Council meeting was shameful display After Tuesday...

Council meeting was shameful display

After Tuesday night’s debacle at City Hall regarding political

action committees and campaign financing, you do wonder what has

happened to professionalism at City Hall. Councilwoman Elizabeth

Pearson’s insinuating remarks and feigned innocence, the

extraordinary harassment of Village Laguna’s treasurer by

Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman and the rude retorts made by Kinsman to

her colleague Mayor Toni Iseman made the evening worthy of ET --

entertainment television -- and represents a new low for the behavior

of these council members at City Hall. Is this any way for our

elected officials to act?

Over the years I have volunteered along with other members of

Village Laguna to help organize the Charm House Tour, and have seen

first hand Village Laguna’s honest, by-the-book, hard work and

dedication. I am shocked by this sudden persecution (as I see it) of

Village Laguna and I think the City Council and others should be

ashamed of their witch-hunting. When all is said and done, Village

Laguna is an exemplary and bona fide example of a grass-roots

organization focused on serving the best interests of all the

community and to be accused of any impropriety smacks of politics in

the worst sense.

What is really behind Pearson, Kinsman and Councilman Wayne

Baglin’s position on Village Laguna? Is this merely a smoke screen to

distract attention from the activities of the real special interests

in this town, the profit-driven individuals who certainly do not care

for the community at large like Village Laguna does?

Whatever their motive it apparently back-fired.

CHARLOTTE MASARIK

Laguna Beach

Clarifying facts about Village Laguna

Two charges leveled against Village Laguna at the City Council

meeting of May 6 were not fully answered. Permit me to answer them

now, the morning after.

It was alleged that Village Laguna had not paid its bill for the

rental of the city buses after the 2002 Charm House Tour. It was not

paid until earlier this year for a simple reason. The city never

billed us. We kept requesting a bill; none was forthcoming. After our

third request, the bill did arrive and was paid immediately. We pay

our bills.

2.) It was alleged that Village Laguna had reneged on its pledge

to send a donation to the Victims’ Memorial Fund for the survivors of

the fallen heroes of Sept. 9/11. This charge is pure unadulterated

baloney. A check for $1,222.01 was handed over by Village Laguna’s

Bette Anderson to the Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Ann

Morris on Jan. 4, 2002 and then sent on to the families of the

victims.

Village Laguna acted in concert with the chamber and the Orange

County United Way. The donation represented 25% of the net profit of

a fund-raising event we held at Tivoli Terrace and the Forum Theater

in November of 2001. The handing over of the check was featured in

the Coastline Pilot of Jan. 25, 2002. We keep our promises.

Thus we have a continuation of charges against Village Laguna by

Frank Ricchiazzi and his Keystone Kops, all of which have proved

untrue. Thanks for the publicity, Frank.

ARNOLD HANO

Laguna Beach

Insults should at least be appropriate

I can often be a name-caller and have used “communist” or “Saddam

Enabler” to put down those not agreeing with me. So I am not pure,

but it does bother me for people to refer to the actions of Frank

Ricchiazzi, Ann McDonald and the Laguna Beach Taxpayers Assn. as

McCarthyism.

Asking questions and requesting District Attorney investigations

of your neighbors who happen to be political opponents is not very

nice but it is not McCarthyism.

McCarthyism is not everything bad, it is the practice of

publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with

insufficient regard to evidence.

Going to nonprofit organizations and threatening them with the

loss of their nonprofit status is not very nice, but as they say

politics ain’t beanbag.

Ricchiazzi is a very a smart and aggressive political animal

dedicated in electing people supporting his views to office. His

advice and support has been important for many recent successful City

Council candidates including Councilwomen Cheryl Kinsman and

Elizabeth Pearson. He ought to be admired for his success, and it is

not appropriate call him names.

GENE FELDER

Laguna Beach

What’s the truth behind parking fiasco?

We have a problem in Laguna that threatens to become even bigger

if serious attention and a concerted effort is not taken now.

The problem is that there is an admitted error (admitted by the

Planning Commission and the City Council) in the Treasure Island

environmental report that miscalculated or misrepresented parking,

traffic and circulation data. Consequently, the shopping center, the

frontage area below the mobile home park, the vacant lot south of

Ruby’s and the neighborhood have become the parking lot for the

Montage Resort.

