6 lagunabeachindy . com SEPTEMBER 15 , 2023
Letters LETTERS CAN BE MAILED TO : EDITOR @ LBINDY . COM
Can ’ t we all just get along here ? Rodney King ’ s words seem to echo throughout City Hall , with calls from the council to put past contentiousness behind us and move forward to solve the city ’ s problems collegially . I fully understand and fervently agree with the sentiment . I wonder , however , whether we can put the past behind us if we ignore it . Which , like it or not , seems to linger like the proverbial elephant in the room .
Somehow , somewhere , we took a wrong turn . Everyone knows something is wrong . We live in a toxic culture of secrecy , mistrust and uncivil discourse . We seem to be long on problems and short on solutions .
Why did we have to wait for four years for voters to address the issue of a council member who regularly berated residents from the dais ? Where was council leadership , and why did they let the situation fester ?
How did the Mo / MOM issue escalate to where we are today , with armed gunmen appearing in our hotels and our city seeming to be handcuffed ? How did it get to where the residents must be kept in the dark ?
How did we get to the point where the city manager suddenly and unexpectedly retires , effective immediately , with a handsome settlement , after years of hearing from the dais how wonderful she was ?
Why do we continue to hear of allegations of hostile workplace environment claims but are left to wonder about the underlying cause and what , if anything , is being done to remedy the alleged problems ?
We have a chance , with some new council members and a new city manager , for a new start . Nature abhors a vacuum , so city leaders should not be surprised if rumors
fill the void created when they don ’ t level with the public .
But rumors aren ’ t a solid foundation for progress . Residents will be ready to move on once they know how we got here . They believe steps are being taken to ensure we are moving out of our toxic culture with plans never to return . Mary Locatelli , Laguna Beach
As far as I am concerned , former Laguna resident and White House advisor Peter Navarro has no one to blame for his contempt of Congress conviction but himself . Had he simply invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege when the Jan . 6 Committee subpoenaed him last year instead of refusing to show up on Capitol Hill and answer questions , he wouldn ’ t be facing prison time and / or a stiff fine now . I fully expect Navarro will appeal his conviction , but I doubt he will be exonerated for his crime .
LAST WEEK ’ S QUESTION
Do you think you ’ re adequately prepared in case of an emergency ?
- No , 52.9 % ( 9 votes ) - Yes , 47 % ( 8 votes )
TOTAL VOTES - 17
LETTERS PAGE 19
theIndyPoll
HOME
JOIN OUR LAGUNA LOCALS LIST !
Get your news alerts , events , and community updates
Insert email address
SCAN QR CODE
SIGN UP
THIS WEEK ’ S QUESTION
Should LBUSD build a 50-meter swimming pool on the high school campus ?
- Yes - No
TO VOTE , VISIT THE POLL TAB AT LAGUNABEACHINDY . COM . SUBMIT POLL QUESTIONS TO CLARA @ FIREBRANDMEDIAINC . COM .
The LagunaBeachIndy . com poll is conducted using Crowd Signal polling software . To minimize fraudulent entries and votes , the software is set to block duplicate votes by cookie and IP address . While we cannot control users who change locations and use separate devices on different networks , this measure is the most stringent way to deter participants from voting multiple times . No polling software available online can block all attempts at fraudulent voting , as there are ways around most blocking methods . For this reason , we can ’ t fully verify the accuracy of this poll . Language from Crowd Signal ’ s software settings : Voting in a poll is rate limited by IP , even when no blocking is enabled . This means that a large number of votes coming from a single Internet address will trigger a cooldown block to help prevent cheating . Sometimes this is tripped by many people at one location ( for example in schools and offices ) voting in a short period of time .
Staff
EDITORIAL
MANAGING EDITOR Clara Beard clara @ firebrandmediainc . com
DESIGN
DESIGN DIRECTOR Tracy Powell
SALES
ADVERTISING SALES TEAM Julie Coleman Carol Josepher Chris Mattingley Dawn Lindeman
PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION MANAGER Tina Leydecker tina @ firebrandmediainc . com
ADVERTISING & CIRCULATION : Tel : 949 715-4100 ; Fax : 949 715-4106
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS Tiffany Thompson
MAILING ADDRESS :
900 Glenneyre St ., Suite B Laguna Beach , CA 92651 Tel : 949-715-4100 ; Fax : 949 715-4106 www . lbindy . com
A publication of
PUBLISHER EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Steve Zepezauer
CREATIVE & MARKETING DIRECTOR Tracy Powell
PRESIDENT OF SALES & MARKETING Scott Sanchez
CITY HALL MEETINGS :
Tuesday , Sept . 18 - Environmental Sustainability Committee at 6 p . m .
HOW TO CONTACT THE CITY COUNCIL
Bob Whalen Mayor bwhalen @ lagunabeachcity . net
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD
Sue Kempf Mayor skempf @ lagunabeachcity . net
SECOND AND FOURTH THURSDAYS , 5 PM LOUIS WEIL : lweil @ lagunabeachcity . net KRISTINE THALMAN : kthalman @ lagunabeachcity . net DON SHERIDAN : dsheridan @ lagunabeachcity . net JESSICA GANNON : jgannon @ lagunabeachcity . net DEBORAH NEEV : dneev @ lagunabeachcity . net
Mark Orgill Council member morgill @ lagunabeachcity . net
Alex Rounaghi Council member arounaghi @ lagunabeachcity . net
PLANNING COMMISSION 1ST AND 3RD WEDNESDAYS , 6 PM STEVEN KELLENBERG , steve @ kellenbergstudio . com KEN SADLER : 616-0517 , ken . sadler @ cox . net JORG DUBIN : 497-2618 , jdubinart @ cox . net STEVE GOLDMAN : 203-554-2290 , steveg415 @ ymail . com SUSAN McLINTOCK WHITIN : 838-6317 , whitinsusan @ gmail . com
George Weiss Council member gweiss @ lagunabeachcity . net
Ann Marie McKay City Clerk amckay @ lagunabeachcity . net
Laura Parisi City Treasurer lparisi @ lagunabeachcity . net
OTHER ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES :
REP . KATIE PORTER , 1113 Longworth House Office Building , Washington , DC 20515 . 202-225-2415
ASSEMBLYWOMAN DIANE DIXON , 19712 MacArthur Blvd . Ste . 150 , Irvine , CA 92612 . 949-251-0074
FIFTH DISTRICT SUPERVISOR KATRINA FOLEY , 333 W . Santa Ana Blvd ., Santa Ana , CA 92701 714-834- 3550 , Katrina . Foley @ ocgov . com
OUR LETTER POLICY
E-mail letters to : Clara @ firebrandmediainc . com Letters strengthen community ties and provide a community forum open to all . Due to space constraints we ask letter writers to limit their topics to local concerns , make their submissions exclusive to the Indy alone and be of 400 words or less . Letters should be submitted by Tuesday , 5 p . m . They may be edited for clarity , length or appropriateness as needed .
We decline to publish letters that we perceive as personal attacks , even of public figures . We strive for civil discourse over ideas and issues , not personalities .
Letter writers must supply their name and contact information . Published letters will only use the writer ’ s name and city of residence . E-mail letters are preferred .
FOR DELIVERY QUESTIONS PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL 949-715-4100 delivery @ firebrandmediainc . com