Greater Laguna Beach GOP 2026 City Council Candidate Forum

Both recordings, selected candidate answers with timestamps and searchable locally archived captions from the September 23 GLBGOP Council forum.

Laguna Beach Election 2026 · Candidate forum Completed forum

Greater Laguna Beach GOP 2026 City Council Candidate Forum

Held Wednesday, September 23, 2026 at 6:00–9:00 p.m. at Council Chambers.

September 23 · Forum recap

Nine candidates, two recordings, one closing budget challenge

Greater Laguna Beach GOP hosted all nine City Council candidates to press them on local spending, development, city services and prior decisions. Its moderators used short yes/no answers, candidate-specific follow-ups and a final question to everyone about cuts before tax increases. GLBGOP is politically affiliated; the Council election is nonpartisan.

ModeratorJennifer Zeiter

Laguna Beach attorney, GLBGOP board member, former Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee member and No on P campaign co-lead.

ModeratorIndia Hynes

GLBGOP president, longtime Laguna Beach resident and retired former chief executive of a California cabinet manufacturer.

Rapid civic-policy questions

Part 2 opened with roughly 22 minutes of yes/no questions on term limits, agenda notice, roads, downtown policy, parking and more. Watch the round →

Scrutiny of city decisions

Candidates discussed the Promenade bid, commercial vacancies, visitor impacts, city staffing and services. Incumbents faced additional questions on their Council record; other candidates explained what they would change.

The closing question

Every candidate was asked to name three substantial costs or projects they would cut, reduce or postpone before raising taxes. Watch the question →

Forum dashboard · September 23, 2026

Compare what each candidate said

All nine candidates took part. Browse shared questions first, then open each candidate’s 6–7 timestamped answers. The two recordings and searchable captions are below.

9Candidates
38Rapid questions compared
61Selected answer links
2Videos and transcripts

The question for everyone

What would you cut before raising taxes?

In the closing round, the moderator asked every candidate to name three substantial expenditures, programs, positions or projects they would cut, reduce or postpone before asking residents or businesses to pay higher taxes. Watch the question in Part 2 at 1:18:15 →

The organizer had withheld one question in advance. The recording does not explicitly identify this final question as the previously undisclosed one.

How the debate differed

Fast answers and follow-ups

The moderators used an extended yes/no round, candidate-specific questions and follow-ups on prior positions and city decisions. They gave incumbents additional questions about their Council record. The closing budget question gave each candidate more time to answer.

Watch the yes/no round in Part 2 →

Shared questions: nine answers side by side

These short summaries link directly to each answer. They are paraphrases of the recording, not transcripts or endorsements.

How should Council scrutinize Promenade construction bids?

What would you do about vacant commercial storefronts?

What would you review or reduce before raising taxes?

Rapid round · Part 2

How candidates answered 38 rapid questions

Compare the candidates’ yes and no answers below. The opening three questions were asked while Mark Orgill was out of the room; later questions were directed to incumbents or new candidates as indicated. Replies that did not choose yes or no appear in the candidates’ own terms. Question headings open the recording at each exchange.

Would you build a new parking structure behind the police station or at the City Hall entrance? Part 2 · 3:51 ↗

Yes
Edward Bayuk, Mark Orgill, Sue Kempf, Alex Rounaghi, Nick Aronoff
No
Karen Martin, Joy Berry, Ashley Cintas, Laura Parisi

Alex Rounaghi: Yes, without taxpayer dollars.

Sue Kempf: Yes, without taxpayer dollars.

Mark Orgill: Would consider it if it relieved neighborhood parking and cost taxpayers nothing.

Edward Bayuk: Supported a privately funded structure behind the police station.

Ashley Cintas: Opposed new parking.

Closing rapid question · Part 2

Who each candidate admired in politics

Watch the question in Part 2 at 21:20 ↗

Edward Bayuk
Ronald Reagan
Mark Orgill
Abraham Lincoln
Sue Kempf
Mark Carney
Alex Rounaghi
George Washington
Nick Aronoff
Abraham Lincoln
Karen Martin
Benjamin Franklin
Joy Berry
Theodore Roosevelt
Ashley Cintas
Ronald Reagan
Laura Parisi
Theodore Roosevelt

More questions by candidate

Edward Bayuk

View profile
View 7 selected answers
Mark Orgill, 2026 Laguna Beach City Council candidate

Mark Orgill

View profile
View 6 selected answers
Sue Kempf, 2026 Laguna Beach City Council candidate

Sue Kempf

View profile
View 7 selected answers

Alex Rounaghi

View profile
View 6 selected answers
Nick Aronoff, 2026 Laguna Beach City Council candidate

Nick Aronoff

View profile
View 7 selected answers

Karen Martin

View profile
View 7 selected answers

Joy Berry

View profile
View 7 selected answers
Ashley Cintas, 2026 Laguna Beach City Council candidate

Ashley Cintas

View profile
View 7 selected answers

Laura Parisi

View profile
View 7 selected answers

Watch the complete forum

Recording and transcription notes

Greater Laguna Beach GOP hosted the September 23 forum; NimbleGov PAC uploaded these two recordings. The local text copies come from YouTube's automatic English captions and may mishear names, numbers and technical terms. So Laguna selected and paraphrased the answer highlights; the recordings are authoritative. The two parts have separate timestamps, which restart at zero in Part 2.

Search both complete caption transcripts

Showing all caption passages.

