Dear City Council Members,
I urge you to consider the interests and concerns of the residents of Laguna, and consult them before hiring a new city manager. The needs of our town are many. Now more than ever new and improved management is pivotal. Leaning towards a pro-development candidate is a sure way to insure continued inefficiencies. Laguna is a unique historic town. Our past is rich with deep roots in the arts, surf culture and LGBTQ pride. By using the same template used in suburban cities like Irvine and Aliso Viejo to attempt to design a better Laguna only promises growth (i.e.building). It doesn’t particularly save businesses, solve the housing crisis or address the issue of unhoused people in Laguna. Today we are at a tipping point, our downtown includes an abandoned hotel in the middle of town, a vacant movie theater closed for the past six years, and far too many empty storefronts. Nonstop, unchecked tourism with its constant jam of traffic is set to trample the natural ecology and destroy any charm that remains in Laguna.
The position of city manager is a well-funded and crucial one. To fail to seek a qualified, innovative and improved candidate is a huge missed opportunity. In a time when we need to use the pain of the pandemic to do better and reimagine what our town can be, clear leadership and visioning for the future is imperative.
I strongly recommend that you consider consulting a commission of unbiased and engaged residents that represent Laguna’s interests to decide on this important position, rather than choosing an internal hire for the position of city manager.
Sincerely,
Julia Bartholomew-King
Thank you Julia. I agree. It’s absolutely a slap in the face to residents of Laguna Beach that this Council is considering an internal hire with minimal experience and very few successes as pointed out over and over again by residents that are paying attention. Years of mis-management plagues us and it’s not going to get better staying on the same course as a few City lackeys have suggested. IMO, ignoring constituents is a big mistake. The 2022 election will be the time to show those up for re-election just how much residents despise being ignored.