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Video ID: nmSe8WnQh-g
Language: en
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[0:10] Let me have all the candidates take
[0:12] their places, please.
[0:43] All right. Okay. Welcome everybody. Uh
[0:45] my name is Ed Steinfeld. I'm with the
[0:47] voice of Lagona.
[0:49] I uh left a little more time for
[0:52] applause. That's okay.
[0:54] That's all right.
[0:57] Now it sounds like I asked for it.
[1:00] >> Uh, I want to thank the board of
[1:02] realtors and the good beach chamber of
[1:04] commerce for helping us with this today
[1:06] and being part of this
[1:07] >> recording in progress.
[1:09] >> Thank you
[1:11] very much. And I want to thank our uh
[1:15] candidates for wanting to serve our
[1:17] community. A big hand for the
[1:18] candidates, please.
[1:23] In just a couple of seconds, I'll be
[1:25] introducing them individually, and I
[1:27] will ask you at this point to hold your
[1:29] applause until they've all been
[1:30] introduced. Uh, and needless to say, you
[1:34] look like a classy bunch here. Uh, there
[1:36] is absolutely no booing of a candidate.
[1:39] Please, if you do boo, you get a yellow
[1:41] card
[1:42] and then a couple of booze, a couple of
[1:44] yellow cards, you've earned a red card,
[1:46] and you're out of here.
[1:48] Um, after the introductions, each
[1:50] candidate is going to have the
[1:51] opportunity for a one minute opening
[1:53] statement. And for the rest of us, that
[1:55] opening statement is a listening
[1:57] session. And I ask you to hold your
[1:59] applause after
[2:02] each opening statement until they're all
[2:03] done. And uh, this forum is going to be
[2:06] a little different than the other forms.
[2:07] It's going to be more of a debate. Uh,
[2:09] it's an exchange of ideas and opinions
[2:12] among the candidates. And once the
[2:15] questions get started, it's the
[2:16] audience's responsibility to observe.
[2:19] Remember
[2:23] uh and I'm going to thank you all for
[2:24] ahead of time for not involving
[2:26] yourselves in the conversation. Uh the
[2:28] candidates will get two minutes to
[2:29] respond to questions directly put to
[2:32] them and each of the other candidates
[2:34] will get anywhere from 30 seconds to two
[2:37] minutes uh to respond and that'll be at
[2:39] my discretion depending on the question
[2:41] asked. And uh halfway through, I don't
[2:43] expect this to go three, four or five
[2:45] hours or anything like that. I I expect
[2:47] a couple hours, we should be able to
[2:49] take care of uh take care of business
[2:50] here if we move with elacrity. Uh but
[2:54] halfway through, we'll give the
[2:55] candidates a few minutes to take a
[2:57] little break. Uh and at the end of the
[3:00] questions, uh the candidates will each
[3:02] uh give us a two-minute closing
[3:04] statement. Uh I I thank the candidates.
[3:07] I understand that this is like the 200th
[3:10] uh forum that they've done and I respect
[3:13] their being here. Uh
[3:16] I got a couple of calls today from uh
[3:18] Sue Kemp and uh and Mark that uh they're
[3:23] both sick
[3:25] >> so they are unable to make it. Mark has
[3:27] uh uh sent in a statement and I'll be
[3:30] reading his statement for him when it's
[3:31] time. Uh and again I'll ask you to hold
[3:34] applause for that point.
[3:36] Uh, I will introduce the candidates to
[3:38] you. To, uh, my left, Nick Aronov,
[3:41] Karen Martin, Alex Ragi, Ashley Simus,
[3:46] Laura Perezy,
[3:48] Joy Barry, and Edward Bay.
[3:52] You may know
[4:00] >> since since there are board of realtor
[4:04] questions, real uh uh chamber of
[4:07] commerce questions and my own questions
[4:10] uh from voice of the we will be uh just
[4:13] skipping around a little bit, one from
[4:14] each and then maybe a couple from one,
[4:16] but we'll get to all of the questions
[4:18] that each of the entities has asked us
[4:20] to.
[4:30] And hopefully all of you have attended
[4:32] council meetings. So you'll hear the
[4:34] little warning buzz. We have 30 seconds
[4:36] left and then you'll hear the really
[4:38] annoying buzz.
[4:44] >> All right, we're going to start with our
[4:46] candidate one minute statements. We'll
[4:48] start to my left, Mr. Aronov.
[4:51] Good evening. Thank you, Ed. Uh, thank
[4:53] you for the chamber and the board of
[4:54] realators for hosting. Uh, I'm Nick
[4:56] Aronov. Uh, you know, I grew up here in
[4:57] Laguna. I've had a chance to live and
[4:59] work overseas, opening up offices and
[5:02] starting businesses in multiple cities
[5:03] around the world. Uh, I understand the
[5:05] risk and the work behind keeping uh
[5:07] those doors open. You know, tonight is
[5:10] about Luna's economy and the future and
[5:12] leadership in an atmosphere we need to
[5:13] move forward.
[5:15] Business owners and residents should
[5:16] never feel afraid to question their
[5:18] council members, speak publicly, or
[5:21] support another candidate. When people
[5:23] fear consequences for speaking up, we
[5:25] have a leadership problem. We have real
[5:27] problems to solve in this town, and more
[5:29] of the same won't deliver different
[5:31] results. I would bring practical
[5:34] experience, proactive leadership, fresh
[5:36] ideas, and an open door helping small
[5:38] businesses thrive while protecting
[5:40] Laguna's character and making sure
[5:43] everyone gets a fair share.
[5:45] And I would bring that commitment year
[5:47] round, not just during election season.
[5:50] Thank you.
[5:51] >> Thank you, Nick. Uh Karen.
[5:54] >> Hi, Karen Martin. I came to Lincoln
[5:57] Beach in 1986
[5:59] and believe I found
[6:01] place where I've always lived. So, I've
[6:04] been here a while. I'm not running for a
[6:07] political career. I'm running because
[6:10] residents do their homework, show up,
[6:12] and ask legitimate questions. Yet, too
[6:15] often
[6:18] they feel their voices are not heard.
[6:22] The prominant put a spotlight on a
[6:24] larger problem for me. Too often we
[6:26] start with a project or a preferred
[6:28] answer before we have a clearly defined
[6:32] problem. The full cost, the alternatives
[6:35] and the effect on residents. After more
[6:37] than 30 years in municipal planning, I
[6:40] know these problems can be solved. I
[6:43] will listen. I will do my homework, ask
[6:45] difficult questions, and explain my
[6:47] decisions. Thank you.
[6:49] >> Thank you, Karen, Alex.
[6:53] >> Thank you, Ed. Thank you for the
[6:54] opportunity. I I'm Alexi and I'm
[6:57] grateful to to be born and raised in
[6:59] Laguna Beach and really honored to have
[7:01] the opportunity to serve on the city
[7:02] council for the last four years. I'm
[7:04] proud of the work that um I've been able
[7:05] to do with my colleagues on the issues
[7:07] that really matter to people. Number one
[7:08] is always public safety. The question is
[7:10] not if but when the next wildfire
[7:12] happens and we saw that during the
[7:13] Rancho fire when it was really
[7:15] government at its best. Um fully funding
[7:18] law enforcement, water independence, um
[7:21] having more concerts of the Irvine which
[7:23] was a day that I'll always remember
[7:25] because the downtown was full and
[7:26] businesses were thriving and
[7:28] environmentally government efficiency as
[7:29] it relates to small business. Um, you
[7:32] know, that's what we need in terms of
[7:34] streamlining. We've cut the timeline by
[7:36] 30% and there's there's so much more to
[7:39] do. So, thank you for the opportunity. I
[7:40] look forward to the questions.
[7:42] >> Thank you, Alex. Ashley,
[7:45] >> thank you. I'm Ashley Cintis and we live
[7:48] in the most beautiful city in America,
[7:50] which is why I decided to invest my life
[7:52] savings and build a business here. Um, I
[7:54] own Odo Sushi right here in downtown.
[7:57] But I think one of the biggest
[7:58] challenges facing Lagona isn't a lack of
[8:00] ideas, studies, or even money. It's that
[8:02] we're not constantly looking at the
[8:04] whole picture when we make decisions.
[8:06] And we're seeing those consequences of
[8:07] that right now. Take the downtown. We're
[8:10] going to be about a year in
[8:11] construction. that impacts the business
[8:13] community, employee livelihoods, and
[8:16] what's going to happen when we have El
[8:17] Nino winter that will delay this even
[8:19] further. Our coastline, our finances,
[8:22] all of these aren't separate problems.
[8:24] They're decisions affect that affect
[8:25] something else. And ultimately, res
[8:27] residents and businesses pay the price.
[8:29] I've spent my career managing budgets,
[8:31] employees, operations, and complex
[8:33] projects. And as a business owner here,
[8:34] I experience the consequences of these
[8:36] decisions firsthand. What I want to
[8:38] bring to city council is a different
[8:39] approach. understand the full impact
[8:42] before we make decisions, set
[8:43] priorities, finish what we fund, and
[8:45] being accountable for the results. Thank
[8:47] you.
[8:48] >> Thank you, Ashley. Laura.
[8:50] >> Hello. I am Laura Paresi and I've been
[8:53] your elected treasurer since 1999. I'm
[8:56] seeking a council uh seat, not because
[8:58] I'm tired of being the treasurer, but
[9:00] because the council and staff made have
[9:02] made it increasingly difficult for me to
[9:04] do the job that you elected me to do and
[9:07] that I um expect of myself. Even though
[9:10] I've been limited to a part-time
[9:13] treasurer, I strive for excellence my
[9:15] role. In the other part of my time, I'm
[9:18] serving uh the county of Orange as the
[9:21] assistant treasurer tax collector and I
[9:23] can advocate for what's needed for the
[9:25] city. To that end, um the county
[9:27] treasurer is going to be providing
[9:29] access to uh some property tax reduction
[9:31] programs that uh may be available to
[9:34] those homeowners who have property
[9:35] damage with this storm.
[9:38] I also have worked to train California
[9:40] treasurers through CMTA, served as a
[9:43] legislative chair for treasurers and
[9:45] sponsored Senate Bill 742, which is
[9:48] transparency in city accounting that was
[9:50] signed in 2017.
[9:53] >> Thank you.
[9:55] >> Joy,
[9:56] >> a little bit about me. I'm a self-made
[9:58] businesswoman, a former executive with
[10:00] large corporations, and now a small
[10:02] business owner, excuse me, in the
[10:03] hospitality industry restoring historic
[10:06] in a camp along the central coast of
[10:08] California. I'm running because I
[10:10] believe our council, our current council
[10:12] has lost sight of its primary mission,
[10:14] which is that to be a protector, a
[10:16] protector of our finances, our
[10:18] environment, our historic resources and
[10:20] character, and most importantly, our
[10:22] quality of life. With my background in
[10:24] finance development, hospitality, as
[10:26] well as an activist who knows and
[10:28] respects the community, I'm ready to hit
[10:30] the ground running as an effective
[10:32] resident focused council member. We need
[10:35] more than one thought leader. council.
[10:36] We need independent voices who will have
[10:38] the courage to not go along if the
[10:40] decision if the decision is not good for
[10:42] the community. We need someone who will
[10:44] stand behind the rule of law. No more
[10:46] favoritism because of who you know or
[10:48] the money they offer political
[10:50] campaigns. I will be that voice. I love
[10:53] this town and I want to see us all
[10:55] succeed. Thank you very much.
[10:56] >> Thank you, Joy. Ed.
[10:58] >> Hi, Edward B. Thank you all for coming
[11:00] this evening. Um I uh have lived here
[11:04] for more than 30 years and during that
[11:06] time have served the community as well
[11:10] as the state uh regarding three
[11:13] political appointments uh California new
[11:15] motor vehicle board California finance
[11:17] housing agency board of directors Nevada
[11:21] highspeed rail board as well as a
[11:24] trustee board member of art museum 2015
[11:28] I was awarded a infregard award
[11:31] sponsored by a government agency
[11:33] promoting industries of importance to
[11:35] protect critical industries of the
[11:36] United States. I'm running for city
[11:39] council because I believe Laguna deserve
[11:42] beach deserves experience, independent
[11:44] leadership and value, transparency,
[11:47] fiscal responsibility, public safety,
[11:49] emergency preparedness,
[11:52] environmental stewardship and thoughtful
[11:54] planning. The train here has left the
[11:56] station. So, we are on a critical path
[12:00] here now and Laguna needs Laguna Beach
[12:03] residents need to make an important
[12:05] decision in this election season. Thank
[12:07] you, Ed. Appreciate it. Thank you. Uh I
[12:10] will now read the statement from
[12:12] candidate Orgill. Uh as I mentioned
[12:14] earlier, uh candidate Orgill and
[12:16] candidate Kemp are not here. Uh thank
[12:19] you to the ch to the Chamber of
[12:21] Commerce, Board of Realtors, and Voice
[12:23] of Luma for hosting tonight's forum.
[12:25] Unfortunately, I'm not feeling well and
[12:27] cannot attend. I've appreciated the
[12:29] opportunity to discuss Laguna's future
[12:31] through 10 candidate forums, my weekly
[12:34] mayor's update, and conversations with
[12:36] residents. When I first ran, I promised
[12:38] to help restore civility. We've made
[12:41] meaningful progress toward a more
[12:42] respectful, productive council that
[12:43] works through disagreements and gets
[12:45] things done. I'm running for re-election
[12:47] to build on that progress, strengthening
[12:49] wildfire preparedness, improving water
[12:51] reliability, protecting artist spaces
[12:53] and neighborhoods, and modernizing city
[12:55] government. Through our general plan
[12:57] update in partnership with the coastal
[12:58] commission, we're working to protect
[13:00] Laguna's culture, heritage, and
[13:01] environment while addressing today's
[13:03] pressures and planning for tomorrow. I
[13:06] remain committed to bringing people
[13:07] together and keeping Laguna safe,
[13:09] resilient, and special.
[13:12] Okay, so as I mentioned to you all, uh
[13:14] this is an This is uh in debate style.
[13:18] So I will point a question at one of you
[13:21] and then ask another of you for a
[13:23] followup. And any candidate that wants a
[13:25] piece of that action, just raise your
[13:27] hand and I'll give you a few seconds to
[13:28] to dial into that. Okay.
[13:32] Let's talk about economic development
[13:34] and the city's role. And I'll uh I'll
[13:36] start with Karen.
[13:38] Uh
[13:40] in your view, what does successful
[13:42] economic development look like for
[13:43] Laguna Beach? and what role should the
[13:45] city play in supporting existing
[13:47] businesses and attracting new businesses
[13:50] that align with our community? I'll add
[13:52] that at one time the city used to have
[13:55] an initiative called open for business
[13:58] and they used to advertise it outside
[14:00] the boundaries of the city to invite
[14:02] potential businesses to come and talk to
[14:04] planners and the people who would be
[14:06] involved in the approvals. Uh have we
[14:09] lost our imagination not having things
[14:12] like that?
[14:14] Thanks for the question. Oops.
[14:15] >> Thanks for the question. Um,
[14:19] I think what we've lost is the um trust
[14:23] in the businesses that would love to
[14:27] locate here in town and be a part of our
[14:29] community. We've lost that trust because
[14:32] our permitting process doesn't work.
[14:34] Mark Orle states that the general plan
[14:36] update is underway, but actually they
[14:38] have not even issued the RFP for the
[14:41] general plan update. They only discussed
[14:42] it two weeks ago. Um, I think what
[14:45] businesses need is predictable
[14:48] permitting. The efficiency ordinance has
[14:51] an application process that makes it
[14:53] almost impossible for a property owner
[14:55] to sign. I can give you specific
[14:58] examples of that if you'd like. Um, one
[15:01] specific example is it asks the property
[15:03] owner to completely indemnify the city
[15:07] and verify that everything in the
[15:09] application that is for the tenant is
[15:13] true and correct. Essentially
[15:16] moving the responsibility of the city
[15:19] planning department
[15:21] to the property owner. I think that's
[15:23] really going to hurt our community. I
[15:25] think our we've gone in the wrong
[15:27] direction. I think there's
[15:29] many people that would like many people
[15:31] and businesses that would like to to be
[15:33] here. It's just not a safe environment
[15:36] for somebody to invest in.
[15:38] >> Okay, Alex, take a minute and uh do you
[15:41] agree?
[15:42] >> Um I I don't agree. I'd like to talk
[15:44] more about the identification things.
[15:45] That's typically pretty standard for
[15:47] applications, but we can talk offline
[15:49] about that. Um but I think for me it's
[15:50] really about streamlining. I'm against I
[15:52] don't think that city government is
[15:53] really good at going out there and
[15:55] finding the best uh retail. That's just
[15:57] not what city government does. we should
[15:58] be doing is making it a very predictable
[16:01] and streamlined process. Um, and so
[16:03] we've cut the time from initial submitt
[16:05] to to building permit by 30%. I think
[16:07] that's it was a low bar before. There's
[16:09] more to be done there. I'm excited about
[16:11] the possibility with AI. Imagine a world
[16:13] where you could have a business approved
[16:15] in 15 days what we'd be able to do. And
[16:17] then also streamlining our parking
[16:18] requirements. Wave sandwiches is a
[16:20] perfect example of the draconian parking
[16:22] requirements that really get in the way
[16:24] of small businesses that we want to see
[16:26] in this community. So, I think that um
[16:29] that really the key is not to be having,
[16:31] you know, where the city's having to go
[16:33] out and recruit people, but instead have
[16:34] a really predictable and streamline code
[16:37] where the small business is able to want
[16:39] to invest in.
[16:40] >> All right. I'm going to give Nick and
[16:42] Joy each 30 seconds. Nick, give me 30.
[16:44] >> Yeah. I think sometimes, you know,
[16:45] government needs to get out of the way.
[16:47] I think when we're, like Alex said, when
[16:48] we're uh trying to control, there's a
[16:51] good time to be in the way, like we want
[16:53] to make sure we're not opening up our
[16:55] doors to a bunch of Fortune 500
[16:56] companies and
[16:57] which I think we need to continue to uh
[16:59] keep the character of Laguna and focus
[17:02] on small businesses but you know by
[17:04] doing that and wanting that you know a
[17:05] small business owner can't be paying
[17:07] rent for six months while waiting for a
[17:08] c and that's where we need to get out of
[17:10] the way and make things easier as much
[17:12] as I agree with Alex's comment about uh
[17:15] making things easier for businesses like
[17:16] waves when it comes to parking we can't
[17:18] just open the floodgates and then any
[17:20] you know we're going to have a bunch of
[17:22] ice cream shops on uh on the prominade
[17:24] and that's because of bad polic We have
[17:27] bad policy. We get a bunch of coffee
[17:28] shops and ice cream places.
[17:29] >> Thank you, Nick. Enjoy.
[17:31] >> There's a big difference between
[17:32] marketing a place and a business. And
[17:35] unfortunately, our incumbents have
[17:37] focused on marketing our location and
[17:40] attracting more people to come. Our
[17:42] marketing dollar should go to be helping
[17:43] the businesses and the artists and
[17:45] marketing and attracting those
[17:48] businesses to town. I think a lot of it
[17:50] is how you message your location and
[17:52] your attractiveness to bring these
[17:54] people in. And I And I feel like our um
[17:58] messaging has been all wrong.
[17:59] >> Okay. Ashley through.
[18:03] >> Yeah. So I mean it's it's a two-sided
[18:05] problem. Um having done a restaurant
[18:08] built a restaurant here. So the city
[18:10] does need to get involved when it comes
[18:12] to the property owners. We have a lot of
[18:14] independent property owners here and a
[18:15] lot of the buildings are s like very
[18:18] aging infrastructure. They need ADA
[18:19] updates etc. So they need to be
[18:21] incentivized to want to upgrade their
[18:24] buildings otherwise no one's going to be
[18:26] coming in because it's going to cost a
[18:27] lot of money from for an independent
[18:28] business to come in. So there needs to
[18:30] be a better um fasttrack pering process
[18:34] which every city does and then we need
[18:35] to make it knowledgeable with work
[18:37] working with brokers of what's
[18:39] available. I mean it's a two-sided
[18:40] process but the city definitely needs to
[18:42] get involved.
