Act V is no petty squabble More...

Act V is no petty squabble

More than 99,000 cars did not enter our congested town center in

the last five summers because of more than 400 peripheral parking

places at Act V.

The proposed move of the Corporate Yard to the Act V lot will

eliminate more than two-thirds of the parking places and keep us from

solving Laguna’s biggest problems: parking and circulation. And the

move will cost between $8 million and $10 million, thus delaying our

long waited Village Entrance for more than a decade.

Ugly trailers, vehicles and machinery necessary for the city’s

needs are a familiar sight at our current Corporate Yard. The future

Village Entrance is not just a beautiful park, but a needed parking

structure. The previously selected plan proposed four-fifths of the

Corporate Yard function, a mix of 60% storage, 20% office and 20%

vehicle maintenance, on the ground level of the parking structure.

After the 2002 election, the current council majority overrode the

decision to move forward with the selected plan and pushed the

Corporate Yard to Act V. At first glance it’s easy to say, “Move it

and get immediate close-in parking.” This creates an immediate net

loss of parking, is fiscally irresponsible and delays the goal of a

new Village Entrance.

If this move were just a multimillion dollar extravagance, we

might recover in eight or 10 years. But it permanently eliminates

two-thirds of our peripheral parking needed to keep the summer

shuttle working. Councilman Wayne Baglin and Councilwoman-elect Jane

Egly have studied this and have come to the same conclusion.

The current council majority refused to wait for Laguna to annex

Act V from the county into our city limits. Thus the project was

rushed through the Orange County Board of Supervisors. Do the

supervisors know or care about what is best for Laguna Beach? The day

before the county hearing I learned from the city manager that the

old trailers and sheds would remain at the Village Entrance even

after the Corporate Yard move. None of the council members were aware

of this. Not even the mayor.

What else do we not know? The city of Laguna Beach spends more

time overseeing a 500-square-foot addition to your home than our

20,000-square-foot industrial complex. This was fast-tracked. Baglin

asked, “Would Laguna allow a private development on this site, with

toxic materials next to a wilderness area?”

In addition to taking two-thirds of the Act V parking, the new

facility will necessitate stripping an additional three acres of

environmentally sensitive habitat and replacing it with retaining

walls, concrete and all-night lights that will disrupt the wildlife.

Perhaps you will see the lights from your home.

People call this a petty squabble on the council. It’s a squabble,

but it’s not petty. It may be the most important decision we make in

any of our political careers.

TONI ISEMAN

Laguna Beach

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Toni Iseman is a Laguna Beach City Councilwoman.

Councilwoman gives info about the groom

Thanks to all the wonderful people of Laguna Beach who extended

their congratulations and best wishes to Ernie Schneider and me on

our recent wedding. We are truly fortunate to have found each other

and to have so many friends and colleagues, not only in Laguna Beach

-- but throughout Orange County -- who only wish us well.

We plan to live in Laguna Beach. Ernie has sold his home in San

Juan Capistrano.

Because we learned on the return from our honeymoon that a

reporter was checking into Ernie’s business activities, and trying to

tie them to me, I feel compelled to share some facts.

For those of you who don’t know him, Ernie was employed for 25

years with the County of Orange. He served as the county’s director

of the Environmental Management Agency and was the county’s third

chief administrative officer.

For the last 10 years Ernie worked as an employee of Hunsaker and

Associates, an engineering firm that performs planning, engineering

and government relations work for their clients. As executive

director (he was not an owner, officer or shareholder of the

company), Ernie’s primary responsibility was new business development

-- where he contacted companies to obtain engineering work for the

firm.

In late August 2004, Ernie left the employment of Hunsaker and

Associates and ceased providing work to any of the company’s Laguna

Beach clients at that time.

Ernie now works with O’Donnell/Atkins, a statewide commercial real

estate firm headquartered in Irvine.

Ernie, a 40-plus year surfer who once served on the San Diego

Regional Water Quality Control Board, is most concerned about clean

ocean water -- and like me, is a member of Surfriders.

Once again, my heartfelt thanks to all of you who have been so

kind to us during this very special time in our lives.

ELIZABETH PEARSON-SCHNEIDER

Laguna Beach

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider is a Laguna Beach

City Councilwoman.

Conflict on the design review task force

As a Laguna taxpayer I have no fundamental problem with the City

Council’s decision to appoint a task force to study ways to improve

the Design Review process. As I understand it, the stated purpose of

this task force is to look for ways to improve the system so that

neighborhood acrimony and tension will be reduced, and harmony will

be restored. The mix of members selected by City Council is

interesting ... psychologists, architects, as well as individuals who

have been keen observers of the process and wish to contribute their

time and energy toward finding some practical solutions.

I question whether the appointment of Gene Gratz, a local

attorney, does not fly in the face of the task force’s main goal:

that of mitigating the climate of confrontation and litigation that

is becoming more and more the norm on Thursday evenings. Recently

Gratz appeared as a legal representation for the applicant who is

trying to develop 1530 Glenneyre. During his presentation to the

Design Review Board his tone was confrontational and derisive of the

neighbors who had gathered to voice their opinion. Although his words

were carefully wrapped in a legal package, his demeanor and obvious

impatience with the opponents of the application were a text book

example of the very behavior that is so upsetting to Mayor Cheryl

Kinsman.

Gratz has every right to earn a living in town. Should he,

however, be profiting from the very acrimony and contention that he

has been appointed by City Council to eliminate? How can he possibly

be objective? I think he should politely be asked to step down. How

do others feel?

MARY RABE

Laguna Beach

Flu shot experience was less than efficient

Where were you Saturday morning when the line of wheelchairs,

walkers, canes and other invalids were two and three deep in line ...

almost down to Coast Highway hoping to be one of the lucky to get a

flu shot?

My eyes kept turning to the hospital tower from time to time,

looking for honorable Mayor Cheryl Kinsman to see if she had any

solutions to this one. But alas, unless my eyes deceived me she was

nowhere to be seen on that tower.

RIK LAWRENCE

Laguna Beach

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