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“ We are excited to welcome so many wonderful restaurants ,” said Erin Slattery , President-CEO of the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce .
Ticket prices are $ 150 for VIP and $ 85 for General admission . VIP tickets include 5pm entry , 2 drink tickets and a special VIP area with Tequila Comisario tastings and special wines from the Bordeaux region and Germany .
To register , visit the website at www . TasteofLaguna . org or call 949.494.1018
Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade 2023 nominations open
The Laguna Beach Patriots Day Parade committee has started organizing the 56th parade that will march on Saturday , March 4 , 2023 . At their September meeting , the committee chose “ Volunteer Heroes ” as the parade theme . Community members can nominate honorees for Grand Marshal , Citizen of the Year , Artist of the Year and Athlete of the Year , to be selected at the Oct . 11 committee meeting . Entry and program ad forms will be mailed in early October . The ad and entry deadline is Jan . 13 , 2023 . To be added to the mailing list or nominate honorees , please email Sandi Werthe at shworthy @ cox . net .”
Council Candidate debate Sept 28 at City Chambers
Your Vote Matters – Please join us
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for a debate with the Laguna Beach City Council Candidates . We will be gathering at the City Council Chambers on Wednesday , Sept . 28 at 6 p . m . We have seven candidates running for three City Council seats . Come and hear directly from Peter Blake , Ruben Flores , Sue Kempf , Mark Orgill , Jerome Pudwill , Alex Rounaghi and Louis Weil . Local topics to be discussed include Measures Q , R and S , public safety , homelessness , law enforcement , fiscal management , fire safety and the impact of tourism on our city . Laguna Beach is dealing with complicated issues and informed voting matters . The Greater Laguna Beach GOP is hosting this debate . You can learn more about us at www . glbgop . com .
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which the City is buying .
Did he forget that under Q , because of a change of use , St . Catherine ’ s would almost certainly require a public vote and up to a two-year delay .
Or , is he suggesting the City operate St . Catherine ’ s as a church or school so a use change wouldn ’ t be triggered ? By the way , the problem with Q ’ s public vote mandate isn ’ t just the time and cost . There ’ s no assurance a vote will pass for even the most desirable proposal .
Why ? Some people always vote no , some oppose any public expenditures ,
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some businesses won ’ t want competition , and neighbors who understandably may be impacted will vote no . A ‘ yes ’ vote isn ’ t in the bag .
In the column , the Q author states that under Q , a 70-room hotel could be approved without a vote . This would indeed be a strange hotel . For 70 rooms to be below Q ’ s size limit , each room couldn ’ t exceed a tiny 314 square feet . No need to worry about traffic because the hotel couldn ’ t rent any rooms . Why ? Because nobody could access the rooms . To accommodate 70 rooms , this would be a hotel without stairs , halls , and elevators . There would be no lobby , dining room , public restrooms , and no bar . Some hotel ! If it weren ’ t so serious , it would be laughable .
The same lacking accuracy behind this claim is the accuracy lacking in the 18 pages of regulations embedded in Q . Just as the assumptions about a hotel are flawed , multiple provisions of Q are flawed .
The column claims fire stations won ’ t require a vote because they are small . The South Laguna Fire Station will require a public vote because it merges lots totaling more than 7,500 square feet . This is Q ’ s biggest problem . It says it only opposes “ over-development .” But then , it has a bunch of conditions like small lot mergers that cause small proposals to require a public vote . The recently approved coffee shop , ice cream parlor , and sandwich shop would have required a
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public vote if Q had been in effect .
And who is LRF to determine what size fire , life safety , and police facilities should be in the future ? Where are their credentials ? Concepts change , and there could well be larger combined facilities incorporating multiple life safety services in the future . If this occurs , it couldn ’ t be implemented without a public vote which could fail .
Finally , I recently stopped at a Q table outside the farmers ’ market . After listening to the pitch , I teed up some of Q ’ s flaws .
The answer - flaws can be corrected later . Really ?
Changing anything in Q , including eliminating Q requires a public vote with a possible two-year wait .
But if a vote to change Q succeeded , would Q supporters challenge the results ? Q includes a provision that any vote for approval requires a majority of the electorate ( commonly considered a majority of those registered to vote , not a majority of those who voted , to vote yes . This means any change would require agreement by over 90 percent of those voting . Q proponents now say the term ‘ electorate ’ is misunderstood . If that ’ s the case , it should never have been placed in Q , just as several other provisions of Q weren ’ t sufficiently thought through or intentionally inserted .
This is why we say , “ Don ’ t Be Fooled .” Q is terribly flawed and should be rejected by clear-thinking Laguna residents .
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