[18:42] >> All right. Thank you. And so I've been a
[18:45] business owner here as well as a
[18:46] commercial property owner. I've had
[18:48] tenants and I know business owners here.
[18:50] I know all the commercial uh renters as
[18:54] well, but I there's this the city is
[18:58] very difficult to deal with. I there's a
[19:00] business person that's sitting in the
[19:01] audience uh Laguna Beach Laguna Nursery
[19:06] Ruben Florence. It took him forever to
[19:09] get sign signage permits done correctly
[19:12] and he would submit them and they ran
[19:14] them around ran them around. It took him
[19:16] five years to for me Ashley opened the
[19:19] business. It shouldn't be like that.
[19:20] >> Thank you. Okay. Uh, next question
[19:23] directed at Ashley Centus. What
[19:26] locations would you identify to add
[19:28] housing in the downtown specific plan in
[19:31] order to satisfy the requirements of our
[19:32] HMA?
[19:34] >> I keep forgetting to turn this off. So,
[19:36] sorry. Um, well, first I would want to
[19:40] we need to relook at the data and
[19:42] represent it to the state. So, the
[19:43] housing um housing that we uh numbers
[19:46] that we gave to the state was from 2019
[19:49] and our population has decreased. So I
[19:51] wouldn't want to give any form of
[19:52] approval of an amount and so we go back
[19:54] to the state and most likely get a
[19:56] reduced number. Two, I do not want to
[19:58] develop the downtown whatsoever. Um
[20:00] there's a lot of other um areas other
[20:04] parts of Lagona that are sitting vacant.
[20:06] I don't think we should build new. We
[20:07] have other developments that that aging
[20:09] infrastructure we could turn into
[20:10] something.
[20:10] >> Is there a specific area you see?
[20:13] >> I would like more. I I not I would say
[20:16] more on the outskirts if we were to do
[20:18] any development. We don't need to do
[20:19] anything in an already very congested
[20:21] area.
[20:21] >> Nick,
[20:23] >> yeah, I'm against development in the
[20:24] downtown area. I think it's been
[20:26] discussed before where the downtowns
[20:28] included sort of the arts area near
[20:30] where like Lagoon Beach Brewing is, and
[20:32] I could see more uh housing in that
[20:34] area, but I think in the downtown,
[20:36] especially when they've been discussing
[20:37] half a parking spot for some of these uh
[20:39] units, it doesn't make any sense. Now,
[20:41] we can convert some maybe commercial
[20:43] buildings into
[20:44] But to to build on top of these old
[20:47] buildings, it doesn't make any sense.
[20:48] >> Okay,
[20:49] >> sure.
[20:51] >> Um, 30 seconds.
[20:53] >> Okay. Since we know the office is no
[20:55] longer as vital as it used to be. So, I
[20:57] would love to do an inventory of all the
[20:59] downtown office space that's vacant.
[21:01] Dedicate planning staff to those land
[21:04] owners and see if we can't convert those
[21:06] to housing because the office space has
[21:08] um parking already for the um location.
[21:12] And then um if it's a new space, it
[21:15] counts towards arena numbers. If it's a
[21:18] converted residential space, it doesn't
[21:20] count. So I would that would be a
[21:22] win-win for me.
[21:23] >> Okay.
[21:24] >> And there's dangly across the street.
[21:27] Example, there's a building that's
[21:29] offices that could be easily converted
[21:31] to apartments. They all have their own
[21:32] bathrooms. So there are opportunities
[21:35] downtown.
[21:36] >> Okay. Thank you for that.
[21:38] >> Yes, Alex. Yeah, I mean I I think that
[21:40] the key here is we want to have local
[21:41] control in our housing only requires
[21:43] that we update the downtown specific
[21:45] plan. We don't have to build a single
[21:46] unit of housing and so adaptive reuse.
[21:49] We all like the idea of it. I'm for it.
[21:50] We haven't been able to navigate the
[21:52] fire code issues associated with that
[21:53] where it's cost prohibitive. I think the
[21:55] art district is the place where it makes
[21:57] the most sense as as Nick was saying
[21:59] earlier. There's already threetory
[22:00] artist live work housing that is allowed
[22:02] there. Let's just cross off the word
[22:04] artist and we're going to satisfy our
[22:06] read numbers.
[22:08] because remember we don't have a housing
[22:10] element. We don't have any control.
[22:12] >> Okay.
[22:13] >> Um I go back to the capacity study that
[22:16] I've been talking about. Um I think we
[22:18] need to look at the realistic capacity
[22:20] of our community. And although um many
[22:24] of these suggestions seem to make sense,
[22:27] I want to know for sure, are they in a
[22:29] flood zone? Are they in a high fire
[22:31] hazard zone? Is the hillside going to
[22:33] slide down? Um I think we really need to
[22:37] look Safety first.
[22:39] >> Okay. Thank you. I'll direct this
[22:40] question first to Alex and then come to
[22:42] Nick afterwards. Uh when we're talking
[22:44] about safety at the beaches, we know
[22:46] that even recently in the last few days,
[22:48] we've seen the power of the ocean. We've
[22:50] had a couple of drownings over the
[22:51] summer. Uh rip currents. Uh and getting
[22:55] the messaging out to visitors about
[22:58] safety at our beaches. Uh was this
[23:01] summer's messaging campaign from the
[23:02] city a failure?
[23:06] I think that we can always do better as
[23:08] it relates to messaging. It's a really
[23:10] hard thing to solve for in the sense
[23:12] that especially the beaches in South
[23:14] Lagoon, what you have is um is the the
[23:17] waves are different than than other
[23:19] beaches and people it's really easy for
[23:21] people to to get to think that the water
[23:24] is a lot less dangerous than it actually
[23:25] is. So I think we I'm always open to
[23:27] more ways to do that. One of the things
[23:28] I worked on was the cove outside three
[23:31] bay. There have been deaths there. We
[23:33] tried to that basically articulated how
[23:36] many people have died here. The coastal
[23:38] commission would have let us do what we
[23:39] came up with a compromised sign that
[23:41] really was not effective. So I think we
[23:42] actually the coastal commission the
[23:44] coastal development group required we
[23:45] need to work with them on how can we
[23:47] more effectively document it because a
[23:50] lot of the signage is just not going to
[23:52] people aren't going to recognize it but
[23:53] I think it really takes understanding
[23:55] what what the risk is in terms of number
[23:57] of deaths. Would you be open to
[23:59] utilizing both radio stations in town to
[24:02] get the message out to people that
[24:03] actually are listening?
[24:05] >> I'd want to make sure that we're doing
[24:06] it in a way that where we're targeting
[24:08] targeting the visitors, but I think we
[24:10] I'm open to to all ideas for that.
[24:12] >> Nick,
[24:13] >> yeah, I mean, we have the data uh that
[24:15] tracks who's going to what beaches, uh,
[24:17] so we can target them with social media
[24:19] posts and also we need to improve
[24:21] signage. I'd hate to be sitting here
[24:24] saying that we be spending more money on
[24:25] signage, but that's why making sure that
[24:27] we have a balanced budget is important
[24:28] because when something comes up where we
[24:30] need to spend money on it, we need to,
[24:32] you know, effectively update our signage
[24:34] uh to make sure people are aware of um
[24:37] of the dangers of the beaches,
[24:38] especially in South Laguna, because it
[24:40] all kind of snowballs from there. Domino
[24:41] effect, if we don't have the proper
[24:43] signage, we don't have the proper
[24:44] notifications going out to these people
[24:46] going to the beach. Now, we're paying
[24:48] for our firefighters to go out there
[24:50] constantly, emergency personnel that I
[24:52] mean, how many helicopter rescues have
[24:54] we seen this year? Growing up it was
[24:56] maybe one a year. Now it's once a week.
[24:58] >> Okay. Thank you. Na 30 seconds.
[25:01] >> Do we do we do red flags when it's
[25:04] dangerous?
[25:05] >> Yes.
[25:06] >> How often do we do red flags when it was
[25:07] dangerous this summer?
[25:11] >> How often do we do it?
[25:12] >> I mean I'm just wondering like the
[25:13] communication to when we had you know a
[25:15] child drowned and had multiple drownings
[25:18] this summer. Just where was the
[25:20] responsibility making sure that red
[25:21] flags are out more often? They do flags
[25:23] that are down at beach. Yeah.
[25:26] >> All of them.
[25:26] >> Not at all beaches.
[25:28] >> You should do it at all beaches.
[25:29] >> Okay. Well, then that's the solution.
[25:31] Red flags at all beaches. Especially my
[25:33] just main beach. I think there was
[25:35] drownings that that needs to happen. I
[25:36] mean, I grew up at a beach. Anything
[25:38] happened, the red flag was out. No one
[25:40] just went for a while.
[25:41] >> I mean, Marine safety have a difficult
[25:42] job. You I've seen it firsthand where
[25:44] they tell them to get out of the water
[25:45] and then they pass by the beach and then
[25:47] people go back in the water. Sometimes
[25:49] you can't stop people from doing stupid
[25:50] things, but what we can do is just put
[25:53] our marine safety in the best position
[25:54] to be successful and protect our
[25:55] visitors, but you know, you can't
[25:57] protect everybody.
[25:58] >> Okay. Thank you. Okay, Laura, this next
[26:01] question is for you. Uh you have stated
[26:04] before that you prefer not to have to
[26:05] run for city council. Uh you're
[26:07] perfectly happy as our city treasurer.
[26:10] Uh but you wanted your candidacy to
[26:12] focus on to focus the voters's attention
[26:15] on fiscal responsibility.
[26:17] If not you, then who on this panel would
[26:20] you vote for to trust with the city's
[26:22] finances? And where do you specifically
[26:25] believe the incumbents have failed us?
[26:33] >> And then I'll go to Alex.
[26:34] >> Okay. Well, you know, it it sounds like
[26:38] most of the panel has talked about
[26:39] fiscal responsibility. I think it's a
[26:43] it's a talk that you have to walk. you
[26:47] have to insist and look at the numbers.
[26:49] I think on the panel um any all of the
[26:53] incumbents or any of the incumbents have
[26:55] talked about it but they're not
[26:57] following through with the information
[27:00] that that we need. Um as far as the
[27:05] new people that are the the candidates
[27:07] for council, I think all of them would
[27:09] be excellent choices. Um I they've heard
[27:13] about the issues. They've heard people.
[27:16] This is an area that not just me but I
[27:19] think the public is um tired of not
[27:23] knowing what the numbers are, delayed
[27:26] audits, audit findings. We need to know
[27:29] and have numbers we can count on and
[27:32] make good decisions based on.
[27:34] >> Are we not getting numbers? Are you not
[27:36] getting numbers you can count on from
[27:38] the incumbents?
[27:42] >> The audit was the last audit that we had
[27:45] was delayed by months. Um, I would
[27:49] advocate for a monthly financial report
[27:54] prepared by the finance department. It's
[27:56] required in our municipal code. Um, that
[27:58] the staff just doesn't do it. I think we
[28:02] should insist on it.
[28:03] >> Alex, is that a is that a failure of
[28:04] city management?
[28:06] >> I I can't speak to that, but I will say
[28:08] I agree with Laura about the monthly
[28:09] report. I to um I I put the the reports
[28:12] in the cloud and was able to figure out
[28:14] how to I'm hoping we can we can do that.
[28:16] So, I agree with Laura on that. But as
[28:17] it relates to the the overall approach,
[28:20] I mean, the city manager is the most
[28:21] important person in this. And what in
[28:23] finding Dave Gibbs, our city manager,
[28:24] which is very hard to find a good city
[28:26] manager. He comes from Newport Beach
[28:27] where they have a very good financial uh
[28:30] position and so he he played a huge role
[28:32] in that. We did uh with council member
[28:35] initiated a finance department audit. We
[28:38] still need to look at some influencing
[28:40] many of the recommendations there. I
[28:42] believe some have. One of the issues has
[28:43] been um the uh you know issues between
[28:47] the treasur and the finance department.
[28:49] So I'm hoping that you know maybe that
[28:51] we can work together and figure out a
[28:52] way where we have shared roles because
[28:54] it's just a complicated situation with
[28:56] um with different responsibilities
[28:58] there. And then the 12page memo that I
[29:00] worked on I mean I think people can say
[29:02] it's an election issue. I would argue
[29:04] the opposite because we were pretty
[29:05] transparent in what the problems in our
[29:07] city's finances were but also gave a
[29:09] balanced perspective. Is the uh issue
[29:11] between the treasurer and the finance
[29:13] department a situation of personalities
[29:16] and should the council get involved?
[29:18] >> I think it's an organiz I think it's a
[29:20] structural issue because you know I I've
[29:22] um and I I like Laura um but there have
[29:24] been issues with I think each city
[29:26] manager in the office of the elected
[29:28] treasure. So I'm committed to finding a
[29:30] way where we can look at how the
[29:31] responsibilities align with the
[29:32] government code and move forward in the
[29:35] smartest way possible because it's just
[29:36] complicated when you have the staff
[29:38] reports to the city manager and and and
[29:40] the city treasur reports to the voters
[29:42] that that leads to to conflict. Um, and
[29:45] so I'm I'm hopeful we can find a way
[29:47] forward past administrations at city
[29:49] hall.
[29:51] And and you're you're going to go and
[29:53] join you're going to go back to Alex
[29:55] because Alex is on an audit committee
[29:57] with Sue Kemp. And on that audit
[30:00] committee should be a person there's a
[30:02] few people in the audience even should
[30:04] have a finance degree CPA that can help
[30:07] them and guide them and they have not
[30:09] done that. And the issue is the election
[30:11] year. We're in an election year and they
[30:14] are meeting without help from a CPA and
[30:18] they're moving money from our capital
[30:20] expenditure to balance the budget. You
[30:23] don't do that. And you need someone who
[30:26] is a CPA to help them. Alex, you know
[30:28] that.
[30:30] >> Alex,
[30:31] >> just a correction. It's funny. I don't
[30:32] know why it's still on the website. I've
[30:34] never been on the audit committee,
[30:35] >> but but the um
[30:38] >> that's the efficiency adop committee,
[30:40] not the audit committee
[30:42] >> regarding balancing the budget.
[30:43] >> Yeah. Yeah. So, but so I I but I think
[30:46] that's what our memo recommended was
[30:47] that we stop doing the balancing the
[30:49] budget from the CIP and we were able to
[30:51] cut 1.5 million spending.
[30:53] >> Okay. Joy, Laura, and then Ashley.
[30:55] >> Well, I'm tired of hearing about
[30:57] transparency. I mean, with technology
[30:59] today, uh there's no reason why the
[31:01] residents and everybody can't see the
[31:04] actual numbers I tease but there is a
[31:06] software out there called Excel and it's
[31:08] not that hard but basically put the
[31:10] numbers and share it and so to also you
[31:13] know Alex to say that I hope to work
[31:15] together that's not enough we must work
[31:18] together because the numbers and our
[31:20] financial security is everything and I
[31:23] don't think it's city manager I think
[31:25] it's the um responsibility and the
[31:28] authority rest with council and it's our
[31:31] obligation
[31:32] >> Lauren
[31:34] I have to respectfully, Alex, disagree
[31:36] with you because I don't think it's
[31:38] organizational. I think that we have a
[31:41] general law form of government. The
[31:44] elected treasurer is the check and
[31:45] balance for citizens and um it's it's a
[31:49] matter of um
[31:52] oversight. It's a it's it's not o it's
[31:56] not an oversight. It's
[31:58] people people may not like when I come
[32:00] up with the fact that gee there's no
[32:03] money in the bond accounts. Don't you
[32:05] can't blame me for that.
[32:07] >> Can you blame?
[32:08] >> No. Well, I I um on on that issue and
[32:12] that's a I don't have So what what maybe
[32:15] the question Laura is has there been a
[32:16] city manager where it's been a really
[32:18] effective relationship
[32:20] >> in other cities? Yes.
[32:22] >> Yes. I I sit I sit on the league of
[32:25] California cities. There's a city
[32:26] manager department and there are many
[32:28] cities that have a very good
[32:30] relationship between the elected
[32:32] treasurer and the city manager. In fact,
[32:35] I had the city of Certino's manager ask
[32:38] me about how do you get an elected
[32:41] treasure?
[32:41] >> Yeah, I I guess I was just asking with
[32:42] the Laguna Beach city manager. I think
[32:45] that's that goes to my point about
[32:46] organizational. I think there's a
[32:47] fundamental issue and disconnect and um
[32:50] it's a competent one because you're
[32:51] absolutely right. you have government
[32:52] code responsibilities and you take them
[32:54] really seriously.
[32:55] >> Ashley and
[32:58] >> um it's a prioritization problem. I mean
[33:01] any organization I've been in my my
[33:04] accountant or my VP of accounting was my
[33:07] best friend and seems like a lot of
[33:10] emotions and feelings in all aspects of
[33:14] city hall right now and that's why we're
[33:16] in a multi-year deficit for the first
[33:18] time in Lagouna Beach history. So to sit
[33:20] here and say that we're going to work on
[33:22] it, which is really the election year
[33:24] promise, um it's pretty ridiculous. I
[33:27] mean, we're we're negative three years
[33:29] in a row because people can't get along.
[33:31] I mean, we're adults here.
[33:34] >> Thank you. I think this translates
[33:37] across so many different disciplines,
[33:39] and that is that we're not heard. It's
[33:42] amazing what happens when you run for
[33:44] city council. You get heard because
[33:46] we're up here. So, I thank you for
[33:48] hosting this, but I think Laura Laura is
[33:51] right. This was the way to get heard.
[33:53] There were decades that I've been trying
[33:56] to be heard about our general plan and
[33:59] the fact that our general plan was
[34:01] internally inconsistent, not updated.
[34:04] And I even asked um the incumbents, why
[34:08] are you working on a zoning code update?
[34:11] Because you actually cannot approve that
[34:14] zoning code update unless your general
[34:17] and is already in compliance.
[34:18] >> 15 seconds in.
[34:19] >> Ed, I have an experience running a
[34:21] billion dollar company and I sold the
[34:24] company. My partner sold it. It was so
[34:26] bad they moved the money around. I got
[34:29] so pissed I lost the lawsuit. But I
[34:32] hired the head of criminal investigation
[34:34] for the IRS and they discovered the
[34:36] other parties stole $400 million from
[34:39] HSBC Bank. So there is ways and that's
[34:42] why Alex and you and Sue Kemp should
[34:45] have a CPA working with you, directing
[34:48] you. So her job is easier and her job
[34:51] should be respected and she should not
[34:54] be running for city council. She should
[34:56] be doing her job and doing it right and
[34:58] she does it right.
[34:59] >> Thank you.
[35:00] >> Thank you.
[35:01] I was just to say that's why term limits
[35:03] are important because I think on the
[35:04] audit committee is uh council member
[35:06] Whan and Kemp who've been on for
[35:08] Whan for 12 or 16 years and Kemp for
[35:11] eight. So if you have the same people
[35:13] not going to get things to change.