Part 1 · 381 timestamped passages

Open or download Part 1 transcript

  1. 0:00Nette Vegas and Lisa Brooks for our assistant here in Dian who work in the zoom. Thank you very much. Um, as our guests, we anticipate and appreciate your respect and civility and uh, sorry there they are. Disruption will be escorted out the door by those
  2. 0:18good-looking men who are going to enter the room. [laughter] Luna Beach has uh, approximately 19,000 voters. um 40% 2% Democrats, just under 28% Republicans, and no party preference for independents, just under 21%. Although city council races are
  3. 0:34nonpartisan, local elections are politically charged. Our organization's values are based in faith and family, fiscal accountability of our taxpayer dollars, protection of private property rights, strong law enforcement, minimal government interference in our business,
  4. 0:48and personal lives. [clears throat] Basically, less government is better governance. Our questions do reflect those priorities, but every candidate will receive time and a fair opportunity to answer so that voters can make their own decisions. We welcome all who uh who
  5. 1:02are here in attendance in person. You can also watch on home channel 852 or via Zoom. The Zoom link is up on the screen there. If you also go to our website uh GB.com, click on upcoming events, you will get the link. Um if you're dialing it by
  6. 1:18phone, that phone number is 669. in progress. >> 444 9171. Meeting ID 873 82761182 and the passcode is 21239. Uh tonight, in preparation, we reviewed the previous debates with the goal of
  7. 1:39not repeating the same questions and have reviewed unasked questions from residents from those past debates. We're going to dig a little deeper tonight. And in the words of 911 patriot Todd Beamer, let's roll. No question.
  8. 1:54>> Here are the ground rules. >> We ask that all candidates please your cell phones. Incumbents, because you're defending your council seats. There will be more questions for you than others. We are going to be moving fast as we have a lot of questions. Please be
  9. 2:10concisive with your answers. We have provided all candidates with pens and notepads for some of the multi-part questions. Opening statements are 30 seconds each. General questions 30 seconds each. These questions may be posed to one, several, several or all of
  10. 2:26the candidates depending on the question. 40 lightning rounds yes or no questions. General questions continued at 30 seconds. Candidate pose questions 30 seconds. And final question closing statements 60 seconds. So we will start with the yes no
  11. 2:47statements. Yes. Real briefly, you can just follow the lights. Um, when you see the green light, you can go. And when at about 20 seconds, you'll see the yellow light flashing. But mostly, you want to be
  12. 3:06interested in when the red light flashes. At about 35 seconds, you'll hear a beep and then you'll be finished with your answer. [clears throat] Okay, let's start with opening statements. Ed, we'll start with you.
  13. 3:23>> Thank you. Good evening. Thank you everyone for coming on tonight. Um we're at a pivotal point in our uh city where we now have nine candidates, three incumbents, three seats. Um those three seats um they're they're open and there's six people who are qualified to
  14. 3:45fill them and that's a lot of people asking for change. My career has taken me through business leadership, emergency communications and public service. I've managed complex operations, worked on public safety communications projects, served on three
  15. 4:01state boards. Those experienced taught me to ask direct questions, understand complex situations, and listen to people and how their lives would be affected by a decision that could last decades. That approach matters in Laguna Beach today. Residents are watching decision
  16. 4:21decisions made by Hotel Lagona, Forest Avenue, Ocean Avenue, Laguna Canyon, the future of downtown specific plan. >> Okay. Thank Thank you. And I'm sorry we have to cut you off at 30 uh seconds. Um Mark, please. >> Good evening. Thank you for being here.
  17. 4:37I'm Mark Orill. I thought we're going to be since 1984, and it's been an honor to serve city council and um as your mayor. I'm proud of the progress we've been making in strengthening emergency preparedness, rebuilding fire station number four, taking steps toward a more
  18. 4:54reliable water supply, and made city hall more responsive to residents. We managed our finances responsibly while investing in services our community depends on. I'm especially encouraged by the work of stewardship. Laguna Beach is an extraordinary place and caring for
  19. 5:10its environment, culture, and heritage should guide the choices we make. That includes protecting our coastline, supporting the arts, preserving our neighborhoods, and planning carefully for the future. >> Thank you, Mark. Um, Sue.
  20. 5:24>> Yeah. Thank you everybody for coming out. I think this is our fifth form now. I think we have 10 or something. So, we're halfway done. Um, I've really enjoyed serving on the council and serving the community. As many of you know, I'm out and about in the community
  21. 5:35quite a bit and that's for me that's the best way to learn about what's happening in town. I spent like the preponderance of my time on council working on fire safety extensive fire safety programs and also this last couple summers working on visitor impacts which I think
  22. 5:49we've been quite successful. Looking forward to serving the community again. Thank you everyone. >> Thank you, Alex. >> Thank you. The greater Laguna Beach needs. Um, you know, I'm not a Republican, but I appreciate the
  23. 6:00opportunity to speak. I try to always answer whenever people want to talk um and do interviews or debates. I think it's important for for us to do that because we represent everyone as Jennifer pointed out. I'm really proud of the work that we've done over the
  24. 6:12last uh four years on what I call the three competencies of local government, public safety, infrastructure, and the efficient delivery of services. When I was mayor during the range of fire, I saw government at its best. We were prepared, resilient, and we were able to
  25. 6:27not have any damage to property. That's the kind of leadership I want to continue to have over the next four years. Thank you for the opportunity. >> Thank you, Alex. Nick. >> Hi. Thank you. Uh my name is Nick Aronov. I grew up here, went through our
  26. 6:39local schools and family's been here for multiple generations. I've had the opportunity to live and work and travel around the world, learning three different languages, opening up offices, running businesses, managing teams, and uh every year that every year that I've
  27. 6:52been coming back to Laguna, I've seen how it's been more and more difficult for residents to enjoy living in this town. And over the past year, I've been attending city council meetings and all the town halls and I've spent a lot of time listening to residents across town.
  28. 7:04What I keep hearing consistently is people want to feel heard. They want better transparency and smarter spending. and a city that plans ahead instead of constantly reacting. >> Thank you, Nick. >> Thank you,
  29. 7:15>> Karen. >> Hi, I'm Karen Martin. Um, I'm a Lugan resident and since 1986 and an urban planner with more than 30 years experience working with different public agencies and um different cities, counties in the state across California
  30. 7:33and also in some other states like Arizona and Nevada. Um, I'm running fix the fundamentals. I want to listen to residents, bring clear rules and fair decisions back to city hall. Thank you. >> Thank you, Joy. >> Thank you. I'm I'm a fiscal conservative
  31. 7:52and I want to see our city move away from high-profile projects that provide little benefits to residents and focus on long-term planning and critical needs that protect our financial stability. I put myself through college working two to three jobs, so I know how to manage a
  32. 8:06budget and live within my means. I work my way up to an executive level at Marriott Hotels before starting my own company. I see firsthand all the crippling regulations coming out of Sacramento to small businesses. And like most owners, I play by the rules because
  33. 8:22I believe in the rule of law and I think it should be applied here even in Laguna Beach. And that's why I'm running. >> Thank you. Joy Ashley. >> I'm Ashley Cintes. I own Odo Sushi right here in downtown Lagona. Um, every day at ODOT, I talk to residents, visitors,
  34. 8:37employees, business owners. I hear what everyone loves about Lagona, but I have heard the same frustrations over and over again. Um, and I want to help fix that. So, I've spent nearly two decades leading large teams, managing multi-million dollar budgets, and
  35. 8:50running complex operations. Throughout my career, we're working on it was never the standard. The standard was what's the plan, who owns it, when will it be done, what does it cost, and did it actually work? That's the leadership I want to bring to city council. I want to
  36. 9:03bring forward thinking, fiscal discipline, accountability, transparency, and the willingness to actually do the work. Laguna doesn't need more activity. We need results. >> Thank you. Laura, >> I am Laura Paresi, and I've been your
  37. 9:15elected city treasurer since 1999. I'm running for city council. Not because I am tired of being treasurer, but because city council and management have made it increasingly difficult for me to do the job that you elected me to do and the one that I'd like to do. I think that um
  38. 9:35with closer financial management, at least some of the financial problems that we face today could have been avoided. Since this is the greater uh GOP, uh I wanted to mention that I was a sponsor of the 2017 legislation SB742 by Morlock, Transparency and City
  39. 9:53Accounting, which is a law today in state. >> Thank you very much and thank you for being concise. We're right on time. Um some of the questions on the general questions, you will get more than 30 seconds depending on the question and
  40. 10:05the multiple parts. So I just wanted to make that clear as well. Okay, let's jump right on in there. Uh the first one is for new candidates only and we will start with Ed. Um there has been significant community concern about the level of public involvement in major
  41. 10:19city projects including the prominade and most recently the downtown specific plan. Residents have raised questions about the environmental review process, timing and transparency of decisions and whether community input is meaningfully considered before projects move forward.
  42. 10:32Many residents feel their voices are being heard only after key decisions have already taken step. Question 30 seconds. Do you believe these resonant concerns are valid? And if yes, what will you do to provide more inclusion for residents?
  43. 10:46>> I believe the answer is yes, only because I collected quite a few signatures on my candidate ballot uh when I registered to run. And all of the businesses downtown, quite a few, about eight of them were not happy with Forest Avenue. They felt
  44. 11:04that they weren't asked input enough from city council and I believe that we need to listen to the residents and the businesses and businesses downtown do not believe they're being listened to. >> Thank you. Uh next uh new candidate Nick Arnoff.
  45. 11:25>> Thank you for the question. Yes. Uh I believe that they haven't been listened to and a great example of that is the prominade. I don't think any resident was going to want a uh art installation from an artist in Utah to be on the main street in our town. Uh, another moment
  46. 11:40where I realized that residents were being listened to was uh around this time last year when they were talking about the Ocean Avenue project where um the business owners were saying not in the wintertime. Please don't do construction during the winter time. And
  47. 11:53that's when it was planned and then a year later it was still planned for the winter time before they scrapped it about two weeks ago. Thank you Karen. >> Yes. Um all those items that you mentioned I do think are valid. Um I
  48. 12:06think both for the residents and for business owners, we don't have clear rules. Um that causes confusion and acrimony. Um one key issue that I found is the construction management process. Be it a city process or a um you know just a
  49. 12:24general contractor working in a neighborhood. Um how to fix that? I think we need clearer rules and for major projects such as the prominade or street improvements like they're doing in North Laguna right now, there needs to be a a website uh that actually
  50. 12:45gives the the schedule. >> Okay, thank you very much Joy. >> Yes, they are valid concerns. I mean the incumbents will say oh but we do these workshops. know the workshops are a lecture to the citizens. We have an
  51. 12:59incredibly talented group of residents here and instead of lecturing to them, we should be listening to them. How would we [clears throat] fix it? Let them be the designers. Let them do the planners. We've got landscape architects, regular architects, artists,
  52. 13:13and we don't let listen to them. We need to fix it and let the voices be heard. Thank you, Ashley. Um, I think the overall theme is transparency and that's a personnel problem. So, if the residents or businesses aren't feeling like their
  53. 13:30voices are being heard or things are happening um that are different from what is being said like trees being cut in the middle of the night, that is a transparency problem within the current city council. Um, and so there can be done in order to do about it. more
  54. 13:43public hearings, a dashboard like Karen mentioned that is public facing where people can see where money is going, what decisions are being made, and the why behind everything. Um, and then obviously better code base to make things even more transparent and fair
  55. 13:56and concise for residents, businesses. Thank you, Laura. >> Yes, I think it's a valid point. In fact, I'm running for city council because I felt like I wasn't listened to. Um, I think the way to fix that is to um maybe hold more hearings and and
  56. 14:10hold people speak to the fire. Look for results, emphasize results with the with your elected officials. Thank you. >> Okay. Next question is for all candidates. We've read about recent teen takeovers organized by social media in Huntington Beach and Newport raising
  57. 14:24concerns about public safety, crowd control, and impact on local businesses and residents. Question, and we'll start with Mark. What action should the city take to prepare for and handle these destructive events? >> We've already taken action. In fact, we
  58. 14:38partnered with our neighboring cities and we are monitoring social media in a variety of different ways and have made preparations in the event one of these incidents occurs. >> That's right. >> Thank you.
  59. 14:52>> Thank you. I agree with Mark. we had as soon as this happened, we all uh talked to the city manager about it just to make sure that we had a handle on it because you know once these things start you you never know how how much proliferation you'll see across other
  60. 15:06cities but they they're monitoring social media very actively that's the best place to look for these kind of behaviors and so they were clued in by Newport and they've been um brought up to speed and spent a lot of time talking to Newport surround these things so I
  61. 15:20felt comfortable with what they were doing. Thank you, Alex. >> Yeah, it's a very important question and something that I've spoken to the mayor of Newport about as well as the city manager. The goal should be to learn from what what they they uh their best
  62. 15:33practices and what they learned from this experience. What we can do is we can fully fund law enforcement and that's what we've done over the past four years. We uh in 2022 there were 42 out of 55 of our police officer positions filled. We've been able to
  63. 15:46really close the vacancy gap and actually add more officers, including doubling the number of park rangers. We have to continue investing in technology, investing in also prosecution. We have an in-house uh city prosecutor that we just funded and that
  64. 16:00will help ensure that uh quality of life crimes are also prosecuted. >> Thank you, Nick. Yeah, it's great to hear that they're uh working with uh our other cities around town and that obviously was after or around the neighborhood um Orange County
  65. 16:14and obviously after Fourth of July in Newport Beach was a big issue but we actually had an issue in during spring break earlier that spring where a lot of people were gathering at main beach and there was fights that were breaking out in South Lagona. So this is something
  66. 16:25that's been coming to Lagona. didn't blow up as much as it did like in Newport Beach. And it's really concerning that it took Newport for them to kind of see that this was becoming an issue. And I think that goes to not having enough park rangers and not
  67. 16:37enough eyes on the beaches. Uh and that goes back to what Alex said is that it making sure we fund law enforcement and we use the tourism dollars towards protecting our beaches. >> Thank you, Karen. >> I agree with the the other um
  68. 16:51candidates. Um, I'd say coordination, monitoring, and I think we need participation from our our local enforcement agencies and also state and federal so that we know how to handle something like this. I know federal agencies understand how
  69. 17:08to understand uh cell phone chatter. >> Thank you for joining. >> I agree. We need to monitor the social media, but beyond that, we need to alert the residents of what's going on. I think also the residents if we're aware of these things gathering out in social
  70. 17:24media, we can also try to diffuse it and also be cognizant and be aware of where these public locations that might occur because I think we're a wise organization and community and we can help also diffuse it and so along with all the public safety comments we heard
  71. 17:40tonight. Thank you, Joy. Ashley, >> I think it's important that we learn from what happened in Newport and take anything that happens on social media seriously. Um, but more importantly, um, be more proactive and have a plan in place and a calm plan in place. So,
  72. 17:56public safety with our police officers, with fire, with anybody that can be, um, be active when something like that were to happen because that's the best thing we can do, right? is to calms make sure that the repercussions of doing that is what could happen, communicating to the
  73. 18:12residents, but also having a plan in place when something does happen like that. >> Thank you, Laura. >> I agree with my predecessors. Planning is key and um preparation is key. >> Okay, thank you. Moving forward to uh
  74. 18:26city employee perks. Uh this is an all candidate question. Residents are frustrated that city employee perks continually present it to council as a trial or temporary then become permanent. Examples include city hall closures every other Friday, closure
  75. 18:40between Christmas and New Year's, no counter or planner availability on Fridays, and continued work from home arrangements. These policies have reduced public access to city staff and services, often causing significant inconvenience. At the same time, city
  76. 18:53employee numbers and compensation has risen, raising questions about whether service levels and employee performance are being adequately measured. We'll start with Sue on this one. Two-part question. Would you support reviewing these policies determine whether or not
  77. 19:06they are serving the public? And number two, if they are reducing access, what changes would you make to ensure residents and contractors have greater, not less, access to city staff and services? Well, I think I think you have to be aware in government in particular
  78. 19:20in in Laguna Beach, this is a hard place to work and it's a hard place to get to and so when we um and it's also very competitive with employees like during co we lost a lot of employees as a lot of cities did and then it became very competitive for employees. So we have to
  79. 19:34offer some benefits here and the benefits you know these are unions here and these benefits are shared among all different cities and they're they're very very much the same. Um I forgot the second part of your question. What's your second part? If they are not if
  80. 19:46they are reducing access, what changes would you make to ensure residents and contractors have greater and not less access? >> Well, I feel like the city I feel like we're very accessible. There's there's no shortage of ways to communicate to
  81. 19:58the city and I think our service levels are something that the council monitors very closely particular particularly with community development. >> Thank you, Alex. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, as it relates to the the works, um, we have to be competitive and
  82. 20:13so that's part of the labor negotiations process. I'll give an example. And then we we gave a 19% raise to our police officers. That was important to filling vacancies. That's we have to compete against other agencies. We don't want people going to Irvine. We want them
  83. 20:23staying here in Lagona. Um, and then as relates to the second part of the question, how do we align our budget with our outcomes? We, uh, Council Member Kemp and I introduced a comprehensive efficiency initiative. It includes for the first time a reduction
  84. 20:35in staff. We had a net production of seven full-time employees and it also made recommendations that were supported including um outcomes based budgeting uh performance audits and other elements that will make the city more efficient and aligned around the goals of
  85. 20:48residents. >> Thank you, Alex. Nick. >> Yeah, I think we need to go back to levels like before CO if it was perks. Feel like we gave a lot of perks away during CO and then now we're slowly trying to peel them back. We need to be
  86. 21:00do a large jump back to what the hours were beforehand. And when it comes to perks, you know, we're hearing that it's a hard place to get to. It's a hard place to work. Then we have to look at why it's becoming this big of an issue of people wanting to work here. Maybe
  87. 21:12it's a toxic work environment. Maybe there's leadership issues. I think we need to really audit each of the departments and find out what's going on and why people aren't wanting to work in Luga Beach because seems like it's a great place to live.
  88. 21:23>> Thank you, Karen. >> Um, yeah, I think the loss of service is um very I dealt with that today. I needed to go down to the city. It was after 12:00. I couldn't make it. So, um, the loss of service is real and it's very
  89. 21:42frustrating. Um, I don't see that being necessarily a perk to the employees. I think that's a separate issue. Um, I really think we need to bring back our community development department um, office hours from 9 to5. >> Thank you, Troy.
  90. 22:01There is no substitution for one-on-one human engagement. Full stop. I run a hotel. I don't let computers check my guests in. I have a human check my guests in. I would not reduce access. And I believe in a positive culture. You should be able to retain your employees
  91. 22:20and attract people if you're good to your team. And I agree with maybe Nick that we have a cultural problem that we have to if we're having problems. I do not support reducing access one-on-one human one human being to another human being. There's no substitute for it.
  92. 22:36>> Thank you, Ashley. >> Yeah, I'm I I'm in the hospitality industry like Joy, the highest turnover industry and um we don't have a problem here in Laguna. So, I really question saying that it's people don't want to work here. Um it's definitely more of a
  93. 22:52work environment problem. I don't think you throw perks or benefits at somebody in order for them to want to work here. We have increased [clears throat] all of um city hall by 37% in the last decade. Community development increased by 40% in the last decade. And I think we all
  94. 23:07can agree that nothing has gotten better. So that is the question is that if you're going to add headcounts, then things should be more streamlined and cutting hours does not make things more streamlined. >> Thank you, Laura. Uh yes, I would
  95. 23:20support reviewing the policies and um I think that we should look at increasing access um by some kind of creative um things like perhaps split shifts on Fridays or have alternative maybe some some staff take Mondays off, some have take Fridays off, but maybe have a
  96. 23:41skeleton crew um so that you still have access to the public uh five days a week. Okay, thank you very much. This is a kind of a follow-up question. Uh, Leida Beach has experienced significant growth in city staff and employees. So, sorry.
  97. 23:57>> Well, no, wait a minute. You skipped Marvin, but previously >> I want everyone to be comforting to know this. Uh, I have a communications company and so I was blessed to work with lots of military generals, admirals, people from the CIA and the
  98. 24:13FBI, active, inactive. And let me tell you all of you, we are very blessed to live in this country and we are safe and our law enforcement monitors lots of crap. And so the Newport Beach incident, believe me, our law enforcement people are aware of what is happening. And that
  99. 24:33was the 30 seconds I needed. >> Absolutely. Would you like to uh answer the other question regarding? >> My my comment to that is we should go back to Monday through Friday 9 to5 so residents can come down to the city and ask questions, submit applications, etc.
  100. 24:50>> Okay. Thank you, Mark. I I know I overlooked you. Uh do you want to answer please? >> Sure. There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle. There are trends that developed over CO that I do think deserve some uh reflection and some changes there. Again
  101. 25:04back to the lot of pieces of the puzzle we are refining a lot of our processes I do believe technology does play a role I don't think it's all face to face human we have what's called ask unit that's a opportunity for people to interact directly using technology that's been
  102. 25:19found to be very efficient plan check for instance um I think as we implement more technology around some of in our community development department is going to be free up a lot of time for a lot of the customers Okay, thank you very much. Uh Sue, you already answered
  103. 25:35that question, correct? >> Okay, I think Alex, you are next in line then. Um, next question. Laguna Beach has experienced significant growth in city staffing and employee compensation while pension obligations up 95.3 million remain substantial and
  104. 25:48increasing. Threequarters of the general fund is city salaries and benefits. The city staff is up 87 hires of 2017, averaging nine hires per year. Between fiscal year 2425 and 2526, city staffing increased from 347 full-time employees to 366, an increase of 19 new hires in a
  105. 26:06single year. With a relatively stable resident population of over decades, residents are asking whether the continued size and cost of city government are sustainable and whether staffing levels are delivering a corresponding increase in services. So,
  106. 26:20Alex, two-part question. What do you believe is the appropriate staffing level for a city the size of Lagona? and two, what specific steps would you take to control and reduce employee and pension costs while maintaining services to residents?
  107. 26:34>> Yeah, thank you for that question. So, I think I'll take the second question first. Um, what that's sort of what we've been doing. We were able to for the first time have a net reduction in seven full-time employees as part of this last fiscal year budget, which was
  108. 26:45part of 1.5 million in cuts. And so, the goal here is um to appropriately staff the city. At the same time, we added um for example the ambulances. That pays for itself. And it's much better to have ambulance operators who are in-house as opposed to private operators. We've
  109. 27:01added police officers. We probably need to add more police officers. Um and for the first time in 35 years, we've added firefighters. So, so I think um and to answer the first part of your question, I think that goes back to budgeting by outcomes because we we can't really just
  110. 27:14get rid of a bunch of employees without the idea of understanding what are the outcomes that we're getting for every dollar in the budget. Thank you. >> Thank you. Quick follow-up question. The seven cuts, were they not unstaffed positions? So, they weren't truly cuts.
  111. 27:26>> Well, they they were they were vacant positions and then they were removed from the budget. So, that is a cut. >> Got it. So, it really doesn't mean that you decrease the employee size. >> It it did based on the number that you referenced before that was the full-time
  112. 27:38employees in the budget. So, >> thank you very much. >> Uh, Nick. >> Yeah. So, on that uh conversation right there, it's we don't know if those positions were in departments that needed to have the the staff introduced.
  113. 27:49I think we need to have department audits. We need to see really where we're getting um our best performances on the diff the different areas in town. So, for example, like Alex mentioned, in our police department, maybe we need to add a park ranger or two. But in other
  114. 28:02departments, whether it's community development or public works, maybe there needs to be reduced staff work. So, we have to have a full department audit to really understand if it's a a quality of worker problem or if it's just too many people.
  115. 28:14>> Thank you, Karen. Thank you for the question. I think the um one of the one of the main problems is the fundamentals and that's our record keeping and I think staff and um whether it's fire department,
  116. 28:37community development, building um they're all dependent on the recordkeeping and right now we don't have enough funding in the recordeping department and so staff is running around and they're not getting things done as quickly as they should. You know
  117. 28:53yourself when you're looking for a file when it comes up easily, you get things done quickly. >> Thank you, Karen. Joy, >> I don't think it is sustainable. I don't think the staffing is sustainable. You just heard 40% increase in community
  118. 29:08development with no more parcels. And yet, we are increasing plus the pensions. And so, we have to look at a reduction. And so, what what is going wrong with the culture? And we've tripled and quadrupled our legal department. It's
  119. 29:23just not sustainable with the pensions. And we have to do an audit and say, are these necessary? I look at my own team all the time. And it's not just the wages, it's the wages plus the workman's comp, plus the payroll tax plus the pension.
  120. 29:37>> Thank you, Ashley. Uh yeah, the current staffing levels it's not sustainable for this size of a community and for being that big that amount of um out of our general funds. Uh we we have to do reductions, right? It has to make sense for the business.
  121. 29:53If I were to go into any business and do a turnaround, we have to look at every single department and look at their efficiencies and are we getting everything we are supposed to get out of each and every single one of those departments with that headcount that's
  122. 30:03in there. So we would have I look at that do a reduction um make sure that there's no duplicates. It's really easy when you don't want to hold people accountable to throw more people at the problem. And I think that that's currently what's going on right now.
  123. 30:15>> Thank you, Ashley. Laura, I think that the staffing level should be based on um the audit of departments and the outcomes that you're expecting from them. Um a review of the outputs um would tell you if you can decrease departments in terms of maintaining the
  124. 30:33pension costs. not only follow the headcounts but also look for lower cost alternatives. There's a a an alternative pension plan for newer employees that is a lower cost than the uh older pension plan. >> Thank you Laura. Okay, on to the next
  125. 30:50question and we'll start. >> Oh Jesus. >> Come on. I'll be short. Our employee count has increased and started 8 to 10 years ago. So, it started under two other city managers. And so, the problem just got
  126. 31:12worse and worse and worse. And as everyone has been saying, Dave needs to spend time with department heads to figure out what's needed and what's not needed. >> Okay. Thank you, Mark. >> I'm glad you brought that up, Ed. So, we
  127. 31:26have hired a very competent city manager and keeping in mind that council is a policy body and Dave is responsible for managing the city on a day-to-day basis. Although we do have conversations with him regarding efficiencies and service and things of that nature, I do have the
  128. 31:41complete faith in our city manager and I he is currently looking at efficiencies and I know that we've made some progress and there's a lot more to come. >> Thank you, Sue. >> Yeah, I mean you know when you're a city council member what you know than
