I’m not aligned with Democrats, Village Laguna, or the Chamber of Commerce. I made small contributions to the City Council re-election campaigns of Rob Zur Schmiede and Toni Iseman. Late in the campaign, Rob bowed out, due to a family emergency, but this past week it was reported he will serve if re-elected. That’s good news.
Candidate Peter Blake has some good ideas, but one really bad one, a deal breaker: His Liberate Laguna PAC-sponsored ads say he is “Supporting term limits for city appointees.” That’s misleading. According to LL PAC founding backer Michael Ray (Indy 10-19-2018): “We believe there should be term limits for City Council members and committees and commissions.” Not just for appointees, but for anyone I might want to vote for that LL PAC wants eliminated. A proven, trusted councilmember has the right to run for re-election. I have the right to vote for them. If you don’t like them, vote for someone better. We already have “term limits,” they’re called elections. Toni Iseman, a hard-working and popular public servant, isn’t “blocking any new people.” LL PAC wants to block anyone who gets in their way.
Is it possible, per a recent letter to the Indy (George Weiss 10-19-2018) that Peter Blake has never been to a City Council meeting?
Vote #1: Rob Zur Schmiede. Vote #2: Toni Iseman. Vote #3: Ann Cristoph. Experienced, knowledgeable, congenial. I want five councilmembers with independent perspectives but who can work together. All the candidates are OK, including Blake. Cheryl Kinsman has experience as a former councilmember from 2005 to 2008. Sue Kempf is endorsed by LL PAC and current councilmembers Kelly Boyd and Bob Whalen. “Nonprofit Founder/Chief Executive Officer/President” Judie Mancuso has a spectacular, if irrelevant, title. Kinsman opposes undergrounding our “obsolete method of delivering energy/utilities when wireless power transfer already exists.” Outdoor power transmission cables conduct hundreds of thousands of volts. Radio, TV, cell phone radiation is very low power. A battery or house current is needed to amplify it. Is there any precedent, anywhere, for city-scale wireless power transmission?
Joel Harrison, Laguna Beach
Your #1 #2 #3 are three candidates I will never vote for. Zur Schmiede has dropped out of the mix. He has missed all the candidate forums so his track record in Laguna Beach, as well as his wake of bond debt in Tustin was not addressed. He is arrogant and not good for Laguna Beach. Toni has had 20 years on our council and has done nothing to help our community. Her claim to fame is chaining herself to a bulldozer 25 years ago. No thank you! Christoph??? Lets not go backward and repeat the horrible track record she holds. I know the three candidates I will vote for and it will not be one of these three.
Community member must seek out and explore new independent leadership to bring fresh new ideas to a stale and relatively stagnant City Council. The reason 12 candidates have stepped up to run is because there are many problems that need solutions in CIty Hall that are not being adequately addressed or ignored.
Without Term Limits City Council becomes stale & stagnant and residents vote on reflex for incumbents because they are not active or closely involved in the city process, on a daily basis and are clueless to the problems.
Take the time to hear the message each candidate delivers to the community and hear the problems that they hope to rectify. Incumbents don’t see the problems residents recognize. Term limits are necessary to keep elected officials accountable because it is an established fact how difficult it is for new unknown candidate to unseat an entrenched lousy incumbent due to the connections they make and favors they play while seated.
FYI when residents are polled term limits is the #1 common issue for all Laguna voters. I can’t vote for Toni Iseman, as the Mayor of Laguna Kelly Boyd said “Toni is making false and misleading statements about developers supporting the “other candidates.” Joe, Greg, and Walky are big developers, all of whom are supporting and contributing to Toni’s campaign! Why the double standard?”
After twenty years she isn’t happy with downtown and her solution is to tell businesses how they should operate. Toni Iseman said “I shop online at Christmas. Why? It’s easier. Make shopping in town easier and residents will shop here. Wrapped and ready to mail in town would make it easier to get over the Amazon habit.” Sad she doesn’t support local business and artists.
All Toni Iseman wants is your $ and the POWER she has no link on her website to make contact or ask questions, nope all you can do is make donations. Residents first or is she just power hungry? It’s not about community service, helping others or volunteering for good. For Toni it’s a power play and she is willing to use fear and falsehoods to benefit herself!
Christoph is the same just look a the landscape project off Saint Ann’s Dr she refused to listen to neighbors and planted giant Eucalyptus. Residents first is a joke it’s Village Laguna first and residents should go to Newport if they don’t agree.