[35:14] >> Okay, stay there because the next
[35:16] question is at you. Uh and we're talking
[35:18] about tourism and local spending. We're
[35:20] going to skip back and forth as I
[35:21] mentioned. Uh Nick, how would you work
[35:25] with visit the beach and the chamber to
[35:27] encourage higherend visitors? Uh the
[35:31] people that come for stays that spent
[35:33] money in our restaurants that buy
[35:34] expensive art. We claim we're an artist
[35:38] colony and an art community. Uh we
[35:41] should be selling our most expensive
[35:43] pieces to visitors. Uh so what would you
[35:46] do with visit to the beach and the
[35:48] chamber to encourage higher end
[35:50] visitors? You know, that's a great
[35:52] question. I was talking to uh somebody
[35:53] on the chamber today and um they don't
[35:57] really communicate with with visit
[35:58] Laguna. I've been at the Vis Laguna
[36:00] board meetings pretty much everyone over
[36:02] the past year. They're not communicating
[36:04] together at least on a consistent basis,
[36:06] which is very alarming. You have Visit
[36:08] Laguna that has all the money and the
[36:10] chamber that has all the businesses but
[36:11] with no money. So, in my opinion, from
[36:13] what I've heard, and I don't want to
[36:15] make any like uh major um you know
[36:18] proclamations, but it sounds like they
[36:20] need to merge together to be in a more
[36:22] efficient uh group to make sure that we
[36:24] can work together to make sure that
[36:25] visit Laguna with the money can
[36:27] highlight the businesses. You know, over
[36:28] the past several years, you've had Visit
[36:31] Lagona advertise spending th hundreds of
[36:34] thousands of dollars advertising our
[36:36] beaches instead of advertising our
[36:37] businesses in the arts. So, they've said
[36:40] that they've made that change over the
[36:41] past year. We're slowly starting to see
[36:43] the changes, but the problem is it's
[36:45] been like a shuffle of the deck chairs
[36:46] in the Titanic. You have the same people
[36:48] from different positions still involved
[36:51] in Visit Lagoon. You have the same
[36:52] puppet masters, you know, overseeing
[36:54] everything. You have the mayor and
[36:56] council member Kemp left the board of
[36:58] Visit Lagona, but now they're, you know,
[37:00] on the stewardship committee, which
[37:01] meets with Visit Laguna, where the
[37:03] previous CEO or the previous general
[37:05] manager of Surf Sand, which you know,
[37:07] $100,000 is now also the CEO of Visa
[37:10] Laguna. So you have this constant moving
[37:13] around of positions and you're getting
[37:15] this group thinking things aren't
[37:16] changing and for us to see our business
[37:18] is thriving. We're gonna we need a
[37:20] change of leadership and we need to mix
[37:21] things up.
[37:22] >> Alex, respond to that please.
[37:24] >> I I totally agree with Nick about
[37:25] consolidation. I've always thought that
[37:27] it makes sense to have visit lagona and
[37:29] the chamber combined because essentially
[37:31] you can't bring high quality visitors to
[37:34] town if you don't have high quality
[37:35] businesses. That's really the role of
[37:37] the chamber. I think one of the other
[37:38] things that we can really do to attract
[37:40] high quality visitors is have more
[37:42] events and cultural institutions. One
[37:45] great example of this is um when we had
[37:47] Jack Johnson at the Irvine Bowl and I I
[37:49] verified this with Ashley the data I had
[37:52] but we had um we had about uh 1350
[37:56] visits from people who went to that
[37:58] concert that went to restaurants before
[38:00] 140 of them went to Odo Sushi our
[38:02] downtown was alive that night and I
[38:03] think that's a great example of how we
[38:05] can create cultural opportunities for
[38:07] our residents that also attract people
[38:09] who are going to stay at hotels, go to
[38:11] restaurants and spend money in our city.
[38:13] Okay, join 15 seconds.
[38:16] >> But those concerts are also uh
[38:18] disturbing the quality of life of many
[38:20] residents that live around there. And so
[38:22] we need to be cognizant.
[38:23] >> Allow me to interrupt. So you believe
[38:24] the lady that said her whole house was
[38:26] shaking with the Jack Johnson concert.
[38:28] >> I've heard many people have come to me
[38:31] since running saying that the noise was
[38:34] intolerable. And apparently we have an
[38:37] averaging of decimals for noise. Most
[38:40] cities have a limit and you cannot
[38:42] exceed those limits and that's what I'm
[38:44] used to seeing and then people need to
[38:46] respect those decades
[38:50] some of the houses are so close. Those
[38:52] are the ones that are being affected and
[38:54] so they probably are but everyone else
[38:58] is fine and then it's a great venue to
[39:01] to promote
[39:04] events.
[39:05] >> So you know what's interesting and I
[39:07] know I go back to this that discussion
[39:10] that night was around an ordinance, a
[39:12] zoning code ordinance. Nobody once
[39:14] looked at the noise element of the
[39:16] general plan. It wasn't even in the
[39:18] discussion. The noise element of the
[39:20] general plan actually looks at how
[39:24] festival events affect neighbors. And
[39:27] the noise element of the general plan is
[39:30] an mandatory element because noise
[39:33] affects public health. And I think that
[39:36] was completely missing from that
[39:38] discussion.
[39:40] And Nick made a very good point about
[39:43] putting together Visit Lagona and the
[39:45] chamber. The chamber helps businesses
[39:48] promote businesses. And eight of my
[39:50] signatures, nomination signatures came
[39:52] from businesses. And I got an earful
[39:55] from eight businesses and they hate the
[39:57] chamber. They're not supported by the
[39:59] chamber. They hated the people who ran
[40:00] the chamber who left Laguna. Uh the head
[40:04] of the chamber was all the home. She
[40:06] moved back to Las Vegas and they did not
[40:09] like her. They didn't get they felt like
[40:11] a stepchild. So, I was spooked by it
[40:14] from what I heard. But visit Lun Visit
[40:16] Luna. It's so much money. They should
[40:19] join them and and promote the business.
[40:22] Thank you, Ed. Uh, Alex, I'm going to
[40:24] point this one at you. Uh, that'll be
[40:27] probably the only prominade question and
[40:29] I'll let everyone else jump in if they
[40:30] want. uh with the nearing completion of
[40:33] the prominade and uh with still what
[40:35] everyone says is more work to do uh is
[40:38] there anything you would have done
[40:40] differently in the project?
[40:43] >> I mean I think
[40:44] >> specifically what you
[40:45] >> to me the biggest error was the way that
[40:48] the tree issue was communicated. It was
[40:51] um and it I think the decision was was
[40:53] ultimately the right one we had it was
[40:55] the city manager's decision and he made
[40:57] absolutely the right decision. It was
[40:59] there were two arrest reports that the
[41:01] trees were a threat to um to public to
[41:03] say health and safety. One of the things
[41:06] so when I was mayor for example during
[41:08] the Rancho fire or during the the
[41:10] Palisades fire what I did was I brought
[41:12] all of the different department heads
[41:14] including the water district and we did
[41:16] a a call that was sent out to the
[41:17] community basically walking through
[41:19] preparedness putting all the facts on
[41:20] the table. I would have I think that's
[41:22] the type of approach that we should have
[41:24] done with the trees is bring the experts
[41:26] put them on camera be really transparent
[41:28] explain your methodology because council
[41:30] for four years. What I found is that
[41:33] people in this community are very
[41:34] sophisticated and when you explain why
[41:36] you're making a decision, even if they
[41:38] don't agree with the outcome and I've
[41:39] dealt with that on several controversial
[41:41] situations, they appreciate
[41:43] understanding the methodology. So, I
[41:44] think the way that we handled that where
[41:45] we did it in the middle of the night
[41:47] where there was very little notice um
[41:49] was not the right approach. But again,
[41:51] uh so that that would be the one thing.
[41:53] Does
[41:53] >> that lend itself to the bigger
[41:55] communications lack of communications
[41:57] issue that we've talked about before?
[42:00] I mean, yeah. I think I think that
[42:01] >> Did we have a communication a dedicated
[42:03] communications director, communications
[42:05] department?
[42:06] >> We we have that now. So, we had that
[42:07] before.
[42:08] >> You have a $90,000 a year consultant or
[42:11] someone who's on who basically just does
[42:14] uh social media essentially who has yet
[42:17] to reach out to this radio station to
[42:19] say, "Hi, my name is Lauren and I'm now
[42:22] doing communications. Hey, there's a
[42:24] traffic accident. Hey, so it when there
[42:27] was the fires,
[42:28] >> yeah,
[42:29] >> I would get notifications immediately. I
[42:31] got a a call at four o'clock in the
[42:33] morning from Cassie Walder, the
[42:34] communications director. That no longer
[42:37] exists within the city.
[42:39] >> Yeah. No, I think I think we can always
[42:40] do better on communications.
[42:44] >> Troy,
[42:45] >> I think this community was misled on the
[42:48] so-called promin court. I mean, it was
[42:51] approved on a $2.7 million budget in
[42:54] just a couple months of construction.
[42:56] Well, we really don't know the final
[42:58] number, but we know it's close to 9
[43:00] million and it disrupted the businesses
[43:03] for almost a year and they lost their
[43:05] summer. And it the council showed a a
[43:09] sign of hubris in the fact that they
[43:11] wouldn't even consider the
[43:13] multi-alternative
[43:14] designs that our creative residents
[43:16] tried to put forward for alternatives
[43:19] that would have cost a lot less money
[43:21] and would have um acted as both parking
[43:25] a celebration place and um saving trees.
[43:29] >> Thank you Joy. Ashley,
[43:31] >> um,
[43:34] one of the other things that you had
[43:35] mentioned in the GOP forum was not doing
[43:37] due diligence on the bid. Um, which I do
[43:41] respect you saying that. So, I just want
[43:42] to add to that because it goes along
[43:44] with Joy as well, not only from the
[43:46] transparency on the trees, but also on
[43:48] the transparency on the budget, the
[43:50] transparency on the timeline of this. It
[43:52] was supposed to be completed in June,
[43:53] went all the way through September,
[43:55] greatly impacted the downtown. Um, but
[43:57] the transparency is the overall theme
[43:59] and While we do have a comms person to
[44:02] give partial information on social
[44:05] media, really communication is
[44:07] integrity. And so the city council
[44:09] should have integrity to want to
[44:11] communicate everything with the
[44:12] residents.
[44:15] >> So you have integrity, you have
[44:16] transparency. people, residents should
[44:19] ask, why did city council have an
[44:21] emergency meeting in November 2025
[44:24] approving $350,000 for SWA Group to do
[44:28] the construction drawings? Oh, and by
[44:30] the way, everyone, June 20th, there is a
[44:32] meeting for Ocean and Beach because
[44:35] they're going to be talking about trees
[44:37] again. And so, let me just tell you
[44:39] something. If you not read a book about
[44:41] trees, go pick one up. They communicate.
[44:44] The reason why we lost all those trees,
[44:46] we dug up the whole street and they're
[44:48] about to do it on beach and ocean.
[44:50] >> Thank you, R.
[44:51] >> Laura,
[44:52] >> the uh request for proposal RFP um had
[44:56] big categories in it that couldn't be
[45:01] ma easily dissected by by the public. I
[45:05] would hope that future RFPs are um more
[45:09] easily understood by the public. And I
[45:12] would hope that project that um the
[45:15] council at least considers having a
[45:18] citizens oversight committee.
[45:19] >> Okay. Uh Nick, I'm going to give you two
[45:22] minutes on this next question. We're
[45:24] going to cover a little bit later on in
[45:25] the forum. We're going to cover
[45:26] bullying. Uh this is not part of that,
[45:29] but I do want to give you an opportunity
[45:31] to respond to this question. Uh there's
[45:33] a picture circulating on social media
[45:35] with you standing behind the banner
[45:36] praising ICE. A lot of our businesses,
[45:39] especially our restaurants, rely on
[45:41] immigrant staff who, even though they're
[45:43] documented, they're rightfully terrified
[45:45] of ICE. So, the question is, do you
[45:48] support ICE operating within our city
[45:50] limits, either pulling over vehicles or
[45:52] raiding businesses as they did the car
[45:54] wash several months ago, or do you
[45:56] condemn their actions?
[45:58] >> I appreciate the question. Um, you know,
[46:00] I've been wanting to clarify this. I've
[46:02] made some comments online clarifying the
[46:03] photo and uh I was working at an event
[46:06] for a client uh was asked to get in a
[46:09] picture. Um you know I normally when
[46:11] you're working for a client you're not
[46:12] in the photos you're behind the scenes.
[46:15] So I wasn't planning on being in the
[46:16] photo. I stood up from behind walked
[46:18] around. Didn't know there was a banner
[46:20] holding a sign up that said those words.
[46:23] Took the picture, sat down when they
[46:25] were breaking up from the photo. I saw
[46:28] what was written on the sign and you
[46:29] know that kind of felt sick to my
[46:30] stomach as I don't support what was on
[46:32] that sign and so it was a you know it
[46:35] was an er judgment and you know it's a
[46:37] learning experience um and I don't
[46:40] support IC I don't support them you know
[46:42] raiding the businesses in our town we
[46:43] have a lot of people who come to the US
[46:45] who are trying to make a better
[46:47] opportunity for themselves and for their
[46:48] life and we need to be you know that's
[46:50] our broken immigration system you know
[46:52] and um as I believe I'm the only person
[46:54] on this das you know I've worked and
[46:56] lived overseas and had to go through the
[46:58] immigration process myself. And trying
[47:00] to get a work visa, it's stressful. It's
[47:02] expensive. Uh you don't know if you're
[47:04] going to lose your job or you're going
[47:05] to get deported yourself. And so I
[47:06] empathize with what people go through.
[47:09] Um obviously, you know, people who are
[47:11] criminals and they're breaking the law
[47:12] here in the US should be deported and I
[47:14] believe we can all agree with that. But
[47:16] the people who are here trying to work
[47:17] and make a better life for themselves
[47:19] and for their families deserve the the
[47:22] opportunity to do so. And it's just it's
[47:24] a really complicated situation with our
[47:26] uh with our federal government. Um and
[47:28] one last thing, I think this goes into a
[47:30] bigger issue as well with like the flock
[47:32] cameras because you know this council
[47:35] has signed on for cameras in the city in
[47:38] 2024, the two that are here tonight and
[47:41] Alex as well. And there's been issues
[47:43] with you know ICE using block cameras
[47:45] and you know I think we need to be
[47:47] transparent with our residents uh in the
[47:49] police department and the city of what
[47:51] was the reason for signing on with the
[47:53] what are the what are they looking for?
[47:54] What are the results? Um do we have any
[47:57] measurable improvements with safety in L
[47:59] Beach by having them? And if we don't,
[48:01] maybe we need to be, you know,
[48:02] revisiting that contract and removing
[48:04] them.
[48:04] >> Thank you for that, Nick. Uh Alex, do we
[48:06] have limitations on the usage of the
[48:08] flock cameras?
[48:09] >> Yes, we we have um this is a question I
[48:11] talked to our our police chief about. I
[48:13] actually saw them used firsthand when I
[48:15] I try to do different ride alongs and
[48:16] shadow city departments and I saw them
[48:18] them using it and um there are limits um
[48:22] about when how long you can you can hold
[48:24] the data. There are limits that are
[48:26] based on California law about about
[48:28] immigration for example. Um I totally
[48:30] get I feel like our whole world we live
[48:32] we have no sense of privacy anymore with
[48:34] you know I think our phone is the
[48:36] biggest biggest um uh burden of that.
[48:40] But then one example where they were
[48:42] used was a hit and run right by wigs and
[48:45] and that that technology was helpful. So
[48:47] I think we need to be there's a
[48:48] balancing act of how we can protect
[48:50] people's constitutional rights but also
[48:51] how we can uh deploy them as a force
[48:54] multip force multiplier for public
[48:56] safety is a very it's complicated issue
[48:57] that requires more than a minute. Thank
[48:59] you.
[49:00] >> Okay.
[49:02] >> Sure. Take take 30 seconds.
[49:03] >> There is a problem at the city and the
[49:06] beach police department. People are not
[49:08] aware of that uh the software system
[49:11] that runs all the departments in the
[49:13] city and the police department. If you
[49:16] have keys to the kingdom, the software
[49:18] guy or the city manager, you can make
[49:21] changes. You can delete intruders names
[49:24] on uh police reports. You can delete a
[49:27] DUI if you got a DUI and you want to get
[49:30] off. Phone call is placed and the DOI is
[49:33] deleted. That's not fair.
[49:35] >> Alex, is that true?
[49:37] >> I I'm not aware of that. If you have any
[49:39] evidence of that, let me know. That's
[49:41] concerning.
[49:42] >> You do have evidence. There is evidence.
[49:46] >> Okay.
[49:48] >> Without without tangible evidence. It's
[49:50] just a conspiracy.
[49:51] >> Nope. They have evidence of people's
[49:53] names. I don't want to embarrass anyone.
[49:56] Okay. Uh Karen, this question is pointed
[49:58] at you. I've seen you walk through
[50:00] downtown many times, almost every day.
[50:03] Uh I've seen Laura walk through downtown
[50:06] almost every day. Uh it's about
[50:08] homelessness.
[50:09] And I once saw you near an assault case
[50:13] with a homeless person. Uh
[50:18] park rangers. Do we have enough park
[50:20] rangers? Are they doing enough? What
[50:22] would you do about the homeless
[50:25] situation downtown? And as as you take
[50:27] your walks, do you notice more?
[50:30] >> Um, so last part of the question first.
[50:34] Um, most recently, yes, I have noticed
[50:37] more. Um, for a while there, I had I
[50:40] didn't notice any and I did walk every
[50:43] morning. Um,
[50:46] you know, I've been here for 40 years
[50:48] and we we we've always had people of um
[50:53] a very eccentric nature. There was the
[50:56] what was his name? The cowboy. And um
[51:00] and we worked with them and we we
[51:03] actually brought them into our
[51:05] community. And that's what I love about
[51:07] the beach. Um, I think
[51:10] back in, um, 2009 when there was the
[51:14] ACLU,
[51:15] um, lawsuit, um, we had literally
[51:20] hundreds of homeless people camping on
[51:22] the beach and, um, that was a real
[51:25] problem.
[51:27] I like the approach that the police
[51:31] department has been work has worked with
[51:33] where they identify the people and try
[51:36] to figure out how to get them back home.
[51:38] And I know that they've been very
[51:39] successful.
[51:41] I actually do not believe that having an
[51:44] armed
[51:46] person with a um bulletproof vest on it
[51:51] it's changed the look and feel of our
[51:53] community. Maybe it's necessary in this
[51:56] day and age, but for me, if we I don't
[52:00] think we need park rangers. What we need
[52:02] are human beings that connect to other
[52:05] human beings that have um fallen on
[52:08] really tough times.
[52:11] >> Would you budget for that as a member of
[52:13] council?
[52:16] >> Yes, I would. Yes, I would. Nick,
[52:19] >> you know, jumping on that uh budgeting
[52:21] part, I think, you know, well, during
[52:23] this election season, you know, I'm
[52:24] following different people online and I
[52:26] see the uh former mayor of Newport
[52:28] Beach, you know, bragging about reducing
[52:31] homelessness by 90% in Newport Beach and
[52:34] you wonder where are they going,
[52:36] >> right? And they're coming to Laguna
[52:37] Beach because we're a compassionate
[52:38] community. they drive now.
[52:39] >> So, what we need to be doing is working
[52:41] with the county and the other
[52:43] communities around Laguna and, you know,
[52:45] holding their feet to the fire and
[52:46] asking for money to, you know, make sure
[52:49] that we can support uh people who come
[52:51] here into this community because, you
[52:54] know, we can't take we can't be the only
[52:56] city in in Orange County that's willing
[52:58] to take in uh people experiencing
[53:00] homelessness because there was a
[53:02] gentleman that came in now like at the
[53:03] last city council meeting looking for a
[53:05] place to stay. And so, you know, I think
[53:08] the more that cities like Huntington
[53:10] Beach and New Orle Beach Irvine are
[53:11] pushing people out and they're coming
[53:12] here, we're going to need to find
[53:14] funding resources and it shouldn't be
[53:15] just on us and the other cities in
[53:17] Orange County.
[53:18] >> Um, thank you, Nick. Um, I really think
[53:22] identifying who these people are and
[53:23] understanding whether they really are
[53:25] homeless or whether it's being pushed by
[53:28] a different organization or tribe. Um,
[53:32] for
[53:33] >> what other organization? like what
[53:35] happened when the ACLU was doing doing
[53:38] and bust a whole bunch of people in.
[53:40] That was weird. Um, but I think we have
[53:42] the technology now to identify these
[53:45] people and um let our police department
[53:49] know and I think we can work to move
[53:52] those folks.
