Winding up a busy summer

It’s hard to believe that summer is winding down and fall is just

around the corner. In Laguna Beach, that means not just the start of

the school year, but the end of the festival season and the flocks of

art-and-beach-loving tourists and day visitors who fill the streets

and sidewalks and make the trip up or down Laguna Canyon Road a long

and winding one.

Of course, Laguna loves its status as an arts mecca and tourist

magnet, but it’s in the off-season that residents can really enjoy

the town.

Even for Laguna, this has been an unusually hectic summer, what

with the landslide happening June 1 and the resulting glut of media

attention and the need for numerous extra city meetings to handle the

emergency.

Now city officials will have little more than a week to catch

their breath before the next round of public issues. With the

rejection by FEMA of federal disaster aid, we can expect city

officials will be scrambling to find other sources of funding to

shore up the landslide area before winter rains begin.

There is an election to look forward to in October to fill the

seat vacated by Rep. Chris Cox.

On another front, we’ll be watching to see what happens with the

sale of South Coast Medical Center and its emergency room -- a

critical issue for an isolated beach town.

It’ll also be interesting to see whether the recalcitrant

residents of Crystal Cove decide to make good on their decades-old

promise to vacate the state parks land.

If you haven’t gotten around to the Pageant of the Masters or the

art shows, or dipped yourself in ocean waters, now’s the time to go.

Summertime in Laguna is growing short.