Iseman, Boyd joined on council by Zur Schmiede

Laguna Beach City Council members Kelly Boyd and Toni Iseman are headed back to the dais while Planning Commissioner Robert Zur Schmiede earned the third open seat in Tuesday’s election.

Two incumbents and five challengers battled for three open seats on the five-member council.

Boyd, a longtime Laguna resident, led all candidates with 3,611 votes followed by Iseman with 3,565 and Zur Schmiede, who tallied 3,485, according to the Orange County Registrar of Voters.

Voters elected Boyd, former owner of the Marine Room Tavern, to a third straight term. He also served from 1978 to 1982.

“I think my experience helped getting elected,” Boyd said. “People know I don’t bow down to any one group of people. I work with all of them.”

Boyd spearheaded the creation of the view equity committee, which developed an amended ordinance that was approved by the City Council this year. The ordinance sets guidelines for homeowers to reclaim sight lines lost to overgrown vegetation.

Iseman, whose 16 years as a council member is the longest period of service on the council in the city’s 87-year history, focused her campaign on relieving Laguna’s traffic and congestion while alluding to her ability to listen to constituents’ concerns.

“I’m so glad it’s over,” said Iseman, a former counselor and career planning coordinator at Orange Coast College who serves on the South Orange County Wastewater Authority board and as Laguna’s representative on the Orange County Vector Control District.

The city has several critical issues at stake, including improvements to Laguna Canyon Road and potential changes to the Downtown Specific Plan, a key planning document.

“There’s a lot of stuff on the table, so it’s an important tipping point for the community,” Iseman said. “I’m glad to get the vote.”

Zur Schmiede centered his campaign on protecting Laguna’s quality of life, practicing fiscal responsibility and promoting nonpartisan government.

“I feel great,” Zur Schmiede said. “It’s been a long nine months. There’s been a lot of hard work, but I’ve had help from a whole bunch of people. It feels good that all the hard work paid off.”

He has been a planning commissioner for the past 13 years and also served on the city’s Design Review Board.

Michele Hall, a yoga instructor and past president of the Laguna Beach Republicans, placed fourth after a campaign focused on the needs of youths, water conservation, public safety and private property rights.

Jon Madison, owner of Madison Square & Garden Cafe, finished fifth after a campaign clouded by controversy.

An Orange County Register investigation revealed that the affable restaurateur and philanthropist may have lied about university degrees he said he earned and uncovered discrepancies in his voter registration.

Madison denied any wrongdoing, saying in a written statement that he was the victim of identity theft and university records departments that lost track of his completed coursework.

The Coastline Pilot was never able to verify the purported degrees or voter registration information.

Madison, like Iseman, promoted his willingness to listen to residents’ concerns while making decisions based on facts. In interviews, Madison said he would like Laguna to become more business-friendly.

Paul Merritt, a trust administrator and former Laguna Niguel councilman, finished sixth. During his campaign, Merritt called Laguna Beach a “masterpiece” that should be free of increased speed limits along Coast Highway and over-development in Laguna Canyon.

Grossman, a retired bookmaker, placed seventh after a campaign focused on encouraging peripheral parking, converting trolleys from gas to electricity and having the homeless perform community service, perhaps cleaning a beach, in exchange for a priority bed at the city’s overnight emergency shelter, the Alternative Sleeping Location.

*

Orange County Supervisor District 5

Dana Point Mayor Lisa Bartlett will join the five-member Orange County Board of Supervisors, representing District 5, which includes Laguna Beach.

Bartlett ran against Laguna Niguel Councilman Robert Ming to replace termed-out Pat Bates, who won her battle in the state Senate race for the 36th District, which covers portions of Riverside and San Diego counties.

Bartlett, a partner in a real estate investment firm, said she favors a regional approach to decreasing the number of homeless people on Orange County’s streets because the cities can’t tackle the problem on their own.

Ming, senior vice president and associate general counsel with an international brokerage and investment banking firm, said he prefers that individual cities take the lead in addressing the problem because local leaders know their towns best.