Councilmember Peter Blake’s repeatedly is in violation of the City’s rules of decorum and civility. In response to comments on public policy, his ad hominem attacks now include “Gene, a liar like you”. I volunteered many hours gathering signatures for the ballot initiative, and he wrote a Laguna Beach Independent online comment that included “a BS initiative that raised signatures by lying to residents” and “what percentage of the signatures was fake?”
On Feb. 4, 2022, the Indy published a letter to the editor of mine that included:
Many callers into the Jan. 25, 2022, City Council Zoom meeting warned the City Council about intensification of use and parking. One resident said “The changes in the parking element of the Downtown Specific Plan will enable developers to intensify use without properly mitigating the impacts it creates.”
Councilmember Peter Blake exposed his ignorance about intensification of use at about 1:57 into the meeting. After being corrected, he still voted to approve the revised Downtown Specific Plan. Revisions that are destined to aggravate parking, congestion, traffic, and the livelihood of surrounding businesses.
Councilman Blake:
“Marc, I’d like to clarify something. It keeps being said that a retail place could turn into a restaurant without modifying the parking. Everything I know says that that’s false. If you’re a retail location and you decide that you want to open a restaurant at that retail location, you’re going to have to come up with parking, right?”
Community Development Director Marc Wiener:
“So, under—with the updated downtowns specific plan, it’s going to require three spaces per 1,000 square feet of commercial floor area, regardless of the use, for most uses.”
Blake posted his comment online at the paper’s website including: “Gene, did you mean many Village Laguna and Laguna Resident First activists called into the Council meeting to lie and engage in fearmongering?”
He did admit he was wrong on parking writing “Yes, I was corrected on an integral portion of the Downtown Specific Plan.” He identified himself against the residents of Laguna Beach writing “Who would have known that a mere three years after getting elected we would be this close to decoupling parking from use?” That is, he is for business intensification creating more daily trips and traffic without that business being required to provide parking for that additional traffic.
The City Council should enforce the City’s rules of decorum and civility.
Gene Felder, Laguna Beach
Gene, I called you and your wife Johanna liars and meant it. I also called you an absolute idiot and everyone knows that’s true.
Enforcing the ” City’s rules of decorum and civility” is easy enough. Get one of Your lapdogs on the Council to censure me. I’m sure George and Toni would love to initiate an agenda bill. Do you really think it will make a difference? The first one didn’t. Right?
Gene, go sue Peter for defamation. Oh wait, you would have to prove that you are not a liar. Nevermind.