  129. 31:55anything else is your residents want service and when residents want service we try to deliver the best that we can and you know that's why we added park rangers people wanted more um you know eyes on the neighborhoods and the beaches and it's been quite successful
  130. 32:08we also started our own ambulance services Alex mentioned previously and the reason we did that was because outsourced ambulance services were going to give us very poor service and only wait 45 minutes for an ambulance to come in from someplace else in the county
  131. 32:20when we have a seven minute turnaround for our um residents here in Laguna Regarding pensions, that's a meaty topic. I'd love to talk about more, but one of the biggest problems was Gay Davis when he instituted the he allowed Kalpers to get out of control and all
  132. 32:34cities are hamstrung with this. We're doing quite well in >> Thank you, Sue. Alex. >> Oh, well, I do not. [laughter] Thanks for keeping me honest. Okay, next question. We'll start with Nick. Correct. I'm writing it down now. Uh,
  133. 32:50Lagona beaches and coastal resources are heavily impacted by over tourism including litter, public drinking, graffiti, congestion, and damage to tide pools despite the city's and visit Laguna Beach's emphasis on stewardship and education. Mezy, many residents
  134. 33:04believe these e efforts have not been effective. Question for all candidates. If stewardship and education are not working, what specific measures would you support to more effectively protect our beaches, neighborhoods, and coastal resources from the impact of over
  135. 33:17tourism? Obviously, I think the the answer is uh is enforcement. We need more enforcement on our beaches. Uh you know, you could say it's more with marketing. They decided to spend I think it was $60,000 on the clean Laguna campaign. They uh
  136. 33:34for the stewardship program, they started with Visit Laguna, they started spending over about $100,000 on a new uh marketing video. It continues to be more marketing instead of using those tourism dollars uh tax dollars to focus on enforcement. That's what we need. We
  137. 33:49only have one park ranger from Victoria Beach down to three arch Bay and so we need to increase that and we need to be writing more tickets and although this the data says that we have we did have an increase in tourism in March so I don't think that those numbers line up.
  138. 34:03>> Okay. Thank you Karen. Um I brought this to the first forum which is a capacity study. Um we really truly need to know what our carrying capacity is. our carrying capacity for cars and our carrying capacity for people and our carrying capacity on our beaches. We
  139. 34:21cannot keep allowing more and more and more to come in. We're going to break. We can blame our current city council for trash, but we can't plan for trash until we really understand how many people are actually coming into our beaches.
  140. 34:37>> Thank you, Karen Joy. Well, unfortunately, our 50 council approved a multi-million dollar 10-year contract to market this place to people because I guess no one can find Lagouna Beach. [laughter] So, so I mean, we do need to protect our
  141. 34:53beaches. We shouldn't be advertising them. We shouldn't be lo um showing them. And we took over the South Lagoona beaches and it was at the expense of the county. Now, some it's at our expense. There's an example of not doing a costbenefit analysis forces to more
  142. 35:08staff. It causes us more expenses and now we're marketing. Well, now we have more beaches to market. Thank you very [laughter] Yeah. So, I think that um two points were made that it that kind of sums up the problem is you have Alex saying
  143. 35:24we've hired more park rangers and you have Nick saying we only have one at one of the beaches. So, the problem is um before we spend any more money, let's look at the data. Um, similar to Karen's point, but we have a lot of tools within the city council that gives us when
  144. 35:39people are coming, where they're coming from, how long they're staying, what parts they're staying at, and before we spend more money to fix an over tourism problem. And in order to fix it, you can't just do enforcement. That's just a tool. We need a strategy behind it. So
  145. 35:51then we know where to put more park rangers. It's not just one at one beach, and at what times of the day. >> Thank you, Ashley. Laura, >> um, well, I'm going to echo what my predecessors said. um study the problem figure out where the problems where it's
  146. 36:07uh emanating from and I would also for those who do come educate as much as possible uh tell people how how we want our town treated. >> Thank you. Just a note um I do live there as a resident uh who did a daily monitor for a period of time in South
  147. 36:26Libert is down there. It's pretty um compelling data. Might be interesting data point for y'all. >> Oh, go ahead. >> That's okay.
  148. 36:38>> I I The Visit Lagona The Visit Lagona uh was set up by hotels to promote people staying in the high-end hotels we have who pay taxes to the city. And so visit Laguna is not operating correctly that I see and it's causing a lot of day trippers to come to Laguna Beach and
  149. 37:04it's it's impact on our beaches and our trash is overwhelming. So we need to steer and the direction of visitors to the hotels spend money and visit Laguna needs to run a little bit better. Thank you. Okay. >> Thank you Mark.
  150. 37:24So, where do I start with this one? Ashley made a point with data. I And Nick made a point with the number of rangers that are going down to the beach. I think we have the data regarding the rangers and what's happening with the rangers. I think what
  151. 37:38we have is misinformation issue. I think the city needs to be better um at explaining some of these things. Obviously, I I don't know when if you've been able to meet with any of the folks from Visit Laguna to actually understand what they're doing, but let me just say
  152. 37:54this. If we turn over what visit Laguna does and just give it to a private entity, then put somebody in charge of Laguna region and the definition of who we are. Do we want the city to be in control of that or do we want to hand that over for a free-for-all to a public
  153. 38:11private entity? >> Thank you, Sue. Yeah, I think there's two points really to this. One is on the stewardship side, it's an education thing and Ashley will not know this. She sets sits on the board of physical lagoon. It's exactly right what Mark
  154. 38:23says. If we don't have visit, they want they can they're self assessing they can spend money however they want. They can advertise the cos and beaches like crazy and they're not doing that. If you watch if you're if you're educating yourself and you're watching what visit Laguna
  155. 38:35does, they're basically generating more interest in our community in terms of the arts, culture, and things that we they're really important to us. The other thing is on the tactical side, we have something called the surge where we do increased enforcement, um multiple
  156. 38:51trash pickups a day, um drone monitoring, ban on canopies, all those things have been uh successful and we're going to get incrementally better. You don't flip a switch when you have this many visitors. >> Yeah, I think that enforcement is key
  157. 39:06here because that's the thing that the city government can really control. As I said before, we dealt with the number of park rangers and the data supports that things have been improving. Things can always get better. For example, Summer Beach citations are up 79% including a
  158. 39:1834% increase in citations for drinking and smoking. We've um doubled we tripled the daily trash pickup. Um, in South Luna, we have 60 or sorry, off the in general, 62% more trash can pants in South Luna. And then one of the things that we've identified was that we don't
  159. 39:34have enough prosecution of some of these offenses because they're they're code violations. They're not felonies. The district attorney hasn't been prosecuting. Now, we have we funded an in-house contract with an in-house firm. >> Thank you. All right. So, now we're
  160. 39:49starting with Karen. Um, this has to do with bidding transparency. Recent public discussions of the prominard construction bids has raised questions about how the city evaluates major public contracts. One bid included approximately 180,000 allocated align
  161. 40:03items for aderonduct chairs appearing to reflect a 10,000 price uh per chair. The city via its Instagram sibly explained that contractors distribute broader project costs including labor, equipment, bonding, insurance, overhead and profit across more than 100
  162. 40:17individual bid items. on individual line items should not necessarily be viewed as the actual cost of that item. That explanation raises a larger question about transparency and fiscal oversight. Residents reviewing public records should be able to understand what they
  163. 40:32are looking at without having to repeatedly seek additional explanations. When millions of taxpayer dollars are involved, residents reasonly expect that both city staff and the council scrutinize costs rather than simply relying upon an overall bid amount or
  164. 40:46outside opinions. incumbents. And we'll start with Alex. As council members, what responsibility do you believe you personally have to scrutinize city major contracts, including individual costs that appear excessive, and what due diligence did you personally perform in
  165. 41:02approving the promot? >> Um, thank you for the question. Yeah, so I think that as um as the the city pointed out, there's it's complicated with city procurement. You can't do it like the private sector, but I think in general, we can do better. We should
  166. 41:16have have been more diligent in asking about the line by line items as it relates to it. The question about what personal responsibility, you know, what role did I play? I um you know, I I don't remember the the date of when we approved that contract. So, I I just I
  167. 41:31I'd have to go back to you on that. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. court. >> The my personal role in it when we have approved the the contracts was we followed the rules out given to us by the state for general law cities and you look at what the lowest bidder was and
  168. 41:48that's what we we had chose. You have very little leeway to get in there and question various different elements on how they got there. It's the general over the the bottom line number. Can we be be better at some of the details going forward? Of course. There's always
  169. 42:03probably room for improvement and in hindsight it would have been nice to to actually even if we don't have control can't ask questions about each line item it would have been nice to have them >> okay thank you just a point isn't it correct that the city can actually
  170. 42:16reject all bids and ask them to go back and sharpen their pencils is that correct >> yes >> thank you Sue yeah I agree with Mark um you know government uh contracting code is different than the private sector so
  171. 42:30I'm a private sector person so it took me some time to get used to the way governments contracting bids. We have prevailing wages. So, they spread the wages over all the different areas of the budget. So, you know, we should know intuitively that aderond chair doesn't
  172. 42:42cost $10,000. What would cause me to ask a question is if I saw that on it, I'd ask a question before I started talking about it. But, um in in terms of my role, uh we I approved the budget like all other uh council members. We had a good bidding process. We took the lowest
  173. 42:57bid. We're under budget on the project. And so, that's my that's my role. >> Okay. Thank you. We'll come back to you on that underbudget question. All right. Um, for new candidates, now are we starting with Karen or Joy? Okay, Karen. If elected, what specific steps will you
  174. 43:11take to independently scrutinize major city contracts and ensure that council oversight goes beyond simply relying upon staff recommendations? >> Thank you for the question. Um I I actually did call a few different cities about the the budget and the contract
  175. 43:30award and compared um how we were told it's done to what they said how they do it and I was told that they they are allowed to go line item by line item and um I also called people in the state and the federal government about that. Um, so how I would do it is I would question
  176. 43:53staff and I would question legal counsel before I would um, approve that type of budget. Thank you, Karen Joyce. So, I was a former hotel developer for Marriott, I built 40 hotels from the ground up, and we had it as detailed as the beds, the headboards, and there's
  177. 44:10this software out there called Excel. And so, you can actually do exact line items to the detail from the undergrounding to the structural to the mechanical to the electrical. And there's no reason where there wasn't more due diligence. And it doesn't mean
  178. 44:27whether it's government or private. Any contractor has to go to that devil level of detail to figure out the pricing and that should be shared not only with council but the community. >> Thank you Ashley. >> Um yes, I've um somewhere looked at
  179. 44:44dozens of bids before. I've never seen something the one um that was put for the prominade. I think what's most important is that none of the questions were asked. So, we can sit there and say, "Of course, you would think, not no chair, it's not $10,000, but you guys
  180. 44:59should have been asking that." And so, they should have been doing their due diligence. And as city council, this isn't our money. This is taxpayer money, and we should be scrutinizing every single line item. So, if I see a $10,000 chair, I'm going to ask the right
  181. 45:11questions. Thank you, Laura. >> I would get involved at the beginning. Um, I would start with the request for proposal, the RFP. would want to to see that in advance and understand how the bid is going to come in and what the components of the different line items
  182. 45:28would be. If it sounds like one of the line items would be too uh large or too um easily bundled, I would want to I would want to put it in the RIP that it gets it should be detailed out and um digestible to the public. >> Okay. Thank you, Ed. See, I can talk
  183. 45:49It's you're kidding good. The low bidder gets the award, but you can also rebid it. And I know that from doing a lot of construction work. So it pro it should have went back out for rebidding, but don't you got to realize the city council people rely on staff. So the
  184. 46:09staff gives them the report low bidder. They get the but they may not look at the detail the Excel line items. So, I wouldn't be blaming the incumbents exactly, but it could be staff problems and that's a Dave K problem. Again, back to the city manager.
  185. 46:27>> Thank you, Nick. >> Yeah, I think like some of our my colleagues appear said, it goes back to the very beginning. I think obviously people have said that the state rules hamstring us a little bit, but then we're hearing that that's not
  186. 46:38necessarily the case. I think when it comes to the line items or to the overall bid, I'm looking here. The city manager clarified last night that the lowest bidder was $1.2 million lower than the next bitter up. And just like for example, the uh the GOAT uh herder
  187. 46:53uh that bid was $300,000 lower. I think we should see red flags when bids are significantly lower than others. And that could have been something where we could have caught earlier, but that goes back to like what Ed said with staff. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Okay, next
  188. 47:07question. Um these are a couple questions for you Sue. Um you recently stayed at the prom night at 500,000 under budget. Residents want to understand exactly how you arrived at that number and particularly given the significant spending on the prominard
  189. 47:19before the current construction contract. First question 30 seconds. >> What is the total amount spent on the prominard from its inception to date including prior plans studies engineering temporary improvements and what specific accounting supports your
  190. 47:31plan 500,000 under budget? Second part. If you cannot support that number today, will you make that accounting public in the next 24 hours? >> Well, I get that number from the from the finance department, from the city manager, and from the general contractor
  191. 47:44who keep, you know, they have their finger on the pulse. The budget for the um prominog was 5.5 plus 1.2 for contingency, which adds up to 6.7, and right now we're running at 6.2. I talked to the construction manager and
  192. 48:01the city manager like two days ago, and where we are where the budget is. >> Okay, that doesn't include all the additional pre uh design plan etc and temporary. But next question, city council originally stated the prominade will cost about 2.8 million. The night
  193. 48:17that 7.2 budget was approved at city council, you said, "Well, we all knew it was going to cost more than 2.8." To residents, that off-hand comment sounded like a bait and switch to get what you and or the council wanted. How do you respond to that comment?
  194. 48:30>> Well, that's not a bait and switch. That's we put side 2.7 as a holding as a holding point. But what we did which was really smart was we got an estimator for the project before we even set the RFP out. And the estimator was from the Irvine company. The Irwine company does
  195. 48:44tons of construction and they're very very good and their pencils are very sharp. So we hired an estimator when when we came when the estimator came back with the estimate it was 6.9. So staff use that as a a kind of like a indicator of where the bid should come
  196. 48:58in. I think it was a really good idea. >> Okay, last question. When you first introduced the prominade, you said you had personally surveyed Forest Avenue businesses and that they supported it. Some business owners said they never were surveyed, never spoke to you about
  197. 49:10it. So the question for you is, how many businesses did you actually survey? What were the results? Were they ever made public? And if they were not made public, will you make that survey public? I didn't formally um survey the businesses. I went I I talk to the
  198. 49:24businesses all the time. I still talk to the businesses all the time. I mean, I see Ann here. I go in her store all the time. We don't agree on the problem of but we have a lot of discussions about it but I I do talk to business owners all the time so I don't have a
  199. 49:36spreadsheet for you. Okay. Thank you. This next question is for Alex and Mark as incumbents. Many residents were excited about the prominade but not thrilled with the tree removal, the end results being different than the original approved design and the lack of
  200. 49:48transparency. Other residents felt that the prominade was nice to have but not essential in the wake of the budgetary concerns and the taking of money from other promised capital projects that now have to wait. What is your response to the residents and who oversaw the SWA?
  201. 50:03Who oversaw the SWA and approved the end alternate design result? Um, let's start with Mark. >> Who who approved the S SWA alternate results? That was the planning commission. >> No, the the change in design. It didn't
  202. 50:18appear to be what was represented in the pictures. Residents have said >> I I'm not familiar with that. If I look at the the original renderings, it I mean the renderings always look a little bit different than real life, but it if
  203. 50:35you look m if you try to match the materials and whatnot, I think that you'd see it was the same, but I'm more than happy to look at it and have somebody give me their opinion, but >> Okay, thank you. >> What was the other part of
  204. 50:48>> uh it was um the first part was what is your response to residents with respect to their concerns? So, we've been talking about this prominade for many years. I've been in town for some 43 years. It was part of the vision 2030 discussion which over 2,000 of us
  205. 51:02participated in. And if you look in there specifically talks about a pedestrian mall in Forest Avenue, a lot of the decisions I make go back to those values that were established in that document. And some of those uh same values are also reflected in our general
  206. 51:17plan. So, this isn't a new conversation. I was just um you know a part of obviously moving it forward. >> Okay. Thank you. And Alex just to reaffirm the the first part of the question is um residents are feeling that the uh they're not thrilled with
  207. 51:30the tree removal and results being different than the original approved design and the lack of transparency. So the first part is what is your response to residents? The second part is who oversaw the final end design result? >> Yeah. So as it as it relates to um I
  208. 51:44totally get that there are some residents who don't like the problem, not others really like it. I have a note. Um the last time everyone in Luna Beach agreed on something was 1924 and that was to pass a bond to get water for the city. So beyond that, we always are
  209. 51:58going to have disagreements as relates to the tree removal. That is something that was a city manager decision, but it's something the decision that I also would have made. There were two different arborous reports that said that those trees posed a health and
  210. 52:10safety risk. As a council, my highest obligation is is public safety and but also fiscal responsibility. when you have two reports saying something, imagine the liability if those trees were to fall in. >> Thank you very much.
  211. 52:22>> Thank you. >> Um for the other candidates and I think we'll start with Joy really quickly. Um do you think for prominadon was a good expenditure of our taxpayer funds? What would you have done differently? 30 seconds.
  212. 52:32>> I wouldn't have done it. I think it was for the benefit of a few and at the expense of many. And um I I I don't think it's fair to the other restaurants that we gave four restaurants free real estate. the other ones didn't get anything. And um I believe in public
  213. 52:49spaces what they do in other places, they just close the streets out, have celebrations in the streets when it's during the holidays and then they open it back up so it doesn't penalize any the retailers. Thank you, Ashley. >> Yeah, I think it has more to do with the
  214. 53:06um the lack of planning, lack of execution in the decision- making behind it. Um, I I think that the lack of transparency, not keeping to the timeline and not keeping to the budget is the ultimate problem. And that's what we see consistently with a lot of the
  215. 53:22projects and initiatives that are being done. And so my whole thing is whatever we all agree on as a city, then we need to hold to a timeline and hold to a budget no matter what. >> Okay. Thank you, Laura. >> I like the idea of the the prominade.
  216. 53:36Um, but I think too much money was spent in a too concentrated of a location. I would have spent if I had that amount of money to spend, I would have liked to have seen it spent throughout town. >> Thank you. Uh heading back to Ed. >> Um all of my companies were run by women
  217. 53:52who they were they had common sense, good judgment and care. And common sense, good judgment didn't happen at the Forest Avenue construction. And if you go to Borders Books, you can pick up any tree book. Trees communicate with one
  218. 54:10another. they connect under the street. Common sense tells you if you're going to disrupt the whole street, you're probably going to lose all of those trees. And that's why Ocean Avenue and a Beach, we all need to drive down to Seal Beach and look at their tree planters.
  219. 54:26They're triple in size to ours. >> Thank you. Uh, next one would be Nick. >> Yeah, I like the idea of a prominade. I lived in Spain for two years and that's a great community gathering space. I think a hybrid model would have been a good option and it goes back to planning
  220. 54:40like a few of the other people set up here. And if you look back at the budget, we didn't have the money for it. We took almost a million dollars from the blooper uh storm storm drain project. So, you know, right before in El Nino and I think uh you know, the
  221. 54:54council say they want things to look like Europe, which is great, but you know, that looks more like Phoenix, Arizona than Europe. So, I think better better planning and and how we can recoup some of the costs. You know, some of it's a public good. That's great for
  222. 55:06the community, but have spending money for like the tables and chairs uh which is public money used for private uh use is a big problem. I think without a plan to recoup that those funds and we're seeing it as well with parking. We lost 40 something spaces. That's a loss of
  223. 55:21revenue and we still don't have a parking management plan. >> Thank you Nick Karen. Um I think that is indicative of many issues in our community and that's that we did not follow the general plan and um I don't quite know how they could say that the
  224. 55:37prominade was consistent with the general plan especially the traffic and circulation element. I actually went back and looked at it and um they pointed to just the land use element um and in the land use element all they said was study a potential prominade. So
  225. 55:54there's nothing that if somebody wanted to take legal action that we would be protected because we didn't look at the transportation element, we didn't look at the historic element, we didn't look at the cultural resources element. I think we made a mistake.
  226. 56:08>> Okay. Thank you. I think uh it started with you. Am I right? >> Okay. This actually is a quick question for Mark. Um your campaign emphasizes preserving Laguna's charm, heritage, and village character. You also s support updating the DSP downtown specific plan
  227. 56:25to allow substantially more housing and greater density, including second and third story development. How do you reconcile your promise to preserve Laguna's small town charm, character, and heritage? >> I'm glad you asked this question. So
  228. 56:37keep in mind that the art district is in the downtown specific plan. It's an overlay portion of the downtown specific plan. So that particular area up there, which is quite a large area, it actually comes right down here to the parking lot next to the city and and down along this
  229. 56:52block, um is already zoned and the height does allow for um three stories. And all that needs to be changed in that is actually from instead of just artist work live, it just needs to be lived is the all the language that needs to change in that document to accommodate
  230. 57:11those housing needs. >> Okay, thank you very much. Uh, next question. Patriotism. >> Oh, prominade art, excuse me. Okay, this is for um separate question for incumbents versus the candidates. Um, some residents have questioned the
  231. 57:25selection of an out ofstate artist for 85,000 for an art installation that will be a prominent feature of the prominade in a community known for its strong artistic heritage heritage. Residents have asked why local artists were not given grid opportunity to participate.
  232. 57:38Uh, incumbents and we'll start with Sue on this one. How did this mass black over happen? So, the fountain is a fountain. It's not meant to be a statement. Our piece is meant to be a fountain. We do have um the arts commission has a call out for local
  233. 57:52artists for a statement piece for the prominade and we hope to have that ready for the centennial and um so I'll learn more from that. I'm the arts commission liaison so I'll learn more about how they're going to do that but I think we're going to get a really nice piece
  234. 58:04there. >> Okay, thank you Alex. >> Yeah, it sounds like uh Sue described the process. I I um and I think we should always be looking for ways to have local artists involved with our our art. So, sounds like that's
  235. 58:20going to happen. >> Thank you, Mark. >> Yes, Sue did explain it. I'd like to just reaffirm just a bit that it did go through a process. It did go to the arts commission. They gave direction to how to move forward with it. They determined
  236. 58:34that it was in fact a fountain. They did not choose it to be an art piece. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh, next question is um for a separate question for incumbents versus candidates. Some residents were disappointed that Laguna did not recognize our nation's 25th anniversary
  237. 58:49on July 4th. Other nearby cities held commemorations. Even the little town of >> in France had a full program on our nation's 250th with a parade, a photo exposition, and live music for an entire day. The July public art display at city hall sadly displayed recycled Indian
  238. 59:08elephant props from the pageant of the masters. Question for the candidates and we'll start with Joy I believe. How will you ensure that historical or special events receive proper recognition in town including better suited selections of public art at city hall?
  239. 59:25>> Uh or Ashley. All right Ashley go ahead. So, better selection of art at city hall and recognizing like >> important historical days. >> Yes. Yeah. I mean it um I mean it's all of our responsibility, right? Like
  240. 59:40Laguna is nonpartisan and how we run the city should be nonpartisan. So, we should be celebrating anything like the um the 250 of our country. Um we have a centennial coming up. that's when we should be utilizing local artists of Lagona and everything that Laguna um is
  241. 59:56about as much I mean there's no other choice so I don't know why it was now being discussed in a very reactionary decision thank you Laura the city has a number of council appointed committees perhaps you can uh you could make an events the special events part of one of
  242. 1:00:16the committees uh missions make the recreation committee >> okay thank Thank you, Ed. >> I I've been fortunate to work with a lot of our military and government agencies. So, working with them makes you become you realize what they do, they sacrifice
  243. 1:00:34for our country. And so, a [clears throat] July 4th event and not doing any type of real celebration here was I was a little surprised. and obviously Huntington Beach did a huge uh party and other cities and so we we failed in honoring a significant 250th
  244. 1:00:54anniversary. >> Thank you, Nick. >> Yeah, it was really disappointing to see um you know played volleyball down in Maine Beach and there was just the one American flag. We have the American flag on our cars on the law enforcement
  245. 1:01:06vehicles and the council talks about how they're big supporters of law enforcement and uh and then we didn't there was nothing really planned uh for this past summer. So that was really disappointing to see. And then like uh Ashley mentioned, we have the centennial
  246. 1:01:19coming up and we also have the Olympics coming up in two years. And so we shouldn't be ashamed of representing our flag and our uh be proud of who we are in our country. But um it's a nonpartisan issue. And when it comes to the art installations, I think, you
  247. 1:01:34know, we want to have great artists from around the world that display here, but we should be focusing on the local artists first. And local artists don't feel heard. So this is kind of a culmination of a lot of issues. Thank you, Karen.
  248. 1:01:46>> Sure. Um, how will you ensure that historical or special events receive proper recognition in town, including better suited selections of public art at city hall? I think the um celebration of rituals of historic events actually brings us
  249. 1:02:03together and creates culture and whether it is our our nation's founder founding or a local founding um like the museum that just opened. I I'm going to go back to the general plan. We have a cultural arts element and if we want to keep that front and
  250. 1:02:26center as we move forward, we need to put that in our cultural resources commitment. >> Thank you, Joy. >> Well, I don't think government's that creative and I think that we should have less government in our special events
  251. 1:02:39and I would we have a talented creative uh resident base. I'd let them come up with it and listen to our creative people instead of always dictating to the residents what the event should be. >> Okay. Thank you. I think we made full circle. Okay. Circling back to the
  252. 1:02:56incumbents. A question for you is who is responsible for planning the city's recognition of our nation's 250th anniversary? And why wasn't this historical milestone given any recognition? Mark, >> it was designed or created from the city
  253. 1:03:09manager's office. As far as the fireworks show and the rest of that you saw around town, as far as the art is concerned that is done with our arts through our arts, our our cultural arts department, I do think um that you know we're we have a lot of committees in
  254. 1:03:26this town. We do have a lot of talented resident base. It is a very participatory town. Uh we do rely on that input from residents on on many cases. Could we have done better? I think we probably could have. Uh, as far as the art and the cultural arts
