What’s good for the goose ... Out...

What’s good for the goose ...

Out one side of her mouth, Councilwoman Toni Iseman bemoans

negative campaigning. Out of the other side of her mouth, she

demonizes her fellow citizens for openly opposing a council candidate

who a lot of people obviously endured in silence until they got to

speak with their votes

Professional political consultants hired by Iseman’s friends are

OK, but professionals hired by those she vilifies are

“bottom-feeders.” So much for civility.

Of more serious concern are Iseman’s dangerous statements singling

out one individual citizen who had the courage of his convictions to

go public. From her seat on the dais Iseman accused an individual

voter who contributed to the dump Wayne Baglin effort of “ ... a

violation against the feelings of the city.” Implying that some sort

of political crime was committed reveals an intolerance of which

Iseman should be ashamed.

Even more chilling to anyone who believes in the First Amendment,

Iseman threatened “...to make sure Steve Esslinger can’t do this

again in two years.” So, is Iseman’s next wacky idea going to be

municipal Bills of Attainder to muzzle people with whom she does not

agree?

I don’t know Esslinger, never met him, wouldn’t recognize him if I

did. But if Iseman does not have any evidence that he acted

illegally, then she is disparaging him under the color of law and in

her official capacity.

Iseman is not alone. When we came out against Baglin, some lady we

never heard of called to say “ ... this is not how things are done in

Laguna.” She said we should have talked to her and her husband,

because they are part of an influential network who could have helped

us smooth things out with Baglin.

This women became unhinged when I told her I did not need to

smooth anything over with Baglin because I agreed with most of his

policy positions, but thought he was unethical and petty. Like

Iseman, this woman insisted negative campaigning is not civil, then

told us our stated views on Baglin were garbage.

This arrogance and small town hypocrisy is what got Baglin into

trouble. He can say he got knocked out by a hit campaign, but a Los

Angeles Times article disseminated as an election leaflet by Village

Laguna more than leveled the playing field, and Baglin still lost.

Both sides of the story came out, and the voters gave Baglin the

boot. For Baglin to continue to insist that he was robbed is really

just an expression of contempt for the voters. The same goes for

Iseman’s targeting of a person who is not a public figure for public

ridicule, thereby punishing voter activism and discouraging others

from speaking out.

All we can say is thank God for secret ballot elections.

HOWARD AND LURA HILLS

Laguna Beach

Plenty of negative campaign criticism

After watching the last City Council meeting I was dismayed to

hear that, according to Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson and Mayor

Cheryl Kinsman, there is no difference between campaign mailers sent

out by Village Laguna, which accurately criticize their records, and

the vicious negative mailers that were omnipresent in this year’s

local election.

Incumbents running for re-election usually run on their record and

concerned residents have the responsibility to bring to the

electorate’s attention discrepancies and bad decisions. In this past

campaign, Cheryl Kinsman took credit for the accomplishments of

others and had taken positions on many issues that will not benefit

Laguna Beach.

The vicious negative campaign directed against Councilman Wayne

Baglin was vile, dishonest and a new low for Laguna Beach politics.

The sleaze effort to tarnish Jane Egly’s reputation was reprehensible

and filled with lies.

The cast of characters should hang their heads in shame:

* Arbitech officials

* Associates of the Montage Resort ($15,000),

* Steve Esslinger (Laguna Terrace Mobile Park)

Why would they stoop to such vicious means? Clearly it was an

effort to bring Wayne’s and Jane’s negatives down to Cheryl Kinsman’s

level.

The objective was to get Kinsman elected by damaging both Baglin

and Egly and not caring which of the opposing candidates would be

knocked down to third or how they went about it, their smear campaign

attacked both.

The money spent on this effort has to exceed all records for

Laguna. At my house, we received a total of 20 mailers and three

recorded phone messages either for Kinsman or against Baglin and

Egly, and in addition, there were full page ads in the local papers.

So how much money did it cost to re-elect Kinsman? By my calculations

the total could well exceed $100,000.

JOHANNA FELDER

Laguna Beach

Let’s fix those potholes already

Am I the only person in town that drives north in the fast lane on

Coast Highway and hits those two teeth-jarring platter-sized potholes

in front of the first gate on the right to emerald bay?

They’ve been there for more than six months, at least, and they

have to be knocking other people’s cars wheels out of alignment

daily. I’ve called the city, no luck. It’s in front of Emerald Bay.

I’ve called Caltrans. They noted it. That’s it. What can be done? I

now swerve around them but that’s a bit dangerous.

P.F. STEINBERG

Laguna Beach

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