Letter: Response to Nokes’ Opinion Piece

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So, Larry Nokes, still sore after his defeat at the hands of Laguna Beach voters in November, has decided to join Peter Blake in bashing Village Laguna at every turn. In his guest column of Jan. 22, he names Village Laguna as the culprit for the lawsuit filed by a broad regional coalition to preserve the historic character of Laguna Beach.

In fact, the lawsuit was developed by “Laguna Beach Historic Preservation Coalition” and by “Preserve Orange County”, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Village Laguna had never sued the City in its 50 year history. But Village Laguna was invited to join in on this region wide effort and agreed to do so last month because of its importance to our future.   

Nokes then claims that Village Laguna is a “Toni Iseman” group. Village Laguna is a 50-year-old civic group dedicated to the preservation of Laguna Beach. It fights to keep Laguna away from the greedy hands of developers and their consultants eager to buy up and tear down our historic properties.

I am sorry to see Mr. Nokes, a fine and successful lawyer, fall into the same failing political strategy employed by Peter Blake and Liberate Laguna. Remember when Blake and Liberate Laguna attacked Village Laguna’s historic 50-year record of accomplishments as an election year strategy to sully its reputation in preserving that which makes Laguna unique in the world? It worked for Blake then in 2018 but it failed for Nokes last year.

This strategy will not work in next year’s city council election. Fortunately, our residents are now too well aware that when a developer or their consultants say, “Make it voluntary” what they mean is “let us destroy our neighborhoods so we can profit from it to the detriment of all”.

Armando Baez, Laguna Beach

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Armando, this is one hell of a letter! You sure are a skilled liar aren’t you.

    So, Village Laguna has joined forces with two other groups and have filed a lawsuit against our community and now you have to mop up the mess? One group is the “Laguna Beach Historic Preservation Coalition” Who are they? No website or information online. Who are their board members? Legal form of organization? Their address according to Village Laguna is Laguna Royale, a building as irony would have it, underwent a very incorrect remodel with no respect for it’s mid-century heritage. The address also happens to be where your fellow activist Cathy Jurca has a weekend condo (she lives in a mid-century house in Glendale full time) Hmmm…. The other group, Preserve OC, just like Village Laguna, hide their political activities while calling themselves a charitable non profit organization. All three of you have a lot in common in terms of imposing your obstructionist agendas on the residents of Laguna. Property rights be damned!

    Armando, no one thinks Village Laguna is a “Tony Iseman group”. Everyone knows that Toni is Village Laguna’s lapdog and mouthpiece. She clearly lacks the experience and the legal knowledge to be involved in lawsuits against cities given their complexity. She can barely read her marching orders from her computer and then lip-synch them during Council meetings. She’s a mess! She’s also no fan of property rights.

    Oh, and Larry’s doing just fine! He ran a clean and honest campaign and did well. He obviously didn’t follow my successful political strategy. He lost the election because he took the high road against ruthless political predators like yourself. I wasn’t foolish enough to do that. I was happy to fight at your level and even lower. Maybe that’s how I got the most votes in the last election? Maybe that’s why you wont even try to recall me? We both know that my constituents will vote me back in again should I choose to run. They see how hard I fight for them. They know I’m good like that.

    Please spare us your fear mongering and self-righteous BS! Village Laguna’s “50 years of accomplishments” have left Laguna in the mess that it’s in. Don’t feel so emboldened because 5,500 useful idiots that Village Laguna’s been mining since 1971 voted in your candidate. Hardly impressive!

    Armando, mark my words. We’ll make it voluntary!

  2. The sheer level of Village Laguna bashing is telling in itself. To me, the nonstop attempt to vilify this preservationist group reveals that their critics (namely the pro-development PAC Liberate Laguna, and supporters, like Blake and Nokes) lack any worthwhile values to promote about their own group. Since developing our town at the expense of the quality of life here is still unpopular for many of us, they spend most of their energy trying to turn Village Laguna into the enemy. I’m not a member of this non-profit group, but am an enthusiastic supporter of most of their local efforts to maintain the character of this unique coastal city, and preserve its natural beauty and historic heritage. In large part, these local activists are responsible for our town standing as the crown jewel of the county, the place everyone wants to live and visit (6+ million a year!). I might not love everything Village Laguna has done, but these individuals have fought for decades to sustain what most of us love most about our town, whether we care to admit it or not.

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