Laguna Beach Local News

It seems a targeted effort is underway to vilify councilmember Weiss over costs and causes of the separation of former city manager Dupuis with no pushback from the council or any fact-finding organization. I believe the current mayor and mayor pro tem are at the heart of this problem, not...

There has been a lot of noise about the departure of former Laguna Beach City Manager Shoreh Dupuis (such as Fried’s screed a couple of weeks ago). Most of it expresses sympathy for Dupuis or hostility to council members. I suggest taking a breath. Here is the core reality:...

I am writing about a concerning issue uncovered at the Sweetwater car wash site. It seems the project architect and involved city development staff have been dishonest with the public regarding the contamination of the site for the past five years. This project has been reviewed by the Planning Commission...

Do not expect Mr. Hellewell to alter his willingness to attribute authority to individuals whose pronouncements have been repeatedly, for years, thoroughly debunked. To understand why, consider the rest of the story about William Miller, the misguided minister who repeatedly and incorrectly predicted the end of the world. It...

The LBUSD appears singularly focused on approving a $16 million expenditure to construct an Olympic-size 50-meter pool, doubling the size of the current LBHS/community pool. Some options address overall needs that are half the cost and compatible with the current space. Some members of district leadership are pushing this...

It’s time to end the divisiveness in Laguna. We have a new city council, a new city attorney and a new city manager coming. There are fewer reasons for divisiveness in Laguna, yet we still have columns in the paper and letters to the editors by people trying to drive...

Since the early 70s, Joe Chiquete was known as the “czar of undergrounding” in Laguna Beach, overseeing the city’s efforts in this area until his retirement around 2015. At that time, there were limited funds and no comprehensive plan for Citywide Utility Undergrounding. To this day, the city’s primary strategy...

Let’s take a brief look at where we are. We have lost our city manager, and it will now take an estimated five to six months to find a new suitable replacement. By way of transparency, we know that the city council held five closed-door sessions to reach the...

Ever since the city manager put out a notice of a closed session regarding the complaint from herself regarding workplace harassment, it seems that most people have concluded that George Weiss was a part of this because of the wording on the notice. First of all, no one can...