[53:54] I've been on three state boards and one
[53:56] thing I've learned is I think city
[53:58] council needs to go to Sacramento once
[54:00] in a while, talk to our senators and
[54:02] assembly people because there are things
[54:04] and laws that you can change like the
[54:06] California Homestead Act needs to be
[54:08] changed desperately. That act alone will
[54:12] dramatically change the entire state of
[54:14] California. And so, uh, our city council
[54:18] people are are frustrated because of the
[54:20] homelessness problem, but it can be
[54:22] addressed and it just hasn't been done
[54:25] yet.
[54:26] >> Okay.
[54:27] >> Uh, chairman, it's Alex, did you want to
[54:29] say something?
[54:30] >> So, one of the things that I I always
[54:32] try to do is the the point in time count
[54:34] where every two years you go and join
[54:36] volunteers. I actually joined um our
[54:38] district attorney Todd Spitzer. We count
[54:40] we did the count together and um it's
[54:42] it's a really interesting experience to
[54:45] people seem to wake them up in the
[54:46] middle of the night and um and so in ter
[54:49] one of the things that that I think has
[54:51] made a difference we need the the state
[54:54] needs to do a better job with the care
[54:56] program where it was supposed to be
[54:57] looking at how you can put people in
[54:58] conservatorship it's very limited but
[55:00] then um at the local level what we did
[55:02] was we had a day program that was just
[55:05] for people who were not involved in the
[55:07] shelter to go we were able to
[55:08] renegotiate that contract with the
[55:09] friendship shelter with the idea that
[55:11] only the people who are staying in that
[55:12] shelter should stay there not come
[55:14] downtown and then it would and the goal
[55:15] is to mitigate it being a draw, but it's
[55:17] a very complicated issue.
[55:19] >> Okay. Uh term limits really fast. Uh at
[55:22] one of the previous forums, uh the three
[55:25] incumbents were against term limits and
[55:28] the six others, the six non-incumbents
[55:31] for it. Alex, on my show when we had the
[55:35] conversation most recently, you said
[55:37] that they're okay on a federal level and
[55:39] a state level, but locally, no, because
[55:41] we're too small of a talent pool. I
[55:43] don't I don't think I said the talent
[55:45] pool part that doesn't sound like me.
[55:48] >> Okay, that sounds my
[55:51] paraphrase. Okay,
[55:52] >> but we're too small to tap. Would you
[55:54] agree with that?
[55:54] >> No, that's not
[55:55] >> So, tell me why. So, tell me why you
[55:57] would be against terms.
[55:58] >> Yeah. So, I I actually don't agree with
[55:59] the idea that I think we have a lot of
[56:01] talented people in this community. So, I
[56:03] I that's not the reason for me. It's
[56:05] more about the fact that um and again,
[56:07] it's really it's up to the voters. So,
[56:11] and we'll see what they do. I've never
[56:12] seen a term limits initiative that
[56:14] didn't um pass. So, we'll we'll see how
[56:17] it goes. For me, it goes back to the
[56:19] idea that I think we have a very
[56:20] educated and sophisticated electorate
[56:22] here where you are not guaranteed to win
[56:24] when you're an incumbent. When you're a
[56:25] county supervisor, for example, like
[56:28] very I think I'm more of one county
[56:29] supervisor who's lost elections because
[56:31] people don't really know what they do.
[56:33] In Lagouna Beach, people really pay
[56:34] attention. So, I think that we have um a
[56:38] you know, I I think I don't imagine
[56:41] spending more than eight years on
[56:42] council. It's a very difficult and
[56:44] demanding job. But I think that you know
[56:46] people like Bob Williams for example had
[56:48] a lot of value and um and so I I don't
[56:52] know that I think the people were able
[56:54] to decide that he did that not
[56:56] necessarily um the term limit that would
[56:58] have continuing to serve.
[57:00] >> Okay. And if I uh if I misqued you I'll
[57:03] go back and check if I misqued you I
[57:04] apologize.
[57:05] >> Thank you.
[57:07] having run for the first time. I'm not a
[57:09] politician, but it's very very difficult
[57:11] to go up against incumbents. They
[57:13] already have the brand, they have the
[57:14] names, they have all the contacts, and
[57:17] let's face it, um they're they're
[57:19] saying, "Oh, well, we didn't know about
[57:20] this $100,000 that came in." And they
[57:23] blame it on Citizens United. Well, um we
[57:26] have one council member that had a
[57:28] similar big pack uh money pack like
[57:30] that. And it used to be when it was
[57:32] limited to individual contributions, it
[57:35] was different. But now big money is
[57:37] steering our government. And without the
[57:40] term limits, we are going to be
[57:42] controlled by Wall Street private
[57:44] equity. And I don't think that's what
[57:46] democracy is really about. Nor do we
[57:48] want that.
[57:49] >> Ashley.
[57:50] >> Yeah. I mean, we do have um a very smart
[57:54] voter base. However, someone would have
[57:57] given $100,000 for mailers, banners,
[58:02] radio, newspaper ads if name ID wasn't
[58:05] so influential. Um, and so I think that
[58:09] that's why term limits is so important.
[58:10] To Joyy's point, is very difficult when
[58:13] incumbents um have been around for 8,
[58:16] 12, four years, whatever it may be, and
[58:18] have a name ID with the city um and can
[58:21] also, you know, have speak to things
[58:23] that they've done. And so I just have to
[58:26] say the term limits is that look where
[58:28] we're currently at with the people who
[58:30] have been in here for such a long time.
[58:31] And so we do need to vote new people in.
[58:34] >> Karen, Nick, then Laura, and then
[58:36] >> thank you. I'll be quick. Um, you know,
[58:39] I think term limits are so necessary
[58:41] because the city council actually
[58:43] appoints or um, uh,
[58:48] commissions
[58:49] um, folks to sit on these planning
[58:51] commissions, the uh, housing and human
[58:54] services committee, the land trust. And
[58:57] when you start digging into the weeds on
[58:59] who's sitting on those commissions and
[59:01] why, there's a there's a a line that
[59:05] gets followed and people move from one
[59:07] commission to another to another and
[59:09] it's always the same person and they're
[59:11] always towing the same line.
[59:13] >> Nick,
[59:14] >> I agree with Karen. I mean, term limits
[59:16] are so important just because of that
[59:18] right there. you, like Alex said, you
[59:19] have a lot of great people in this town,
[59:21] but then, you know, if you're not in
[59:22] that bubble or part of that group, it's
[59:25] very intimidating to stick your neck out
[59:26] there, as all as we have all learned
[59:28] during this race, uh, myself included.
[59:31] And I think it if you can't get what you
[59:34] want to get done in 16 years with a
[59:36] two-year break in between, you know,
[59:38] come on.
[59:39] >> Laura and Ed,
[59:42] >> thank you. Um, having been the treasurer
[59:44] for 26 years, I I understand both sides
[59:48] of it, but I have four term limits.
[59:50] Mainly because the council is a policym
[59:52] body and it is good to get fresh ideas
[59:55] in there. Um, it'd be like having
[59:58] auditors that you didn't
[1:00:01] >> would you did you learn anything in your
[1:00:03] ninth year that you didn't know in your
[1:00:05] fourth year?
[1:00:08] Did you did did you need to be the
[1:00:10] treasurer in your ninth year that you
[1:00:12] couldn't have done something that you
[1:00:13] didn't accomplish in those first days?
[1:00:15] >> The advantage of having a treasurer
[1:00:19] repeat is more operational.
[1:00:22] I knew how the books should run. I knew
[1:00:25] how they should look. Um I could cover
[1:00:29] more territory
[1:00:31] um with the different um financial
[1:00:35] issues and But I found myself reaching
[1:00:38] out and using the skills of an of a
[1:00:42] municipal treasurer to train other
[1:00:44] treasurers to to do exactly that.
[1:00:47] >> I think what Laura is trying to say is
[1:00:49] consistency consistency
[1:00:52] like the Fed. So Tuesday last uh city
[1:00:56] council I recommended to Alex and Sue
[1:00:59] and Mark to step down and allow one of
[1:01:01] these six candidates to step in their
[1:01:04] shoes. You all smiled at me, but you
[1:01:06] know I didn't finish the recommendation
[1:01:09] because you all laughed. You are work
[1:01:12] for developer. You had to recuse
[1:01:13] yourself. You wouldn't have to recuse
[1:01:15] yourself. You can go make a lot of money
[1:01:17] with the developer. So you're in a
[1:01:19] position of understanding inside
[1:01:21] information, but then when it goes to
[1:01:23] the vote, you recuse yourself.
[1:01:26] >> I don't understand why no one step down.
[1:01:30] Thank you. Um
[1:01:33] Joy,
[1:01:35] >> uh first thing you would do to improve
[1:01:37] the building or planning process?
[1:01:42] I think we need dedicated staff for
[1:01:45] dedicated projects. I would take staff
[1:01:48] that just works on ADUs. I take staff
[1:01:50] that just works on remodels. I take
[1:01:53] staff that just works on new builds. I
[1:01:55] take staff that just works on
[1:01:57] commercial. And that way they become
[1:01:59] experts. they know it. We need to
[1:02:02] empower them. We should not have to have
[1:02:04] an attorney, right? Our our planning
[1:02:06] reports and let them really become um
[1:02:09] knowledgeable in that field and then
[1:02:11] they are the go-to person and it's not
[1:02:13] so confusing.
[1:02:15] >> Alex, is she wrong?
[1:02:18] >> I I think it's that I mean I think it's
[1:02:21] it's certainly a good idea. It's really
[1:02:23] that's more of a management decision
[1:02:24] about what the department head wants to
[1:02:27] do. I think from the council's
[1:02:28] perspective and I there's a lot of
[1:02:30] ability to it with respect to ads for
[1:02:32] example it's essentially the same that
[1:02:34] you have to do it one of the problems is
[1:02:35] that it's for it's hard enough to
[1:02:37] recruit planners and so they want to
[1:02:39] have some more diverse experiences I
[1:02:42] think one of the key things is to look
[1:02:43] at unnecessary regulations and we're
[1:02:45] here with the board of realtors one of
[1:02:46] those is the real property reports where
[1:02:48] it cost $400 it was a very laborious
[1:02:51] process that where it was caused delays
[1:02:53] for closings and created liability for
[1:02:54] the city what I was able to do is work
[1:02:56] with city staff work with the board of
[1:02:58] realtors we were able to come up with a
[1:03:00] solution where it's a lot cheaper now.
[1:03:02] It's basically instantaneous and and it
[1:03:04] was a win for everyone involved. So, I
[1:03:06] think we have to that's why I like
[1:03:07] shadowing different departments because
[1:03:08] you really see what are the policy
[1:03:10] changes that can um free up staff to
[1:03:13] work on the things that really matter.
[1:03:14] >> I'm going to go Karen and then Ashley.
[1:03:16] >> Thank you. Um I think we need a road
[1:03:19] map. are we know one of the reasons why
[1:03:22] our planning staff and um community
[1:03:25] development staff are it'sa it's it's
[1:03:28] chaos and um what we need is a policy
[1:03:33] that explains what happens when there's
[1:03:36] a code collision and a clear way of
[1:03:40] making that decision
[1:03:43] and that also comes from recordeping and
[1:03:45] I think we've missed the boat in record
[1:03:48] keeping
[1:03:49] And so the to for your question, I'd say
[1:03:52] the first thing we need is we need a way
[1:03:54] to effectively um take in plans and make
[1:04:00] them available to the public. And that
[1:04:02] answers the transparency question. And
[1:04:04] I'll say one more thing. The efficiency
[1:04:07] ordinance came up with a new planning
[1:04:09] application. It's not the one that
[1:04:11] Ashley went through. It's brand new and
[1:04:14] it does not work and it is going to hurt
[1:04:17] any of the realtors that are trying to
[1:04:19] get these commercial spaces built.
[1:04:21] >> I'm going to circle back to that in a
[1:04:23] little bit. Thank you for that, Ashley.
[1:04:25] And then Joy again. I mean, I think I
[1:04:28] think the first thing that needs to
[1:04:30] happen is that we need to put a plan
[1:04:32] together for objective standards because
[1:04:35] right now there's so many there's so
[1:04:37] much so much breakage in the different
[1:04:39] departments communication because
[1:04:41] everything is subjective. No one
[1:04:43] communicates. No one knows who's doing
[1:04:44] what. And so there has to be it's not
[1:04:46] going to happen overnight. I mean, it's
[1:04:48] it's a really big problem. It's going to
[1:04:49] take at least a year. So, but there
[1:04:50] needs to be a plan together on how we're
[1:04:52] going to achieve that goal and then
[1:04:55] start um working and putting the tools
[1:04:57] in place for the different departments
[1:04:59] to learn how to project manage and
[1:05:01] communicate with each other so we know
[1:05:02] where things are in the process.
[1:05:04] >> Okay, Joy, 15 seconds, please.
[1:05:06] >> Our PRs are subjective. We got a staff
[1:05:08] person just whipping through saying it's
[1:05:10] this way. And there's a very famous
[1:05:11] Supreme Court case that went to the
[1:05:13] state of California Supreme Court that
[1:05:15] if the U government employee says, "Oh
[1:05:17] yeah, you can build a 20story tower and
[1:05:20] you build it and then they find out it
[1:05:23] was wrong, the the government's not held
[1:05:26] responsible. The due diligence relies on
[1:05:28] the owner of the property or the buyer.
[1:05:30] And so to have our our city take on the
[1:05:34] liability and create these subjective
[1:05:37] standards, they say, "Oh, it's
[1:05:38] buildable, not buildable, buildable, not
[1:05:40] buildable." Because there's no real
[1:05:42] process, objective standard process like
[1:05:45] Ashley just said.
[1:05:45] >> Thank you, Joy Karen. 15 seconds.
[1:05:48] >> Um, objective standards are a good goal,
[1:05:50] but how do you get there? Because you
[1:05:52] need to meet state law. And right now,
[1:05:55] they tried to do that with the
[1:05:56] efficiency ordinance. You need to
[1:05:58] understand how the law works, not just
[1:06:02] make objective design standards because
[1:06:04] then it's going to be in conflict with
[1:06:06] all the other ones.
[1:06:08] >> Alex, answer Karen's question.
[1:06:12] >> Um, I mean, I think that the state of
[1:06:14] California really has put us in a
[1:06:16] position where objective standards are
[1:06:18] the most defensible thing and it does
[1:06:21] create a lot more predictability. The
[1:06:23] challenge that we have to deal with that
[1:06:24] is really the the very difficult
[1:06:26] question is that we precedent of
[1:06:28] subjective determinations of of things
[1:06:30] like view activity. So the question in
[1:06:32] front of us is how we're able to uh to
[1:06:36] protect people's views come up with an
[1:06:38] objective standard that works because
[1:06:40] the history has been subjective and then
[1:06:43] also the coastal development permit is
[1:06:45] subjective as well. So um
[1:06:48] >> thank you Alex Ashley
[1:06:50] >> really easy as Karen said we don't need
[1:06:53] people to read the law there is a law
[1:06:54] with the state. So then Alex very easy
[1:06:57] change the subjective to objective
[1:06:59] because we follow the state laws. So
[1:07:01] that's the problem is implementation.
[1:07:03] We're just not doing it.
[1:07:04] >> So 15 seconds. Ashley's partially right.
[1:07:07] You need to go back to Alex. Alex, city
[1:07:09] council voted on changing recordkeeping
[1:07:12] policy. Residents from the community
[1:07:15] came in and spoke. They were against the
[1:07:17] change in recordkeeping. That's where
[1:07:19] the problem is. If you don't know your
[1:07:21] history, you're going to make mistakes.
[1:07:24] And the city council changed it this
[1:07:26] past year. I watched I was here. I
[1:07:28] watched residents complain. You need to
[1:07:30] ask Alex, why did you change? He's going
[1:07:33] to tell you the state two-year. No, you
[1:07:36] can do anything you want and it protects
[1:07:38] the property owners, the residents.
[1:07:41] >> Thank you, Edward. This is the uh
[1:07:43] portion of the trip where the driver
[1:07:45] says, "All right, there's the one more
[1:07:47] McDonald's and one more off-ramp. You
[1:07:48] guys can take a break for five minutes
[1:07:50] or we can power through." I want to
[1:07:52] leave it up to you guys. want take a
[1:07:53] five minute break or you want to power
[1:07:55] through?
[1:07:56] >> Power through.
[1:07:57] >> Thank you.
[1:07:59] >> Ask Alex. Alex is getting
[1:08:02] >> so uh we talked about the efficiency
[1:08:04] ordinance and uh
[1:08:08] it's a little muddy.
[1:08:10] Uh it requires an easement for either
[1:08:14] trails or benches. Uh there's a portion
[1:08:17] of it on page 58 of the 77 pages that
[1:08:20] requires easement for either trails or
[1:08:23] or benches or a little road of some kind
[1:08:26] on your private property. I want to go
[1:08:28] back a few years to when uh the ranch
[1:08:30] was bent rounds. Uh there was something
[1:08:34] called the mountains to the sea trail
[1:08:36] which was saddle back to creek and it
[1:08:38] was part of the master plan. uh in order
[1:08:41] to get the water treatment plant there,
[1:08:44] but Browns had agreed to cut a trail uh
[1:08:46] from the mountains to the sea. Uh
[1:08:50] and they promised at that point to have
[1:08:53] it in perpetuity. So, whoever Ben Brown
[1:08:55] sold the property to would be required
[1:08:58] to take on that trail as well. They then
[1:09:01] sold it to the Athens group and the
[1:09:03] Athens group couldn't make that property
[1:09:05] work for them and they sold it uh to
[1:09:08] what is currently the ranch uh as uh
[1:09:12] part of that uh and that was Mark
[1:09:14] Christie and as part of that uh the
[1:09:19] efficiency ordinance
[1:09:21] uh Mark Christie cut a by the way Mark
[1:09:23] Christie was able to cut a deal with the
[1:09:24] coastal commission to allow them to
[1:09:26] avoid that stipulation by Ben Browns
[1:09:29] that it be a mountains to the sea. It's
[1:09:32] now fenced off with no access. It's cut
[1:09:35] off point.
[1:09:38] If the efficiency ordinance is as you
[1:09:41] read it, should the ranch open up that
[1:09:44] fence? Alex,
[1:09:46] >> I think they're two totally separate
[1:09:48] issues. There's the coastal development
[1:09:50] permit where there was a requirement
[1:09:51] from this study that I I'm not aware of
[1:09:53] the history you're bringing up. And then
[1:09:56] we have really what the efficiency
[1:09:57] ordinance essentially codified was
[1:09:59] policies 14A and 14J of the general plan
[1:10:02] which um wrapped up vertical
[1:10:05] integration. So really what and there's
[1:10:06] also another in the code that existed
[1:10:09] before I don't have the citation in
[1:10:11] front of me I think um so the efficiency
[1:10:14] ordinance did not create that
[1:10:15] requirement essentially um that
[1:10:18] requirement already existed in the
[1:10:19] general plan and policies 14A 14J um and
[1:10:24] it also municipal code so it was not a
[1:10:28] change in it was a change in updating
[1:10:31] the fact that it was part of this
[1:10:32] ordinance but it was not it was the
[1:10:33] polic orance was adopted just as it is
[1:10:36] today.
[1:10:37] >> So as you explained it here, whose
[1:10:39] responsibility would it be to make it
[1:10:41] clear to the entire community?
[1:10:43] >> Well, it already was the policy. So
[1:10:44] there's no change.
[1:10:46] >> Okay. Uh just recently Dave K put out
[1:10:49] the email sent
[1:10:51] >> to the community, right?
[1:10:52] >> Yes.
[1:10:53] >> Okay. And that's where he clarified that
[1:10:55] in your opinion verified that? Well, I
[1:10:57] mean I I look at the document is the the
[1:11:00] general plan policy 14A 14J and then um
[1:11:04] the if you read 25.15
[1:11:08] 010 uh subsection P that's it's
[1:11:11] identical essentially identical
[1:11:12] language.
