I have read through the text of Measure Q and all the posts on the subject found in the Indy and elsewhere. The question behind Measure Q is simply whether a proposed business can be built and opened up when that proposal is not in compliance with the existing building ordinances, codes, and procedures, all of which have evolved over the decades based on hard lessons learned from the past.
What if the proposal is then taken before a city council that is dominated by a majority of pro-developer city council members? What if those pro-developer city council members are more interested in dancing with the developers who have spent, and promised to spend, scores of thousands of dollars getting council members elected and less interested in enforcing existing building ordinances, codes, and procedures? It seems to me that any proposal, no matter its merits, can be built and opened for business. Thus lessons about city ordinances, codes, and procedures learned from the past can be ignored! Why bother with any of it?
We all know from recent history all over this country, and in our beautiful city of Laguna Beach, when the rules are bent or simply ignored, abuse quickly follows. And with abuse comes the possibility of corruption. Can anyone guarantee a bought and paid-for city council will never go rogue?
Measure Q would stop a rogue city council from rubber stamping any project put forward by developers in violation of city ordinances, codes, and procedures. We saw how a rogue city council working against the wishes of the people of Dana Point rubber-stamped the atrocious Del Prado District.
I’m voting for Measure Q. I am also voting for anyone running for city council this November who opposes rule-breaking, city government abuse, and inviting corruption into our city government.
Tyrone Borelli, Laguna Beach
Mr. Borelli-
While I can appreciate you are taking the time to read through Q and much of what has been written online I would kindly ask that you take a second pass. I see a lot of assumptions in your analysis that have no factual basis.
You made the assumptions that most of the city council is pro-developer? City council is voted by the residents, not just a few developers. If we have certain city council members in place it is because a majority of the public believes that those are the best people to represent our best interest. It seems like you a very few do not like any updates to the town and would like more shuttered stores, less fire and police stations, less parking and city services, less housing (regular and affordable).
You are also implying that we have candidates that are for rule-breaking, city abuse, and inviting corruption into our city government. Don’t beat around the bush, please tell me who you are you accusing of doing such acts and more importantly what evidence you have of your accusations. Now there are some candidates that are you’re willing to say anything to win but committing a crime as you are inferring in not accurate.
Q is bad for Laguna Beach. Vote NO
Thank you Mr. Borelli. I agree. Measure Q would be the residents insurance policy that would stop a developer-backed city council majority from rubber stamping high-impact major commercial projects brought forward by their campaign funders.
Since 2018 deep-pocketed Developer PAC’s have been steering our elections in their favor. However by 2020, the light bulb went on and voters rejected their council candidate. These same developers now want us to re-elect their 2018 installs Sue Kempf and Peter Blake or consider newcomers Louis Weil and Alex Rounaghi.
I think residents are fed up with being ignored be the incumbents and intimidated and abused by Peter Blake as well as their four year focus on subsidizing private businesses and catering to investors/developers using our taxpayers monies.
Don’t be fooled by the in-your-face campaign signs and banner presence on commercial properties promoting incumbents either. After all, they are the only ones who stand to gain. This should be a red flag warning to voters of who will get their attention if changes in leadership aren’t made in November. #noincumbents. #blakeout2022!. #nodevelopersupportedcandidates. Thank you.
Oh, political predator and self-appointed kingmaker, MJ Abraham, has opined that Q will be an insurance policy to keep the developers and their Council majority from turning Laguna into Miami. Aren’t you swayed? LOL
And then there’s the deep-pocketed developers that “bought” my seat in 2018 despite the fact that I was a 35 year resident with a flawless reputation and a clear vision for the future. The platform I ran on resonated with the voters and I won with the most votes. I beat four candidates who’d already served as Mayor. Money won my seat?
In 2020 Village Laguna/Laguna Residents First, still couldn’t win a majority but managed to sneak in a Trojan horse (George Weiss) What a nightmare this ruthless and radical leftist has been! He’s currently working with an LA union to determine what our hoteliers pay staff despite the fact that these employees are already being paid what the union is demanding. He’s testified against our homeowners at Coastal Commission meetings and laments every single attempt at streamlining our onerous building codes. He’s a founding member of Laguna Residents First and was involved in writing Q. MJ another left-wing nutcase used to be the director of Riverside City College Center for Social Justice & Civil Liberties. Hmmm.. just what we need in Laguna. No thanks!