  255. 1:03:42department, I do think, you know, it's been 30 years since we've done a look back. I think it's healthy to do a look back just like you would private business and see ask yourself, are we getting out of the department what we expect and have times changed?
  256. 1:03:55>> Thank you, Sue. >> Yeah, I think on public art, you know, 75% of our public art is local artist and the other 25% is from elsewhere. And that's what makes a really vibrant arts community is when you have a good not only local art but international flavor
  257. 1:04:09for art. Uh in terms of the centennial on the 4th of July for example, I mean talk about our police department, we had to send people to Huntington and our police department did a very good job on the 4th of July and we had very few incidents here and I'm really proud of
  258. 1:04:22them and so when we talk about our police department who you know how responsive and we are to the community I think we would be exceptionally proud. >> Okay. Thank you. You really didn't answer the question as to why there was a failure to celebrate. Um, Alex.
  259. 1:04:35>> Yeah. I mean, I think that all of us as Americans, but also as, you know, holders of public office, we dig our vote to the Constitution of the United States, and that is a really powerful thing when you think about all the men and women who have given their lives and
  260. 1:04:46the ultimate sacrifice to defend our freedoms. I'm proud of what we have with the 911 memorial that that George Dubin did. I also really proud every time we have the Veterans Day Memorial Day ceremonies at Heisler Park. I I always find myself moved at at the sacrifice
  261. 1:05:02that people made. I think answer your question. Um, we probably should have had a public art uh uh, you know, procurement for for to celebrate the 250th uh anniversary of the country. So, >> thank thank you. Okay. Uh, this is a general question for all candidates and
  262. 1:05:16I think we'll start with Laura. Um, the Laguna Beach Committee Land Trust was funded with 8 million loan of taxpayer money to purchase 23072535 Laguna Kender Road for 25 Arches Live Work properties with the expectation that the loan will be repaid in 5 years.
  263. 1:05:32The city also provided 75,000 towards closing costs. The land trust has since acquired additional profit with private donations while the city's 8 million loan remains outstanding. Three-part question, given the city's current budget challenges, was committing 8
  264. 1:05:46million in taxpayer funds fiscally responsible. Number two, what safeguards protects taxpayers if the land trust cannot repay the loan within five years? Number three, shouldn't private donations received by the land trust go first to pay off the city loan before
  265. 1:06:00additional properties are purchased? >> I'll see if I remember all three parts. Um, given the current situation of the budget, I don't think I would have made the same decision to to loan that amount of money. Um, as of
  266. 1:06:23the end of July, our cash position is $20 million less than the same month last year. So that, you know, you have to make choices like like anyone and and so I I don't think I would have spent that amount of money on a single uh line.
  267. 1:06:43>> Uh, thank you. I'm sorry. I realize it's short. I guess we'll move on to the other two questions. want to respond to it really quickly. The last two safeguards and shouldn't private donations be used to pay off the loan first?
  268. 1:06:54>> It would it would depend on the contract in terms of the timing of the the payoff. And the second >> second question uh the shouldn't private donations be used first to pay off a loan before they acquire additional property.
  269. 1:07:09>> Of course. >> Okay. Thank you. Ed, >> private loans should be paid uh first. I mean, the city should be paid first, but the city over the last 10 years has done not a good job of getting money from the state of California. California Housing
  270. 1:07:24Finance Agency could have done a loan or they could have done the church loan. They could have done presentation for the California Finance Agency. you could have gone to there's a number of government agencies in California where we can get money to do things in the
  271. 1:07:41city here and we don't do a good job in contacting those agencies. >> Thank you Mark. >> I think that they should stick with the conditions of the loan is and that's what they're doing that one part that you're missing is that gift that they
  272. 1:07:54received was conditioned on a specific piece of property. So they would not have gotten that gift if in fact they insisted that it go pay at the city off. >> Yeah. So we we really have lost control as to the finances of that community. >> No, I don't think we've lost control. We
  273. 1:08:11set terms in the loan agreement that we issued. >> Thank you, Sue. >> I'm sorry, I lost your question. >> Sure. The three questions are uh given the city's budget challenges, was the 8 million loan fiscally responsible? What
  274. 1:08:24safeguards protect taxpayers if the land trust defaults and can't repay? And shouldn't private donations received by the land trust go first to pay off the city loan before additional properties are purchased? >> Okay. Private donations definitely. The
  275. 1:08:37second property is privately funded. It's not funding the city money at all. The $8 million that we spent is invested at 4% which is about what we get for life in your investment portfolio. And the safeguards are five in five years we can sell the property. The property we
  276. 1:08:50bought the property for under market and it was going to be bought by a developer out there. So I think we made a really good move. Alex, >> yeah, if it were $8 million in city funds that were going as a grant, I wouldn't have supported it. I made the I
  277. 1:09:04supported this decision based on the based on essentially two things. One, the idea that we have a loan agreement and all the people involved promised me that they'd be able to pay off the loan. But again, as Sue mentioned, there are safe cards. We can we are not paid back.
  278. 1:09:15we can sell the property and and be made whole. Um, and then also artists are a part of our community and I think that ultimately it's going to be private philanthropy that is going to be the solution for that problem. So, I'm excited about the work um that the land
  279. 1:09:28trust is going to to continue to do. >> Thank you, Nick. >> Uh, to your first question, given the budget challenges of the city, was it a good use of funds? Uh, no. Um, I think it's a complicated question because we do need to do what we can to help
  280. 1:09:41support our artists in town, whether it's live, work, live, um, or affordable housing uh, for the artists. Uh, I think part of the problem here is the transparency on what the actual loans are, who's uh, where the money is going. Obviously, there's been the reports in
  281. 1:09:56the news, but we just need to make sure that the city's being very transparent with how the each of the properties were funded. And then as well, we need to be tracking how the payment plans for the private money coming back to pay the city back. We haven't received updates
  282. 1:10:09on that. I think a dashboard or something like that for full transparency. >> Thank you, Karen. >> Um, I think this is another um example of the city being reactive versus proactive. Um, and if the bylaws
  283. 1:10:23were set up correctly with the land trust, if we understood in our housing element how these things could be uh how private money could be donated, even if the citizens could understand easily how the private money could be donated and if there were strings attached, we might
  284. 1:10:41be able to get more private donations um to purchase affordable housing. >> Thank you, Joy. question the fiscal uh stability of this project, but in the real world, you get a deed to trust when you loan money. And
  285. 1:10:57so, you're in first position, so you can either foreclose or sell. I don't know how the city sells it if we don't have title to the property. So, I I would have to question what was the cost benefit of that transaction. >> Thank you, Ashley.
  286. 1:11:14Um, yes, it was not fiscally responsible. I mean, the density that we get on an $8 million um purchase is similar to St. Ans and paying that's it doesn't make sense of how much money we're paying per square foot for very little housing. I understand we have
  287. 1:11:29mandates. Um but I think it was a very poor decision. Um it's also very concerning that the safeguard that the two of them mentioned is to just sell it. That kind of is contradictory to what the point of having the community land trust is. Um so I'm concerned I
  288. 1:11:44don't think that we're going to be able to give that back. And yes, if we did get private if contract got private funding, it should have gone to pay it because I don't know how it's going to get paid. >> Okay, thank you. Um, point of
  289. 1:11:53clarification, um, Alex, do we have a data trust on that loan? >> I don't have I don't have that answer for you. >> Do you have that answer? >> I thought we did, but >> it should be a yes. Do we not have a
  290. 1:12:03data trust? >> I don't want to answer no. >> No, I'm not going to answer. >> We are in first position. >> We are. [clears throat] >> You have a recorded de of trust. >> Yes.
  291. 1:12:12>> Thank you very much. All right. Push back on the state. This is a question for all and multi-art. California requires cities and countries or cities and counties to plan for nearly 2.5 million new homes by 2030. Yet only five jurisdictions out of
  292. 1:12:31483 statewide are on pace to meet all four of their housing targets. Fewer than 6%, only 32 are on pace to meet their very low income targets. At the same time, California lost 289,000 residents to other states in 2025 alone, and the state reports that California's
  293. 1:12:50overall population declined. Immigration, including illegal immigration, contribute substantially to California's population, housing demands, and high rents. Yet, the state's housing mandates do not separately tell communities how much of
  294. 1:13:04a city's projected housing is needed attributable to immigration, overcrowding, affordability, or other factors. The city council appears to treat the housing mandates like a fate of compli and many say that they have failed to protect Laguna from
  295. 1:13:18unnecessary housing strangulation by Sacramento before Sacramento requires communities like Laguna Laguna to dramatically increase their density and surrender more total land use control. Shouldn't residents be entitled to know who is this housing actually being
  296. 1:13:34planned for and are the state's assumptions correct? question multi-art. Number one, will you push the state to provide greater transparency about the population migration exits uh housing demand assumptions behind Laguna's housing mandates and challenge the
  297. 1:13:52one-sizefits-all requirements that are not supported by demonstrated local need? Number two, will you commit to complying with state law without exceeding what is legally required and oppose unnecessary taxpayer studies for housing developments and work with our
  298. 1:14:09state reps to restore meaningful local control over zoning and land use decisions? Ed, I think we're start with you. >> I think we all have a cell phone. I want you all tonight to look up the California Homestead Act. One of the
  299. 1:14:23reasons why people are leaving the state of California, we have a very poorly written California Homestead Act. And one of the things I've done is crafted a letter which I'm going to post on my website. And I want every single resident to cut and paste it and send it
  300. 1:14:39to your state senator and house assembly people because what's happening in this state the laws are being written by the state assembly and the state senators and people are leaving the state because we are being the smaller cities are also obviously don't have the advantage of
  301. 1:14:59being big like Los Angeles and Riverside and we don't have the And so the laws are not being written clearly. So Laguna residents of Lagona, smaller cities are being affected by these laws. >> Thank you, Mark. >> I do think that we should um try to see
  302. 1:15:19if we could gain some of our local control back. I do question the wisdom of what's how Sacramento handles this. However, I do think that we need to have an honest community discussion about it. And uh the way that this question is framed, it it it comes across as though
  303. 1:15:36we have more leeway as we really do. And I think if we can't be honest with ourselves as a community, we're not going to be able to get through this. And I think that we could all work on ways to come up with some ideas to lobby Sacramento if we can all get on the same
  304. 1:15:50page. >> Thank you, Mark. S. >> Yeah, I I'm not, you know, I'm not a fan of of this blur of housing laws. Um it's very difficult for cities because we're always playing catch-up. You know, we get a we get an absolute onslaught of
  305. 1:16:02housing laws every year. I think last year we had like 35 or 40, which causes cities to play catch-up all the time. And I'm not a fan of SB9s, for example, where you can do a resident single family lot where you can split into two and you can just basically make a lot of
  306. 1:16:15money when you're a single family. I don't like that either. And Sacramento does I always do. They take a hammer to things. There's no surgical work at all done on any of these um initiatives that they're putting forth as laws and then the cities are left to deal with it. So,
  307. 1:16:29it's very difficult as a council member. Thank you, Sue. Alex. >> Yeah, it's a very complicated and tough issue. We um we appealed our reena number back in 2019 based on the methodology. So, the city identified concerns. We were recently part of a
  308. 1:16:41grand jury report which identified methodological concerns and that that's going to the states. We'll see what they do. I'm skeptical that the state is going to change their tune. We had uh the mayor and I worked on state legislation as opposed to ADU laws to
  309. 1:16:55find a way to stop um you know, second have some a fair approach to deal with second story ADUs that were blocking people's views. It was killed before it even got a hearing in committee. So, it's a very tough issue. Huntington Beach has not succeeded in their
  310. 1:17:09lawsuits. Now, they're on the hook for a lot of money, including significant illegal fees. So, I think we have to be smart about how we play this. >> Thank you. We'll get to Huntington Beach in a little bit. Nick, go ahead. >> Yeah, I agree. uh you know we have the
  311. 1:17:23arena numbers coming up for I believe in 2029 and we need to be working with a lobbyist in Sacramento to try to advocate on our behalf to get ahead of this. Um obviously like Alex said that we appealed the decision last time. So we need to make sure that we're being
  312. 1:17:36proactive about the next set of numbers. We plan for it but we don't necessarily have to build it. And to the mayor's point about communicating with the community, I think it's really important for people to understand when it comes to the affordable housing who actually
  313. 1:17:48gets to go in it. It's It would be great if it was our first responders, local residents who can't afford it or um uh other people in the community like our teachers, but we have to understand the reality is that it is a list from the county that it's not going to be people
  314. 1:18:03who are from the communities. So, it's important to have that conversation. >> Thank you, Karen. >> Um as I understand it, um the 394 units are based on um numbers that are coming from SCAG and that's a jobs housing balance. And I think what we really need
  315. 1:18:19to look again is our capacity study. And in our capacity study, how many jobs do we have here? Our housing element doesn't look at it. Our housing element does not look at how many jobs we have in our community. Instead, it looks at how many people are that live here are
  316. 1:18:36employed and it states that our employment, people that live in Laguna Beach has gone down. Um, but that's not true. With six million v visitors or more, our employ has gone up. >> Thank you, Karen. Um, Joy, >> well, I think Sacramento has this wrong.
  317. 1:18:55I don't think it is a supply demand issue. I think it's a use issue. During the Great Recession, Wall Street and private equity bought up almost onethird of our housing stock here in California and we have a lot of vacancies. Other cities are actually looking at vacancy
  318. 1:19:09taxes or not a tax but an incentive because that would then offset it. But I don't think we should do it alone. I don't think I think we have to team up with other local coastal towns that are landlocked and together we have a stronger bigger voice in Sacramento. We
  319. 1:19:27kind of should do it a lot. >> Thank you, Ashley. >> Yeah, I um agree with both Karen and Joy. So, it is a two-part problem. Um, I know Karen mentions the general plan a lot, but it is so outdated when it comes to parts of the housing problem and
  320. 1:19:41transportation you can talk about later. Um, that we can't go and advocate for ourselves if we don't have the accurate data behind it. So, we need to be able to do that and then empowering the numbers. We have to work with the other cities and all get together of saying
  321. 1:19:52this is truly what we can provide and what we can't provide and then go fight in Sacramento. >> Thank you, Laura. >> I agree with the three people before me. Um you definitely push the state to provide the information using lobbyists
  322. 1:20:06other coastal cities and perhaps groups like the League of California cities so that you incorporate um even the inland cities. Thank you. >> Okay, thank you. I think I've got everybody on that one. Okay, we're still staying on the same subject. Next
  323. 1:20:19question. Several times um council members of soup camp in particular has stated that the city has a state mandate to build affordable housing. Luna Beach's own housing element, state law, does not require the city to construct its 394 arena numbers, but rather to
  324. 1:20:34implement a plan to accommodate them. This is a plan, not fund or build. And that's reaffirmed in the city's own July 2026 response to the grand jury report on state housing mandates. Yet, residents have complete repeatedly heard statements suggesting the city must help
  325. 1:20:50funding pro must help fund housing projects and that failing to do so will expose the city to lawsuits. What the city may do is offer inloop items, reduce fees on permits, etc., etc., to show good faith implementation of its plan. It does not need to build or fund
  326. 1:21:06them. That raises a serious concern about the legal advice being given to this council and the predisposition apparently of certain council members to push housing development in Lagona. If city funding is a policy choice rather than a state mandate, residents deserve
  327. 1:21:24to know that clearly before millions of taxpayer dollars are committed. Question for the incumbents. I think we'll start with Alex. Why is the city seemingly rushing to we must build and fund housing policy when it is not legally required to do so when the city attorney
  328. 1:21:41advises you that city funding is almost always necessary, which is not a true statement. >> [clears throat] >> or that the city will risk being sued if it does not fund a housing project. Do you independently verify that advice and
  329. 1:21:55distinguish between what the law requires or what staff maybe wants to do or council wants to do? Note, Huntington Beach lost its challenge based on a charter city challenge. Other challenges have not yet worked their way through the courts. Okay. Um, incumbents, that's
  330. 1:22:14your question. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. And so you're right that the the housing element requires that we real realistically plan for 394 units over the 8year cycle. And what that typically requires is zoning updates to implement
  331. 1:22:26the housing element. In this last housing, we didn't need to do a zoning update. But the way that I understand the system to work is that those the unmet need uh the unmet rea will be allocated towards the next next cycle. So one of the things that I'm
  332. 1:22:42very interested in is the existing affordable housing that we have. Lisa, which is senior housing behind Lane Park, extending that beyond 2041, we can get Reena credit and that will allow us in our next cycle to have potentially less rea because otherwise the the unmet
  333. 1:22:58reena will be carried over. So I think in terms of resoning that will have implications on the community. >> Thank you, Alex. Um Mark, >> so Alex is correct. We are trying to show some compliance with with what Sacramento's goals are. Keep in mind a
  334. 1:23:13lot of the legislation that we're looking at or having to deal with is not uh directly having to do with just of the affordable housing. We have SB9, we have SB4, those are also we have the ADUs, right? There's a lot going on, a lot happening. What the NCC project that
  335. 1:23:30we were actually able to negotiate with that developer that was SB4 project and and actually uh able to work and it did cost us some money. We did get some grant money for to bring the um property or the project more in compliance that would be more compatible with the
  336. 1:23:45neighborhood. So, there was a trade-off there. >> Thank you. And we'll get back to the NCC in a little bit. Um, go ahead, Sue. >> Yeah, we have to we have to plan and zone. We don't have to build. We have to plan and zone.
  337. 1:23:57>> Um, you know, we did a really good job on that NCC project because um with us before they could build the church could get another developer, they could build a five-story building there and we can't do anything about it. So, we were lucky that we were able to negotiate to a
  338. 1:24:10point where we get to 29 units. We're not, you know, really destroying the neighborhood as a result. You can't, if you fight the HCD, you're going to lose. If you fight the courts, you're going to lose. We've lost, we lost one a couple years ago on something that we thought
  339. 1:24:22was, you know, we were pretty um sure we'd win. But HCD always wins. And the courts are following the the housing laws. Not some of the judges are not quite up to speed, but they're definitely following they're trying to follow housing laws. You just you're not
  340. 1:24:34going to beat the HCD. >> Okay. Thank you. And we'll get back to city lawsuits in a little bit here. Um, okay. Okay. For new candidates, um, if elected, will you require a clear distinction between what is required and what is mandated?
  341. 1:24:48And if the city chooses a policy, you make it clear it's a policy, not a mandate from the city. Um, and as a policy matter, it's a direct question. Do you support using taxpayer money from our general fund to build housing the city does not own? I think we'll start
  342. 1:25:05with uh Nick. I think what's really difficult about the affordable housing project, at least the most recent one, is the transparency behind it. We had less than 24 hours to review those documents when it came to the church project. So, it was really
  343. 1:25:21difficult for the residents to know what were we getting. Were we doing the actual bare minimum? And it seemed like they negotiated down from 8 million down to 6 million. I would say if elected, I would be do we would be doing the bare minimum for that. um we we shouldn't be
  344. 1:25:36uh contributing dollars towards affordable housing in an area where it's impacting the community so much when it comes to parking. They were doing half a parking spot for a lot of the uh buildings in the downtown specific plan and the reszoning or adding more units
  345. 1:25:50uh above the buildings. They were doing the same thing, reducing the parking. So, we can't be we can't be uh >> Thank you, Nick Karen. Um, I don't think we should be using
  346. 1:26:04taxpayer money. I don't think we should be using taxpayer money or general fund money to build housing. Um, I think that housing in Lagouna Beach can be built, affordable housing can be built as long as it's mixed housing, meaning you have market rate housing and you may have
  347. 1:26:22some affordable units. Thank you, George. government should not be building. They should not be building houses. And I I think that we should not be using fear to scare the residents. Oh, Sacramento says we must do it, so we've got to get it done. Build it,
  348. 1:26:38approve it, make it go. I think fear has been used a lot. And I don't think it's appropriate. I think we need to be very transparent to show here are the numbers. We should have a benchmark that everybody can see. ADUs count towards some of the arena numbers and so we
  349. 1:26:53should be very transparent about that. Thank you, Ashley. >> Um, yes, I think that um we I would definitely uh when elected to city council making sure that it is very clear what's mandated and then what's policy, not using taxpayer money at all.
  350. 1:27:08We are prepared to use a lot of our money. Um there's grants, there's housing bonds if we need to do any um any uh affordable housing, but I am not for building new whatsoever. Not right now. >> Thank you, Laura.
  351. 1:27:22Um yes, we definitely need the clarity between uh housing that's uh housing requirements that are policy versus mandate. And I am not in favor, especially if it's not mandated, of spending taxpayer dollars on housing. Um I think they should be spending on
  352. 1:27:41infrastructure and public safety. Thank you. And Ed, >> residents vote for city council members. City council members have the power to go to Sacramento and speak for you. We have government agencies like the California Housing Finance Agency that
  353. 1:27:57developers can go to for loans, for the church, for the trust. You want to build in the canyon, lowinccome or high income. You can go California Housing Finance Agency. You do a presentation. They do housing for dis disabled people, senior citizens, lowinccome. The state
  354. 1:28:18of California has a number of agencies where the cities can draw upon funds. The California Coastal Conservancy has money to be given to cities. We do a bad job going to Sacramento. >> Thank you, Ed. Um, quick follow-up question for you, Alex. Um you said in a
  355. 1:28:34recent village debate that it was important for the city to quote fill in the capital gaps when it comes to building housing. Why do you believe this and how is it fiscally responsible to use taxpayer money to build housing? >> Yeah. So I think that one of the the way
  356. 1:28:50that the the tax credits and and funding sources work is that a lot of it it's based on the local um contribution that makes you more competitive. Otherwise it's hard to get limited funds. And so, for example, with Vista Liso, if there was a play to be able to make a deal
  357. 1:29:03where this the city could put in a contribution to get to extend the affordability for 71 senior housing units, I I would be very open to that. Looking in the context of all the other priorities the city has. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, we're
  358. 1:29:16going to take one more question, then we're going to move on to 40 yes, no, very quick, rapid questions. Okay. Grand jury report. Thank you, Mary Loatelli, for this. The recent Orange County Grand Jury report raised serious questions um or raised
  359. 1:29:30serious concerns about state housing mandates and arena process and whether allocations adequately account for the unique constraints of individual communities. Liquid has 394 for its current cycle. Our city faces unusual constraints. Limited developable land,
  360. 1:29:47wildfire and evacuation concerns, limited access, infrastructure limitation, significant environmental protections. Yet, in this city's grand jury report, the city said it disagreed that meeting all of these 394 units was unrealistic or attainable, meaning it
  361. 1:30:06agreed with it. The city also represented that the Lagona community at large desired to quote expand affordable and workforce housing opportunities at large rather than representing that most in this community desire to keep neighborhoods intact and not build
  362. 1:30:23highdensity housing. This raises an important question. Has Lagona Beach and this city council been sufficiently challenging the state's housing allocations or has the city council simply been accepting, promoting, and facilitating development?
  363. 1:30:38>> For the incumbents, this is your question. On what factual basis did you approve of the Lagona grand jury response representing that Laguna community at large was in favor of expanding affordable and workforce housing? Was a revoke done? How did you
  364. 1:30:54come to the conclusion? And what specifically has Luna Laguna done to challenge its reign of numbers? Thank you for the 2019 um appeal. Um Alex, um that was the last question was did the city formally appeal or object to its 394 unit allocation? So um just two
  365. 1:31:11questions and for you uh starting with you Mark on what basis um did you represent that to the grand jury report and what have you done to challenge arena numbers? >> We have not done anything uh necessarily to
  366. 1:31:28challenge the green numbers. We're getting ready to receive our next uh housing element numbers in the not too distant future. Um the the um consensus or the idea that we're I believe that we can um accommodate some of these housing uh units if we thread
  367. 1:31:48the the the thread through the needle very carefully and I do think we can accommodate them. Not Earlier there was a reference to the city building them. I don't think the city should be building them at all. I think as far as the zoning and accommodating various
  368. 1:32:02developers doesn't need to be mean we need to write a check. I just think that we do have the potential to accommodate them. I do get a consensus when I'm in and around the community that there's not an overwhelming uh group of people that do not want any affordable housing.
  369. 1:32:17I think there's a difference between accommodating affording affordable housing and having the city pay for it. And I do think that there's opportunity to accommodate some affordable housing without the city paying for it. >> Thank you, Mark. Sue,
  370. 1:32:29>> sorry, what's the first part of your question? >> First part of the question is um on what factual basis did you as a city council member approve of the Lagona grand jury response represented that the committee at large was in fact in favor of
  371. 1:32:42expanding an affordable expanding affordable and workforce housing. That was a statement made on behalf of Luna residents >> in your grand jury response. Yeah, I don't. Um, so I kind of unders I kind of with Mark on this. When you're out and
  372. 1:32:56about in the community, people a lot of people want to see some affordable housing. And the reason is it's, you know, it's people who've grown up here and their kids are their kids can't afford to live here. And it's it's very sensitive topic for a lot of people.
  373. 1:33:07It's also a very sensitive topic for people in the school districts. Um, what was the other part? You asked another part of your question. >> Oh, the other part of what have you done to challenge >> I think almost every city challenged the
  374. 1:33:17arena. Every city has a problem with arena numbers and we we joined the other cities as well. >> Alex. >> Yeah. So, as as I said before in 2019, the city challenged the arena numbers to SCAG. I think every city's appeal was
  375. 1:33:30was denied. And um and then as it relates to state legislation, I worked with Dave Min and Diane Dixon who at the time were our representatives. Our bill was for the ADU issue. That bill was killed before it made it to hearing. So, that that didn't work out. And then um
  376. 1:33:44as it relates to uh I think there are ways that we can meet the housing needs in really small in smaller units. For example, right now prior to the change that we made on Coast Highway, you could do second story commercial, but you were only allowed to make 50% of that
  377. 1:33:58housing. We worked with the coast to commission and change that. And if it's a common sense approach that allows for more um smaller units in places where you already could build to a second story, so it's not changing the built environment.
  378. 1:34:10>> Thank you. Okay, this is for the other candidates. Uh, it's a yes or no question and I'm not sure where I ended up. Let's start with you Karen. As the seventh reena cycle approaches, if elected, will you commit to actively advocating for an allocation that
  379. 1:34:24specifically accounts for Laguna Beach's physical and public safety constraints, protect our neighborhoods, public safety, open space, and environmental resources? Yes or no? >> Yes. With the capacity study, >> Joy?
  380. 1:34:38>> Yes. >> Yes. >> Laura, >> yes. Ed, >> yes. >> Nick, >> yes.
  381. 1:34:43>> Thank you. Okay. Um, does anybody need a like a two-minute break? Otherwise, we're going to go to our yes no questions. >> Okay. Two minutes on the clock.
Part 2 · 396 timestamped passages

