Interesting the recent large donation to encourage Laguna to save the poop processor, sometimes known as the Historic Digester, especially with no specific use for it. But if the city agrees, with a lot of money to spend on it, I am sure someone will profit by keeping it around. It’s a lot of money for public toilets; a restaurant, I wouldn’t eat there if you paid me; art gallery, well how many do we have in town and how successful are they? Sure once it is removed, can’t replace its history. That happens a lot. For a town that tries to minimize its parking and discourage visitors in many ways – saving it for whom is the question as they’re about 17,000 full-time residents in Laguna. How many times are you going to go over there, try to find a parking spot to look at it, use the bathrooms or eat in there? I think this is a situation of being pragmatic without dollars.
Trolleys – I use them frequently – they are cute but a bit oversized for many of the areas in our town. Especially if there is an equally-sized vehicle coming in the opposite direction. Would I vote to eliminate them– no, as they do service many folks. However, I find it interesting again that certain folks in South Laguna and North Laguna do not want them as they claim the public goes into those areas to find parking and then take the trolley into town or beach. We want and need tourists to keep our local businesses operating and of course our real heritage — the arts. Well of course we need to include our breathtaking beaches and coastline – where else can you in Orange County and LA encounter such dramatic views both of our hillsides and our coastline?
I am always mystified why Ann Christoph who is a regular contributor to the Independent always says that she is a former mayor and that she served one term on the city council but not that, most importantly to her fans, she is a founding member of Village Laguna and still serves on its board. I think we need more transparency by everyone, especially if they are running for city council or any public office.
Ganka Brown, Laguna Beach
Too bad you didn’t stick around for the discussion of the Digester because everything you just said is incorrect. And it is used for Police file storage which they would have had to replace if they didn’t keep the Digester. Which it will continue to be used for. So who exactly is profiting??? It would have cost more to demolish it than to keep it. Check your facts next time.
When I reviewed the City Council video archives of 2/25/20, Ganka clearly stated that she rarely eats out in town, maybe once a month. So, why is her line about the possible cafe conversion of the Digester Building as someplace she “wouldn’t eat there” anything but standard operating procedure for her? She doesn’t eat out in Laguna much, so why would she make an exception for any place new? FYI: This letter to the editor is the same speech she made at City Council on 2/25/20.