The traffic congestion has become a nightmare as well as a public

safety hazard and we haven’t even begun to see the effects of the

summer beach and park traffic. How could this happen? Our

neighborhood alone attended and spoke at every Treasure Island Update

at City Council meetings and spoke numerous times during Public

Comments regarding this issue. We presented facts, pleaded for

attention to the matter and were dismissed as if we brought nothing

of importance to the table. What we brought was the concern to get

this project right. What the Montage Resort and their spokesmen

brought was big money. We can all see whose interests won.

In May or June of this year Assembly Bill 406 will go before the

Assembly floor in California for a vote. This bill mandates that

independent consultants prepare all environmental impact report

documents and that developers make their properties available for

survey and analysis. This will prevent developers from preparing

their own reports and employing their own experts as in the case of

the Montage.

So what do we do now? A thorough study of the entire area should

be conducted from Nyes Place to Aliso Beach focusing on traffic,

parking, circulation, land use and public safety. Until this is done

there should be a moratorium on all proposed building in the areas

that were based on the flawed Treasure Island impact report findings

namely, the 15 estates on the Montage site and Driftwood Estates.

LSA Associates, Inc. did the environmental impact traffic study

for both the Montage and Driftwood Estates. The Driftwood Estates

traffic study has also been disputed but to no avail. The rush to

provide what will be mainly Montage employee parking on the frontage

road (which is not zoned for parking) and the lot south of Ruby’s

should be highly scrutinized. The only reason it has been proposed is

because the Montage, through the flawed report, did not provide for

adequate parking on its own site as it was required to do. Continuing

with any of these projects before these proper studies are done would

be unconscionable and would only add to the problem.

There should also be a serious look at the Planning Commission and

at the City Council by the citizens and by the members themselves. We

not only need improvements in the planning process but there needs to

be real consequences regarding catering to special interests,

dismissal of public input and as Mia Davidson stated in her letter to

this paper, “fudging, misstating or outright lying” by applicants

that is leading to a dangerous trend in Laguna. This trend results in

approval of projects that negatively affect our quality of life as we

know it.

It is up to us to speak up when something is not right. We did so

regarding the Montage Resort and we will continue to do so. The

Montage and the city needs to remedy this problem without impacting

the shopping center or the neighborhood and to speak openly about how

this happened and what will be done so that it will not happen again.

Only then can we take Councilman Wayne Baglin’s words to heart when

he told us that “the city protects its citizens.”

Let’s see some positive action not just random solutions that may

in fact lead to bigger problems.

TERRY SEHI

Laguna Beach

Some solutions to Montage area parking

As former chair of Laguna Beach Arts Commission creating the model

for Art in Public Places and as a working artist in the field, I

offer these possibilities:

One such solution may involve a study of Albertson’s underground

parking structure to determine actual parking space and use.

Albertson’s, if interested, could create employee-only permit parking

as needed; the city could lease and meter other spaces for public

parking.

This model would allow shopper’s permits and short-term parking

for residents and guests at Montage and would not be not inconsistent

with the existing Downtown public use of metered spaces.

2.) The city could enlarge this same parking structure by creating

a lower level with an entrance off Wesley Drive.

3.) Another or additional solution is to create a three-level

parking facility on the north end of the shopping center that abuts

the hillside terrain, below the manufactured homes and close to

Ruby’s. There is opportunity to include shops as part of the

structure: one level below ground, another level with the existing

parking lot and an open level on the top. With thoughtful, creative

planning, the shopping center could be both practical and an

enhancement. It might allow a partnership between city and landowners

to revitalize the center and create walking areas with a view and

mini pocket parks.

I would strongly suggest two bridges across the highway: one on

the north near Ruby’s and on the south near the signal. This would

also be also consistent with South Laguna’s existing overpass and

would be a pedestrian safety feature. If ramped, it could accommodate

golf carts and would be a bonus for Montage guests and the shopping

area.

Artist/architect/landscape design teams could be excellent ways to

stimulate interest in solving the parking problem in innovate ways.

LEAH VASQUEZ

Leah Vasquez Fine Art Services

Laguna Beach

Reported parking jam is center’s problem

The answer to your question about what the city should do about

parking at the Montage and Aliso Shopping Center is easy. The city

should do nothing. First, both are private property, and second, in

my frequent trips to the shopping center there has always been plenty

of parking and the space under the market is always just about empty.

And, I have always been able to see some empty parking spaces in the

public metered parking area around the Montage, though I suspect that

will not be the case in the summer months.

The city is putting meters along the Coast Highway in that area,

and though it may increase city income some, it no doubt that will

cause more beach users into the Aliso Shopping Center; similar to the

situations in the Downtown area. No solution there, except if it

really adversely impacts Aliso Center I guess they will hire a guard

to monitor parkers.