Open or download Part 2 transcript

  1. 0:13Okay. >> I know that Mark is not here and um we apologize for that, but we've got a really short uh time frame here. So, we're going to go ahead and start asking our questions. These are yes, no questions. The call.
  2. 0:30All right. Number one. 28 out of 34 local cities each% have term limits. Do you support term limits? Measure E. Yes or no? Laura, start with you. >> Yes. >> Ashley, >> yes.
  3. 0:45>> Joy, >> yes. Karen, >> yes. >> Nick, >> yes. >> Alex, >> no.
  4. 0:54Yes. >> Will you commit to posting of um city council meeting agendas at least seven days before meetings? >> Yes. >> No. >> Alex items but generally no.
  5. 1:17>> Nick. >> Yes. >> Karen. >> Yes. >> Joy. >> Yes. But I like to see it more days. Ashley.
  6. 1:25>> Yes. >> What? >> Can I have a hybrid answer? >> Yes. >> No. >> Should legacy plaques on completed city projects read paid for by the taxpayers
  7. 1:41of Laguna Beach instead of the mayor and city council names? Yes or no? >> Yes. >> So, >> I think it depends, but I guess. Yeah. >> Alex. >> Yeah. Maybe both.
  8. 1:57>> Nick. >> Yes. >> Karen. >> Yes. Join us. >> Ashley. >> A different phrasing, but it should be about the city and the residents or
  9. 2:08>> sure. Yes. >> Does the city pay too much for outside consultants? Laura? >> Yes. >> Ashley? >> 1,000%. Yes. >> Joy.
  10. 2:19>> 2,000%. Yes. [laughter] >> Yes. >> Yes. That's why we're doing the efficiency issue. >> Mark, >> yes. >> Yes.
  11. 2:33>> Do you approve of the 10-year non-cancellable agreement with Visit Beach? >> It's not a good contract. >> Mark, >> yes. >> Sue,
  12. 2:45>> yes. >> Alex, >> yes. >> Nick, >> no. Karen, no. >> Joy, >> no.
  13. 2:52>> Ashley, >> no. >> Laura, >> no. >> Did you support turning the library site into a Did you or do you support turning the library site into a parking
  14. 3:06structure? >> Laura, >> no. >> Ashley, >> no. >> Joy, >> no.
  15. 3:11>> Karen, >> no. >> Nick, >> no. >> Alex, >> no. >> Sue,
  16. 3:16>> no. Mark, >> what was the question? Do we support turning the library? >> Did you or do you support turning the library site into a parking structure? >> No. >> No.
  17. 3:30>> Incumbent. >> Did you support taxpayer paying for $13 million parking structure on the Presbyterian Church property? >> Mark, >> no. >> Sue,
  18. 3:44I don't even remember voter. Alex, >> no. >> Do you support building a new parking structure behind the police station or city entrance parking lot? >> Lawrence,
  19. 3:59>> no. >> Ashley, no. New parking. >> Joy, >> absolutely not. >> Uh, behind the police station, yes. And in act five, yes. >> Alex,
  20. 4:11>> yes, but not paid for by taxpayer dollars. >> Sue, >> yes. If it provided neighborhood relief in some neighborhood parking only areas and didn't cost taxpayer dollars, I would
  21. 4:25consider it. Ed >> behind the police station privately funded so the city doesn't put out any money. >> Do you support plans to spend 141 million or more for undergrounding Luna Canyon Road, whether by one measure or
  22. 4:41otherwise? Ed, >> repeat that. Sorry. >> Do you support plans to spend 141 million or more for undergrounding Laguna Canyon Road, whether by bond measure or otherwise? >> No.
  23. 4:56>> Mark, >> no. >> Sue, >> no. >> Alex, >> no. Not of taxpayer money. >> Nick,
  24. 5:03>> no. >> No. >> I thought these were yes. No, and I say no. >> Ashley, >> no. >> No.
  25. 5:14Do you still support undergrounding Lagoon Canon Road if Southern California hardens the power poles at no cost? Laura, >> do you need me to clarify? >> Okay. So, if Southern California Edison said that they will harden the polls,
  26. 5:39do you still support undergrounding the Luna Canon Road? So basically, even if they agree to pay for it, do you still want >> underground? >> Undergrounding? >> Yes, I want undergrounding.
  27. 5:52>> Even >> if they pay for it, absolutely. >> No, no, no. >> We would there would be a bond to pay for it >> then. No. >> Okay.
  28. 6:00>> No, no, no. >> No. >> Yes or no? [laughter] >> Can't answer that yesterday. Depends how much money Edison is putting into the other.
  29. 6:14>> Well, they were not paying for the other. >> Oh, they're not. [clears throat] >> No. >> No. >> Okay. Do you still uh move? All right. Do you support the city purchasing the
  30. 6:30Canon Road? Ed? >> No. >> Mark? >> No. >> Sue? >> No. >> Alex?
  31. 6:36>> No. >> No. >> No. >> Okay. Interesting. >> Um, do you support the city purchasing the state highway state coast highway one within Luganna city limits?
  32. 6:51>> What? >> No. >> No. >> No. No. >> No. No. >> No. Mark. >> No.
  33. 7:00>> Okay. Do you support a downtown specific plan allowing for the demolition of historic buildings and replacing them with highdensity multi-story buildings with residences requiring only half parking spaces at
  34. 7:14>> no >> no >> no >> all right >> do you do you support likewise development of Ocean Avenue >> floor No, no, no. Leave it alone.
  35. 7:33>> No. >> No. >> No. >> No. Please drive to Seal Beach, please. >> Do you support adding 675 new residents in downtown Canyon? >> Get your
  36. 7:53>> 675 residential units in downtown and the Canyon. >> No. No, >> no, >> no, no, >> no,
  37. 8:03>> no, >> no, >> no. >> New candidates. The city council continues to uh refuse requested meetings with the school board, pushing meetings out to 2027. If elected, will
  38. 8:16you commit to regular meetings with the school board on issues impacting our city that concern both the school board and the city council? Laura? >> Yes. Yes, absolutely. Joy. >> Yes. Public education important. >> Yes.
  39. 8:29>> Karen. >> Yes. >> Yes. But what's going on? >> No. But no butts. >> All right. New candidates. Would you have presented an alternate prominade plan to residents in response to the
  40. 8:45petition signed by 873 residents requesting one? Ed. >> Say that again. >> Okay. Would you have presented an alternative prominade plan to residents in response to the petition that was signed by 873 residents requesting one?
  41. 9:06>> Yes, >> you can do this. Nick, >> yes. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. >> Do you think Okay. Do you think the 2.7 million purchase of the Tama non-fire station site since resold was a mistake?
  42. 9:29Yes or no, Laura? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Oh, yes. The mistake was buying that question. >> Yes. >> Alice.
  43. 9:44Yeah. >> Sue, what's the question? >> The TMO. Uh, >> was it a mistake to purchase? purchase it >> for a fire station. >> Well, it was purchased for a non-fire
  44. 9:54station. >> That's that's what you bought it for originally. >> For Yes, cuz we made 700,000 on it. Mark, >> is it a good idea to purchase properties on speculation on the city taxpayer
  45. 10:09money? >> Go ahead, Mark. >> 700,000. Was it a good idea to >> do you think that the $2.7 million purchase of the Tama non-fire station site since resold was a mistake? >> What was a mistake? Yes.
  46. 10:24>> Yes. >> Do you support the NCC Sance housing development project approved by the city council? Ed, >> it should have went to the state for the funding, but Okay. >> Is it incoming? Yes.
  47. 10:42Oh, >> incumbent. >> No, >> just incumbent. >> Incumbent. >> All right. >> No, you can.
  48. 10:58>> Okay. So, Nick, >> um, in the way that it was done now, >> here, I don't agree with how it was funded. Joy, >> I'm not sure I understand the question, but I don't like the fact that we didn't even find out the capital stack before
  49. 11:14we offered money. >> Say no, we don't support. >> No. >> Do you support using our taxpayer dollars to build new housing developments partially or fully um in Laguna?
  50. 11:32>> No. >> No. Government should not be building homes. >> Agree. >> No. >> Alex, [snorts] >> um the question.
  51. 11:46>> Sure. >> Um do you support using our taxpayer money to build new housing developments partially or fully in Laguna? >> I mean partially. Yeah. We still do. So >> uh just NCC Yes, if it can bring it into more
  52. 12:09compatible project that is a yes or no connection and no >> no. >> Laguna spends over 199 million year on the free trolley and Laguna local. Would you support a nominal rider fee to help offset trolley costs in Laguna?
  53. 12:24>> Okay, quick correct question. That's 19.1 million over five years. Five years. >> Over five years. Because that's a lot of money. >> Yes. >> Yes.
  54. 12:40>> Yes. >> No. I have experience with the cost exceed. >> All right. Um Okay. Should the mayor be a voter elected position?
  55. 13:05>> Yeah. Okay. Or >> no. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> I don't know. Fair enough. >> Yeah. Uh, no. Right.
  56. 13:21>> Alex, >> probably no. >> No. >> What's the question again? Should should the mayor be a voter elected position? >> Should it be elected instead of just made?
  57. 13:37>> I would say that's the community. >> Okay. >> Uh, no. >> All right. Uh, do you support attacks on second home vacation homes? >> No. [clears throat] >> Or Mark?
  58. 13:53>> No. >> S? No. Alex? >> No. Constitution. No. >> It's being challenged right now in the Supreme Court, so I don't think it's even possible.
  59. 14:05>> No. No. >> Do you support rent control in Lagouna? >> Laura? No. Ashley? >> No. >> No. No. >> No. >> No. [clears throat]
  60. 14:25>> No. Do [laughter] do you support a city transfer tax on sales of property over 5 million? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> No.
  61. 14:46>> No. No. No. >> But do you support an increase in the sales tax, Laura? >> No. >> No. >> No. No.
  62. 15:03>> No. No. >> No. >> No. No. >> Uh, do you support another increase in the tot? >> No. >> Increasing the tot tax?
  63. 15:20I'd be open to increasing tax. >> No. Alison, >> Nick, >> I'd be open up to it as well. >> Joel, Ashley, >> no. >> Ora,
  64. 15:32>> no. >> Do you support an increase in the business license tax based on a percentage of gross sales or profits? >> Or no. >> No. >> No. No.
  65. 15:46>> No. >> No. >> No. No. Okay. >> Do you support turning the prominade into an open carry liquor area? >> No. >> Mark
  66. 15:59>> open carry >> like you can >> drink walk around walk around with alcohol in the pro. >> Yes. >> Uh yeah. >> No
  67. 16:14>> uh yeah I mean I believe it is already. >> Yeah. legal. >> No, absolutely not. No. >> Do you support renting out the prominant public space for private events? >> Yes.
  68. 16:35>> Yes. >> No, it's it's for the the taxpayers pay for it. It should be ours, not private people. Karen, >> thank you. >> No. >> Could you repeat the question? Do you
  69. 16:48support uh do you support renting out prominate events? >> Well, that's complicated, but at the moment, no. >> No. >> S
  70. 17:04I mean Mark, >> no. >> No. Too complicated. >> Okay. Do you support increasing height of buildings in the downtown area? >> No. >> Mark?
  71. 17:15>> No. >> No. No, >> no, no, no. All right. Would you support a public vote requirement on any civic product a project exceeding 5 million? Laura,
  72. 17:30>> no. Yes. Great idea. [laughter] >> Um, no. No. >> No. Yeah. >> Would you return Zoom participation to
  73. 17:53the beginning of the city council meeting? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Are you having it already? >> Okay. Skip that one. Do you support giving taxpayer money
  74. 18:10uh 10,000 or more to commercial landlords to fix up their building exteriors? Laura >> I do love but I wouldn't give the money. No >> enforcement. Okay. Do you support increasing the number of
  75. 18:34administrative staff hires? >> Just do I support >> having hiring more people? >> No, including law enforcement. >> No. >> Yes. Record keeping. >> No.
  76. 18:53>> No. No. Do you support enforcing and increasing fines for illegal parking, littering, vehicle noise violations, and drinking on the beach to at least a minimum of 100, if not more, please? >> Yes.
  77. 19:09>> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Do you support more ABC liquor licenses in Laguna Beach, Laura? >> No.
  78. 19:26I mean we it's can we can't we don't control that. So >> I can't really answer that. I don't >> I'm not the ABC state regulated. >> I believe that the city can set a limit and then you would have to purchase a
  79. 19:43business that had it if you wanted control. The city does have control over >> correct. So the question is would you support an increase in the number that we currently have? So, so if we do have that, then it would be um the number of conditional use permits that are issued
  80. 19:58to sell alcohol. Um I'm not aware that we have that, >> right? But fair enough, >> but if we if we said that, I would support setting something like that. >> Okay. Thank you. >> No.
  81. 20:11>> No. >> No. >> No. Yes. >> Okay. Have you personally entered into any joint ventures or other business relationships with housing developers in
  82. 20:22the last two years, Laura? >> No. >> No. >> No. >> No. >> Nick? >> No.
  83. 20:30>> Alex? >> Yeah, but not never in the >> suit. No. >> No. Have you personally made any investments in or profited from any existing or future housing projects in Lagoon in the
  84. 20:45last two years? Laura, >> no. No. >> No. I wish, but no. [laughter] >> Can you Can you read Can you >> Can I resate? Have you personally made investments in or profited from any existing or future housing projects in
  85. 21:01Lagona in the last two years? Besides a single my own single family residence. Uh besides your single family residence. Okay. I own a I own a rental property. Single family. Okay. >> No. >> No.
  86. 21:17>> No. No. >> All right. Last question. Most admired person in politics. Ed. >> Ronald Reagan. >> Mark. >> Oh my god. Abraham Lincoln
  87. 21:43>> Alex >> George Washington >> um >> Abraham Lincoln >> the man who brought us all of our great parks Teddy Roosevelt Reagan
  88. 22:03Teddy Roosevelt. >> All right. Well, thank you. That is for >> Okay. Thank you, Kennets. We're going to jump back into some general questions. Thank you for your answers. Um Okay. Um real quick question on the initiative to stop runaway development. There is an
  89. 22:18organization called Neighborhood Voices um that is launching a statewide constitutional amendment to restore greater local authority and other California cities are now considering similar efforts through the League of California Cities to push back on over
  90. 22:33regulation strangulation with respect to housing in Sacramento. Yes or no question. Will you support Laguna Beach joining with other California cities in efforts to restore greater local control over housing, zoning, and land use decisions,
  91. 22:47including consideration of a statewide voter initiative of constitutional amendment? Yes or no? Ed. >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. The legal city is tonight. So, I'm here with you guys. >> Yes.
  92. 23:02>> Yes. Together, we're stronger. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, okay. This goes to the incumbents. Um, I'm getting some tough questions here. Some residents have noticed what appear to be
  93. 23:15significant changes in positions by incumbents at the as the election approaches. Recent statements on Laguna Kenya Road, undergrounding where new housing should be located, developments in the canyon, term limits, tax increases, and other issues appear
  94. 23:28different from positions that residents have heard previously from the incumbents. They also the question whether or not the temporary shelving of projects that are expected to come down in the future is something that is a genuine change in
  95. 23:43policy in their position or simply a election year position. >> So let's start with Sue. Um Sue the question is several positions you've expressed recently appear different from positions that you've heard that residents have heard earlier in your
  96. 23:58term. Which of your business positions have changed? Why did they change? And you could can you commit that projects that are currently deferred like the DSP, Ocean Avenue tax increases, and future tree removals will not be reviewed again after the election
  97. 24:16without additional public review. So two-point question. >> I don't understand your question. Several of your positions have changed. >> No, I got that part. >> Okay. >> And the second question is,
  98. 24:27>> but you posted a bunch of things. Did you want me to pick one of those or >> No, I just it was an example. Okay. >> So, which of your positions have changed and will we not be seeing them again come 2027 if you're reelected? >> I wouldn't say I necessarily change
  99. 24:40positions, but you know, we learned as council members, for example, on Laguna Canyon Road. We're not I'm not the subcommittee. It's Bob and Hi. But we find out now that we can't bury the lines in the roadway because of cow tracks. So, that significantly changes
  100. 24:52the dynamics of whether or not we work on the Canyon Road. We can't if we can't bury the lines on the good of Canyon Road, then we can't it's not a viable project financially. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh Alex. >> Yeah. I mean, I'm always someone who
  101. 25:06looks at new information as relates to the T taxes in 2024 and both in this last year 2026. I was opposed to adding a a business license tax to the ballot. So, that hasn't changed. Um underground road. We know that 50% of the most devastating wildfires are caused by
  102. 25:22above ground utilities. It's an important issue, but it really the financials matter and the deal in front of us from CAL transfer relinquishment was not a good deal. So, I did not support that. >> And then um as relates to the downtown
  103. 25:33specific plan, the um you know, I think this was in the spring when we made the decision not to defer that, but instead of direct staff to focus on because it's part of our housing element to to update it, but to focus on the arts district as opposed to downtown prop. So, that's not
  104. 25:47deferring it. >> Okay. Thank you, Alex. And Mark, >> I'll use the Ocean Avenue as an example. I encourage Dave Kipar, city manager to um pull that particular item and schedule some more workshops and town halls and even maybe a walk like we used
  105. 26:03to do when we'd study the downtown specific plan just to help the community better understand some of the design options when it comes to sidewalk replacement. So, does that answer your question? >> Yes, thank you. Okay. Um
  106. 26:19ethics and conflict of interest. Most everyone starts out their career in public office altruistically. Longtime OC watchdog Shirley Grindle once asked, "How long does it take before an elected position politician becomes corrupted?" Her answer about three years. Residents
  107. 26:34have the right to expect their public officials will carry out their duties in a lawful, ethical, and professional manner. The appearance of impropriy is as much a problem as impropriy itself. Okay. I have a preface for Mark and I have questions um for others. So Mark
  108. 26:51residents have raised concerns about perceived improper priorities in business when financial dealings involving parties with significant interest in Laguna Beach. You and your wife previously worked for oh her and Laguna Beach Company on major
  109. 27:02development projects and then acrimoniously party since on council. Questions have also been asked about financial dealings involving you and your wife with parties now on the opposite side of that mohawker dispute including Mahandra Makajani continuum
  110. 27:16analytics and the mom entities. This summer, a judge adjudicated those disputes in Mo's favor, awarding Mo and his mom, JV entities, of which he owns a half, $1.33 billion dollars in combined direct damages. Mac Johnny now sits in federal prison unable to qualify
  111. 27:31released pending his trial for bank fraud. So the concern isn't simply whether something technically violated conflict of interest laws, but residents want to know whether you or your family financially benefited from relationships with people or entities whose interests
  112. 27:46were affected by matters involving the city while you were serving on council. So here's the question. While on council, have you or your wife received compensation, income, settlements, or other financial benefits from developers, property owners, or
  113. 28:00investors with interest in Laguna Beach? If so, will you identify those relationships, whether they were public disclosed, and if you took steps to avoid participating in city decisions to avoid conflicts of interest? You have 60 seconds, but that I know it's a long
  114. 28:17question. >> That's a lot. So I have not I have recused myself from any matters having to do with any one of those entities. My wife has worked at 70° and some of the adjacent properties that were once under my partnerships ownership since 2000 and
  115. 28:31she has worked continually at those same projects and properties ever since throughout different ownerships including a series of uh what they call receiverhips. Uh and she still works there today. Okay. Um, follow-up question. As mayor,
  116. 28:54you are the exeicio board member of the FOA, the Festival of Arts, which was directly involved in the Hanukkah dispute over terra operating at the FOA. That dispute ultimately affected operations at the FOA, including its ability to have a permanent restaurant
  117. 29:07on site, not sell alcohol, and host events. An unlawful detainer filed by the FOA in February against Mo and Tara Lagona was rejected and adjudicated fully in favor of Mo and Terara Laguna, resulting in the FO having to pay damages and attorneys fee agency claims.
  118. 29:22There is also an ongoing dispute between FOA and MOAR Laguna over their back taxes owed to the ABC that's liquor establishment during the period that Mo was in effect forcibly barred from entering and operating his own restaurant. It has since been
  119. 29:37adjudicated that terror was never part of that continuum analytics mom deal entanglement and that the force shutdown of terror was in fact wrongful. Most recently, the 2026 Taste of Laguna was cancelled because of the unresolved ABC licensing issues, meaning that the FOA
  120. 29:53effectively lost its ability to sell and serve alcohol. question. Given you and your wife's relationship with parties connected to these disputes, what role, if any, did you play in FOA decisions involving terror and Mohaner and you did you ever recuse yourself or disclose the
  121. 30:09conflict of interest? >> I think it's important to understand the role of guests. I am uh as all mayors are appointed to the board of the FOA. I think that's important to understand what happens. I go there, I give an update. I'm the first speaker at every
  122. 30:24board meeting. usually takes me no longer than five or 10 minutes and then I leave the room. I'm not a party to any further discussions non-stop. Period. >> Okay. So, you're representing today that you had no involvement in a publication
  123. 30:40whatsoever. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, question for Alex. After election 22 2022, you've gained employment as a development analyst with related California, the affordable housing developer now involved in NCC project. Currently, you
  124. 30:54are employed with City Ventures, also a housing developer. Both of these employments raised questions regarding possible conflict of interest while serving on city council on matters pertaining to housing and development in Laguna. There has also been talk
  125. 31:08suggesting that you have already met with potential housing developers to the Providence Mission Hospital site at a time when residents are still very concerned about losing their local hospital. are question, how will you ensure that your employment or loyalties
  126. 31:22will not conflict with your civic council obligations? And number two, how can you reassure residents that your pro-ousing development employment will not impact your obligation to look out for the best interest of Laguna residents and not developers? You have
  127. 31:3560 seconds. >> I meant a little bit more. I I appreciate the question. I think that so I would uh when I was elected, I worked for supervisor Foley at the county and I didn't want to keep working at the city and the county. I felt like I'd become a
  128. 31:46part of the system. So I worked for Related California on projects in LA, nothing in Orange County. When um the project was definitely moving forward, I left employment there. I moved to a different company, City Ventures, that does for sale town home projects. And
  129. 32:01what's really important is that as you said, Jennifer, beginning of your question, the perception of conflict is just as bad as as a legal conflict itself. And so I made the decision to recuse myself throughout the whole process, even beyond the one-year uh
  130. 32:14timeline that's required by statute. And I think that was important. I wasn't involved at all in that project, as you know. Um and then as it relates to the hospital, I I uh that is uh my number one priority. We've been working with the attorney general's office to protect
  131. 32:29emergency access to care. I really think the stakes cannot be higher. It's a matter of life or death. and we um have not been meeting with any developers and would and um because at the end of the day it's about emergency access to care. So I I wouldn't I really take public
  132. 32:45safety seriously and think one of the problems in our country is the perception of of self dealing and so while I work in the private sector which I think actually makes me a better council member I go above and beyond to make sure there are
  133. 32:58no legal conflicts or no perceptions conflicts. >> Okay. Thank you. Um other candidates and we'll start with Karen. What actions will you take to ensure residents that if elected, you will serve in a lawful, ethical, and professional manner and
  134. 33:10avoid even the appearance of selfdeing? 30 seconds. >> I will confer with the city attorney, but I'll also confer with my own attorneys to make sure that there are no conflicts. >> Thank you, Joy. You're right. There's a
  135. 33:28fine line between perception and reality. And so I think that there's any conflict. You need to come very transparent, clean, and share everything. Thanks. >> Thank you, Ashley. >> Yeah, I mean, the job is to serve the
  136. 33:42residents of Laguna Beach, and um I need to be transparent as possible as being a city official and make sure that there is no conflict ever. >> Thank you, Laura. Um, I would make sure that that any anything that I do is disclosed and would not um enter into an
  137. 34:00agreement that that would have either the appearance or um a direct conference. >> Thank you. >> For me, it's a life experience where I was in front of a federal judge of 30 years spoke to him nine lawyer opposing
  138. 34:14lawyers on the other side and the federal judge resigned 30 days later. So, I stand up for justice and I stand up for who I'm defending that day was myself and other people. So, that's the type of person you need at city council. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um, oh, Nick,
  139. 34:35I apologize. >> All good. Yeah. Uh, the, you know, the role as a city council member is to serve the public and so any conflict of interest needs to be cleared out and you don't want to have any of those issues. So, I think being transparent is
  140. 34:48extremely important. Okay, thank you. Next question. Um, we're talking about the NCC project St. Hanss. The city recently approved substantial financial assistance related to California's 29 unit affordable housing unit at NC NCC. Related California is a major developer
  141. 35:03with 21,000 housing units in California and 13 billion in assets. The city was not required to provide baning, but it did. They approved a 50-year 2.5 million matched by the state at 3% in a third security position on a leasehold interest. Many residents strongly
  142. 35:25debrief the loan itself and also question the loan terms and financial risk concerned that Laguna taxpayers are not adequately protected if the project encounters financial problems. The fact that the ask was 8.25 25 and the city only approved 6.71 including the fee
  143. 35:41waver etc is not really considered a win by most residents. Finally, residents have questions regarding the emergency nature of the approval process and that it failed to adequately address and allow time for discussions on public safety, fire
  144. 35:56safety, parking, evacuation, traffic congestion, view privacy, residential neighborhood among other things. Question for all candidates. We'll start with uh Joy. Do you think the loan amount in terms was a good deal for the city and taxpayers? Do you support using
  145. 36:09taxpayer funds to fund privately developed affordable housing? I mean, we shouldn't feel sorry for this multi-billion dollar company. No, I mean, we should not have spent more than one. We should not have given more than one cent beyond the $2.5 million match
  146. 36:27from the state. The state said they'd give us two and a half if we matched the two and a half, but we went above and beyond. And I'm not supportive of what what my big concern is. We didn't see the capital stack. So I don't know what this developer even contributed if there
  147. 36:41was a dollar. And so I know this whole thing about affordable housing, people are making billions of dollars off of it and um until we really underwrite the deal, we shouldn't be giving a dollar. >> Thank you, Nasha. Yeah, I mean I don't know the full
  148. 36:59extent of the deal, but when I just look at the math, it doesn't make sense. I mean, it's a 30,000 foot property. We're only getting 20 some odd 27 29 units out of it. The the density just doesn't make sense for how much money was given. Um so, as I said, I don't know the full um
  149. 37:15full details of that deal, but the math does not make sense, and we should not be using taxpayer dollars at all for affordable housing. Okay, Lauren, >> I don't like using taxpayer dollars for affordable housing, but I would need to study the issue more. Okay, thank you,
  150. 37:29Ed. >> I don't know the details of the financial deal of that, but there are monies available from the state. >> Okay. Thank you, Mark. >> Just to be clear, all that money coming from the state, it's taxpayer dollars.
  151. 37:42So, I don't like it and I think, you know, a lot of your questions are good and there's a lot of context. I think that it would be beneficial for the community to understand, especially when it comes to the NCC and that's an SB4 project and I think the community needs
  152. 37:57to remember that a developer could have come in and plop down a giant five-story building there and that was a consideration for the city council when we were negotiating that property. We were in fact cognizant of the fact and concerned of the fact that we're going
  153. 38:12to end up with a project that would have had a visual in a lot of our opinions of extremely negative impact on our community. >> Understand? Just wanted to respond to that. So you're talking about the builder's revenue. Correct.
  154. 38:24>> Uh no, it had to do with SB4. >> Okay. Thank you. S >> and that that's the kind of context I think these are the kind of conversations we should be having. >> Thank you S. >> Yeah, that was a good clarification. It
  155. 38:34is. You know, I I'm not a fan of putting money into affordable housing either, but we were in a we playing defense and we didn't want to we can you imagine the outcry we would have had if the church went ahead and got a a big another developer and had a big building there.