[1:11:13] >> Okay.
[1:11:16] >> Anyone else want to know this?
[1:11:18] >> Well, I just asked the question has it
[1:11:20] has it been done on all the applications
[1:11:23] because what I've been seeing on reports
[1:11:26] is a lot of the stuff in the general
[1:11:28] plan is missed. So where in the general
[1:11:31] plan is that? Is that in the open space
[1:11:33] element or is that in the land use
[1:11:34] element? Because typically when you look
[1:11:36] at the staff reports, the staff reports
[1:11:38] are only referring to the land use
[1:11:39] element.
[1:11:42] >> And question for you and Alex may have
[1:11:46] to answer this. The the fencing that
[1:11:49] closed everything off and what Mark
[1:11:51] Christie did, he got the California
[1:11:53] coastal commission.
[1:11:54] >> It was a legal move. Yeah. Yeah. And and
[1:11:57] they're not the only ones. So
[1:11:58] constitutionally, the California
[1:12:00] Constitution, the California Coastal
[1:12:02] Commission has the power, but so does
[1:12:04] the California Conservancy has the power
[1:12:07] to open that gate. So the issue is
[1:12:10] whatever Mark Christie did, I don't know
[1:12:11] how he did it. It's
[1:12:14] it it can be open.
[1:12:17] >> I wish we'd follow 14b policy 14b on the
[1:12:20] steepness rule. I mean, one of the
[1:12:22] things that uh we don't follow our
[1:12:25] rules. And that's some of the problem.
[1:12:27] And you there's favoritism going on. And
[1:12:30] yeah, we should open the mountain
[1:12:32] mountain to the sea trail because it
[1:12:33] would help everyone. It would help the
[1:12:35] animals and help hikers. And it's it's a
[1:12:37] improvement in the quality of our lives.
[1:12:39] And that's what's really important is
[1:12:41] the residents everyday lives. And I do
[1:12:44] think we need to start following the
[1:12:46] rules. I mean, I formed a environmental
[1:12:48] group. We sued the city and we won
[1:12:50] because they ignore or they're very
[1:12:53] subjective as to which rules they want
[1:12:55] to follow or not follow.
[1:12:57] >> Nick,
[1:12:58] >> yeah, I would just say I'm in favor of
[1:12:59] trying to find a pathway to open up that
[1:13:01] gate. I've been on that trail myself and
[1:13:03] you come up to that point. You're just
[1:13:04] like
[1:13:05] >> you're stuck behind a fence.
[1:13:06] >> You're stuck behind a fence. You got to
[1:13:07] turn around and walk the other way. And
[1:13:08] you know, if this council and this
[1:13:09] community or especially the city
[1:13:11] continues to talk about, you know,
[1:13:14] reducing use of cars and using the
[1:13:16] trolleys and more bike paths, well then
[1:13:18] they need to be, you know, like walking
[1:13:21] the walk and talking the talk and not
[1:13:23] just saying all the nice platitudes but
[1:13:25] then not actually following through on
[1:13:26] it with being able to give, you know,
[1:13:28] our residents an opportunity to use
[1:13:30] those u trails.
[1:13:32] >> So, and so all of the walkways into our
[1:13:36] beaches, the steps, they're taken care
[1:13:38] of by the California Conservancy. And if
[1:13:41] someone blocks the steps or let the
[1:13:43] trees fall on them and don't want you
[1:13:46] passing their houses to walk down to the
[1:13:47] beach, they can be told, "Hey, open this
[1:13:51] up." And it did happen in North Laguna
[1:13:53] off cliff a few years ago by a famous
[1:13:57] property owner, but it got open. So that
[1:14:00] gate can can be open.
[1:14:02] >> Thank you. Uh this question is to Ashley
[1:14:04] and then I'll go to Alex after this.
[1:14:06] Should we propose an emergency economic
[1:14:08] recovery program for affected businesses
[1:14:11] or ask the city to review the zone 4 and
[1:14:14] downtown improvement project schedules
[1:14:16] together to account for winter storms
[1:14:18] and business disruptions.
[1:14:21] >> Uh yes, I do think that the um city
[1:14:24] needs to work on some form of a recovery
[1:14:27] plan for all businesses that are going
[1:14:29] to be um impacted. So downtown um and
[1:14:32] yes, I have a business down there, but
[1:14:34] the prominade was greatly impactful to
[1:14:36] us um in a negative way. And now we're
[1:14:39] going through complete construction of
[1:14:41] all of our sidewalks and our streets and
[1:14:43] shutting down the roads when we all know
[1:14:46] that we businesses barely survive during
[1:14:49] the winter time. I mean we it just it's
[1:14:50] very expensive to operate and this
[1:14:53] construction plan. I just feel as if no
[1:14:56] one in city hall considered the
[1:14:58] businesses when you took us through
[1:14:59] prominade for almost a year and then now
[1:15:01] zone 4 is going to go all the way into
[1:15:04] probably March or April because of El
[1:15:06] Nino. Um, and I don't know why the
[1:15:09] conversation isn't being had to probably
[1:15:11] postpone zone 4 because El Nino is going
[1:15:13] to greatly impact it. Um, we're going to
[1:15:15] have flooding. We have no update on how
[1:15:18] our storm drains um were um fixed at all
[1:15:21] by the uh the plan that was put in
[1:15:23] place. And so I think that the business
[1:15:25] community needs to be communicated with
[1:15:27] about everything that we're going to the
[1:15:29] city is going to do to help protect us
[1:15:30] when we're going to be closed because of
[1:15:32] all the damage that's going to happen
[1:15:33] with media.
[1:15:34] >> Alex.
[1:15:36] >> Yeah. I think in in retrospect it would
[1:15:38] have given the prominade the time it
[1:15:41] should have been different. So I think
[1:15:42] that's that's a fair point. Um as it
[1:15:44] relates to I mean one of the reasons
[1:15:46] that we have a big flooding issue in in
[1:15:49] the downtown is because in the early
[1:15:50] 2000s there was a project to do a flood
[1:15:53] channel replacement basically all funded
[1:15:55] by the county. Um and the council at the
[1:15:57] time rejected it based on the impacts to
[1:15:59] business which I totally empathize with.
[1:16:01] I think that's the problem with
[1:16:02] construction. But I think that um the
[1:16:05] goal is to you have a project that needs
[1:16:07] to be done like something related to
[1:16:08] flooding is to figure out how you can do
[1:16:10] the construction as quickly as possible
[1:16:12] have uh during the day and night have
[1:16:14] and have really good communication with
[1:16:16] all those impacted so that everyone can
[1:16:18] understand and hopefully get through it
[1:16:20] but you have to invest in
[1:16:21] infrastructure.
[1:16:22] >> Can I just follow up on that? So my
[1:16:24] question then is in these last four
[1:16:27] years the city has put together a hazard
[1:16:29] mitigation plan climate action and ad
[1:16:32] education plan and you authorized
[1:16:35] $370,000 for a storm water master plan
[1:16:38] was due April 2026. Was any of that
[1:16:41] done?
[1:16:42] >> So the the climate action it's a it's a
[1:16:45] good question. The climate action plan
[1:16:47] >> it was actually my next question but
[1:16:48] thank you any
[1:16:50] >> okay
[1:16:52] >> um there there is a study that and
[1:16:54] that's the problem with some of what we
[1:16:55] do is like we just do a study that
[1:16:57] recommends another study. So I there is
[1:17:00] a study that's going to be taking place
[1:17:02] um related to coastal um erosion and sea
[1:17:06] level rise. Dr. Brett Sanders from UCI
[1:17:08] is someone who I've been in contact
[1:17:09] with. He's the expert on this. Um as it
[1:17:12] relates to to sand and those issues as
[1:17:14] relates to storm water. I totally agree
[1:17:15] with you that plan is not that it's
[1:17:17] behind schedule. But one of the things
[1:17:18] that I'm very interested in is putting
[1:17:20] our water, waste water, and sewer all
[1:17:23] under potentially the water district
[1:17:25] because that is you should look at water
[1:17:27] in an integrated way and we have not
[1:17:29] been doing in a focus on storm water.
[1:17:31] That's why we initiated.
[1:17:32] >> I'm just going to
[1:17:33] >> Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead, please.
[1:17:34] >> Um I guess this is where forward
[1:17:37] thinking is super important with city
[1:17:39] hall because we've known about El Nino
[1:17:42] since last year, right? We we had a very
[1:17:44] calm winter last year. So it was going
[1:17:46] to be a big one this year. supposed to
[1:17:47] be on record the worst storm in
[1:17:49] California history. Why would we
[1:17:51] postpone a storm water master plan that
[1:17:54] is going to help prevent flooding when
[1:17:56] we had years of identification of things
[1:18:00] that are very much clogged and then put
[1:18:02] $9 million into a farm? I mean, that's
[1:18:05] just like the prioritization of what's
[1:18:06] going to really impact the city. the
[1:18:07] storm the storm water plan wouldn't have
[1:18:09] been uh we wouldn't have been able to do
[1:18:11] it but we we prioritize getting that
[1:18:14] plan done which it hasn't been done but
[1:18:15] at least that's going to be a start so I
[1:18:17] I hear what you're saying about um about
[1:18:19] the storm but yeah we really need to
[1:18:21] invest in our infrastructure and that's
[1:18:22] why
[1:18:23] >> so this is just what happens when you do
[1:18:25] so many plans like we all forget that
[1:18:27] they have it and then nothing gets
[1:18:29] >> done
[1:18:30] like four different
[1:18:31] >> plans
[1:18:33] I'm gonna give I'm gonna give everybody
[1:18:35] a shot here I'm going to go with Nick
[1:18:36] first So on that topic, then you have uh
[1:18:39] what was it about a million dollars uh
[1:18:40] to pay for the prominade came from the
[1:18:42] Bluebird Canyon uh storm drain repair
[1:18:44] project. So that's been shelled for
[1:18:46] three years. This is what happens when
[1:18:47] you move capital improvement project
[1:18:49] funds over into the general fund because
[1:18:52] you have to delay all these projects.
[1:18:54] And back to the original part of the
[1:18:55] question where it was about what to do
[1:18:57] for the businesses downtown. You know,
[1:18:59] we've been giving free seating and free
[1:19:02] outdoor uh dining for uh for three
[1:19:05] restaurants and a coffee shop for the
[1:19:08] past four and a half months. And I'm
[1:19:09] sure Ashley doesn't like to hear that
[1:19:11] when she has to pay for her parklet and
[1:19:13] all the other uh you know restaurant
[1:19:15] tours downtown. And then how about the
[1:19:16] non restaurant businesses on the
[1:19:18] prominant? what sort of tax did we give
[1:19:20] them a sales tax break where we could
[1:19:22] give that money back to the to the
[1:19:23] business owner? There's so many things
[1:19:25] that the city could have done, but we
[1:19:26] they were just kind of, you know,
[1:19:28] playing whack-a-ole trying to solve
[1:19:29] everything because the project was four
[1:19:31] months delayed. And we still don't even
[1:19:32] know what the plan is to charge those uh
[1:19:35] restaurants for outdoor dining. So,
[1:19:37] there's just no plan. And then now
[1:19:38] they're wanting to do more construction
[1:19:40] downtown. It's it's just a complete
[1:19:42] mess.
[1:19:42] >> I'm going to give everybody a shot.
[1:19:43] Karen,
[1:19:44] >> um thank you Ashley for bringing up the
[1:19:46] four plans that were done. It's also
[1:19:48] like the zoning comprehensive zoning
[1:19:50] code update. You can't vote on a
[1:19:53] comprehensive zoning code update unless
[1:19:56] the general plan is is compliant with
[1:20:00] state law, which it isn't. And um I I
[1:20:04] also would like to ask with one of the
[1:20:06] plans, which is the comprehensive zoning
[1:20:08] code update, the original contract was
[1:20:11] $321,000
[1:20:13] and they were supposed to have something
[1:20:15] to the public by October. Um they later
[1:20:19] increased that contract to 709,000
[1:20:22] but they did not there's still no
[1:20:24] deliverables. What it says in the in the
[1:20:27] staff reports is that they used that
[1:20:29] money to do the efficiency ordinance and
[1:20:32] some of the other things but they we it
[1:20:37] it's ridiculous.
[1:20:39] Joy
[1:20:42] >> agree. I mean, this town was built a
[1:20:44] hundred years ago before FEMA was in
[1:20:46] place and we knew and I was the one that
[1:20:48] came to counsel and raise my hand saying
[1:20:50] it's in a flood plane, not only a flood
[1:20:53] plane, but a flood wave, which is where
[1:20:55] the water rushes through the fastest and
[1:20:57] then all of a sudden, okay, well, we'll
[1:20:58] do a study. We just do a study. But they
[1:21:01] brought Phil in and now we have to think
[1:21:03] about it. It goes to what Ashley said
[1:21:05] about thinking and due diligence, but
[1:21:08] And when Nick said, "Yeah, they're
[1:21:10] taking a million dollars from other
[1:21:11] projects." I live in South Lagoona.
[1:21:13] We've had to live with a broken swing
[1:21:16] for the last 10 years. We can't even get
[1:21:18] a swing set fix and millions and
[1:21:20] millions are going to one little park
[1:21:22] downtown. It just shows the priorities.
[1:21:25] >> Closes actually. Um besid besides um
[1:21:29] besides the fact of doing a lot of plans
[1:21:32] I think what we do incorrectly as a city
[1:21:35] is we work very siloed instead of
[1:21:37] working with other cities and
[1:21:39] understanding what they're doing. So
[1:21:40] back in 2023 the state governor Nome put
[1:21:43] in um a sea level rising like initiative
[1:21:47] and program that um all the city coastal
[1:21:50] cities will need to have to meet like
[1:21:51] four or six objectives. So then the
[1:21:53] coastal commission put in a local
[1:21:55] commission fan SB1 and SB272.
[1:21:58] Since then, just real quick, San
[1:22:00] Clemente received 1.5 million in a
[1:22:02] grant. Seal Beach 500,000. Rodondo Beach
[1:22:04] 500,000. Huntington Beach 500,000. So
[1:22:07] all of these other cities, we don't have
[1:22:08] the money went and got grants through
[1:22:10] the coastal commission. So I just don't
[1:22:12] understand why we wouldn't be doing the
[1:22:14] same thing and be able to fix everything
[1:22:16] that we're is about to get destroyed
[1:22:18] that we could have prevented. stay on
[1:22:20] this topic for a little bit then I'll go
[1:22:22] to
[1:22:23] >> at a previous forum I brought this up to
[1:22:25] the the incumbents that they need to
[1:22:29] communicate with Sacramento to get money
[1:22:31] from different state agencies and they
[1:22:34] were warned before they issued the
[1:22:37] 350,000 to S SWA that there could be
[1:22:40] flooding after they do the remodel
[1:22:43] because they brought the street up. So
[1:22:46] now he said 12 more inches that could go
[1:22:49] into the stores. So and I've been here
[1:22:52] 34 years. I've never seen BMS built on
[1:22:54] the beach before. Karen,
[1:22:57] >> um with regards to all of these plans
[1:23:01] being done and um
[1:23:06] this council approving them and
[1:23:09] approving staff to write the RFPs,
[1:23:12] I question why
[1:23:15] why does council constantly defer to
[1:23:19] staff and the city attorney um and
[1:23:22] constantly defend staff and city
[1:23:26] I agree that we're lucky to have the
[1:23:29] people that we have, but I think we need
[1:23:32] a different way of communicating to our
[1:23:34] to our city attorney and our staff to
[1:23:36] hold them accountable for things. That
[1:23:38] doesn't mean make them bad or make them
[1:23:41] necessarily evil. But if they're wrong,
[1:23:44] they're wrong. And let's fix that
[1:23:46] problem. because I think a city attorney
[1:23:49] should know that you don't do a zoning
[1:23:52] code update without having a general
[1:23:54] plan.
[1:23:55] >> Nick, slightly,
[1:23:58] excuse me, slightly slightly back to
[1:23:59] what they were saying earlier when it
[1:24:01] comes to uh being prepared with the sea
[1:24:02] level rise and the damage we're seeing
[1:24:04] from El Nino. You know, to be fair, they
[1:24:06] are addressing it now, but that's just
[1:24:09] the overall theme of this council is
[1:24:10] this reactiveness to these storms, the
[1:24:13] hurricanes coming up and the damages to
[1:24:15] our beaches, especially in South
[1:24:17] Lagoona, like at Aliso, you know, that's
[1:24:19] going to cost close to a million dollars
[1:24:20] to fix that lot. That could have been
[1:24:22] not necessarily saying we could have
[1:24:24] prevented it and had all the sand uh put
[1:24:25] in place ahead of time, but like Ashley
[1:24:27] and Ed were saying, we could have tried
[1:24:29] to access those dollars earlier. Now
[1:24:31] we're at the table with a bunch of
[1:24:33] cities trying to get access to that
[1:24:35] money and now we're at the end of the
[1:24:36] line.
[1:24:37] >> Okay. Actually,
[1:24:38] >> well, and to that point, 1.5 million was
[1:24:41] allocated to the parking of Aliso Beach
[1:24:45] and it was never used. So, that's just
[1:24:47] another kind of theme of um if you're
[1:24:50] going to fund it, you need to finish it.
[1:24:51] But I do have a question. Have we ever
[1:24:52] looked into SB272 or SB1? Just curious.
[1:24:56] >> I I think we did. I don't have I don't
[1:24:58] have the statute memorize but I think we
[1:25:00] have looked into that but we always one
[1:25:03] of the challenges maybe Ed again I think
[1:25:06] from you more about Sacramento is that a
[1:25:08] lot of these grants have an equity
[1:25:10] component and so Laguna Beach is not we
[1:25:12] don't have the um the poverty that
[1:25:15] that's associated with that so it's
[1:25:16] always a challenge to get grants we're
[1:25:18] able to get I think um so definitely
[1:25:21] something we should look at but just
[1:25:23] just kind of addressing the issues of I
[1:25:26] totally agree. We need to be thinking
[1:25:28] about, you know, really the next hundred
[1:25:30] years. That's what Good Beach is all
[1:25:31] about. Last minute we're here because of
[1:25:33] visionaries who are willing to think
[1:25:34] differently and creatively. I'm really
[1:25:36] proud of I think we we acted proactively
[1:25:38] with our deal with Newport Beach to have
[1:25:40] water independence. I think we acted
[1:25:42] proactively when Bob and I were able to
[1:25:44] negotiate agreement with all the water
[1:25:45] districts. And if you if you think like
[1:25:47] it's tough up here, look at what happens
[1:25:49] with these water districts. Deb knows
[1:25:51] it's very uh everyone's they say whisies
[1:25:54] for uh drinking waters for fighting
[1:25:57] where we get 12.5 million to really
[1:25:59] modernize treatment plant and then fire
[1:26:01] station one we fire station in South
[1:26:04] Lagoona now we're going to have at least
[1:26:06] one seismically sound fire station we
[1:26:08] need to have four
[1:26:09] >> okay I'm going to move on uh we'll talk
[1:26:12] about working with commercial landlords
[1:26:13] and by the way thank you for that
[1:26:14] discussion we're going to revisit some
[1:26:16] portions of it in just a couple minutes
[1:26:17] here but working with commercial
[1:26:18] landlords is to with uh how could the
[1:26:22] city and commercial landlords as well as
[1:26:24] brokers and the chamber work together to
[1:26:26] fill vacant storefronts and what role if
[1:26:29] you were elected would the city play in
[1:26:32] recruiting businesses and addressing
[1:26:34] barriers that keep those spaces vacant?
