6 lagunabeachindy . com SEPTEMBER 23 , 2022
A professor of mine once told our class that one of the most expensive mistakes a City can make is putting a fire station in the wrong place . That professor , Dr . B . J . Thompson , had been the fire chief in Santa Fe Springs , Santa Ana , and Atlanta . Additionally , he was the City Manager in Santa Ana and the administrator of the United States Fire Administration . As such , he was well qualified to make that assessment .
With the need to rebuild or relocate the South Laguna Fire Station and a growing list of possible new sites , the City of Laguna Beach has an opportunity to avoid an expensive mistake . The City should take this opportunity to make a data based decision regarding the relocation of the South Laguna Fire Station , and perhaps , even evaluate the City ’ s current arrangement of fire stations . While the current arrangement of the City ’ s four fire stations may intuitively seem correct , in actuality , it may not be . I ’ ve completed fire station location studies for the cities of Stanton , Newport Beach and Costa Mesa . In each of those cities , the data didn ’ t always support the assumptions that were believed to be true .
A comprehensive fire station location study should also consider the adequacy of the City ’ s current agreements for the provision of ladder truck service from the Newport Beach Fire Department and the Orange County Fire Authority . Fire department effectiveness at any structure fire is greatly enhanced by the simultaneous , or near-simultaneous arrival of both engine and truck companies . The current agreements with Newport Beach Fire and the County Fire Authority for truck company service results in extended response times that are beyond
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the eight to ten minute national response time standard . A station location study might show that an arrangement of stations that deploys three fire engines and one ladder truck would better serve Laguna Beach than its current deployment of four fire engines and a delayed ladder truck . Steve Bunting , Honolulu , Hawaii
In 2000 , Newport ’ s Greenlight slow growth initiative prevented Newport from looking like Manhattan Beach . In 2022 , Laguna ’ s Measure Q has the ability to stop Laguna Beach from ultimately looking like Newport .
The opposition in Newport Beach screamed that Greenlight would destroy the economy and harm businesses , but that never occurred . Opponents spent a million dollars to prevent the residents from controlling their own destiny , but voters saw through the rhetoric and approved the initiative .
Fast forward to Laguna Beach ’ s Measure Q . Like Greenlight , Measure Q will allow residents to determine how their city will look for their children . Despite the claims of opponents , it won ’ t require elections for tiny projects and it won ’ t kill businesses in Laguna . History is also repeating itself in the amount of money opponents are raising to disseminate misinformation about the initiative . Although called ‘ grass roots ’ by its founders , the main PAC raising money against Measure Q is only a conduit for developer dollars .
Citizens for Laguna ’ s Future has raised an extraordinary amount of money in the few weeks it has been in existence , almost all of it from developers or business interests . Like Newport , there is sure to be a blizzard of political flyers with inaccurate information opposing
Correction to 9 / 16 edition of LB Indy : Mark Orgill ’ s column on page 16 read Sawdust Festival . The correct wording should have been Festival of the Arts .
Measure Q . I can only hope that Laguna voters are as smart as Newport voters were in 2000 . Susan Skinner , Laguna Beach
The Laguna Beach Fire Department has years of response time data that would allow an analyst to model a variety of possible fire station locations and deployment configurations . Before settling on a “ best guess ” location for the South Laguna Fire Station , the City should use its historical response data to assist them with their decision making so that they might confidently select a station location and deployment model which best meets the City ’ s needs .
I love Laguna Beach , its charm , its beaches and hills . I have lived here for 45 years and been involved with
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CITY HALL MEETINGS :
Wednesday , Sept . 28 . Houses and Human Services Committee 6 p . m .
HOW TO CONTACT THE CITY COUNCIL
Sue Kempf Mayor 439-3001 skempf @ lagunabeachcity . net
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD 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
Bob Whalen Peter Blake Mayor pro tem
Council member
497-0796
584-1224 bwhalen @ lagunabeachcity . net pblake @ lagunabeachcity . net
Toni Iseman Council member 494-7648 tiseman2 @ aol . com
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 295-0832 gweiss @ lagunabeachcity . net
Ann Marie McKay City Clerk 497-0309 amckay @ lagunabeachcity . net
Laura Parisi City Treasurer 949-497-0327 lparisi @ lagunabeachcity . net
OTHER ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES :
REP . MICHELLE STEEL , 1113 Longworth House Office Building , Washington , DC 20515 . 202-225-2415
ASSEMBLYWOMAN COTTIE PETRIE-NORRIS , 19712 MacArthur Blvd . Ste . 150 , Irvine , CA 92612 . 949-251-0074
FIFTH DISTRICT SUPERVISOR LISA BARTLETT , 333 W . Santa Ana Blvd ., Santa Ana , CA 92701 714-834- 3550 , Lisa . Bartlett @ ocgov . com
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