Letter: Village Laguna Lacking Transparency About Tour Proceeds

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In her recent letter in StuNews, Ms. Felder, president of Village Laguna, asserted that an ad in StuNews revealing that Village Laguna receives funds generated by the Charm House Tour was placed by a group of developers. This is untrue; I am not a member of Liberate Laguna and I placed the ad after learning how Village Laguna uses the tour ticket proceeds. The ad is not at all misleading—the proceeds received from the Charm House Tour go directly to Village Laguna. The amount of money the organization has received over the past 46 years must be staggering.

As Ms. Felder indicated in her letter, Village Laguna is engaged in (among other things) supporting “likeminded candidates” for City Council. In other words, it is a political lobbying organization. It is very doubtful that people purchasing tickets to the Charm House Tour realize they are effectively paying to support political candidates and activities advanced by Village Laguna. If purchasers were aware their money was potentially being used for political purposes, they might instead choose to donate to the Laguna Beach Art Museum or other non-political local organizations.

I paid for the StuNews ad because, as a resident concerned with Village Laguna’s very active participation in politics, I believe anyone purchasing a Charm House Tour ticket should know that their money is going to be used by Village Laguna to wield political influence. Had Village Laguna disclosed this in the Charm House Tour materials, my ad would not have been necessary.

 

India Hynes, Laguna Beach

 

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