  156. 38:47People would have been outraged and it was as as a case. The neighbors were very upset about the affordable housing until we got to the 29 units and nobody complained. So, I think we got to a point where it was, you know, satisfactory to the community.
  157. 39:01>> Thank you, Alex. for the reasons outlined in the previous question. I I didn't participate in this, so I I wouldn't be able to speak to it because I didn't review the the the information. Um, and so I I don't have an answer to that on that. But as I
  158. 39:14said before, I think extending the ground lease, extending the the option for the Vista lease of senior housing makes a lot of sense. That's 70 units, the biggest senior housing in town, and we could give Rena for an extension. >> Thank you, Nick.
  159. 39:27>> Yeah, I think the problem here, and they didn't bring it up, is that why was there uh why were we given less than 24hour notice? When I had understood it was because there was a deadline that the developer had to meet. Well, if the developer didn't meet that deadline,
  160. 39:39then we have to wait until April of the following year. Well, that sounds like their problem, not our problem. And we could have had them wait. So, we gave them concessions on something that we didn't have to. We could have given them they could have taken more time. That
  161. 39:52was their problem. And if they if it was a date that just came out of nowhere, no, I think that date was on the schedule. We knew in the timeline of when this was going to happen, they could we could have had could have had more time if the city was more prepared
  162. 40:04and if they the city wasn't prepared for that date then push it till the next year. That's the developers issue. >> Thank you Karen. I think Mark's um comment about context is very important and I think that's one of the reasons why many of us are
  163. 40:20running is because there's a lack of transparency and there's a lack of understanding how the money gets spent and um as Joy said she'd like to see the capital stack. We need to have transparency and I think that needs to be on the dashboard on the website. Some
  164. 40:37cities actually have this. They they have their major projects. You click on it and you automatically see it. >> Thank you, Joy. >> Oh, you have Okay, good. We've come full circle. Um, quick question for Ashley. Um, at the last forum, you criticize the
  165. 40:55current council as being reactive rather than planning ahead. You also said that the council is heading toward a deficit without a long-term financial plan while looking to raise taxes. As an example, you said a proposed gross receipt sales tax would cost your restaurant more than
  166. 41:10$100,000 annually. Can you please expand on these statements and where do you believe the city's current financial planning is falling short and what would you do to fix it? 30 seconds. [laughter] Um I mean this current question about
  167. 41:27St. Ans, but it's re re uh reactionary, right? The ER is reactionary. every decision when it comes to spending has been very reactionary and so then that's why we're spending more than we need to um and not being transparent or following the budget with that. Um right
  168. 41:42now the issue is we have a deficit right and so the deficit needs to be solved by current revenues and not just kicked up every single year which is what is going to be happening. We need to be planning 5 10 15 years from now. Um and we need to be looking at diversifying the
  169. 41:58revenue. It can't just be property taxes. That is 60% of our current revenue of the general fund. So, trying to circle what I would do. We have to we have to um find ways to cut or cut our expenses because we don't have enough revenue coming in right now.
  170. 42:12>> Thank you, Laura. >> Can you repeat the question? >> Oh, I'm sorry. That was an Ashley only question. I'm going to stop it right there. Okay. Next question.$und00 million bond for railing infrastructure. Um,
  171. 42:26Alex, I believe in 2024 you said public frustration with government stems in part from government failing to deliver on the basics. You have emphasized that Laguna's aging infrastructure, deferred maintenance, sewer problems, and the need to make major investments in the
  172. 42:39basic city infrastructure. In a recent, you shouldn't be so vocal, but I like that you are. Um, in a recent Coastal Living podcast, you stated that the city will be taking on a new bond to the tune of hund00 million as an affirmative statement to address these needs. During
  173. 42:55your term on council, the city has committed tens of millions of dollars for property acquisitions, housing and land trust initiatives, prominade, and other non-essential projects outside of basic infrastructure. This raises a question about this city's council
  174. 43:08spending priorities, city council spending priorities. Question for Alex and then question for the new candidates. If our infrastructure has been neglected to the point that you believe the city will need a hund00 million bond to fix it. Why wasn't
  175. 43:21maintaining that infrastructure given priority over with these other expenditures? And number two, why should taxpayers be asked to take on a hundred million in debt for infrastructure that the city failed to plan and budget for? >> Okay. So, I think that you were when you
  176. 43:36were at first I didn't know what you were talking about. you're referring to the hund00 million um investments in our sewer system that need to take place. >> That that's what you're referring to. And so those that the rate that's based on the rates and so we get low interest
  177. 43:48financing to pay for it. It's not a bond that's going to add to people's tax base. That's just basically the rates that exist and paying for our infrastructure including our sewer system is incredibly important. So it's money that we already have. We actually
  178. 43:59have not done a good job on execution of our CIP for sewer. So I have what we're we have a we're looking at the organization of that. I can talk about that further. And then water. The the one thing that's really exciting about what we've done is we have 100% imported
  179. 44:12water right now. Last year as mayor, I worked with council member camp and we negotiated a deal with Newport Beach in Fountain Valley that will allow for 2/3 of our water supply to come from local groundwater saving half a million dollars a year. So that that I think is
  180. 44:24a very important thing in addition to to do desalination. >> Okay. Uh thank you. Uh just to clarify then the city council will not be asking to float a bond of hund00 million to fix our failing infrastructure. Is that correct?
  181. 44:39>> Yeah, that that's correct. What you're referring to is the sewer master plan which is funded by the rate payers and low interest finance. >> Okay. Glad to hear that. >> Thank you. Thanks for the clarification. >> Um, new candidates. I'm going to forego
  182. 44:49that question because it looks like we don't have to worry about it. I'm happy to hear it. Okay. Um, Alex and Karen, we'll start with Karen. Um, well, Alex, in the Internet Marketing Association interview, you said you wanted to make sure teachers and police officers could
  183. 45:02live in Laguna Beach where they work. Karen, at the last debate, you suggested using part of the private hospital for workforce housing if the hospital could not be saved. Many residents spent much of their working lives commuting because they could not afford to live in the
  184. 45:17communities where they worked or in communities where they would have preferred to live. They saved, made financial tradeoffs, worked hard to eventually be able to afford where they wanted to live. That raises a broader philosophical question about the proper
  185. 45:31role of government. Question for Karen and Alex. Let's start with Karen. Apart from what the state housing mandate requires, is it your position that Laguna Beach taxpayers have an obligation to subsidize housing so people who work here get to live here?
  186. 45:47Number one. Number two, who qualifies? How much should taxpayers subsidize? Who gets to live there? And for how long? >> 30 seconds. >> In 30 seconds. [laughter]
  187. 46:03Um, so the I want to clarify what I said about the hospital was that it was part of our housing element. Um, I I don't think I use the term workforce housing. So I don't know where that came from, but the the hospital property is part of
  188. 46:18our housing element. Um, so there are it's zoned for it. So to answer your question about subsidies, I've already said I don't think taxpayers need to subsidize for affordable housing. I do want to clarify that I think we absolutely need affordable housing. And
  189. 46:38what what I advocate for is mixed you mixed income housing because when you build for instance for sale condos along with affordable housing you can pay for that project. Um you can pay for those affordable units. I've I've worked on projects like that in Irvine and I so
  190. 47:02that that's that's where that's okay. Thank you. Who who are the lucky people who get to live there? Um so so that's a good question and that is um dependent on how the entitlement process works but in in that case um it's it's also based on the city's
  191. 47:22u inclusionary housing ordinance and right now I'm um I think that needs to be worked out here. >> Okay. Thank you. Alex, same question. >> Yeah. And just to clarify that the the it's not the whole hospital that that it's the the back thankfully the
  192. 47:39hospital is zoned institutional. So the only there's no by red uses for a hospital. So just to clarify that um and you know Karen and I worked on that anyway. So um the the other question okay so uh for police officers and teachers that was whether they should
  193. 47:57live >> or anyone who works here has to live. Well, I don't think that anyone that works here gets to live here. I think it goes back to common sense principles like what what I described as it relates to second story residential on Coast
  194. 48:08Highway. You already can do second story commercial. So, why not make it where we could do second story housing in the same building envelope? Those are going to be smaller units naturally more affordable. And who gets to decide? That's for the market to decide.
  195. 48:22>> Okay. Thank you very much. Um question for all candidates. Um during the city council's term, Laguna's retail vacancy has risen approximately 8% significantly higher than just a few years ago and higher than any other OC city. Empty historic rents like Gellson's and most
  196. 48:38recently Los Arena affect the fatality of our commercial districts, city revenues, and the overall experience for residents and visitors. Um for all candidates, what do you believe is driving the high commercial vacancy rate and what actions would you take? Let's
  197. 48:50start with Ashley. >> H not enough time. Um but what's driving it is um a lot of the landlords are private individuals, right? And so even when I went and looked at photo sushi, they didn't um it's brokers aren't as very active, right? Like I just stumbled
  198. 49:09upon it. And so I think that there's multiple things. It's the awareness of the vacancies. It's the upkeep of a lot of the buildings. Um and it's greatly hurting obviously our economy, right? And so we have so much money leaving Laguna that before taxing residents, we
  199. 49:24need to be able to fill these vacancies and we get more sales tax revenue. And I think the city can do a job of partnering with the um with the landlords to be able to make it easier from a codebased standpoint to upgrade a lot of the buildings because that's a
  200. 49:38huge issue is why they don't give TI improvement. Sorry. >> Thank you. No, no problem. I know it's a tight time frame. Laura, >> I think that the vacancies are primarily of the rents are higher here. It it it's hard to make a living with the the level
  201. 49:54of rents and many of the landlords are how I say it. Um, properties have been in families for years, so their cost basis is low. It doesn't it doesn't hurt them to hold properties. Um, the rents. Thank you, Ed.
  202. 50:19>> I think the landlords drive the rents. Um whether they're long-term landlords or short new landlords, square footage is higher here, but the city could work better if they spend more time talking to the landlords, develop a relationship, and also
  203. 50:39getting work done through the city. It seems like it's gotten better, but but the city should communicate more with the landlords. >> Okay. Thank you, Mark. >> This is again where context matters. So, we do have an economic development
  204. 50:53effort being managed out of the city manager's office and we do meet with the landlords and potential tenants. We do the best we can. As it's been mentioned here, there are a lot of longtime building owners that are difficult and not that interested in taking immediate
  205. 51:07action to rent out their spaces. Although the numbers that you just met that 8% I think we need to verify that. Remember that includes the Gellison's and the the shack those the shack is now full. I mean those are big spaces. Most of our spaces are quite boutique and you
  206. 51:23know small in town. So it distorts the percentage is my point. So >> thank you Sue. >> Yeah Mark is 100% right about that. it does skew the numbers but you know I've called personally called a lot of landlords and you know the landlords
  207. 51:39both the landlords and the property management companies are very difficult to work with I I find it astounding really that these property management people don't return calls and you'd think that they'd be anxious to build their spaces but they don't particularly
  208. 51:52they seem to be pretty lackadasical about it not only that the rents are exceedingly high and you know I know one restaurant their their rent is $36,000 a So, I don't know how anybody expects people to make money with rents like that and that's not atypical high rents
  209. 52:08in town. >> Thank you, Alex. >> Yeah, I think the biggest role the city can play is make it really easy and predictable and streamlined for people to open businesses here. One of the challenges has been that the process and
  210. 52:20the timelines, weight sandwiches, it took three years for them to open the parking requirements that they needed 14 parking spaces. When you look at that for the lot, that would basically mean demolishing the whole building. It's it's impractical. So cutting the parking
  211. 52:32requirements is important, going to blended parking, but then also AI plan check. We just implemented a pilot program. If we could get to a point where where it takes an eight hour process and it turns into a lot shorter, if we get to a point where businesses
  212. 52:44could open within 15 days, imagine what kind kind of businesses would want to open here. >> Thank you, Nick. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, I'd go on to what Alex said. I think it's a little bit of what
  213. 52:52everybody actually said, but you know, when it's over three years and it's not predictable, it's not going to be attractive to a lot of business owners. So you've got the landlords, you've got the red tape, you've got parking, you got downtown action plan for the tenant
  214. 53:04mix. I mean, right now we see bad policy means we get a bunch of coffee shops and ice cream places and if we don't improve all of our documents and we don't, you know, open up to communication like more, you know, it's interesting to hear from council member Kemp saying that we
  215. 53:18tried calling and they're they're not listening. So I don't know if that if we give up or we just need new voices. >> All right. Thank you. Karen, did I start with you? Have you answered yet? >> No, I haven't. >> Okay, go ahead. Um, so I think the case
  216. 53:31that land landlords are locked in. They're they're not they're not going to sell as to Laura's point. But I also wrote down property management companies. I mean, I think that landlords are disconnected from what their property management companies are
  217. 53:46doing and [clears throat] that's adding to a lot of problems. >> Thank you, Joy. Unfortunately, the grief factor has set in on a bunch of these land owners and I think what we need to do is inventory of a vacancies and figure out some adaptive reuses and try
  218. 54:01to incentivize a streamline process to um revitalize, reuse their their space into something different. >> Okay. Thank you. This is for the incumbents uh deal with St. Catherine's. Um we know that there was um a seismic deadline uh with the hospital expiring
  219. 54:16in 2030. We also know there was a 10-year emergency or a 10-year uh requirement by the state to stay at the hospital that Bob Whan just wrote about in his letter to the editor in the recent paper. Obviously, the council knew about these
  220. 54:32deadlines. Why didn't we wait? Why did the city council wait until March of this year to form a hospital action plan? Why was the city council so late in responding to hospital concerns that we knew were coming down the pipe? Let's start with Sue.
  221. 54:50>> Well, I mean, the only way I can answer that question is so we've had a number of times we requested that Providence come into the council meeting and give us an update and they're always pretty vague and we didn't get anything solid from them until recently. And when we
  222. 55:05found that out, then we we put a subcommittee together and I'm pretty and I think for the council we an excellent subcommittee. Good choice in Bob and Alex. I think, you know, I'm not part of the subcommittee, so I only know what I read in the newspaper, but um I think
  223. 55:20we'll find a I think we're going to find a good solution, but I don't know how I don't know how I'm going to say this in a necessarily. I don't know how upfront providence has been. It's just my >> Okay. Thank you, Alex.
  224. 55:33>> Yeah, this is something that feels like it's my third full-time job because the stakes couldn't be higher. We know that there is um in 2016 the attorney general found that there was a huge impact if this were to close. The data shows that the number of um emergency room visits
  225. 55:46have only gone up since then. So the question is what do we do? We've been working very closely with the attorney general's office. We actually found a document where um for the chalk radi children's merger that involved a 2034 deadline where this this ER needs to be
  226. 56:02open. So we're looking into that right now. We're also looked um you know we've had meetings with Providence the land use the land use as I said earlier is no by right uses meaning the city would need to do an amendment to its local coastal plan I feel very strongly that
  227. 56:14we are going to be in a position to protect emergency access because I think that it is the right thing to do and um there would be a devastating impact for the entire community >> okay thank you this is for new candidates only St. Catherine's was
  228. 56:26purchased for 23 million presented as an opportunity for community and recreational use. Many residents now believe it simply has become City Hall South with ocean views. What do you believe the city should do with St. Catherine's? Let's start with Nick.
  229. 56:44>> Well, we originally purchased it to be part of to be a community center. So, it needs to be that we need to be investing in it. We need to be working with the recreation committee and making sure that it's a community community good. Whether it's making sure that the the
  230. 56:57soccer field or the grass field is actually that and not just a parking lot. Whether it's making sure that the community can use the gym time and if we need to make it free, make it free. But if the community in improving the communication, make sure that the
  231. 57:09community knows that that's a a an asset that we have. And I think the city has failed uh the residents on communicating that that that's a you know place that we have. >> Okay. Thank you, Nick. Karen. >> Yeah, I toured when when they first
  232. 57:24bought it, they did tours and um it was it was marketed as a community center and the gym and all that. Um and then as it as things as time went by, um that didn't happen. So other ideas popped up. And I do believe that I to be consistent I said that it could be a blended use
  233. 57:45and I think it could be both education and which could be part of the community center just like Susie. >> Okay. Thank you Joy. >> It's underutilized and we have a lot of recreation. It's called the beach and uh there's plenty of of of trails and
  234. 58:02hiking and mountain biking. So I you know it's a cost. We bought it. I think we should go out to the uh private industry and see if there's opportunities for developers to either make it into a for a mixed use of for sale and maybe some affordable housing
  235. 58:17or something else. But I don't think um it it it's just sitting there vacant and I think it's a waste of taxpayer money. >> Thank you, Ashley. >> Um because it was purchased with taxpayer money, then the residents have a choice of what it's turned into. And
  236. 58:31if we um we were told it was going to be a community center, then it needs to be a community center. it's going to change then it needs to go to the residents so they can decide. >> Thank you Lauren. >> I think we need to go back to what the
  237. 58:42taxpayers were told and um make it a community center. Um it would need to be that at this point needs to be some blended use but at least a portion of it needs to be a community center. Thank you. Okay. >> No one said anything, but presently the
  238. 58:56emergency operation center is being put there, but I recommended to the city to purchase a mobile command center, which would have been about 850,000. The city spent 850,000 setting up this emergency operations center already. The the the property was a gift from the Catholic
  239. 59:18Church. When we purchased it, it was worth double. and it's probably worth triple today. So, we should have a contest with the residents of the city of Laguna Beach and say, "Hey, what should we do with this property?" Because right now it's a it's a
  240. 59:35slashhybrid of a bunch of stuff. They just spent $850,000 for an emergency operations center. I recommended a mobile command center. And the only reason why I did that is because of my business being in uh emergency communications and and dealing
  241. 59:51with hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Sandy and the Maui. >> Thank Thank you, Randy. >> So anyway, >> okay. Thank you. Um Okay. Well, uh this is for the incumbents. You know, residents like to talk and rumors have
  242. 1:00:04swirled that there is development of what being considered to convert St. captains together with Ruby Diner into a massive development project hotel housing rather very quickly can you reassure our residents that there is no such plan of
  243. 1:00:22foot and if that's an incorrect statement please let us know >> there is no such plan of foot although rubies did go up for sale and we did analyze um you know what the situation what with the rubies if there was a lease on it what the cost was in in the
  244. 1:00:39event there there was any potential opportunity there. >> Thank you, Sue. >> No, there's no plan. And um you know, Ed was right though. That property that we bought is worth a lot of money. Way worth way more than we paid for. It
  245. 1:00:53wasn't a gift from the church. But if you want to talk about a good deal being a good deal, that was that was a good deal. >> The pope gave you a gift. >> It took us a year to get it approved by the pope. No kidding. I mean, it had to
  246. 1:01:04go to the pope. Yeah, the poll was busy so it took a while. [laughter] >> Alex, >> I think Marvin who articulated the response. Well, >> okay. Um, I think most the committee agree that was a it's a hell of a ironic
  247. 1:01:21a very nice piece of property. We'd like to see it better utilized. Thank you. All right, moving forward. Um, let's see. Okay. Uh staff reports often seem like recommendations of what the city manager or the city council wants to hear and
  248. 1:01:39approve, not objective analysis and oftentimes it emits important information. Question for all. How do you hold staff more accountable to new objective analysis and would you support changes to staff reports so that rather than a quote staff recommendation,
  249. 1:01:54the staff reports instead provide objective options and pros and cons for consideration by the city council. Let's start with Joy. >> Yes, we did not elect our planning staff. They should not be coming to the conclusions and recommending decisions.
  250. 1:02:10They should have present comments. >> Thank you, Joy. Ashley. >> Yeah, I'm actually quite um surprised um of how little information um and one-sided information these reports are. It needs to be way more in depth for anybody to make a decision on. So, the
  251. 1:02:25entire format needs to change. >> Thank you, Lauren. Definitely an objective analysis and if need be putting together some training sessions. >> Thank you, Ed. >> Garbage in, garbage out and historical records are needed for not just two
  252. 1:02:40years but 10 years, 20 years. >> Well, we'll get to the retention policy in a second. Mark, >> can you restate the question? >> Sure. Um, how will you ensure I'm sorry, wrong question. How will you hold staff more
  253. 1:02:52accountable to do objective analysis? And would you support changes rather than staff recommendation that the staff reports instead provide objective options and procons? >> Yes, I would support objective options and procons. However, actually the point
  254. 1:03:08they are thorough. Our last binder that we just had for our council meeting was 10 inches thick. I don't know how much more information that we could possibly [laughter] consume. >> Thank you, Sue. I think too and people don't realize but when we get our
  255. 1:03:21binders sometimes before we get our binders we we meet with the city attorney we meet with the city manager we meet with staff we residents who have concerns so there's a lot of scrutiny on those staff reports and I have a lot of discussions to staff both after the
  256. 1:03:35staff report has been written with my comments or before >> thank you Alex >> yeah I ask a lot of a lot of hard questions to staff about the implications implications of different decisions I also like to look at
  257. 1:03:48trade-offs to your point, Jennifer, and um and in general, I think that we can always do better in terms of aligning our goals, our staff reports around the budget, which should as our memo recommended should be based on outcomes, not based on incrementalism. So, for
  258. 1:04:01every dollar dollar we spend, what are we getting out of it? How is it serving the residents? >> Thank you, Alex. Nick. Yeah, we need improvement in the staff reports whether it's multiple options, procons. Also, when they uh deliver the presentation,
  259. 1:04:13the presentation that you see on the screen is not usually what you've been able to see ahead of time. And um and then that goes back to your earlier question on making sure that the agendas come out earlier in the week. >> Thank you, Karen.
  260. 1:04:26Um I do think that the staff report needs to give very clearly the ability the the decision makers um what they can do. They can reject it, they can approve it or they can continue it. Um and then I do think that they they should not have um one resolution that is just for
  261. 1:04:52approval. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, this is a yes no question for all candidates. Um, many residents express frustration that the repeated application to serve on city committees are rejected even though they're wellqualified. And it appears
  262. 1:05:09that only those favored by the council are selected to serve on committees, often for long extended terms instead of rotating more qualified or other qualified residents. As a city council member, will you commit to ensure that all qualified applicants who volunteer
  263. 1:05:24serve on city committees and that they are rotated through and limited in term? Is that a yes or no, Ed? >> Yes. >> Yes. I think you noticed my last selection. The plan commissioners that
  264. 1:05:36>> Yes. Alex. >> Yes. Next. >> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Um All right. Document retention policy. Um, the city council continues to shorten retention periods
  265. 1:05:49for city records, resulting in the permanent destruction of records documenting city actions and historical city actions. Most recently, additional changes were made and they were slightly placed on the consent calendar with little public discussion. Once these
  266. 1:06:03records are destroyed, they can never be recovered and neither residents nor future councils can review that history. Number one, all for no, this is for the new candidates. How does shredding, deleting more city records benefit the residents or improve transparency,
  267. 1:06:17especially when digital storage is cheap and easy? And will you support will you review the current policy on retention? Uh let's start with Karen. >> Yes, this is one of my biggest issues. Um I can tell you that they've lost my plans for an approval
  268. 1:06:37that I received and um I had to come back. Thank God I kept my copies for my for my plans, my approved plans. I kept them in the garage and the job card because the city did not have that. And I'm not the first one. And I I found several on other projects where the job
  269. 1:07:00card was never entered into the system. And what I understand right now that problem is existing where the plans and the job cards are not are not getting into a system that we can look forward. >> Thank you Joy. >> Yes, we need better record keeping and
  270. 1:07:18and especially of the blueprints and all these drawings because people are changing them in the field and then we have nothing to go back and it's scary with you going to AI. We don't have like you Ed said garbage in garbage out. We got to be careful,
  271. 1:07:33>> Ashley. >> Yeah, I mean there um there's a ton of softwares out there that can easily do this for us. It needs to be a priority. I don't know why it hasn't been. >> Lauren, I would definitely support better record retention.
  272. 1:07:47>> Ed, >> recordkeeping got changed and it shouldn't have gotten changed. If anything, we should keep as much information as possible because at last night's city council meeting, they approved or beta test. I guess they're
  273. 1:08:02going to use AI. Well, if you use AI with two-year information, it's like garbage in garbage out. It's useless. >> Mark, a lot of a lot of opportunities to improve our record keeping. >> Thank you, Sue. >> Yeah, I agree. I mean, this is um is
  274. 1:08:19this a yes or no? >> It's a yes or no. Oh, apparently it's not when you get 30 seconds. [laughter] >> Well, I mean, I know um we just we just had this comment on consent as you mentioned and I know there's a lot of
  275. 1:08:32scrutiny for the city city attorney as well. A lot of companies struggle this too in the private sector is document retention. It's it's a kind of a hard thing to figure out, but I hope we're doing it well. >> Alex,
  276. 1:08:43>> yeah, I went with our city clerk um to Newport Beach to look at how they do their records and there's a lot of legal issues at play. It's really not as simple as as the way that um as whether we want records or not. It's um you know, planning records are different
  277. 1:08:56than other types of records. So, it's something that we always have to be really um focused on in terms of having policies to comply with the law, protect the city's liability, but also ensure that important records are are retained. >> Okay. Thank you, Nick.
