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By Susan McNeal Velasquez
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Canyon , which I ( formerly ) owned and operated . I ’ ve always been a self-employed entrepreneur involved with real estate , art , and nonprofit management .
What elected positions and / or appointed roles have you served in Laguna Beach , if any ? During my 38 years in Laguna , I ’ ve been involved with a number of nonprofits and civic projects . More recent examples include developing student housing for the College of Art & Design and serving on the Community Clinic board . Years ago , I had an instrumental role in establishing the Civic Arts District . This campaign is my maiden voyage into electoral politics .
Why do you want to serve on City Council ? We deserve the best from our political leaders and City Hall in general . The status quo — the general contentiousness , lack of clarity in specific policies , and lack of best practices in governance and municipal operations — is not consistently exemplary . That ’ s not good enough . I believe I ’ m well suited by virtue of experience , integrity and temperament to make a positive difference , should Laguna Beach voters elect me .
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What are the City ’ s three biggest challenges , and what are your proposed solutions ? ( 1 ) Smartly evolving while retaining the best of our small-scale , distinctive character . Solid starting points are strictly enforcing existing policies against over-development , encouraging artful and otherwise beneficial projects , cleaning up the city , and keeping safety the top priority .
( 2 ) Finding more ways of doing more with less so we can afford prudent investments in new technology and environmental sustainability . This will be challenging and begins with public awareness . Additionally , it should
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“ I am so tired !” Fatigue is often the culprit behind the inability to cope with reality . Tired is a second cousin to sick . When fatigue sets in , our vibration lowers .
Exhaustion robs the sparkle of humor from our eyes and sends out a signal , that energizing , and enjoyable interactions will not be on the menu today .
Here are some personal discoveries regarding energy management . I am
start with tapping the rich talent in this community . We need to take a hard look at things while being driven equally by a sense of urgency , a desire for collaboration and consensus , and a relentless demand for excellence and continuous improvement .
( 3 ) The increasing vitriol and herd mentality in our local politics threatens our local Laguna culture no less than the emotionally-charged and ugly culture wars across the country that undermines our national culture . It ’ s hard to address this without sounding clichéd , but I am profoundly disturbed by what ’ s happened to our once close-knit community , especially during the last four years . We all have some role to play in righting this situation . Voters can demand an end to it . Political leaders can step up and say enough . I say enough .
What are your ideas for addressing traffic issues , parking in Laguna ? We start by better managing identifiable pieces of the situation , for example , by designating spaces for seasonal festivals , major employers , merchants , and their employees . That would be a huge step forward , and then we ’ d be better positioned to understand what ’ s left to get our arms around , what the best mix of solutions is in terms of parking supply and moving people around . In South Laguna , there ’ s an obvious need for new parking options to ease the burden on the neighborhoods most affected by daily visitors and to lessen the public safety problem of pedestrians crossing Coast Highway . We obviously can work more effectively with the County and the Coastal Commission .
Give your stance on Measures Q , R and S . Voting “ no ” on all .
If not elected , do you plan on staying engaged with the City ? I ’ ve always been involved , so yes , I ’ ll continue to stay involved .
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sharing them with the hope that you won ’ t believe me , instead that you will take the time to check them out yourself . The intent is to increase your ability to accomplish what you want and be receptive , interactive and available to others .
The first suggestion is that you review your day . Look for frustrations , aggravations and disappointments that left you in a depleted mood . The intent here is to acknowledge what happened
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about Peter Blake ’ s re-election , toughness may be admirable , but when it ’ s delivered through cruelty , it ’ s a devastating pathology that does nothing but harm to a community . We are better than this . Let ’ s not have another four years of cruel behavior aimed at demeaning people . Billy Fried , Laguna Beach
Local elections can be difficult to navigate , especially for people who are aligned with one political party or another . Like-minded individuals can often find themselves on opposite sides of an issue in local city politics . As a volunteer for the Laguna Beach Democratic Club , and a Laguna Beach resident , I wanted to clarify a couple of points in Ann Christoph ’ s opinion piece last week about local endorsements .
Laguna Beach Democratic Club bylaws state we may only endorse registered Democrats . The same is true for the Democratic Party of Orange County . We work closely with the DPOC in our endorsement process . According to Ajay Mohan , Executive Director for the DPOC , he reached out to Jerome Pudwill inviting him to apply for their endorsement . Pudwill did not respond to that outreach , nor did he ever contact the Laguna Beach Democratic Club , the only Democratic club in Laguna Beach and the oldest Democratic club in Orange County , asking us to consider his endorsement .
Two candidates sought our endorsement — Alex Rounaghi and Mayor Sue Kempf .
Also , to set the record straight about our local ballot initiatives , the Laguna Beach Democratic Club did not take any position on Measures Q , R , or S .
As one of many activists here in Laguna Beach , I admire and respect all those who are fighting hard for the local candidates and ballot measures they are choosing to support . It is my sincere hope once this election has been decided , the amazing Democrats of Laguna Beach can come together once again to fight for the causes we
LETTERS , page 28
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and how it truly affected you .
Next , pay attention to what activities you routinely do that give you energy . Notice what sparked your curiosity , pleasantly surprised you , gave you satisfaction , touched your heart and engaged your mind .
Looking at your days through the filter of energy drains and energy gains will increase your awareness of what is happening to you energetically each day .
It doesn ’ t take a brain surgeon to figure out that if most of what you do daily is an energy drain with very little gains , you end up exhausted .
If your profession is as a problem solver or you are dealing with sickness and involved with others who are coping with difficulties , there is a truism that may be helpful to know .
Simply stated it is this : “ Stopped people , stop other people ”. When someone in your life is sick , depressed , confused , or unable to move forward for whatever reason , everyone connected to that person will be stopped .
This is tricky because we are not talking about blame or making judgments about being stopped . As a matter of fact , one of the reasons that this is difficult to grasp is that it has nothing to do with how intelligent , creative , and innovative you are or how much you want to move forward .
Stopped people stop others . A simple example on a physical level is a traffic accident . No matter how important or powerful you are , you will be stopped until the accident scene is cleared up .
This information can be extremely useful in managing yourself if you are willing to test it out .
The next time you are in a situation where you are a part of someone ’ s real-time upset , or a close relative or friend is physically sick , notice how your life goes on the back burner . Your life stops , and this present dilemma goes on the front burner .
Once you realize this , you can make clear choices that will allow you to be present to the problem at hand and can set clear boundaries on the amount of time you will be stopped .
If you are caretaking someone sick , acknowledging that you are stopped will remind you of the importance of taking time off to do something that returns you to your own life once again .
One of the serious prices of our free-flowing information age is that we are constantly bombarded by information that tells us of tragedies , mishaps and threats to our survival while presenting no opportunities to solve those issues .
The ability to discern when we are empowered and when we are powerless is crucial and a deciding factor in remaining energetically vital and fully engaged in all aspects of our lives .
Susan is a local author with over three decades of experience in the Human Potential Industry . You can reach her at : beyondintellect . com .
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