[1:26:37] >> Well, it's a free country, so remember
[1:26:40] that everyone is entitled to property
[1:26:43] rights. So, we can't as a city take away
[1:26:46] your property rights. But we can I'll
[1:26:48] give you an example. The hospital I
[1:26:51] recommended because the hospital wants
[1:26:53] to close it down. They've had two
[1:26:55] meetings use imit imminent domain and
[1:26:58] buy the hospital and we are a worldclass
[1:27:01] city. So we can change that whole
[1:27:04] hospital and become even more famous and
[1:27:06] fill it with orthopedics and plastic
[1:27:08] surgeons. But the answer to your
[1:27:10] question regarding commercial landlords
[1:27:12] and residential landlords, it's
[1:27:15] difficult because they have rights. And
[1:27:18] as a city, the only thing you can do is
[1:27:21] have a um unbundsman to talk to these
[1:27:25] people. And I know a lot of the
[1:27:27] landlords.
[1:27:28] >> What would you do? What would you do?
[1:27:31] I I believe that Dave Kev or someone at
[1:27:34] the city does communicate with the
[1:27:36] landlords and they try to facilitate
[1:27:40] leasing it at less pricing you know they
[1:27:43] so there is someone at the city Alex you
[1:27:45] can probably answer this that does do
[1:27:47] this and so but they're unsuccessful
[1:27:51] and so one of the things that could be
[1:27:54] done code enforcement could force the
[1:27:56] painting of the Luna Beach hotel that
[1:28:00] should have been done years ago because
[1:28:02] it's an eyesore and it's the centerpiece
[1:28:04] of Lagoon Beach. Although someone needs
[1:28:07] to force the Merit family to paint that
[1:28:10] hotel. It's beautiful and it'll look
[1:28:12] prettier if we paint it.
[1:28:15] >> Thank you, Karen. You're asking about
[1:28:19] you're asking about property owners and
[1:28:22] what you need to remember in Laguna
[1:28:23] Beach is that the land value and the
[1:28:26] property values have something called
[1:28:28] appreciation income and so those
[1:28:32] property owners have no incentive to I
[1:28:35] mean the rent is not nearly comparable
[1:28:38] to the appreciation income of those
[1:28:41] properties. So, we need to find out a
[1:28:44] way to incentivize those property owners
[1:28:46] to sell. And I think one of the ways we
[1:28:50] do that is we get rid of capital gains
[1:28:52] tax and more. And I know that's a state
[1:28:55] issue and a federal issue, but we need
[1:28:57] to change.
[1:28:58] >> So, as a city council member, how do you
[1:29:00] do that?
[1:29:01] >> So, I I think what we need to do is
[1:29:03] lobby for something like that. But I
[1:29:06] property owners are smart and it is a
[1:29:08] free it is a free country and they They
[1:29:11] have no incentive to sell because their
[1:29:13] capital gains are going to be so high.
[1:29:16] They have no incentive to
[1:29:19] um have tenants because tenants are
[1:29:21] difficult.
[1:29:23] >> Nick and then I'll go to Ashley.
[1:29:25] >> So there's a few things here at play and
[1:29:27] you know Ed's mentioned it a few times
[1:29:28] about you know city council members
[1:29:30] going to Sacramento working with our
[1:29:32] partners at the state level because this
[1:29:34] is this is not just a problem facing
[1:29:36] Laguna Beach. This is all up and down
[1:29:37] the coastal communities that are facing
[1:29:39] this issue. you know, we've got property
[1:29:40] owners whether, you know, we could maybe
[1:29:42] we have a list. If you go on the city's
[1:29:44] website, it takes you to like a portal
[1:29:46] where you click Bloopnet and it just
[1:29:48] shows a list of properties and it's a
[1:29:50] phone uh link to the chamber, which of
[1:29:52] course, like I said before, if the
[1:29:53] chamber is being starved with money,
[1:29:54] you're not going to get a lot of, you
[1:29:56] know, support from them. So, an idea
[1:29:57] that we could have is, you know, the
[1:29:59] city could get out of the way when it
[1:30:00] comes to permitting. You know, we have a
[1:30:01] a clear window when we have a lot of
[1:30:03] people coming to town.
[1:30:04] >> 15 seconds.
[1:30:05] >> You could call it Labor Day or sorry,
[1:30:07] Memorial Day to Labor Day. we can come
[1:30:09] up with some sort of popup idea. I know
[1:30:12] we've talked about this before, but try
[1:30:13] to wave a lot of the permitting, the
[1:30:16] fees or the insurance or liability that
[1:30:18] comes with opening up these uh
[1:30:20] businesses. We need to get creative. And
[1:30:21] this goes back to when you have people
[1:30:24] on council that are getting, you know,
[1:30:25] complacent with their position, think
[1:30:27] that they have everything in the bag.
[1:30:28] They're not really pushing themselves to
[1:30:30] find, you know, new creative ideas to
[1:30:32] open up.
[1:30:33] >> Ashley and then join.
[1:30:35] >> Yeah. So, it's it's a few different
[1:30:36] problems. One, we need to bring all the
[1:30:38] property owners together and to really
[1:30:39] understand it. From my perspective is
[1:30:42] that one of the biggest problems is that
[1:30:44] it's going to take a lot of money and a
[1:30:46] lot of time going through our processes
[1:30:47] in order to update a lot of these
[1:30:49] buildings because they're not ADA
[1:30:50] compliant. They need new roofs, etc.,
[1:30:52] etc. So, where the city can do its part,
[1:30:54] and what I would do on city council is
[1:30:56] making sure we can fasttrack that, get
[1:30:58] them through to update it, and then you
[1:31:00] can add a vacancy tax after a year or
[1:31:02] two or whatever onto the property owners
[1:31:05] if they don't fill the vacancy. You
[1:31:06] know, something that I did in the
[1:31:08] spring, even before wanting to be on the
[1:31:09] city council, is I sat with Mayor Oracle
[1:31:12] and people from city hall and I
[1:31:13] introduced them to a top brokerage firm
[1:31:16] um that I've worked with in the past and
[1:31:17] filling a bunch of retail spaces because
[1:31:20] a lot of these property owners having
[1:31:22] worked with them is that they're their
[1:31:24] brokers aren't active. They're not
[1:31:25] actively because they're single unit.
[1:31:27] They're not they're very independent.
[1:31:28] And so, we need to help bring tenants to
[1:31:31] um to these property owners because most
[1:31:33] of them do want to fill it. They don't
[1:31:34] want to be living on sitting on a
[1:31:36] decrepit building.
[1:31:37] >> Joy,
[1:31:38] >> a lot of cities have an economic
[1:31:40] development director and they're very
[1:31:42] proactive in recruiting certain
[1:31:44] businesses. We we have not been
[1:31:46] proactive. We're more marketing come,
[1:31:49] you know, come to our beaches, come to
[1:31:51] our trails. We need to work economically
[1:31:54] with people. I also think this town has
[1:31:57] so much passion that I've seen, you
[1:32:00] know, like I keep bringing up how Tony
[1:32:02] Eman chained herself to a bulldozer to
[1:32:04] stop the Irvine Company from building
[1:32:07] the canyons out. I think if we had a lot
[1:32:09] of the community come together and work
[1:32:12] with economic development and the
[1:32:13] commercial land owners, we could
[1:32:15] probably come up with a wind solution.
[1:32:17] >> Alex,
[1:32:19] >> yes. So I I mean I think at the end of
[1:32:20] the day you could have a um you know an
[1:32:23] economic development department but if
[1:32:25] you're advertising a two to three year
[1:32:26] wait time you're not going to you might
[1:32:27] be afraid the best salesman is not going
[1:32:29] to be able to get the get people to come
[1:32:30] here. So we really need to streamline we
[1:32:32] have to continue looking at the parking
[1:32:33] requirements which pose a huge issue as
[1:32:35] it relates to new businesses and they're
[1:32:37] really excited about with our cross beam
[1:32:38] pilot program. It's going to have a
[1:32:40] feature where you can essentially
[1:32:41] understand what are what can you build
[1:32:43] or what can what uses are available at
[1:32:45] your property. That's a game changer.
[1:32:47] And then what we have been doing that I
[1:32:49] think is exciting is we have kind of um
[1:32:51] our someone in the city manager's office
[1:32:54] they've worked with. So truly pizza for
[1:32:55] example they needed a calr encroachment
[1:32:58] permit they were told it would take six
[1:33:00] months. Thankfully city staff was able
[1:33:01] to get them to make it a week. The
[1:33:03] county health department they uh
[1:33:05] supervisor Foley has been able to cut uh
[1:33:08] make it 90% faster. So we're always
[1:33:10] trying to work with them. So try there's
[1:33:11] so many different agencies involved. How
[1:33:13] do we bring everyone to the table
[1:33:14] because at the end of the day I think
[1:33:15] the We can't control the free market. We
[1:33:17] the free market. We can't control state
[1:33:20] or federal tax policy, but we can make
[1:33:22] it really uh we can control the city
[1:33:24] process and that that's my focus.
[1:33:28] >> Ashley,
[1:33:29] >> yeah, I just want to say a lot of cities
[1:33:31] um postco implemented a vacancy tax in
[1:33:34] order to fill. So, it it is something
[1:33:35] that we can do. So let me ask let me ask
[1:33:37] Nick should we use a commercial vacancy
[1:33:39] ordinance to address these storefronts
[1:33:42] >> in uh in the fear of saying we should
[1:33:44] study it don't obviously want to do that
[1:33:47] um but what we need to look at uh
[1:33:49] success stories from other cities if you
[1:33:51] just you know use your AI and look
[1:33:53] online Santa city of Santa Cruz did it
[1:33:55] San Francisco did it uh in some cases
[1:33:58] they reduced the vacancy rate by 50% but
[1:34:00] we just need to you know talk to those
[1:34:02] cities and see what the consequences
[1:34:04] were what the benefits
[1:34:06] I I'm not going to sit here and say
[1:34:07] tonight that that's going to be
[1:34:08] something that's going to solve the
[1:34:09] problem. But what we can't do, what the
[1:34:11] other two council members that aren't
[1:34:13] here would do is they've said multiple
[1:34:15] times as well, what we can't we can't
[1:34:16] get a hold of them. Nothing else we can
[1:34:19] do. Like you we have to be more
[1:34:20] proactive and try to be more aggressive
[1:34:22] and trying to communicate with them. If
[1:34:24] they are, you know, leaving their
[1:34:26] property empty for 6, 12, 24 months,
[1:34:28] whatever we want timeline we want to
[1:34:30] set, probably more than a year, then we
[1:34:32] need to start maybe, you know,
[1:34:33] penalizing them in some way, you know,
[1:34:35] putting them in code enforcement on them
[1:34:37] and try to make sure that we work with
[1:34:39] them, incentivize them, like what Ashley
[1:34:40] said, you know, working with broker.
[1:34:43] This all comes down to coming up with
[1:34:45] new fresh ideas. That means new people
[1:34:47] on council that are willing to
[1:34:49] experiment with things that um you know
[1:34:52] different ways to solve the problem
[1:34:54] because if you keep electing the same
[1:34:56] people you're going to get the same
[1:34:56] results.
[1:34:58] >> Joey finish.
[1:34:59] >> Well in other towns these economic
[1:35:01] development directors are the
[1:35:02] cheerleader for these commercial
[1:35:04] businesses to come in and that's with
[1:35:06] Marriott. I they actually help me um
[1:35:08] take a contaminated site and get it
[1:35:11] approved to where we could legally build
[1:35:14] on it. So if have if we need a problem
[1:35:17] solver that understands the businesses
[1:35:20] that can market to the businesses and
[1:35:22] stop marketing more tourism and market
[1:35:25] to the businesses and the artists.
[1:35:27] >> Okay. Uh everyone I want everyone to
[1:35:29] jump in on this one but it's pointed at
[1:35:31] Alex and it's going to take a few
[1:35:34] minutes to roll this one out. So uh Alex
[1:35:37] uh you and Sue are part of the
[1:35:38] efficiency and fiscal sustainability ad
[1:35:41] hoc committee with budget
[1:35:42] recommendations. One of those
[1:35:44] recommendations was uh within the city
[1:35:46] manager's office. Gavin had retired. Uh
[1:35:50] it was uh now we're looking to replace
[1:35:54] that position with a COO type of
[1:35:56] position at $315,000
[1:36:00] that will uh if everything goes
[1:36:03] according to plan, he'll be able to step
[1:36:04] into Dave's shoes when Dave retires. So,
[1:36:08] two questions there. And again, that for
[1:36:10] me, the COO position, and I've mentioned
[1:36:11] this to you on air, and the CEO, that's
[1:36:13] two people doing one job. Uh, you didn't
[1:36:16] see it that way when we talked on air.
[1:36:18] You probably still don't. I could tell
[1:36:19] by the look on your face. But that, what
[1:36:21] does that mean for Jeremy, the other
[1:36:23] assistant city manager? He's hit a
[1:36:24] ceiling where now he's probably looking
[1:36:27] somewhere up for somewhere else to go.
[1:36:29] Uh, and I'm wondering if you, and you
[1:36:33] can't speak for Sue, but I'm wondering
[1:36:34] if you lack confidence in Jeremy as a
[1:36:37] potential city manager.
[1:36:40] I mean, um, we I I would never my job is
[1:36:44] over to one person or two people, the
[1:36:46] city manager and the city attorney.
[1:36:48] Jeremy's a great employee for the city
[1:36:50] and that's just a totally inappropriate
[1:36:52] uh question for I mean I I'm never going
[1:36:54] to talk about personnel.
[1:36:56] >> Well, you made the recommendation. It's
[1:36:57] not an appropriate question.
[1:36:58] >> No, the question the recommendation is
[1:37:00] about the fact that based on talking to
[1:37:02] the city manager, we have a our city is
[1:37:04] very complicated. the city manager's job
[1:37:06] is to look at is to deal with, you know,
[1:37:09] the council members, deal with the
[1:37:10] public, and um but when we look at all
[1:37:14] of our different departments from an
[1:37:16] operational perspective, the goal is to
[1:37:18] have someone who can be um who can help
[1:37:22] provide accountability, focus on
[1:37:23] efficiencies, and it's something that
[1:37:25] was that in coordination with the city
[1:37:27] manager, we were able to do. As Nick
[1:37:29] said, it's important to think
[1:37:30] differently about how government works.
[1:37:32] This was a job that was already built. I
[1:37:34] the the number you said the containment
[1:37:36] that it's there's a range as I
[1:37:37] understand it from the salary. But um
[1:37:39] yeah, I think as a council member, it's
[1:37:41] really important that we never talk
[1:37:42] about individual staff because we our
[1:37:44] job is to oversee the city manager and
[1:37:47] the city attorney and we do that in
[1:37:48] close session. If you thought that was
[1:37:50] an appropriate way to hear this,
[1:37:53] would that $315,000 be better spent in
[1:37:56] the city attorney's office hiring a
[1:37:58] settlement negotiator to save off the
[1:38:00] multi-million dollar lawsuits that are
[1:38:02] coming down the pipe? We've got two big
[1:38:04] ones coming. Which which lawsuits? So,
[1:38:06] there are and I'll start with this that
[1:38:08] uh we have now and city attorney Megan
[1:38:12] Gabaldi is sharp. She's focused and
[1:38:14] she's true to the letter of the law.
[1:38:16] She's as good a city attorney as you can
[1:38:18] have. I've made the case before that
[1:38:21] former city attorney Phil Conn was just
[1:38:23] mailing it in in his final couple years
[1:38:26] uh and didn't give the city proper
[1:38:27] advice to prevent at least two of our
[1:38:29] biggest lawsuits. One of them was the
[1:38:31] hostile takeover of Hotel Laguna where
[1:38:34] he recommended signing uh the police
[1:38:37] side with the fraudsters that took it
[1:38:39] over and two is the $150 million Jordan
[1:38:42] suit. And the reason it's $150 million
[1:38:45] is because he never submitted a counter
[1:38:48] number to the $150 million. Had he
[1:38:51] simply submitted court documents to say,
[1:38:53] "No, 150 million is ridiculous. It
[1:38:55] should be 12 million." The judge would
[1:38:57] have had something to choose between,
[1:38:59] but he didn't.
[1:39:00] >> What? What? The judge made a decision.
[1:39:02] >> The judge Well, the the suit ended up at
[1:39:05] 150 because there was no counter.
[1:39:06] >> The judge has not made a decision on
[1:39:08] that case
[1:39:09] >> on on the on the amount of the suit.
[1:39:12] that decision. No, the judge there
[1:39:14] there's a lawsuit. A judge has not
[1:39:16] weighed in on that question.
[1:39:17] >> That lawsuit is for 150. Am I correct?
[1:39:20] >> Yeah. But but the judge has not weighed
[1:39:22] in on that question.
[1:39:23] >> The city did not offer up a tw an is is
[1:39:28] what I'm saying here. The city did not
[1:39:29] offer a lower number. Let's say 12 to
[1:39:32] 15,000. So my question is if in fact we
[1:39:36] lose that lawsuit
[1:39:38] >> or both lawsuits uh Should
[1:39:43] uh Phil Con, would the city look to sue
[1:39:46] Phil Con or the the uh uh the firm that
[1:39:51] he represented, should they be held
[1:39:53] liable for legal malpractice for that
[1:39:56] information in the city?
[1:39:58] >> If the answer were yes, I I wouldn't be
[1:40:00] able that I mean, I don't talk about
[1:40:02] legal issues outside of close session.
[1:40:04] So, I I don't have the answer, but what
[1:40:06] I will say is um one of the big
[1:40:08] decisions that we made was to bring our
[1:40:09] city attorney's office inhouse. And um
[1:40:12] we've actually been able to save money
[1:40:14] from doing that, which is a little bit
[1:40:15] counterintuitive, but the problem with
[1:40:16] the the contract model for city
[1:40:18] attorneys is that how do city partners
[1:40:20] at law firms make money? They make money
[1:40:22] by bringing in more billable hours. How
[1:40:24] do you pay more billable hours?
[1:40:25] Lawsuits. And so our goal with having an
[1:40:28] in-house city attorney has been to
[1:40:30] mitigate risk on the front end so that
[1:40:32] we can um have less lawsuits. That's
[1:40:34] when Newport Beach is done. So it's
[1:40:36] actually been been a really effective um
[1:40:38] approach.
[1:40:42] >> I'll let everyone in on this topic.
[1:40:43] >> Yeah, I appreciate the the answers from
[1:40:45] Alex. Um I think the COO position is
[1:40:49] questionable. Um I think one of the
[1:40:51] things that we really need to do is move
[1:40:53] HR out of the under finance that that
[1:40:58] needs to be directly with the city
[1:41:00] manager um and not underneath finance.
[1:41:04] Um, also the city attorney inhouse, I
[1:41:08] think that's actually when you go back
[1:41:10] and look at it, which I did, it's
[1:41:11] actually costing us more money, not
[1:41:13] less. And um I
[1:41:18] I question how a firm
[1:41:23] um became our city attorney and then um
[1:41:27] that city attorney now is an employee,
[1:41:31] but all of the lawsuits are now being
[1:41:35] fought by that same firm. And by the
[1:41:38] way, why if we're always indemnifying,
[1:41:43] meaning the applicant always has to
[1:41:45] indemnify or property owner has to
[1:41:46] indemnify, why is the city constantly
[1:41:50] appealing these lawsuits. Um, and they
[1:41:54] keep appealing it as much as possible. I
[1:41:57] don't understand that. I'm not in their
[1:41:59] closed session. there might be something
[1:42:01] there, but as a as a resident looking at
[1:42:04] how my taxpayers dollars are being
[1:42:06] spent, I I I get confused.