Now in 2022, since they can’t win elections, they’re going to win back power and control via a scam Ballot Initiative while taking down any candidates that aren’t their bootlickers. Just look at their preferred candidates:
Rubin Flores, can’t even run his personal life or gardening business. Evictions, code violations, and permit revocations are business as usual for him. I wont even get into the indecent exposure posts on social media sites. This fool even brought an alcoholic beverage up on the dais during a candidates debate. Poor judgement is an understatement!
Jerome Pudwill is an online troll playacting as a Councilman on Nextdoor. He’s George Weiss’s bestie and shares some of the same warped political beliefs.When asked during a debate who his political hero was, he proudly exclaimed Bernie Sanders. MJ is his campaign manager. Need I say more?
Mark Orgill, a weak and conflicted developer who’s joined forces with Village Laguna and is renouncing everything he’s stood for over the years. He cant even answer questions without pausing to determine which side of his mouth he’s speaking out of. He’s busy planning to plan and promises more plans if elected. He’s got a plan for everything but will accomplish nothing.He cant even stand up for his own beliefs. How will he stand up for yours? Village Laguna knows this and that’s why they’ve endorsed him.
All three promise to bring civility back to local politics. That should come with a warning. Civility is a means by which their opponents acquiesce and then everyone’s happy. Right? My incivility goes away and Kumbaya returns to the dais. Nice try! I’ll continue to fight for the residents who elected me. I do in fact intimidate and abuse activists who lie and keep my residents from enjoying a world class dinning and retail experience, safety from the blight of criminal transients and our well-deserved property rights. These authoritarians would tell us what color to paint our bathrooms if they could and then delay the process for 5 years while they determined if we were worthy of change.They weaponized our neighborhoods with their cronies, ruled the Design Review Board, Planning Commission, Heritage and City Hall until I sent them packing in 2018. Want them back armed with a ballot intuitive that takes away ALL of our hard-earned freedoms and gives them infinite power and control. Look at these tasteless frumps and ask yourself if these are the people you want charting your future? Are they inspiring?
MJ claims my “banner presence” should be a concern as well. My banners hang proudly in yards of residents and buildings of developers and business owners who I’ll work with to help us realize the future. We will become a more cultured and sophisticated community commensurate with the generation of us that ARE the future and NOT living in the 70s.
This November ignore the fear mongering and their tired old mantras. Village Laguna and their proxies need to cede control and pass the torch to the next generation and move on!
Ms Jackson is a breath of fresh air in the debate about Measure Q and the evidence-free claims by people like Ms Abraham that the town is run by a corrupt cabal.
Well I see that I struck a nerve with Peter Blake again. He doesn’t like it when I state facts about him. It causes him to strike out and in this case he broadened his attacks to include three opposing candidates. I find it rather pathetic to see him resort to this and making false statements, especially about his own campaign political backers. He still hasn’t figured out that healthy-minded residents don’t get sucked in to his ego-booster personal attacks on others and his same old bad-activists whining rhetoric. For me personally, it’s become a badge of honor to not be a supporter of Peter Blake.
Fact is, his recent 460 reports show that 43.45% of his donors are from “Developer/Real Estate/Tourist Biz.”, and 43.24% are from “outside of Laguna Beach.” And i suspect this figure will go up after his October contributions are reported. One positive way to look at the high percentage of “out-of-towner financial support” is that after witnessing the cancerous chaos he has brought upon our town over four year’s locals have no respect, confidence or trust in him. Furthermore, the 497 reporting’s from his Developer PAC’s Liberate Laguna/ Forward and the newest one Laguna22 clearly show they support him and the latter just showed their darkness by their recent SMUT mailer to support of Blake. Proof that they will say and do anything to get him reelected. They are all wrong for Laguna and their gutter politics is killing our town.
As a volunteer helper for the honest, tempered and smart businessman candidate Jerome Pudwill to become one of our next city council members (no I’m not his campaign manager nor treasurer), I urge residents to reject incumbents Blake and Kempf and any candidates supported by developers and their associates. It is the only way to stop the take-over of our town. You decide our city fate. Do you want Residents or Developers running our city government and our lives? Thank you.
I wonder if someone who believes “there is no such thing as view equity” would be considered a “radical” in coastal cities where ocean views are considered important. I also wonder about how priorities ought to be ranked – Should it be portional to tax revenues or should it be portional to campaign budgets? Just rhetorical questions but please comment if you are wondering the same thing.