critics.