[1:42:11] >> Ashley, and then I'll go to Nick and
[1:42:13] then
[1:42:13] >> um so for the position, so city hall is
[1:42:17] complicated because we've made it that
[1:42:18] way. I mean, it's we're no different
[1:42:20] than a lot of other of our coastal
[1:42:22] sister cities. And so, um that's the
[1:42:25] problem. And I've done turnaround in my
[1:42:27] professional career before opening up OD
[1:42:29] any time I went into an organization
[1:42:31] that needed to be course corrected,
[1:42:33] there was a lot of headcount because
[1:42:35] people would just throw people at the
[1:42:37] leaders would throw people at the
[1:42:38] problem, right? Instead of solving the
[1:42:40] real problem. Bringing in another salary
[1:42:43] to a very very small community is not
[1:42:45] going to solve the accountability
[1:42:47] problem. That that's what needs to be
[1:42:49] fixed and the city manager is needs to
[1:42:51] be held responsible. When I when one of
[1:42:54] the incumbents shared with me back
[1:42:56] during the summer that they were going
[1:42:57] to be hiring the COO and they said it
[1:42:59] was because someone needs to help us
[1:43:00] keep track about all the different
[1:43:02] initiatives that are happening and
[1:43:03] that's again the city manager's
[1:43:05] responsibility to be making sure
[1:43:07] everyone's staying on track projecting
[1:43:09] that and then sharing back with of city
[1:43:11] council. So I am not for and when on
[1:43:13] city council I will eliminate that
[1:43:15] position.
[1:43:16] >> Nick and then join.
[1:43:18] >> Yeah lot lot to go over there. Um, I
[1:43:20] think when it comes to the lawsuits, um,
[1:43:22] I don't know if we have any measurable
[1:43:24] KPIs on, you know, what their goals are
[1:43:26] as a as a staff, um,
[1:43:30] uh, and department. And then also, we
[1:43:33] don't even know what the line item is of
[1:43:34] all the settlements that we've had
[1:43:36] because they don't put that in the
[1:43:37] budget. So, that's another big problem.
[1:43:38] So, how do we know are we having less
[1:43:40] lost settlements? Are we having more
[1:43:42] settlements? Like, none of that
[1:43:43] information has really been disclosed.
[1:43:44] And, uh, when it comes to hiring a COO,
[1:43:47] I agree with Ashley. It doesn't make
[1:43:49] sense to throw more people at the
[1:43:50] problem. We need to be assessing it with
[1:43:51] the people that we have. We need to
[1:43:53] really figure out if we're making more
[1:43:54] cuts before we start hiring another, you
[1:43:57] know, cushy job at 300K with all the
[1:43:59] benefits that come along with it.
[1:44:02] >> Jordan,
[1:44:02] >> well, I run a lean small business and I
[1:44:05] believe in training people and then
[1:44:08] empowering people. And if you do that
[1:44:10] with a culture of support and and
[1:44:13] knowledge, you don't need all this
[1:44:15] middle management. We don't need all the
[1:44:17] additional management. And I think
[1:44:19] that's one of the problems we have in
[1:44:20] government. And I'd really like to push
[1:44:22] back on this whole thing about legal
[1:44:25] issues. I'd like to ask why when
[1:44:27] developers drop out of a lawsuit, the
[1:44:30] city uses our taxpayer money to go ahead
[1:44:33] and appeal. Like Karen said, why are we
[1:44:35] fighting everything and doing it at our
[1:44:38] taxpayer expense?
[1:44:40] >> And lawyers use a tactic of time time
[1:44:44] because they get paid on time. So they
[1:44:47] use statute of limitation. So then the
[1:44:50] opposing side loses. That's why the
[1:44:52] appeals are going on. But the previous
[1:44:55] city attorney, he retired because a
[1:44:58] federal judge stepped down. But be but
[1:45:01] he retired and then the city had to hire
[1:45:03] a new attorney who was an outside law
[1:45:07] firm and should have stayed that way.
[1:45:08] Shouldn't have brought it inhouse.
[1:45:10] You're bringing in liability to the city
[1:45:12] and to the residents and it should have
[1:45:14] stayed out. And Karen made a good point.
[1:45:17] It's costing the city more money and
[1:45:20] worse, there's more lawsuits that coming
[1:45:22] down on top of the 150. So that money if
[1:45:26] they lose all those cases, it gets build
[1:45:29] to the residents.
[1:45:30] >> Thank you, Eddie. Alex.
[1:45:32] >> Yes. So I think I agree with the with
[1:45:34] several colleagues here talking about
[1:45:36] the goal is to empower the city manager.
[1:45:38] And so when the city manager when you're
[1:45:40] identifying, okay, what how can we
[1:45:42] support you? One of the things that came
[1:45:43] out of that iterative discussion was was
[1:45:46] something like the COO position. So,
[1:45:47] it's not like it's just a top down
[1:45:49] things that wouldn't be appropriate for
[1:45:50] us as council members to just say, "Oh,
[1:45:52] this is the position that you need." But
[1:45:54] really, I think our goal is to empower
[1:45:56] the city manager um and give him the
[1:45:59] tools that he needs because he has a
[1:46:01] very hard job as everyone in this room
[1:46:03] can appreciate.
[1:46:04] >> Nick,
[1:46:04] >> well, it goes to where he's spending his
[1:46:06] time. Unfortunately, the city council
[1:46:08] has been kind of putting him out in
[1:46:09] front of the camera on social media
[1:46:11] doing all the things that the city
[1:46:13] council members and the mayor should be
[1:46:14] doing. And only since this election year
[1:46:17] have now that the city council members
[1:46:19] and the mayor been out on social media
[1:46:21] and out in the public. They should have
[1:46:22] been doing that the entire time. But
[1:46:24] they've been throwing the city manager
[1:46:25] out there, whether it's throwing him
[1:46:26] under the bus for the trees, throwing
[1:46:28] him out there for all the sand loss, but
[1:46:30] he should be here doing his job. and
[1:46:32] city council members and the mayor
[1:46:34] should be outside on camera talking to
[1:46:36] the community.
[1:46:38] >> Um I think one of the issues can be
[1:46:40] solved with regards to the CEO position.
[1:46:44] It's our department heads. Um where are
[1:46:47] they? I I they come to city council
[1:46:50] meetings, but if you need to solve an
[1:46:53] issue, you're told to go to the city
[1:46:54] manager's office. Um we don't have
[1:46:57] access to the department heads and the
[1:46:59] department heads are the give them the
[1:47:01] power. I agree with Joy. Let's give the
[1:47:05] department heads the power to run their
[1:47:07] departments and if we have an issue with
[1:47:10] a planning application,
[1:47:13] let the let the department head come and
[1:47:15] and answer the question.
[1:47:17] >> Lauren,
[1:47:19] >> I think Karen hit the nail on the head.
[1:47:21] I have always been in favor of a
[1:47:23] decentralized type organization. I think
[1:47:25] it's much more efficient. We have some
[1:47:28] amazing directors that I think could
[1:47:31] rise to the occasion and
[1:47:34] fill that gap. I I would rather see us
[1:47:38] spend the kind of rather than even fill
[1:47:41] a COO position, push that money down to
[1:47:45] the department heads, push that money
[1:47:47] into the staff and get more residents
[1:47:50] serving.
[1:47:51] >> Alex, should we have an elected mayor?
[1:47:57] Um I I think the the I mean I could go
[1:48:00] both ways on this. I think the I don't
[1:48:02] know that I have an issue with the
[1:48:03] current approach that we have. Um one of
[1:48:05] the challenges probably is the fact that
[1:48:08] we need more there are more regional
[1:48:10] issues than probably existed 50 years
[1:48:13] ago. So, I um I think that it's funny
[1:48:17] because people always ask me, they still
[1:48:19] think I'm some people still think I'm
[1:48:20] the mayor. Or and then when I tell them
[1:48:22] I'm not the mayor, they're like, "Did
[1:48:23] you get voted out?" And I explained,
[1:48:24] "No, it's a rotation." And so, it's it's
[1:48:27] funny that people, you know, I was
[1:48:29] talking to a high level elected official
[1:48:31] who was saying, "Are you running for
[1:48:32] reelection for for mayor?" And I was
[1:48:34] saying, "No, you don't run for
[1:48:35] re-election for mayor." So, um so I'd
[1:48:38] have to think about that. the term
[1:48:39] limits then will be interesting if that
[1:48:41] were to pass and the implications there.
[1:48:43] I just haven't really thought through
[1:48:44] that issue fully.
[1:48:46] >> Okay, Nick,
[1:48:46] >> what should what should happen is
[1:48:49] instead of the mayor uh position being
[1:48:52] used as a negotiating bargaining chip
[1:48:54] where two previous city council members
[1:48:56] in the first time in history did not
[1:48:58] become mayor. That's a problem because
[1:49:00] they weren't people aren't able to be
[1:49:02] themselves and do what's right for the
[1:49:04] community if they're worried about
[1:49:06] negotiating who's going to be the prom,
[1:49:08] who's going to be the mayor moving
[1:49:09] forward. It should just be a straight
[1:49:11] once people are elected. You set out the
[1:49:13] calendar ahead of time and people know
[1:49:15] where everything's at. So there's no
[1:49:17] backroom deals going on when it comes to
[1:49:19] who's mayor or why people don't become
[1:49:21] mayor because it's what happened to
[1:49:23] those cast members.
[1:49:25] >> Ed, I'll come to you next time. with the
[1:49:29] question about the mayor is she elected.
[1:49:31] Um, I think having an elected mayor
[1:49:33] would probably solve a lot of problems
[1:49:35] because um, that elected mayor would be
[1:49:38] taking the place of what Dave is doing.
[1:49:41] Um, which is and and that elected mayor
[1:49:44] would would need to bring all those
[1:49:48] problems to Dave and then Dave would
[1:49:50] have the opportunity to get them solved
[1:49:52] because he'd be in his office working
[1:49:54] with the department heads.
[1:49:57] >> Mark Orle is our mayor right now. We've
[1:49:59] had all these forms and he got a 1099
[1:50:03] from the mom group. Dora, his wife, was
[1:50:06] on payroll. That's why Taste the Lagoona
[1:50:09] was cancelled because the sales tax
[1:50:12] wasn't paid. So ABC didn't have the
[1:50:15] liquor license. You can't have a liquor
[1:50:17] license if you don't pay your sales tax.
[1:50:19] The issue is the city is about to get
[1:50:21] sued for 20 $30 million, maybe even
[1:50:24] more, and they're going to lose because
[1:50:26] Mark Orle wasn't honest with uh the
[1:50:30] residents voters. He collected a a 1099
[1:50:34] from the mom group and Dora was on
[1:50:36] payroll. They're liable. And it's like
[1:50:39] seriously, the city council members are
[1:50:41] aware of it and so they're complicit
[1:50:44] allies
[1:50:45] and joy. So,
[1:50:49] >> thank you for bringing that up. I want
[1:50:51] to make sure that when um accusations
[1:50:54] are being made that they're they're
[1:50:56] really correct and Ed, if you have the
[1:51:00] opportunity to prove that
[1:51:02] >> it's in the lawsuit, mom mom's lawsuit,
[1:51:05] >> right? Right. But but but you're you're
[1:51:07] bringing the point that Dora worked for
[1:51:11] um Continuum, but when you're when did
[1:51:15] Dora pay the taxes? Did Dora write the
[1:51:17] checks? So, I want to be careful about
[1:51:20] making those accusations about people. I
[1:51:22] want to be very careful about that. And
[1:51:24] and I appreciate you bringing those
[1:51:27] >> next week.
[1:51:27] >> Yeah. Yeah. I would love to see that.
[1:51:29] And um I appreciate you bringing it to
[1:51:31] light. I don't want to I don't want to
[1:51:33] stop you, but I do want to make sure
[1:51:35] that we're being careful about what we
[1:51:36] say.
[1:51:37] >> I'm gonna go Ashley, Laura, Joy.
[1:51:39] >> Um I think we should move off of this
[1:51:41] topic. I think the theme of the topic is
[1:51:43] conflict of interest irregardless of
[1:51:45] who's involved in it. There was city
[1:51:46] council friends and family involved in
[1:51:49] something that is a legal matter that is
[1:51:50] impacting the city. So there is a
[1:51:52] conflict of interest conversation that
[1:51:54] can happen in the park.
[1:51:58] >> I think I'm losing track of where we're
[1:52:00] at
[1:52:03] mayor
[1:52:05] >> Joy.
[1:52:07] Well, I have to agree with what Nick was
[1:52:09] saying in that there's this um
[1:52:11] consensus. Oh, we have to get go along
[1:52:13] to get along amongst our current
[1:52:15] councils. 50 vote, 50 vote, 50 vote. And
[1:52:18] if you don't agree with your colleagues,
[1:52:20] then you don't get to be mayor. That's
[1:52:22] wrong. So, it either needs to be very
[1:52:24] subjective who the mayor is or that
[1:52:26] needs to be elected. But this doing it
[1:52:29] behind the scenes is absolutely not
[1:52:31] doing a service to us, the residents.
[1:52:35] >> Alex
[1:52:37] Yeah, I mean I I think that the mayor
[1:52:38] it's an interesting thing because when
[1:52:40] you become mayor, even though the you
[1:52:42] have the same powers essentially as a
[1:52:44] council member, one of the important
[1:52:45] roles is really to be the spokesperson
[1:52:47] for the city and people really depend on
[1:52:48] the mayor, but they also like people
[1:52:50] want to see the mayor, they want to talk
[1:52:51] to the problem, they said, "Where's the
[1:52:52] mayor?" They want to um even though it's
[1:52:54] not a mayor, the city manager acts as
[1:52:57] the um runs the city. when when I was
[1:53:00] the mayor, what the palace age was like
[1:53:03] within the first month and one of I went
[1:53:05] above and beyond to really try to
[1:53:07] educate the public because everyone was
[1:53:08] super scared about what was going on.
[1:53:10] The same thing during the rancher fire
[1:53:12] where um we were able to disseminate
[1:53:14] information in a really quick isolating
[1:53:16] communications absolutely the role of um
[1:53:20] of the mayor.
[1:53:22] >> All right. Uh before I before we get
[1:53:24] into our two-minute uh closing
[1:53:26] statements, uh
[1:53:29] there's bullying that we've seen online
[1:53:32] uh that has affected many of you. Uh and
[1:53:36] it's really from just a couple people,
[1:53:38] but one one in particular, her
[1:53:41] nourishment is the bile that she spews,
[1:53:43] and none of you can control it. And I'm
[1:53:46] not trying to ask Alex to defend it
[1:53:49] because she uh is
[1:53:53] I'm not sure she's a member of the
[1:53:54] Democratic club which has endorsed you.
[1:53:57] Uh she may have improperly used her
[1:53:59] access to voter roles to harass Mr.
[1:54:01] Aronoff before he filed. Uh she's uh
[1:54:06] bullying most of you, right? Uh let's
[1:54:10] for a moment uh I'm making this plea to
[1:54:14] everyone out there to just these last 20
[1:54:16] days. Can we possibly be civil among
[1:54:20] just it's an election. Let's just be
[1:54:21] civil about it. Nick,
[1:54:24] >> thank you for bringing that up. Ed, it's
[1:54:26] um it's really unfortunate. You know, it
[1:54:27] goes back to what you know, Alex brought
[1:54:29] up about, you know, a pool of talent
[1:54:31] that can be that wants to put themselves
[1:54:33] out there and run uh for our city
[1:54:35] council. And the thing that's concerns
[1:54:37] me the most is when it comes to the
[1:54:39] online bullying and this person in
[1:54:40] particular that you're mentioning is
[1:54:42] they're on the community land trust
[1:54:44] advisory committee which is getting that
[1:54:48] which was founded and Alex, and I
[1:54:50] apologize, Alex. I know you're the only
[1:54:52] one here tonight, so I don't mean to
[1:54:53] gang up on you, but you know, you guys
[1:54:57] nominated and voted for that board,
[1:54:59] which then that board then decided who's
[1:55:02] on that community land trust. And this
[1:55:04] person, when you're in an entity,
[1:55:07] whether connected to the city or very
[1:55:10] closely connected to the city, like
[1:55:11] funded by our tax dollars for that first
[1:55:13] loan, you have a different standard that
[1:55:15] you have to live up to, whether it's
[1:55:17] personal political views or not. You
[1:55:19] can't be harassing people online the way
[1:55:22] that this person is and still be part of
[1:55:24] organizations that are connected to the
[1:55:26] city. That's this that's the part that's
[1:55:28] just wrong.
[1:55:30] >> Alex,
[1:55:32] and again, sorry that you it's
[1:55:34] >> No, I mean I uh Nick and I had a several
[1:55:37] conversations about this and I I spoke
[1:55:39] to to the individual long phone calls
[1:55:41] because I I kind of go by the golden
[1:55:43] rule. you treat other people as you
[1:55:45] would want to be treated and um there
[1:55:47] certainly have been you know I I don't
[1:55:49] like when people are attack me um and
[1:55:52] just like that same logic applies to in
[1:55:55] the alternative um and so I I think that
[1:55:59] especially when it comes to information
[1:56:01] related to family information related to
[1:56:03] addresses that um I I don't think it's
[1:56:06] appropriate and um I convey that I think
[1:56:08] there was a difference of of point of
[1:56:11] view but that's what I and and run a
[1:56:14] positive campaign. But I totally um I
[1:56:17] agree with Nick's point that when you
[1:56:20] have a really toxic political
[1:56:22] environment, which is what we have at
[1:56:23] the national level, it really makes it
[1:56:26] where good people don't want to run for
[1:56:28] for office. And so um so it's really
[1:56:31] unfortunate and um and I hope that and
[1:56:35] yeah so
[1:56:36] >> Alex, do you think that person should be
[1:56:38] involved in organizations that are
[1:56:39] connected with the city
[1:56:42] >> that um that are connected with the
[1:56:44] city? I think that
[1:56:47] I think it's a complicated legal issue
[1:56:49] from my understanding with so I I don't
[1:56:52] have a good answer for you but I I don't
[1:56:55] think that that rhetoric has placed
[1:56:56] anywhere. I just can't weigh in on that.
[1:56:58] without putting um yeah and I apologize
[1:57:02] for putting you on the spot. You did
[1:57:04] call and yeah do your best and you know
[1:57:06] the other two that aren't here tonight.
[1:57:08] You know they're kind of enabling
[1:57:09] behavior pretending like they don't know
[1:57:10] what's going on taking photos with them
[1:57:12] over the weekend. You know some are
[1:57:15] close friends. So I do commend you for
[1:57:18] you know what you've done and it's
[1:57:19] disappointing that we don't you know
[1:57:21] have people stepping up uh to be good
[1:57:24] leaders for the city uh to put that
[1:57:26] stuff to bed.
[1:57:26] >> Yeah. And just to clarify, there's
[1:57:27] there's like there's first amendment
[1:57:29] issues and stuff that are involved that
[1:57:30] where if I as a city council member
[1:57:33] answer that question in a way that I can
[1:57:35] put the city at legal risk. So again, I
[1:57:38] don't I'm not going to do that. But as I
[1:57:40] what I can do is control what I convey
[1:57:42] and I I really convey that that um
[1:57:46] personal attacks especially involving
[1:57:48] family and especially um just have no
[1:57:51] place.
[1:57:51] >> We're going to go to Joy, Laura, and
[1:57:53] Ashley.
[1:57:55] As a leader, you need to own it. Whether
[1:57:58] it's somebody you knew about, but if
[1:58:00] they're on your campaign and they're
[1:58:02] helping you and it's vile and it's
[1:58:04] bullying, as a leader, I want you to own
[1:58:07] it. Dismiss it. Shut it down and not
[1:58:11] allow any of those bullies to be part of
[1:58:13] our government any way, shape, or form.
[1:58:16] Zero zero times. We've got to be better
[1:58:19] than this.
[1:58:20] >> Thank you. I I was just going to add
[1:58:22] that it's it's an embarrassment to the
[1:58:25] when when people act like that and I
[1:58:28] don't think that council members should
[1:58:31] condone by allowing folks to represent
[1:58:35] themselves or the city in any way if if
[1:58:38] they're maybe making them part of the uh
[1:58:42] civil or subject to the civility or the
[1:58:46] same ordinance that
[1:58:47] >> I'm going to go to Ashley and then
[1:58:50] >> um I I want to um add it's not just
[1:58:54] bullying. It's defamation. It's liable.