Regarding “stricter guidelines on bench designs” my only comment

is that the benches should be comfortable and safe to sit on and look

something like a bench. That would be a big improvement on some that

we now have that don’t meet any of those virtues.

DAVE CONNELL

Laguna Beach

Canyon courts are friendly and historic

Just as a follow-up to Ted Caldwell’s letter about saving the

canyon tennis courts (“Canyon Courts are not elitist,” Coastline

Pilot, May 2), I always direct my out-of-town guests, as do the

hotels, to the canyon courts because we know they can get a game

there. The players are most hospitable and enjoy making newcomers

welcome.

I might add that those tennis courts were opened in 1947 with an

exhibition match between Jack Kramer and Pancho Gonzales with Bette

Davis as the umpire. Let’s preserve over a half-century tradition in

Laguna Beach history.

MIKE MANG

Laguna Beach

Former Laguna Beach vector control commissioner

I am a physician specialist (radiologist) trained in Boston

currently on a long-term temporary assignment at the UCLA VA medical

center in West Los Angeles.

Although I have several friends living in other attractive places

I spend nearly all my free weekends here in Laguna Beach for one very

different reason: the group of tennis regulars who frequent the now

threatened and endangered “Festival” tennis courts in town.

This group of rather disparate individuals, both male and female,

have two things in common: their fondness for Laguna Beach (although

many of them like myself are not local residents), and their love of

tennis, like most surviving recreational senior tennis players, they

are educated, upscale and relatively affluent. As a group they are

congenial, hospitable, inclusive and most definitely competitive.

They welcome any new local or non-local tennis player who chooses to

show up at the courts the same way: open play within the group on a

first-come first-served round robin basis. This rather unusual and

quintessentially democratic public acceptance of any and all tennis

newcomers has been an experience for me personally which have come to

depend on and thoroughly enjoy.

It means I am not just another semi-bored long-staying tourist in

California, but an adopted semi-local sharing the genuine kinship and

camaraderie of entertaining like-minded individuals.

If Paul Puma (“Courts no loss for most players,” Coastline Pilot,

April 25) is fortunate enough to always have an available tennis

partner with whom he wants to have an arranged match or practice

session, he should not go to the “Festival” courts, but instead use

the high school or Top of the World facilities as he indicates he

does. But if he is unfortunate enough to be with out his usual

playing partners, all he needs to do is show up at the “Festival”

courts and he will be warmly welcomed if he can hit the ball. He, and

your readers, should easily understand this basic difference.

Of course I refer to the “Festival” tennis courts with tongue in

cheek. But if the City Council should make the colossal mistake of

taking these two very busy and congenial tennis courts (which cost

the town almost nothing to maintain and operate) and make them into

some sort of parking facility for the Festival, which will be empty

or underused for the rest of the year, they will be disfranchising an

affluent group of dedicated tennis-playing locals who make a very

positive and meaningful contribution to the community.

E.R. SUN, MD

Boston, Mass

Thanks for making opening night a blast

On behalf of the members of the Heritage Committee, I would like

to thank everyone who attended the opening night ceremonies at

Madison Square and Garden Cafe on May 1.

It was by far the largest crowd we’ve experienced for the Heritage

Month opening night event and a special thank you goes to Mayor Toni

Iseman for her continuing support and dedication to historical

preservation in Laguna.

I would also like to thank Jon Madison for his generosity in

hosting the event again this year and providing the wine and hors

d’oeuvres; Plein Air artist Cynthia Britain; “Men Alive” and “Dick

the guitar player” for the outstanding entertainment.

Additionally, our committee staff liaison Ann Larson who is

instrumental each year in our planning efforts deserves special

thanks as well. And finally, with the help of Iseman, a special

recognition was given to committee member Anne Frank who has devoted

the last 12 years to helping the Heritage Committee achieve its goal

of preserving historical buildings and homes in Laguna Beach.

There are numerous events celebrating Laguna’s heritage taking

place throughout the month of May, so be sure to check the local

papers or contact the city for a schedule. Again, many thanks to

everyone.

STEVE FAIRBANKS

Chairman,

Heritage Committee

The Coastline Pilot is eager to run your letters. If your letter

does not appear, it may be because of space restrictions, and the

letter will likely appear next week. If you would like to submit a

letter, write to us at P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, CA 92652; fax us

at 494-8979; or send e-mail to [email protected]. Please

give your name and include your hometown and phone number.