  278. 1:09:09>> Yes. >> Okay. Did I start with you, Karen? Have you have you answered that question? I did. >> Okay. >> Okay. Great. All right. Well, this worked well. We're going to delve into
  279. 1:09:17litigation exposure. Um, and as an attorney, I know that sometimes the emails can hang you and sometimes they can help you. But if you're the city and the government, we expect you to retain those records. Personally, that's a different issue. All right. Litigation
  280. 1:09:31exposure. Um, the city faces numerous lawsuits and claims, some involving substantial potential liability. In some cases, the city has had to pay out substantial damages. One of the largest pending lawsuits is Adorn's Rimrock Canyon area suit, which claims up to
  281. 1:09:46$149 million in damages involving a city issued RPR report showing purchase land is biddable buildable, which the city subsequently denied as being buildable. Recently, the city had to pay $2.5 million involving a residential Pearl Street property even though the
  282. 1:10:00residents would have been happy to settle for less or even zero had the city corrected its error. Now, several additional claims, some alleging hundreds of millions of dollars, are expected to hit the city in the near future.
  283. 1:10:14When the city defends a claim that ultimately has merit or unsuccessfully appeals the matter it lost at trial, the city and by extension us, the taxpayers, can end up paying not only a big judgment or settlement, but years of legal fees and costs. Some residents
  284. 1:10:29believe that the city and this city council too often take a fight first approach and try to bully and intimidate claimants or cover up city mistakes rather than objectively evaluating the merits and financial risk of a case early enough to pursue a reasonable
  285. 1:10:43settlement question. This is for the new candidates. If elected, will you ensure that claims against the city are objectively evaluated early, including the city's likelihood of success and the potential cost to taxpayers? Number one. Number
  286. 1:10:59two, when a claim has substantial merit, will you support resolving it early rather than spending taxpayer dollars litigating it for years and risking a much larger judgment or settlement? Let's start with Ashley. Yes, it's all about that. Yes. Yeah.
  287. 1:11:15Laura. >> Uh, yes, definitely. Evaluate early and, uh, resolve quickly and expeditious. >> I re I wrote a letter to the city council recommending to hire an outside retired FBI agents to investigate an investment issue and other issues
  288. 1:11:38because there are things happening at the city that maybe even the city council is not aware of. So, they should hire outside FBI agents to investigate, do forensic of uh because they could get out of some of these lawsuits. >> Okay. Thank you, Mark. Oh, I'm sorry.
  289. 1:11:56This is only for the new candidates. Sorry. Uh Nick, >> yes, >> Karen. Yes, >> Joy. >> I can tell you're an attorney. You said
  290. 1:12:05it best. Yes, we should we should sit down and try to get um you know, resolve it early early on. >> Okay. Um thank you. And just a note to city council or city employees who may be living in city staff. I do we do no one denies that they work hard to put
  291. 1:12:21those staff reports together. The question that really arises is are they objective or are they predetermined with an outcome and then they find the facts to fit it. That's the question. Okay. All right. Um thank you all. We have a number of questions but we're not going
  292. 1:12:37to get them all because we're trying to get you out of here by nine o'clock. We appreciate that you've been here um for almost three hours. that we have at closing. Um, oh, we had some candidate to candidate questions. Let's take those really quick. There's one that's
  293. 1:12:49important and I'm sure I'm not going to be able to get to the other ones, but the candid candidate questions. Um, let me go ahead and I'll just do this. Civility. Okay. As candidates for city council, each of you signed the California code of fair campaign
  294. 1:13:02practices pledging not to use or permit character defamation, whispering campaigns, liel, slander, or scurless attacks on other candidates. The code goes further and it says that candidates shall pledge to immediately and publicly repudiate support from any individual or
  295. 1:13:17group that uses these tactics on their behalf. Unfortunately, the beach politics have become increasingly contentious. It is our understanding that all of the new candidates running for city council have experienced bullying or other aggressive and
  296. 1:13:33scurless attacks from the incumbents and or their allies during this election cycle. Most recently, residents have raised concerns that recent post, and I'm just going to call it what it is, the Democratic Club of Laguna Beach attacking another candidate while
  297. 1:13:49supporting the incumbents. Several of the new candidates and business owners have been accosted and accused not accused I guess is the best word and had who they are voting for with signs in their yards being questioned aggressively. Okay, so here's
  298. 1:14:10the question. Residents and businesses should be able to participate in election and express their political preferences without fear of retaliation, verbal attacks or other harassment. So here's the question. And this goes to the incumbents first
  299. 1:14:23and we'll ask the other candidates. Have you, your campaign or anyone acting on your behalf ever pressured, intimidated, or contacted a business or person because of their candidate signs it chose to display? Regardless of whether or not you That's
  300. 1:14:39number one. Number two, regardless of whether or not you had the involvement, do you believe the post by the Democratic Club of Lagona are consistent with the California code, the code for fair campaign practice that you signed? And three, will you immediately publicly
  301. 1:14:51repudiate those attacks on the new candidates, incumbents? Let's start with you, Mark. Do No, I do not have anything to do or talk to anybody about going after any candidates, but I would encourage you to crack open social media and there's
  302. 1:15:10plenty being said about me on a daily basis. >> So, yeah. No, when I run my campaigns, I talk about my ideas and who I who I support. I don't if someone wants to put a sign there their story. I don't really
  303. 1:15:22care. Um, but I will say, you know, if you want to talk about, you know, the mudslinging, you can you can talk to the three of us up here because we get on a regular basis. It's kind of somewhat annoying, but mostly
  304. 1:15:33>> Alex. >> Yeah. No, I I think that it's um it's really important in democracy that people want to run for office. And as I said in the first debate, I think it's great that we have people. It would be you just said three incumbents running.
  305. 1:15:46Um, as it relates to the Democratic club, I reached out to them and they did posts that I thought were a little bit unkind and I said that I didn't I I didn't agree with it and I didn't like it, but it's ultimately, you know, I'm not in control of the Democratic club.
  306. 1:15:59And so I think that as in in general, I think one of the problems is that we by making everything so mean and and and have a lack of having a lack of civility, it leads um good people to not want to run for public office. So I think that to the we always need to be
  307. 1:16:15you know model uh practice ability and it really starts with each of us as individuals and focusing on the issues at hand because there's a lot of important issues and getting away from the politics of um personal destruction and I think that's really important.
  308. 1:16:29>> Okay, I think that is a true statement. I wish I could ask the other all the other candidates but I think it's been enough said. Um, final question before our final question. Um, incumbents, [laughter] what professional experience or point of
  309. 1:16:43view is missing from the current city council? And which one of the non-incumbent candidates do you feel is best positioned to add that view or experience? Alex, let's start with you.
  310. 1:17:04I mean, I think we have um I' I've similar experiences to to what Joy and Karen do. And so, I think it's, you know, always good to have small business owners. So, I do appreciate what Ashley does with Odo Sushi. And so, I think, you know, it's always good to have small
  311. 1:17:20business owners on the city council. >> Thank you, Nick. >> Oh, I'm sorry, Sue. It's only for incumbents. I apologize. Um, I don't really know any of the candidates very well. I mean, I know Laura, but I don't really know the rest of the candidates.
  312. 1:17:35I know kind of what Karen does, and I don't know what makes them, so I can't I can't intelligently speak to it. I just don't know. Fair enough, Mark. >> Psychologist. So, >> I I think maybe a somebody that deals in
  313. 1:17:51communications, strictly communications, would be interesting. I'm always looking for ways to better communicate, get the community to come together so we can address some of these challenging issues. >> Okay. Thank you very much. Um India's
  314. 1:18:05going to give you your last and final question. It'll be two minutes. It'll be both a question and then your closing statements. Two minutes. >> The city doesn't have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. The city is projecting the expend that expenditures
  315. 1:18:22will outpace revenues in the coming years and has already relied on transfers between funds to help balance its budget. Moving money between city accounts may balance a budget in a particular year, but it does not by itself solve an ongoing gap between
  316. 1:18:39revenues and operating expenses. Candidate Ashley Centus recently raised a fundamental question. Before asking residents and businesses to pay higher sale higher sales, hotel and business taxes, what is the city willing to stop spending money on? So the final
  317. 1:18:56question, if elected or reelected, name three substantial specific expenditures, programs, positions, or projects you would consider cutting, reducing, or postponing before asking residents or businesses to pay higher taxes. All right, Ed.
  318. 1:19:16>> Yeah, I'll go first. >> So, city council gives direction to staff. The key staff person is the city manager. We've had a problem for 10 years. We've had three city managers during that 10-year period. Last one was Shereé. Before that, John Pekk and then
  319. 1:19:39Dave. Dave has to spend time with the department heads to understand each department. That is his job. He he has a number of assistants. So that is his job to understand each department and how each department is run and how efficient it is. We need to go back to the 9 to5
  320. 1:20:01Monday through Friday. We we need to he it's his job. If he can't do his job, then sadly he needs to be replaced. And it's the city council people that gives him that responsibility. So with that responsibility, he's able to understand how the city can run better and and
  321. 1:20:22process whether it's hiring a lobbyist to go to Sacramento or Dave saying, "Hey, you guys, city council person XYZ, you go to Sacramento and go talk to our state senators or house of represent so that we can get money from the California Conservancy or from
  322. 1:20:40California Housing Agency or other government agencies so we can run our city better without raising taxes at all. So, it's it's the city manager and that's where people don't realize that runs the city. He's critical. So, him having proper support, spending time
  323. 1:21:00with the department heads is critical and that's how you can cut expenses at the city. And so, we don't have to raise pro uh taxes. We can just run the city more efficiently. and we are not running the city efficiently right now. >> Okay. Thank you. Um Mark, so this is
  324. 1:21:20both the answer to the question and your closing statement. >> So I would start with consultants first and then I would also talk you know we recently did a facilities master plan and I would probably we talked about the um St. Catherine's I would make sure and
  325. 1:21:36evaluate that and see if there's opportunity other opportunities with that. I think that we could accommodate a rec center over at Lane Park. And so I would those are probably the two two big things as far as my uh ending statement. Um you know I I made a couple notes as I
  326. 1:21:56was sitting here and and you know I'm always trying better. I I love our city. That's why I ran for this job. It's not an easy job. We're a very civically you know engaged community and that's what I love about it. But we have a lot of opinions, right? And it's difficult to
  327. 1:22:12manage. And a lot of the questions that you had for us tonight, they're good questions. The problem that we have is there's not full context um provided when we try to answer these questions. And certainly for the new folks running for council, and that's okay for this
  328. 1:22:27and for this form, but what we really need at some point is to keep coming together, keep having these discussions, and um you know, drilling down on some of these issues. I mean, we're lucky. We are the 99% luckiest people on this planet to live in this community. None
  329. 1:22:42of us are in need. We have our food. We have a safe community. We have a great fire department. We we This is great. We should be proud of ourselves. And um I great cities invest in themselves. We can do a lot. We have Maine Beach. We have a lot that we've done. You know,
  330. 1:22:58nothing is wrong with investing to try to preserve our artist in this community. That's something that we decided long ago. Those are values that we cherish in this town and I I just think that we can still come together and find areas that we can agree on. We
  331. 1:23:12have we all are very proud of our environment and I think we can protect our environment. I think we can pro protect our culture and work on our heritage. I think we can do it all and I think it really comes down to us um you know being patient with one another,
  332. 1:23:27communicating and just working together is the thing. >> Thank you Sue. Thank you. Um, well, I don't necessarily agree that we don't have a revenue problem. I do think we have a revenue problem. Um, you know, our sales taxes are always relatively
  333. 1:23:42flat. That's one thing we'd like to get up get performing better. So, when I think of our budget, I think of, you know, expense. I think to be simplistic, I think of expenses. I think of efficient use of capital and I think of of investment income. And one of the
  334. 1:23:55things we did this about 18 months ago is we moved our investment portfolio over to meter which is a private investment company and they service a lot of cities. And since we've done that, you can see you look at our we have a bubble chart we've been looking
  335. 1:24:07at. You were doing exceedingly well on the investments. We have some legacy investments that were made before we went to meter that are going to be coming off the fiveyear low low um return investments going to be coming off and that will help us. The fact that
  336. 1:24:19we had those probably cost us you know I don't know three or four million dollars. So, we're working on that and I think that's going to be better in the long run. On the cost on the cost cutting though, you know, I think we're to the point now we have to do some
  337. 1:24:32pretty we have to do surgical cutting. You know, sometimes in companies you could say, I'm going to do a 10% cut. You just take a take a wide swap and that's how you do it. You can't do that in cities where you're providing services. So, you have to be very
  338. 1:24:42careful. And I agree with Mark. We spent about $13 million on consulting dollars. Some of those consulting dollars make a lot of sense because they're kind of filling holes that we don't have or expertise, but I don't know about all of them.
  339. 1:24:54Um, as far as my closing statement though, I I enjoyed the forum. I think you asked a lot of good questions. I think, you know, civility is very important to me and I think the candidates up here, we all answer the questions, work well together. Um, and I
  340. 1:25:07also would say that our current council, we, you know, councils operate as a body and we may not when you when you watch our meetings closely, you'll see that we're we're basically negotiating with talking back and forth and trying to get a solution for all of us. And uh, we did
  341. 1:25:22that last night. We do almost every council meeting. And I think when I think about council meetings and I think about just how governments are functioning in general, I think it's really good if you can get people who are adults and can work well together
  342. 1:25:34without getting I never go home bad. I'm always I go home and I sleep quite well because I know we had a good discussion and if Mark doesn't agree with me, I'm not mad at Mark and he's not mad at me. It's just it's a good professional relationship and I think that's the way
  343. 1:25:46it should stay. And I had one revenue opportunity because I noticed Joy said the other night that she's a player and so am I. So, I was thinking, you know, Joy and I could play each other oneonone and uh we could raise money for one of the city's shortfalls and um thought I'd
  344. 1:26:02give Joy a couple months to practice and let me know when she's ready. Thank you for making bets and um Alex, go ahead. >> Yeah, thank you for the great questions. I really do think that I like hard questions because I think that transparency is important and explaining
  345. 1:26:18why we make the decisions that we do is is really important. And I'm someone who really like who I embrace disagreement. I often find that people who disagree with me can change my mind or they can help me understand my own perspective. So I I really appreciate that. Um you
  346. 1:26:32know India to your your [snorts] comment about not a revenue problem but a spending problem sounds like my memo memo from um as part of this last budget discussion when there was talk of having a um a proposed tax. are the memo basically argued that we are in a you
  347. 1:26:48know our fiscal position is is good and that we have reserves we have added to the disaster contingency fund but we really need to make cuts to the general fund and we identified 1.5 million in cuts we need to find an additional 2.3 million because by taking money from the
  348. 1:27:02capital improvement fund what that means is that we're deferring investments in our infrastructure which for a 100red years old city is a is a problem um as you know part of the me [snorts] what we argued for and the council performance-based budgeting, budgeting
  349. 1:27:16based on outcomes, not based on incrementalism, you know, because then we're just stuck in the past. Um, in terms of your questions about specific areas, um, parking is one of them. We were able to renegotiate the parking contracts where we consolidated two of
  350. 1:27:28them into one and we made it where instead of having the city pay for the fee for each transaction, that would be uh it would be the the person who's parking paying that. That's an example of one thing. the ondemand program. I think there's ways that we can be
  351. 1:27:44strategic in looking at the times when it's not used and and leveraging data to make sure that we're keeping the program but making cuts. Uh we voted we didn't support an electric vehicle adding or adding more charging stations based on the financials didn't work. So those are
  352. 1:28:00a couple examples. And then finally, I think as I think about the next four years and if I have the opportunity to serve serve for them, my biggest priority is going to continue to be what it has been over the past year, which is retaining the hospital. I really think
  353. 1:28:12there is no issue that is more important is sort of literally a matter of life and death. I feel really confident that we can find a solution and I'm going to continue working on that when it comes to okay last >> public safety infrastructure efficient
  354. 1:28:26government services. Um so again thank you for the questions and I I would be honored to have your support for the next four years. So >> thank you Nick. >> Well um back to your first question about um what we would do if we were um
  355. 1:28:42elected on council. What would we cut? I think obviously being sued less would help and paying out long lawsuits, uh less consultants. Um into the memo that Alex and Sue wrote, they tal they talked about a lot of cuts, but they also talked about hiring another city
  356. 1:28:58manager, assistant city manager at 300 something thousand. So, um that would be a problem there. Um you know, I wish it would, you know, we've heard a lot of great things from the city council tonight where it sounds like, you know, In my opinion, it sounds like that we'll
  357. 1:29:11have been residents of a certain election year every year because we get all the right things said by them. And that's obviously not what we've been seeing over the past several years. I've been going to the town halls and they've been selling us a tax for the last 10
  358. 1:29:26months, almost a year. And then finally, when it became very clear that the residents were not happy with that, they finally changed when it became an election year. The memo for the cuts to the budget happened during an election year. All this talk about during your
  359. 1:29:40yes and no questions matching us happened during an election year and I think trust has been lost with this city council and we need people who want to communicate with those who they agree with and also those who they disagree with and so I find that really
  360. 1:29:53interesting to hear from the incumbents when it talks about you know bullying and you know um intimidation because those things absolutely happen they happen to I believe everybody that was that's on the stage this evening and so either they're pretending not to know or
  361. 1:30:09Um, I don't I honestly don't know because two of them are endorsed by that group that you mentioned. So, I think for the city to move forward, we need to be able to trust our city council and we need to make sure that residents are being heard not just during an election
  362. 1:30:25year, but during all four years of when they're on council. And so, um, you know, when it goes back to what I hope to bring to council is to listen to the residents no matter what time of the year it is to make sure that we're planning ahead like an El Nino, not
  363. 1:30:40planning uh just a couple months before. And um you know, asking the tough questions. It's great that uh you know there's a lot of 5's but you know that means that um or it's great that they get along but it's not great that there's a lot of 5's and that we need a
  364. 1:30:55lot of tough questions to be asked to make sure that we come to a consensus and if people for example the visit Laguna contract if people didn't like that contract then they should vote no on it even if it still passes I think it's really important to make sure that
  365. 1:31:08people know where you stand on different issues. Thank you, Nick. Karen, >> thank you. Um, I enjoyed the forum. Thank you, everybody. I was just saying thank you. Um, I like the forum and and the government. Uh, Lugan Beach does not lack talent, money,
  366. 1:31:24or people who care. What we often lack is a clear connection between the problem, the policy, the spending, and the result. We can't fix that with another slogan, consultant, or a piece of software alone. We fix it by doing the fundamentals well. Let's make
  367. 1:31:42rules understandable and apply them consistent consistently. Um let's protect public safety before the emergency by maintaining roads, sewers, drainage, communications, evacuation routes, and local emergency care.
  368. 1:32:00Let's manage tourism by capacity and use visitor revenue first for in visitor impacts so that residents do not lose access to their beaches, streets, and neighborhoods. Let's help local businesses and artists by making city hall predictable,
  369. 1:32:19protecting worker access, and keeping downtown useful year round. Let's care for what we cannot replace. Our hillsides, our trees, our water courses, beaches, ocean, historic resources, neighborhoods, and especially our relationships.
  370. 1:32:36If elected, I will respect every dollar. Before approving a project, I'll ask what will it cost over its life and what will we not get to do when we choose that to spend that money. I bring more than 30 years of planning experience, the judgment of a small
  371. 1:32:56business owner, service to Laguna, and the determination to ask the hard questions without making government government personal or hostile. Experience brings responsibility. I'm ready to offer mine to this community. Thank you, Joy.
  372. 1:33:12Three expenditures I would cut. The first one would be the outside consultants. We've got a talented base right here in our town and I think a lot of people like to offer their services even for free. Number two, I'd eliminate all these new projects and capital
  373. 1:33:26outlays. And number three, I'd like to dive into the legal issues and and we have over two dozen lawsuits and that goes to my closing and I think I know why. I believe in the rule of law and it should apply everywhere, including here in Laguna Beach. We need to have one set
  374. 1:33:45of rules that apply to everyone, no matter who you know or how much money you have. This is another reason I'm running for city government. I want to see us go back to a rulesbased governance. We need to follow our general plan and other governing
  375. 1:34:01documents. I have been asked at other forums forums about my ongoing lawsuit against the city. It goes to this very issue. The current council approved a project on a steep hillside where their general plan prohibited development. We sued because this is a precedent setting
  376. 1:34:19move that exposes all of our hillsides to rampant development. Once our canyons and hillsides and beaches and other natural resources are gone, they're gone and I will protect them. Last night, I witnessed another betrayal of our rules by the incumbents, offering variances
  377. 1:34:38for two projects going against our South Lagoon Village specific plan and our local coastal plan. This council has produced 50 vote, one after another, even on controversial projects. You need to have at least one member who understands the importance of long-term
  378. 1:34:55budget plans and is willing to stand up for our environmental and planning rules rather than going along to get along. I was surprised more people didn't come to the rally for this lawsuit because the only thing protecting these hillsides outside Laguna Canyon is the 21-year
  379. 1:35:13open space easement. And when that's gone, let's go. Just for clarity, this city decided to go against math and science and instead of measuring steepness from top to bottom, they decide to do it from sideways to sideways. And so it's if we would follow
  380. 1:35:31the rules, we could eliminate the lawsuits. I love this town. I'd be deeply deeply honored to serve. >> Thank you, Ashley. >> Um, so we've been in a poor fiscal management position for the last four years. And so
  381. 1:35:47I think what I've seen even more so tonight is um a very siloed uh decision-m and conversations. It's quite concerning where some of the issues the other council members does didn't really know what the other ad hoc committee was working on. I think using the term civil
  382. 1:36:06um were civil is just putting their head in the sand to be honest. Um and it's it's concerning. So, I think that saying that we've just shaved off 1.5, not 1.3, but 1.5 um in a budget does not mean we're actually managing to the budget. That was what you were did when you guys
  383. 1:36:25created the budget, but I would like to see the budget to actuals um at this current state and every single month. But what I would do differently is review discretionary contracts, consultants, lower priority capital, staffing workload, and actual budget
  384. 1:36:38performance. um the pension, South Lagoona, insurance, staffing, all capital projects and infrastructure need to be put into a 5, 10, 15 year funding strategy. Um because we have made these commitments. Now we need to know how we're going to be able to pay for
  385. 1:36:50everything. Um and so my closing is that as I said, we've seen a lot tonight of reactive working ons. Um a lot of working ons and we see that across city hall. Um but that's not the standard I'm willing to accept. Leadership is having a plan before a crisis. It's
  386. 1:37:07understanding the trade-offs before making the decision. It's talking to the people affected before asking them to pay for it. It's knowing a funding source, a timeline, who's accountable, and what actually success looks like. I don't have all the answers, but I know
  387. 1:37:20how to lead complex organizations, manage budgets, build teams, and have be held accountable for results. Um, I'm going to treat this job as though my business safety, your safety, and Laguna's future depend on it because it does. Um, what we need to be asking is
  388. 1:37:34what did it cost, how long did it take, and did it work. The current council can point to meetings, committees, studies, and projects, but I'm asking residents to look at the outcomes because activity is not the same thing as progress. >> Okay. Thank you.
  389. 1:37:46>> Thank you. And >> all right. Well, the the three things that that I would cut, I would start with consultants. We have lots of very talented residents in this community that that can do a lot of the things that the consultants are doing. And very
  390. 1:38:02often the consultants are um just simply a vehicle to have to to [cough] present an opinion to the public. So I would I would focus on consultants and I would include in that the investment consultants um because I disagree with
  391. 1:38:20council member Kemp um on that matter. I would also cut salaries if possible. Um I I would like to see the organization flattened. Um there's open position in the city manager's office. Um if there are each position should be examined to make sure that it's critical to um the
  392. 1:38:43the public's benefit and the services that we provide to the public. And then finally, I would take a a very close look at our legal fees to make sure that we're getting the uh the most from any dollar spent um in the legal arena. If elected, I would be
  393. 1:39:04laser focused on city finances. that that is my career and I would um serve as a council member with the same dedication that I've served as city treasurer and bring
  394. 1:39:24bring that expertise to um fix some of the problems that we've had um over the last few years. I would listen to residents, follow the city rules, and where possible form coalitions of other like-minded cities to uh tackle common concerns like tourism, affordable
  395. 1:39:46housing, and size and retrofitting. Thank you very much. >> Okay. Um in closing, um in every relationship, there's an accelerator and a break. I'm the accelerator. India is my break. So, I want to thank her as being my co-host tonight. Um thank you
  396. 1:40:02to the audience for sitting around and giving us three and a half hours of your time. Thank you Mr. [applause]
Date and timeWednesday, September 23, 2026 · 6:00–9:00 p.m.
RaceLaguna Beach City Council
Organizer contactIndia Hynes, president
info@glbgop.com
How were questions gathered?No public submission form was offered. The organizer drew on previous debates, Nextdoor discussions, resident emails and pre-solicited candidate-to-candidate questions.