[1:58:57] It's slander. It's intimidation. It's
[1:58:59] illegal. Um what this person has been
[1:59:02] doing. It is incredibly disheartening
[1:59:05] that we've allowed this behavior for
[1:59:07] years in the most beautiful city in
[1:59:10] America. Um and the two people not here
[1:59:15] have allowed it. And I that that we all
[1:59:17] know that, right? We we know that that
[1:59:18] it's not some secret. And
[1:59:22] um to Joyy's point, a leader should
[1:59:24] speak out against it. And I while Alex,
[1:59:26] I admire that you called the person, I
[1:59:28] would expect every single person on city
[1:59:31] council who goes by a civility code and
[1:59:34] likes to say it as much as possible um
[1:59:38] stands up and is outspoken and can use
[1:59:40] their social media channels or speak on
[1:59:42] behalf that any type of defamation,
[1:59:45] slander, liel, or intimidation in our
[1:59:48] local politics is not welcome. And
[1:59:50] that's not them calling out the person
[1:59:52] individually, but it is taking a stance.
[1:59:54] And so when you guys aren't doing that,
[1:59:57] you're propelling behavior, right? It's
[1:59:59] like it's like trying to say you're
[2:00:01] civil, but then behind closed doors,
[2:00:03] we're not. Um, and that's an integrity
[2:00:05] issue. And so I would really love all of
[2:00:07] us to come together as a community and
[2:00:09] really stop this cancer from happening
[2:00:11] because if we continue to allow it, it
[2:00:12] it's just only going to get worse.
[2:00:14] >> And 30 seconds. I've experienced
[2:00:17] bullying and I've also been in court
[2:00:19] where I've talked to a 30-year judge who
[2:00:21] resigned and nine opposing lawyers. I
[2:00:25] recently was in federal court again
[2:00:27] visit the forum because I had to speak
[2:00:29] to a federal judge with three federal
[2:00:31] judge waiting for his decision. The
[2:00:33] issue is we need to respect one another.
[2:00:36] We need to show grace. We need to our
[2:00:41] our society. We don't respect one
[2:00:44] another anymore. And Alex,
[2:00:47] Ashley's right. You all should speak to
[2:00:49] that person. Nick is right. That person
[2:00:52] should not be on that board. I I'm a
[2:00:55] very unconventional person. I am
[2:00:58] probably the most kindhearted,
[2:01:01] respectful person. I didn't know it for
[2:01:03] eight years. I worked with eight FBI
[2:01:05] agents and a bunch of Air Force
[2:01:06] generals. And I had a code name for
[2:01:08] eight years and they told it to me at
[2:01:10] the end. But my point to you, the code,
[2:01:14] said Zen
[2:01:16] because they realized when Edward went
[2:01:17] off, he said, "Oh my god, something's
[2:01:19] wrong." Because I'm so low key. Guess
[2:01:22] what, Alex? It gets me in trouble
[2:01:24] because that's why I had to talk to that
[2:01:26] federal judge and he resigned and he
[2:01:28] called my lawyers. That's you can't do
[2:01:30] that. But my point to you is we need to
[2:01:33] be kind to one another and make his
[2:01:35] right somewhat. you should that person
[2:01:38] should not be on that land trust board.
[2:01:41] >> Thank you. Right, it's now time for our
[2:01:43] closing statements. Uh candidates, I
[2:01:45] can't thank you enough for this
[2:01:47] conversation. I think it's important. I
[2:01:49] think you all shine tonight. Let's start
[2:01:53] with uh Nick.
[2:01:55] >> Thank you. I thank you for everything
[2:01:57] that you did this evening. I know it's a
[2:01:58] lot to prepare for and glad we got this
[2:02:00] on the schedule. I enjoy all these
[2:02:02] debates. I think every section of
[2:02:04] Laguna, every business or every entity
[2:02:06] that cares about the community should
[2:02:08] have their their moment to to talk to
[2:02:09] the people that want to run for office.
[2:02:12] But um you know it shouldn't take a year
[2:02:15] or an election year for residents to
[2:02:16] feel heard um or for council members to
[2:02:19] show up and to listen. You know I
[2:02:21] respect the incumbent service but
[2:02:23] experience comes with the responsibility
[2:02:25] for the results whether it's after four
[2:02:28] years or eight years. And you know, too
[2:02:30] often we've seen reactive leadership,
[2:02:32] you know, shifting positions,
[2:02:34] defensiveness when residents ask
[2:02:36] reasonable questions. Oh, it's
[2:02:37] complicated. Oh, you don't understand.
[2:02:40] Um, you know, residents deserve
[2:02:41] explanations, not dismissers.
[2:02:44] And, um, you know, we've heard a lot
[2:02:45] about civility tonight, and I agree.
[2:02:49] But, you know, civility means, you know,
[2:02:50] speaking up when uh, your own support is
[2:02:52] making personal. And, uh, that standard
[2:02:55] should apply even when uh, staying
[2:02:56] silent benefits you politically. So, you
[2:02:59] know, what would I bring to council? I
[2:03:00] would bring a fresh perspective, new
[2:03:02] ideas for long-standing problems. You
[2:03:04] know, a different approach, involve the
[2:03:06] residents earlier so they're not
[2:03:08] surprised when things happen. You have
[2:03:09] to get the whole cavalry down to city
[2:03:11] hall on a Tuesday night to stop
[2:03:13] something.
[2:03:14] Um, you know, explain the spending
[2:03:16] clearly, you know, and examine the
[2:03:17] long-term costs before making these
[2:03:19] long-term decisions. I would support the
[2:03:21] small businesses while preserving
[2:03:22] Laguna's charm, hold Visit Laguna
[2:03:25] accountable for the tourism impacts on
[2:03:26] our neighborhoods and prioritize the
[2:03:28] infrastructure, the beaches and the open
[2:03:30] space.
[2:03:32] You know, I bring a different atmosphere
[2:03:33] to council as well. You know, no
[2:03:35] bullying, no intimidation, you know, no
[2:03:37] treating disagreement as disloyalty.
[2:03:41] Um, you know, residents should feel
[2:03:42] welcome asking questions, staff should
[2:03:44] feel supported giving honest advice, and
[2:03:46] council members should disagree without
[2:03:48] making it personal. I'll listen, explain
[2:03:50] my reasoning, and take responsibility
[2:03:52] for my vote. Whether you agree with me
[2:03:55] or not, my door will always be open. You
[2:03:57] know, I grew up here. I care deeply
[2:03:59] about this community, and I'm ready to
[2:04:01] get to work. So, I'm going to care
[2:04:02] enough, I'd be honored to earn your
[2:04:04] vote. Thank you.
[2:04:09] >> Well, that was good.
[2:04:14] So, I've been told that I read too much
[2:04:15] for my notes. Um, so I'm going to go
[2:04:18] back to the bull and um I think when the
[2:04:23] voters go to the ballot box and to cast
[2:04:27] their vote, I really hope that they
[2:04:30] understand
[2:04:32] that change is necessary in order to
[2:04:36] bring Laguna back to what Laguna needs
[2:04:39] to be. Um, and what Laguna was because
[2:04:42] the culture has come from the top and we
[2:04:45] need in order for our um our wonderful
[2:04:50] lifestyle to come back to that because
[2:04:53] people that visit here, they they pick
[2:04:55] up on that energy. They pick up on the
[2:04:58] nastiness and and so do the the folks
[2:05:01] that work here. If we can change that
[2:05:05] by changing our council,
[2:05:08] we will have done I will have done what
[2:05:11] I set out to do when I put my name in
[2:05:13] the ring to run for city council. Thank
[2:05:15] you so much.
[2:05:16] >> Thank you, Karen. Alex.
[2:05:18] >> Well, thank you for the the time this
[2:05:20] evening and for all the candidates. I
[2:05:22] guess it's number 10.
[2:05:25] >> This is 11. Well, the president only has
[2:05:29] three debates.
[2:05:31] We should do one more, but
[2:05:32] >> we save the best for last.
[2:05:34] >> So, I really feel like Laguna Beach is a
[2:05:36] special place. And as we think about the
[2:05:38] fact that next year is going to be our
[2:05:39] centennial, it really demands reflection
[2:05:41] about why we are so unique. And to me,
[2:05:44] It goes back really to the duck hunters
[2:05:46] in uh 1924 because at the time the city
[2:05:50] did not have a um we didn't really have
[2:05:52] access to reliable water. So what they
[2:05:54] did they pretended to be duck hunters.
[2:05:55] They bought 120 acres of land and um
[2:05:59] because of their visionary leadership
[2:06:01] that's how we were able to become a
[2:06:02] city. Fast forward 100 years later, now
[2:06:04] we're back to to the groundwater basin
[2:06:06] and we're we're securing local water
[2:06:09] reliability for the next 100 years in
[2:06:11] addition to working on the desalination
[2:06:13] project. When you think about the
[2:06:15] visionary leadership of creative the
[2:06:17] festival of the arts in the midst of the
[2:06:19] great depression when the last thing
[2:06:20] that people could really think about was
[2:06:22] was arts at that time but it turned into
[2:06:24] one of the most magical things in the
[2:06:26] world festival of the arts pageant of
[2:06:27] the masters. And when we think about,
[2:06:30] you know, that that night with Jack
[2:06:31] Johnson and what the Irvine Bull can do,
[2:06:33] I feel feel like that is the tuna at its
[2:06:35] best. Public safety always has to be our
[2:06:37] number one priority. Question is not it,
[2:06:39] but when the next wildfire happens,
[2:06:41] that's what we saw with the Rancho fire
[2:06:42] and we were able to deal with that in an
[2:06:45] effective way because we had prepared
[2:06:46] and because our firefighters um were um
[2:06:50] had done that. So, the hospital is my
[2:06:53] number one issue. I'm really excited
[2:06:54] about the progress that we've made on
[2:06:56] that with this um working closed with
[2:06:58] the attorney general's office and having
[2:07:01] a um identifying a condition of approval
[2:07:04] that will potentially take the hospital
[2:07:06] till 2034. Um I think there's a lot of
[2:07:09] complicated issues over the next four
[2:07:10] years. I really feel like it'll affect
[2:07:12] the next century. I'm someone who um
[2:07:15] understands what makes the city unique,
[2:07:17] someone who works hard, listens to and
[2:07:19] I'd be honored honored to have you.
[2:07:22] >> Thank you, Alex.
[2:07:24] >> Um I first want to say thank you,
[2:07:25] Alexum, for being of
[2:07:28] to come. Um because the only one because
[2:07:32] um that's what these forums are for,
[2:07:33] right? It's democracy. It's um to be
[2:07:35] able to speak about track record. We're
[2:07:37] all running because, you know, we we
[2:07:39] want to put polls in it because we think
[2:07:41] there are polls. And so, um thank you
[2:07:43] for still coming to this. And I hope for
[2:07:45] residents, the two that did not come
[2:07:47] speaks volumes, um about, you know, what
[2:07:49] they what they find themselves as the
[2:07:51] priority versus the residents being
[2:07:53] heard. So, um, to my closing statement,
[2:07:56] um, good leadership isn't measured by
[2:07:58] how many things we improve. It's
[2:07:59] measured by what we actually accomplish.
[2:08:01] I'm not running for city council because
[2:08:03] I need a job. But I I also see a city
[2:08:05] facing serious challenges. Financial
[2:08:07] pressures, vacant storefronts, an
[2:08:09] uncertain future for emergency room,
[2:08:11] aging infrastructure, and projects that
[2:08:13] continue to impact the businesses that
[2:08:14] support our local economy. And what
[2:08:17] concerns me most is that these problems
[2:08:18] are connected, but we're not
[2:08:19] consistently making decisions as though
[2:08:21] they are. We cannot keep measuring
[2:08:23] progress by what we've improved, what
[2:08:25] we've studied, or what we're working on.
[2:08:26] We need to measure what we're actually
[2:08:28] accomplishing. I've spent my career
[2:08:30] making difficult decisions, managing
[2:08:31] budgets, solving problems, and being
[2:08:33] accountable for results. And now, as a
[2:08:35] business owner in Laguna Beach, people's
[2:08:37] livelihoods depend on the decisions I
[2:08:39] make every day. I had a choice. I could
[2:08:42] sit back, complain about the direction
[2:08:43] of our city, and hope someone else would
[2:08:45] do something about it. Or I could stand
[2:08:47] up and put my experience to work. And I
[2:08:49] chose to stand up. I don't need another
[2:08:51] title. I want to serve this community
[2:08:53] because I believe in what Lagouna Beach
[2:08:55] can be and I believe we have the ability
[2:08:57] to do better. For me, public service
[2:08:59] isn't about holding a position. It's
[2:09:01] about taking responsibility, making the
[2:09:03] difficult decisions, and delivering
[2:09:04] results for the people who put their
[2:09:06] trust in you. Laguna Beach doesn't just
[2:09:08] need more plans for its future. It needs
[2:09:10] leadership that can turn those plans
[2:09:11] into results. And I'd be honored to earn
[2:09:13] your vote. Thank you.
[2:09:14] >> Thank you,
[2:09:16] Laura.
[2:09:18] >> Thank you,
[2:09:19] >> Laura. Let me yellow card then.
[2:09:22] >> Yellow card. There we go.
[2:09:23] >> It wasn't mom,
[2:09:26] >> Laura.
[2:09:27] >> All right. You know, I I started this
[2:09:30] process because of an accounting issue
[2:09:33] and finally got the the answer to my
[2:09:36] issue or got the information that that
[2:09:39] led to the answers a week and a half
[2:09:41] ago. I needed the information
[2:09:44] mid July.
[2:09:46] That that should speak volumes. And you
[2:09:49] shouldn't need
[2:09:51] a a 40-year CPA to analyze something as
[2:09:55] simple as the assessment district bond
[2:09:57] accounts.
[2:10:01] By running, it's my intent to restore
[2:10:05] the elected treasurer position to
[2:10:07] represent the voters of uh Beach the way
[2:10:12] that they intended the position to be
[2:10:15] and to um advocate for Professional
[2:10:18] audit committee. Without good solid
[2:10:22] information,
[2:10:24] good decisions are
[2:10:27] impossible. Garbage and garbage out.
[2:10:31] At a time when we have declining
[2:10:33] reserves and expenses outpacing revenues
[2:10:36] for the foreseeable future, I would like
[2:10:38] to bring transparency to the city's
[2:10:42] financial accounting and reporting. It's
[2:10:45] only with that solid trustworthy
[2:10:48] information the city will be able to uh
[2:10:51] make the the coming really difficult
[2:10:54] financial decisions that will be
[2:10:57] required to keep us sustainable.
[2:10:59] Thank you.
[2:11:00] >> Thank you, Laura Joy.
[2:11:02] >> Thank you, Ed, for doing this and thank
[2:11:04] you, Alex, for showing up. It's
[2:11:05] important to show up if you're a leader.
[2:11:07] Um, as a business owner, I know that
[2:11:09] budgeting and planning are key to
[2:11:11] long-term success. I know how important
[2:11:14] it is to have leaders who help
[2:11:15] businesses not just survive but thrive.
[2:11:18] We also need leaders who believe in the
[2:11:20] rule of law. Um, one set of rules that
[2:11:23] applies to everyone, no matter who you
[2:11:25] know or how much money you have. This is
[2:11:27] one of the reasons I'm running for
[2:11:28] council to get Lagona back to
[2:11:30] rules-based governance. Our
[2:11:33] environmental group sued the city
[2:11:35] because the council approved a project
[2:11:36] on a steep hillside where the general
[2:11:38] plan specifically prohibited. It was a
[2:11:41] precedent setting mood that exposes all
[2:11:43] of our iconic hills sites to
[2:11:45] development. Once our canyons, hill
[2:11:47] sites, beaches, and other natural
[2:11:49] resources are gone, they're gone
[2:11:50] forever. Our city's planning
[2:11:52] environmental rules were meant to
[2:11:54] protect them. We need a council that
[2:11:56] enforces those rules and refuses to bend
[2:11:58] to developments to developers to make
[2:12:01] them happy. Incumbents discussed the
[2:12:03] word stewardship yet failed to expand
[2:12:06] our rain protected area to the
[2:12:08] disappointment of Laguna's ocean lovers.
[2:12:11] They the incumbents signed a 10-year
[2:12:13] multi-million dollar contract to
[2:12:14] encourage more tourism. I think they're
[2:12:17] the only ones up here who believe it's
[2:12:19] good stewardship for Lagona to spend
[2:12:21] millions to tell more people to come to
[2:12:23] our town. These incumbents drastically
[2:12:26] changed our downtown character without a
[2:12:28] formal vote of residents and against the
[2:12:30] wishes of many businesses. They took
[2:12:33] away our only financial incentive for
[2:12:35] historic preservation. These incumbents
[2:12:37] say they're for public safety, but the
[2:12:39] poor kids in South Lagoon don't even
[2:12:41] have a state swing to swing on. Um, we
[2:12:44] should be steering our tax dollars
[2:12:46] toward critical needs that truly benefit
[2:12:48] residents such as the hospital. And it's
[2:12:51] not normal. It's just not normal to have
[2:12:53] a council vote so many times 50. It
[2:12:56] shows that there are more focus on
[2:12:58] reaching consensus with each other than
[2:13:00] residents and businesses. We need
[2:13:02] independent voices who have the courage
[2:13:04] to ask tough questions and not go along
[2:13:07] with decisions that are good for the
[2:13:08] city. This lockstep mentality has
[2:13:10] damaged many aspects of our town. I have
[2:13:13] a business background experience to get
[2:13:15] back on path. I love Lanna and I would
[2:13:18] be honored to serve you. I'd be deeply
[2:13:20] honored and help this community. It
[2:13:22] would be my honor and I I'm doing this
[2:13:26] like Ashley said, I don't need the job
[2:13:28] title. I don't need a builder. I need to
[2:13:32] help this town.
[2:13:32] >> Thank you, John Edward.
[2:13:35] >> Thank you, Ed, for organizing this. And
[2:13:38] and and
[2:13:40] Alex, thank you for coming. Sorry you
[2:13:42] got beat up so much, but you are a smart
[2:13:45] guy, so you did well. Um, I am running
[2:13:49] because and I win or lose, I will still
[2:13:52] send you emails, Alex. I will recommend
[2:13:56] >> still respond.
[2:13:57] >> Thank you. I will recommend um uh back
[2:14:02] office investigations so that they can
[2:14:05] uh not get all these lawsuits. Some of
[2:14:08] these lawsuits are happening because
[2:14:10] things are happening at the city and
[2:14:13] it's it's got to stop. So I I'm running
[2:14:17] for transparency. I want transparency,
[2:14:20] fiscal responsibility. I want an audit
[2:14:22] committee.
[2:14:24] Lori, she understands the accounting
[2:14:27] part of it. Why a CPA person should be
[2:14:30] sitting with you, Alex, and Sue. Uh
[2:14:33] infrastructure is important for a city
[2:14:36] and infrastructure is critical. We've
[2:14:39] had too many sewage dumps into our ocean
[2:14:43] and the business people downtown feel
[2:14:46] like they're neglected by city council.
[2:14:49] I've spoke to way too many. Um we need
[2:14:52] to help our business people and and so
[2:14:56] Alex, you know, I I'm running because we
[2:15:00] need a change. And so win or lose, I'm
[2:15:03] still going to send my recommendations
[2:15:05] to city council. Thank you.
[2:15:08] Thank you, Ed. I had mentioned a little
[2:15:10] earlier, we saved the best for last. And
[2:15:12] I just wanted to send a shout out to the
[2:15:15] previous 10 forums and their moderators
[2:15:18] and those that presented the forums
[2:15:20] because they did a great job and helped
[2:15:23] us learn about these great people here
[2:15:25] that are willing to do public service
[2:15:26] for us. I want to thank my partners at
[2:15:28] the Board of Realtors and the Chamber of
[2:15:31] Commerce helping us put this together.
[2:15:33] Uh, so right now I think it' be a good
[2:15:35] time for a big hand for these amazing
[2:15:37] people.
[2:15:43] Thank you all for coming in and being so
[2:15:46] respectful and such a cool community to
[2:15:48] live in. I could not imagine living in a
[2:15:50] nicer community. Thank you all.