PAGE 1

Laguna Beach Fire Department .

Since 2015 , the Laguna Beach firefighters have planned the elaborate dinner to the detail , including floral decorations , a detailed menu plan , and entertainment , featuring their local resident firefighter bagpiper .

The Laguna Beach Firefighter Association had seven firefighters attend the Susi Q auction event and ultimately raised around $ 80,000 for Laguna Beach seniors . After plenty of fierce bidding , Laguna Beach local Roya Cole won the dinners for the second year in a row .

“ We traditionally only commit to one dinner per year for the Susi Q because , logistically , it is a huge time requirement from our firefighters as all of this work is done off-duty ,” said Tom Padden , president of the Laguna Beach Firefighter Association . “ When the auction for one dinner was sold at $ 40,000 , we committed to a second for an additional $ 40,000 , totaling $ 80,000 . Our firefighters drive in from across the southland to ensure a great experience . Our members are driving in from San Bernadino , Riverside , LA County and San Diego County on their days off and away from their families to be of service to our local seniors .

“ We are happy and honored to do this for our seniors , but it couldn ’ t happen without the donors who graciously and generously donate to the cause ,” Padden added .

More information about the Susi Q and its services can be found at thesusiq . org .

PAGE 14

be fully satisfied . But given all the facts that he has discovered and his creative solution to the problems , his proposal is both fair and well within the budget . Gene Cooper , Laguna Beach

I have had the opportunity to view and assess the video evidence of city manager Shohreh Dupuis ’ traffic stop by motor officer Gregg of the LBPD . I have seen the “ unedited ” version and the “ contextualized ” version of this event . There are some fundamental aspects of these videos that are undeniable .

First , Dupuis attempts to circumvent the issuance of the citation by “ name dropping ” in her initial contact with Officer Gregg . I see no reason for her to mention Jeff Calvert other than to compel Officer Gregg to forgo the citation . The “ contextualized ” version of the video was clearly a misguided attempt by city administration to show the city manager in a much more forgiving light . The “ contextualized ” video is not only misleading , but is undoubtedly an endeavor to cover up the truth by the deletion of “ time ” and the “ addition ” of commentary to the “ unedited ” version of this event .

Secondly , and most importantly , the use of City of Laguna employees in manufacturing this “ doctored ” video is unbelievable abuse of the city manager ’ s authority and should be investigated . Unfortunately , the city manager seems to have a pattern of abusing her position to prevent city employees from doing their jobs . I am truly astonished that four of five city councilmembers have stated that the city manager did nothing wrong . Incredulous !

Pursuant to the undeniable abuse of her office , I believe that her removal from office is not only appropriate but befitting of her obvious attempt ( s ) to coerce city employees to evade the consequences of her own actions . City officials should be held accountable for their actions as all citizens should . City officials probably even more so , as these individuals are in positions that demand a high level of public trust . The city manager has abused the power of her office on too many occasions to continue to ignore her repeated questionable behavior .

It is my contention that Dupuis has violated that “ public trust ” and should be removed from her position as city manager . Claude Morgan , Laguna Beach

For five months , city management resisted requests for public records regarding a Nov . 16 cell phone violation by City Manager Shohreh Dupuis . Now city staff ’ s grudging release of a police body cam video of the incident reminds one of the old adage , “ it ’ s not the crime . It ’ s the cover-up .

Rather than simply release the original video as city council mandated , city staff produced its own misleading , edited version accompanied by deceptive commentary . Specifically , the commentary claims that the edited video “ shows the entirety of the interaction ” between Dupuis and ticketing officer Matt Gregg and that the only difference between the videos is that the edited version is annotated “ to clarify the sequence of phone calls that prompted the traffic stop .” Both assertions are deceptive . Here ’ s why .

Gregg concluded that Dupuis lied when she gave him the impression ( for no good reason she has ever explained ) that she happened to be talking to the officer ’ s boss ,

Police Chief Jeff Calvert , when her violation occurred . The original body cam video shows that Gregg observed the violation at 9:08 am for three seconds while phone records show Dupuis spoke to Calvert later . But the edited video speeds up the three-second segment to less than one second , making it impossible for the average viewer to observe that Dupuis ’ violation happened before Dupuis spoke to Calvert .

— The edited video has been strategically posted by city staff on the web before the unedited version in an apparent effort to discourage viewers from watching the latter .

— The commentary fabricates a statement by Gregg that the original video shows he did not make , which distorts the context of Dupuis ’ misleading statement to him .

— The commentary repeatedly conflates Gregg ’ s observation of Dupuis ’ cell phone violation , when she wasn ’ t talking to Calvert , with when Dupuis later pulled over her car , when she apparently was conversing with Calvert .

— The commentary repeatedly asserts , without evidence , that Gregg misunderstood in a phone call with Calvert during the traffic stop that Calvert said he was not speaking with Dupuis at the time of the violation . Calvert has never publicly disclosed what he said .

During more than three decades of representing major news organizations in dozens of public access matters , I have never witnessed such a deceptive presentation of a public record requested by a citizen . This constitutes a flagrant misuse of city council ’ s directive and taxpayer funds .

James Grossberg , Laguna Beach