Letters to the Editor

You can feel it coming…it’s in the air. Local political gadflies are all abuzz about the 2020 election. Will it be Trump and Biden, or will a new political star rise to challenge the incumbent? I published an article about Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard being a qualified...

Meeting after meeting, City Council member Steve Dicterow has spoken of kindness and has spoken out against bullies. Now, it seems that he’s the sidekick for a man whom I believe is the worst bully Laguna has ever seen. At the last council meeting, Peter Blake called the...

I know a bully when I see and hear one. Peter Blake’s actions are that of a bully, plain and simple. At the July 9 City Council meeting, Blake called members in the audience “liars,” “Temple Hills liars” and “unprofessional” when they disagreed with his version of some of the...

I was born and raised in Laguna, and my husband and I are now raising our young son in town. The Laguna I love and respect is not only the town known for its beaches and art festivals, but also a town that is considerate, respectful, understanding and kindhearted. The City...

I must say I was disappointed with last week’s City Council meeting. It was jammed with too many important agenda items. I was shocked that everyone else was given three minutes to speak, but when it came to the final item, we were only given one minute each. Seemed prejudicial....

Our big thanks go to Sharbie Higuchi and the Board of the Festival of Arts for providing a wonderful evening at the Pageant of the Masters for a hundred veterans and their support staff on Monday, July 8. This year the Laguna Beach American Legion Post invited military veterans...

I applaud Michaell Magrutsche for calling attention to our trolley system: what’s working and what’s not for Laguna residents. The trolleys are adorable and the drivers excellent. The reason we see so few people using their neighborhood trolleys is simply that there is never...

Laguna Beach is a city filled with some of the warmest, most caring people in the world. We selflessly give our time, talent and treasure to all types of causes from the arts, the environment, our schools and countless humanitarian projects. Unfortunately, there is a part of life...

It was so heartening to see the patriotic displays and pride in America on July 4! We were out of town in Lake Arrowhead spending time with family. The lake was overflowing with American flags and decorations adorning nearly every boat, dock and house, BBQs, military plane...

One nice day, Caterpillar was out for a walk and came to Laguna Beach. “My, my!” said Caterpillar. “This looks like a very nice beach!” Caterpillar looked down the beach. “I do not see anyone there,” she said. “I will go there,” she said. And so, Caterpillar inched up on top of a...

Having lived in Laguna Beach for 48 years and seeing/listening/hearing all of the screams and yells of developers/home builders/remodelers/business applicants/chain stores and restaurants/homeowners/tree huggers/view protection advocates/anti-green space/fire protection...

If you wandered the neighborhoods you probably saw painted faces, ice cream, watermelon, decorated bicycles and family BBQ’s all over Laguna. If you saw Main Beach, it was covered in colorful umbrellas. If you saw one of the many fireworks from Laguna, you enjoyed access to the...

I read with much amusement in the June 28 Indy, Village Laguna crowing about their $1,000 scholarship donation to a graduating senior this year. This is an organization that touts itself as being charitable and they use their considerable Charm House Tour money to support those...

Superintendent Viloria’s contract amendment along with, in my opinion, a generous 8.1 percent raise, is yet another action by our School Board that further puts into question their strength and abilities to govern effectively, independently and most importantly, transparently....

My daughter Makayla was a student at El Morro in Mrs. Perry’s third grade class, and my daughter adored her and so did I. We just saw her at high school graduation, and she gave my daughter the biggest hug and it was so special to have Mrs. Perry there. Mrs. Perry also sent my...

I read Michele Monda’s column in last week’s Indy and I am outraged by the behavior of the School Board and superintendent. To put the taxpayers/residents/children of Laguna Beach in a situation where we are once again funding a defense of seemingly unethical behaviors by...

I reviewed the Grand Jury’s Urban Forest Report—of the 12 cities in OC that responded, Laguna was the only coastal city. Laguna is so different in so many ways that to compare us to any city in OC makes no sense. We are hemmed in by ocean on one side and our hills. We know that...

J.J. Gasparotti nailed it again with his recent column about the impacts of tourism on Laguna residents. It is reasonable that those of us who are fortunate enough to live here should be willing to share our good fortune. And that means we will be physically impacted by lots of...

One and a half miles, or a 27-minute walk, that turns into a one hour and 15-minute commute. Is this all we should expect from public transportation? I took the trolley from Boat Canyon at 4:08 p.m. At Whole Foods, the driver, passengers and I walk to the bus depot to catch the...

Can someone please explain to me why Mo Honarkar’s multitude of high-intensity, character-changing hotel, retail, and restaurant projects are eligible for “fast track” status, while other Laguna Beach property owners must wait in the queue for their plans to be reviewed and...

In weighing in on the Dee Perry situation related to the Laguna Beach School Board, I think it is important to state that I was a school board member in San Marino for eight years. At no time did anyone ever criticize another board member publicly. Coincidentally, I was asked if...

Kudos to J.J. Gasparotti for continuing to expose the true cost of tourists to our city. The city needs to mine tourists for money to at least cover our costs. Currently, the city uses about $20 million of your property tax dollars to make up for the shortfall, which equals about...

Every day I learn something new. I talked to some landscape/walkway specialists, and I was told that decomposed granite is what was used to pave one part of the new “walkway” recently installed by the city. One thing is for sure—it can and most often does get mushy when wet....

If you didn’t have a chance to look through the June 21 Laguna Beach Independent print edition and its accompanying insert, “LBUSD: The Stories that Shaped Us 2018-19 Annual Report to the Community,” please take a few minutes to do so online by visiting...