Recent letters by Michele Monda and Jerome Pudwill make some rather interesting claims rooted mainly what seems to be anger combined with plenty of un-founded facts, (or lack thereof). Both spend an inordinate amount of time complaining about a certain PAC and the “evil developers” contained therein.
They make claims that their hand-picked members of the City Council have schemed to do the following. Pudwill says and I quote directly from his letter, that ”rational people being selected for city committees are cherry picked by the city council and city manager to push their pro-growth agenda”. While Monda says that the City Council will, “stack all the committees with members who would give them (the evil PAC), what they wanted”. I am not sure if these are compliments, however I doubt that was their intent. I fully understand that the minute one puts their name forward to either serve on one of the various committees appointed by city council or run for council that you are opening yourself up for criticism. Such is the democratic process.
I do take exception to the false notion the current members of the Planning Commission have been selected by a scheming city council and their “handlers” to push any agenda. The reality is that all five members of the Planning Commission come from very diverse backgrounds and give their time, expertise and energy to creatively solve the many issues facing our community. They spend long hours working on solutions that are fair and free from political motivations. They are not flunkies of any PAC and were not selected to uphold any perceived devious agenda.
Several members have been on the Planning Commission predating the “evil PAC” that Monda and Pudwill continue to wax on and on about. I would like to suggest the following to both of them. Instead of continuous complaining and pointing fingers why don’t you actually come to planning commission meetings and see how thoughtful and hard working they are in making at times very tough decisions about the big issues facing our hamlet. Better yet why don’t you put your names forward for one of the many committees appointed by city council and actually get involved!
I have never met either of you in the 47 years I have lived in Laguna however find your perspectives and pretend facts to be laughable and completely unfounded. It is easy to complain. Much harder to be an integral part of creative solutions.
Respectfully,
Jorg Dubin, Laguna Beach planning commissioner and 47-year resident
Jorg,
Thank you for your service to the LB Planning Commission. Your point is well made, it’s easy to criticize and spread disinformation when one disagrees with how things are run.
I have placed my faith in certain city council members by actively supporting them as candidates for election. We rely on these elected council members to govern and make decisions that reflect the best direction for our community. They do the heavy lifting when it comes to researching land use zoning, environmental impacts, and general planning elements of potential development projects. The LRF ballot initiative seems a way to wrestle decision making ability from our elected officials in to the hands of a political action committee, which will further entangle us in impossible hurdles for smart projects to get approval.
Apparently it’s not enough to live in one of the most glorious areas in the country, each day exposed to gorgeous weather, warm sandy beaches, manicured hiking trails and parks, frolicking dolphins and interesting tide pools filled with marine creatures. It appears it is not enough to live in a democracy, to be able to participate in free and fair elections, to reside where we have access to services, great schools, arts programs, clean water and plentiful food sources. For some, it seems misinformation, personal attacks and hectoring is the top priority of the day. We must move away from this divisiveness and attacks of those with differing points of view.
I agree with Jorg, complaints don’t get it done. The misinformation programs and character attacks on those in disagreement with the LRF initiative are disrespectful of those who serve the Laguna Beach community.
Once more, my appreciation to Jorg and to those who do serve our community, specifically in this case, those who volunteer their time to serve on the City’s boards, commissions and committees.