Candidate directory

Candidates in this forum race

Open a profile for sourced background, priorities, campaign links and public records. All nine qualified candidates spoke in the recordings.

City Council candidates

Sue Kempf, 2026 Laguna Beach City Council candidate Sue KempfCity Council incumbentView profile → Ashley Cintas, 2026 Laguna Beach City Council candidate Ashley CintasNon-incumbent candidateView profile → Laura ParisiCity TreasurerView profile → Mark Orgill, 2026 Laguna Beach City Council candidate Mark OrgillCity Council incumbentView profile → Nick Aronoff, 2026 Laguna Beach City Council candidate Nick AronoffNon-incumbent candidateView profile → Edward BayukNon-incumbent candidateView profile → Joy BerryNon-incumbent candidateView profile → Alex RounaghiCity Council incumbentView profile → Karen MartinNon-incumbent candidateView profile →

Forum record

Completed September 23 at Council Chambers. Both parts of the recording are embedded below, with searchable local copies of automatic captions and selected, timestamped candidate answer summaries. All nine City Council candidates spoke. GLBGOP hosted; NimbleGov PAC uploaded the videos.

The City listed this independently hosted forum after the organizer affirmed that candidates were offered equal time and opportunity to appear. The listing was not City sponsorship or endorsement. All nine candidates spoke in the recordings.

Organizer and voter guide

About Greater Laguna Beach GOP

Greater Laguna Beach GOP describes itself as a nonprofit political organization launched in 2020 with members from Laguna Beach and nearby coastal communities. President India Hynes told So Laguna that this is the group’s third Laguna Beach City Council debate. Although the organization has a political affiliation, the City Council race is nonpartisan.

Why did GLBGOP hold it?

GLBGOP said it held its third Council debate to probe fiscal issues, development and accountability more deeply. In the recording, moderators used short yes/no questions and follow-ups, including questions about incumbents’ prior decisions. A separate Jeopardy-style round is not clearly labeled in the recording.

What subjects were covered?

  • Public safety and quality of life
  • Development, land use and property rights
  • City spending, finances and infrastructure
  • Transparency and accountability
  • Local businesses, tourism and resident priorities
  • Traffic and parking
  • Other current Laguna Beach community issues

How were questions gathered?

No public submission form was offered. Hynes said GLBGOP assembled questions from earlier debates, Nextdoor discussions and resident emails; moderators also solicited candidate-to-candidate questions.

Contact the organizer →

Funding and endorsements

GLBGOP describes itself as a Republican organization and charges annual membership dues. Hynes said the forum is intended to give each participating candidate an opportunity to answer questions important to residents. This organizer statement is not a So Laguna characterization or endorsement.

Full moderator biographies and organizer contacts

Moderator · Jennifer Zeiter
Laguna Beach resident since 2011. Business, tax and estate-planning attorney; former software-company general counsel; GLBGOP board member; former Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee member; and co-lead of the No on P campaign.
Moderator · India Hynes
Laguna Beach resident from 1996–2000 and since 2014. Retired former chief executive of a California cabinet-manufacturing company and president of Greater Laguna Beach GOP.
Recording
Two complete parts uploaded to YouTube by NimbleGov PAC; both embedded and transcribed on this page
Organizer response
Forum details supplied by India Hynes, president, Greater Laguna Beach GOP
Organizer contact
India Hynes · info@glbgop.com
Media contact
Karen Christensen · karenc@glbgop.com

Sources

Pre-forum organizer questionnaire

Full responses from India Hynes

Greater Laguna Beach GOP president India Hynes provided these answers before the forum. Descriptions of planned rounds and broadcasts reflect the organizer’s advance plans; use the recordings above to see what happened.

Question 1

Who will moderate the forum?

Jennifer Zeiter and India Hynes. Zeiter is a Laguna Beach resident, business, tax and estate-planning attorney, former software-company general counsel, GLBGOP board member, former Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee member and co-lead of the No on P campaign. Hynes is a longtime Laguna Beach resident, retired former chief executive of a California cabinet manufacturer and president of Greater Laguna Beach GOP.

Question 2

What topics will the forum cover?

Public safety, development and land use, City finances, infrastructure, quality-of-life concerns, local businesses, traffic and parking, and other current community issues.

Question 3

Can residents submit questions?

No public submission form is planned. GLBGOP says it assembled dozens of questions from previous debates, Nextdoor discussions and resident emails and also pre-solicited candidate-to-candidate questions.

Question 4

Why is Greater Laguna Beach GOP hosting the forum?

The organization says this will be its third Laguna Beach City Council debate. Its goal is to question candidates on important local issues and take deeper dives into fiscal issues, property rights, development, transparency and accountability. Although GLBGOP has a political affiliation, the City Council race is nonpartisan, and the organizer says each participating candidate will have an opportunity to answer questions important to residents.

Question 5

What issues does the organizer believe candidates must address?

Looming development, spending and budget issues, infrastructure, transparency, and prioritizing residents and local business owners over tourists.

Question 6

What distinguishes this forum from the others?

GLBGOP says it will move beyond long prepared answers with curveballs, questions that have not been asked elsewhere and follow-ups requiring candidates to defend or explain prior statements and positions. Rounds include general questions, candidate-specific questions, candidate-to-candidate questions, a yes/no lightning round, a Jeopardy-style homework round and a final interactive round.

Question 7

What is the one question every candidate should answer?

Before the forum, the organizer declined to disclose it, responding: “Wait and see!” In the recorded closing round, every candidate was asked to name three substantial costs or projects they would cut, reduce or postpone before raising taxes. The recording does not explicitly identify that as the question withheld in advance.

Question 8

Will the forum be recorded, streamed or televised?

GLBGOP plans to publish a recording on its website after the event. The Zoom feed will be muted, with no chat or audience participation. GLBGOP’s public event page says City Channel 52; its emailed response to So Laguna referred to Channel 852, so cable viewers should verify their provider’s current listing.

Where the forum was held

Council Chambers

505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, CA 92651

This completed forum was held at Laguna Beach City Council Chambers. The map is retained as part of the event record.

Open location in Google Maps

Quick answers

Greater Laguna Beach GOP candidate forum FAQ

Where can I watch the September 23 GLBGOP candidate forum?

Both parts of the complete recording are embedded here. NimbleGov PAC uploaded them to YouTube. The first runs about 1 hour 35 minutes and the second about 1 hour 40 minutes.

Is there a searchable transcript?

Yes. Search both locally archived automatic-caption transcripts on this page or download each plain-text part. Automatic captions can contain mistakes; use the recording to verify statements.

Which City Council candidates participated?

All nine candidates spoke: Edward Bayuk, Mark Orgill, Sue Kempf, Alex Rounaghi, Nick Aronoff, Karen Martin, Joy Berry, Ashley Cintas and Laura Parisi.

What questions did the forum cover?

The multi-round forum addressed city spending and staffing, public access to services, tourism impacts, development and land use, public safety, infrastructure, transparency and other issues. This page selects key timestamped exchanges for each candidate and provides the complete captions for the rest.

Who moderated and hosted the forum?

Jennifer Zeiter and India Hynes moderated for Greater Laguna Beach GOP. The City Council race is nonpartisan; the host organization is politically affiliated.

Verification: Schedule details follow the City Clerk’s official 2026 forum list and the linked organizer source. Last checked October 24, 2026. Research and page maintenance by Michael Kovach for the So Laguna Neighborhood Association.