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This has been a money grab from the very beginning. Years ago it was measure CC, which didn’t pass. We were told every vacant lot would have a high-rise built on it if we didn’t accept another parcel tax to buy up these lots. Thank God we were smart enough to see...

Village Laguna has had a stranglehold on Laguna City Council for many years. Three current members were supported and financed by them to get elected. Three is the magic number to get anything passed or denied in City Council. Village Laguna and their lackeys are responsible for...

Laguna, like a fine motor car, is running rich lately: congested, sluggish, the speed-O is optimistic but maybe there’s a blockage. An election is looming where both present and former incumbents promise a tune-up, I’m thinking more like an oil-change at Sears. We had...

A massive new hotel is being planned to replace the Holiday Inn and the adjacent 14 West Boutique Hotel. Both properties are owned by the developer. The schedule for review and approval of Concept is coming fast. Staking of Cleo Project Oct. 25.City staff report to city Planning...

After attending various forums to hear the city council candidates speak, I remain somewhat puzzled about Sue Kempf’s spur-of-the-moment responses. Change our downtown to “revitalize” it by building three- to four-story buildings. According to Ms. Kempf, these buildings would...

Like most other Laguna residents, I have recently found my mailbox stuffed with attack pieces from a PAC called “Liberate Laguna.”  They attack Council Member Toni Iseman with inuendo and arguments so divorced from truth as to be laughable were their intent not so sinister. I...

It will forever remain a mystery to me why some candidates move into Laguna Beach with a desire to fix it. They never say “improve” it, they say “fix” it. And apparently with no tools earned through experience, but ostensibly through something called “new thinking and new...

Friday, “No on P” signs were taken by resident James Kretzschmar, driving a Bentley stopped before leaving city limits. Eight “No on P” signs were in the back seat. Despite clear evidence and citizen’s arrest, he was neither arrested or cited. Immediately on STOP’s behalf, we...

Each of us has experience working as advisors to Friendship Shelter. We are dismayed at the way its “Housing First” approach has been mischaracterized in City Council candidate debates.  We want to set the record straight. Housing First was developed by a clinical psychologist...

I am a resident in the neighborhood of Driftwood Drive, Marilyn Drive, Ocean Vista Drive and Wesley Drive. Our utilities were undergrounded 20 years ago. Views were the driving force in assessing ourselves thousands of dollars each and knowing that we were investing to improve...

The City Council ballot statement to Measure P misappropriates events to curry their cause. Fire is a deadly threat, but major Laguna Beach fires they identify have been caused by people, not poles. The National Park Service reports “As many as 90 percent of wildland fires...

According to Michael Ray, writing here last week about the origins of the developer-funded Liberate Laguna PAC, Laguna Beach has a hitherto undisclosed class of victims.  As he reports, a handful of the wealthiest real estate developers in the area “got tired of being bullied.”...

Our City Council election is coming up in November. There are the usual suspects running for office: tree hugging village types, change is good types, new and improved types, bigger is better types. Then there’s the newbies. I think the choices we have are basically the same...

Why do we have a sign ordinance? It was put in place many years ago. The ordinance has been usurped by Liberate Laguna. It was meant for large “For Sale” signs, “Going Out of Business” banners, etc. The large building-size banner at the law offices at the corner of Broadway and...

The first time I saw Toni I didn’t really see her. She was a young princess flitting through the canyon, coming up for air ever so often to post another Burma Shave rhyme. Her mission was simple: to save the canyon. Today, after 20 years on the council, she is the empress of...