14 lagunabeachindy . com DECEMBER 30 , 2022
GUEST OPINION : LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY
Laguna Looks Forward
GUEST OPINION : WISDOM WORKOUT
Embracing the Unknown
By SUe keMpF
Dear Laguna Beach community ,
It ’ s been an honor and privilege serving as your mayor over the last year . Engaging with this incredible community on so many levels has been a wonderful experience . I look forward to continuing to serve our City in the coming year and working with new Councilmembers Mark Orgill and Alex Rounaghi , who were sworn in during last Tuesday ’ s City Council meeting .
As I reflect over the last year , we have many achievements to acknowledge and celebrate . As always , our top priority remains to protect the life and safety of our community from wildfire , and as we are all aware , we avoided two potentially significant fires this past year . Unfortunately , our Laguna Niguel neighbors were not as fortunate . We continue to enhance our Fire Safety Mitigation Plan and are excited to be partnering with both of our water districts to add additional Helopod water tanks along the wildland interface to provide more opportunity for helicopters to fill rapidly in the event of a fire . Fire Chief Niko King has commenced a Fire Department Community Risk Assessment with the primary focus on the risks and hazards specific to Laguna Beach . This study will help us further improve our ability to respond when needed . We are also hopeful that with the help of a Cal-OES grant , it may be possible to achieve our goal of undergrounding utilities on Laguna Canyon Road . More to come on the topic of undergrounding Laguna Canyon Road next year . The City also purchased the property located at 31796 S . Coast Highway as a site for a much needed and anticipated Fire Station 4 .
This year , we also partnered with Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett
By SUSAN MCNeAl VelASQUeZ
Christmas 2022 is now in the rear-view mirror , and this coming weekend heralds the start of our new year of 2023 . I am privileged to be included in many conversations about the topic of : “ What ’ s next ?”
These are interesting times , because of the fact that many of us are facing forward , ready and willing to take the steps necessary . However the clarity of what those next steps are remains elusive to many of us .
This reality comes from the last vestiges of the pandemic and the fact that many businesses that were thriving have been reduced to striving . It can be reasonable to question whether the effort to retool is worth it .
A common definition of unknown is : Something that requires discovery , identification or clarification : One that is not known or not well-known . Also , having an unknown value .
Also , ‘ fear of the unknown ’ is one of the top fears many feel uncomfortable admitting . Why is that ? If you identify with the notion that you are a ‘ make it happen ’ leader and you have the results to prove it , admitting that you don ’ t currently know what the future holds as this new year opens can create real-time anxiety .
Plan the work and work the plan is often the advice that many of us have successfully implemented . In today ’ s climate of new challenges , that is fine since it is probably a strategy that has yielded success in the past . Given the massive changes in technology and many ways that are now being implemented like Tik-Tok , social media influencers and YouTube videos that are creating new levels of financial success , it leaves me scratching my head . I don ’ t have the technological
KEMPF , PAGE 16 VELASQUEZ , PAGE 16
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