Letters to the Editor

I’ll be voting “No” on the Woods Cove undergrounding, instead moving to solar

Since the early ‘70s, Joe Chiquete was known as the “czar of undergrounding” in Laguna Beach, overseeing the city’s efforts in this area until his retirement around 2015. At that time, there were limited funds and no comprehensive plan for citywide utility undergrounding.

To this day, the city’s primary strategy for underground utility projects involves encouraging parcel owners to explore the formation of Rule 20b assessment districts. These districts can impose taxes on themselves, with the requirement that 50% or more of the assessed members agree to tax 100% of parcel owners. The city typically contributes 10% for its “General Benefit” portion as required by Article XIIID and SB 218.

It’s important to note that participation in assessment districts is voluntary, and no parcel owner is obligated to impose taxes on themselves or their neighbors. However, the absence of a master plan over the past 50+ years has resulted in higher costs and delayed progress in undergrounding city utilities.

After nearly a decade of planning and development, the Woods Cove 2014-2 Assessment District, if formed, will be the city’s largest Utility Underground District, encompassing 380 parcels. The upcoming schedule for this project is as follows:

–September 26: City Council Meeting to Adopt Resolution of Intention and Resolution to Preliminarily Approve the Engineer’s Report

–Early October: Mailing of ballots to affected property owners

–December 12 (tentative): City Council Meeting Public Hearing and Tally of Ballots

Property owners were recently notified of this final phase through postcards with a QR code and a web address (www.lagunabeachcity.net/woodscv) to stay informed.

The website includes informative slides presented at a September 14, 2023 workshop and a 53-page “Preliminary Engineer’s Report” detailing the assessment breakdown based on aesthetic (70%), safety (20%) and view (10%) benefits.

This process can serve as a valuable reference for other neighborhoods considering similar projects, helping them understand potential costs and the impact of taxation choices on their neighbors. Ballots will be distributed in October, and the outcome will be determined based on the total amount of YES and NO votes. If YES votes surpass NO votes, parcel owners will be obligated to pay their assessed amount.

In my case, as a property owner in the proposed district, I’ve decided to vote NO due to concerns about high property taxes and the potential financial burden on neighbors. Instead, I plan to invest in solar energy, which I believe is a more prudent choice. I hope that others in the Woods Cove AD share my perspective and communicate it to their neighbors before the October balloting.

JT Price

Laguna Beach

Obituary

Norton Zitkus Penney

Courtesy of the Penney Family

Norton Zitkus Penney

We are heartbroken to share that Norton Penney has passed away at 70 years young. Nort died peacefully in his sleep living in Marina Del Rey, just a few blocks away from his favorite people – his grandchildren, Marco and Löwen.

Nort lived in Laguna Beach for more than 20 years and coached countless baseball, soccer and softball teams for his two youngest children, Holden and Nort Jr. He served on the LBLL board for years. He loved reading a mystery novel at El Morro, surfing at SanO, playing “old man” softball at Riddle Field, cheering on any LBHS team and debating which restaurant in town made the best chile relleno. He was happiest laughing with his children, Erin, Holden and Nort.

The family will be hosting a beach gathering and paddle out at Castle Rock Beach in Santa Monica on Saturday, Sept. 16. If you’d like to share a memory or picture of Nort, please email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Letters to the Editor

It’s time to move on and end the divisiveness

It’s time to end the divisiveness in Laguna.

We have a new City Council. A new City Attorney. And a new City Manager is coming.

There are fewer reasons for divisiveness in Laguna, yet we still have columns in the paper and letters to the editors by people trying to drive wedges in our community.

It’s time to start a new page.

One way the city government can help is to be truly open with the community. Whether it’s good news or bad news, we can handle it.

In the absence of facts, some people make up their own truths. It’s okay to have opinions, but it’s not okay to make up facts.

The recent retirement of the City Manager is a case in point. We really don’t know the whole story. We don’t actually have the facts. In fact, we have very few facts.

While the public release said, “Her decision comes as a result of a mutually agreed-upon separation agreement that was negotiated in response to a hostile workplace claim filed by (Shohreh) Dupuis following a period of conflict with a City Councilmember,” the actual Separation Agreement says, “…EMPLOYEE represents and warrants that she has not filed any complaints, charges, grievances or lawsuits against the CITY, its officers, employees, agents, affiliates, and attorneys with any governmental agency arising out of her employment with and separation from the CITY and that she will not do so at any time hereinafter….”

That sounds like there was no actual complaint filed.

The public release also makes vague reference to “legal and financial exposure to the City…” But from whom? Or what? A review of the last six months of Closed Sessions agendas alone includes 1) significant exposure of City to litigation by MOM investment group relating to May 2, 2023 incidents at Hotel Laguna and 14 West, 2) potential Brown Act violation issue claims made by Councilmember (George) Weiss, 3) litigation between the Laguna Beach Company and the city and 4) tort claims against the City from a citizen.

Could the reference to “exposure” be related to one of these issues? Without more information we just don’t know and people speculate which feeds the divisiveness.

Let’s get past the blame game and do what the Mayor suggested in the public release: “…move forward with finding a new City Manager and prioritizing the public’s business.”

We are all so fortunate to be able to live here, let’s move on. And let’s see that the city government provides the community in the future with the full transparency it should provide.

John Thomas

Laguna Beach

Letters to the Editor

     Has the issue that caused our City Manager to leave been alleviated?

When I became an officer in the United States Navy, I was admonished that having been granted this position of authority, the Congress of the United States was conferring on me a “special trust and confidence” to carry out my duties in a fair and ethical manner. I believe this “higher standard” applies to all elected public officials, regardless of position.

The citizens of Laguna Beach have lost a city manager. After a number of Special Closed Sessions by the City Council it was announced that The City Manager Shohreh Dupuis would retire. This announcement came in the form of a mutually agreed upon separation agreement between the City of Laguna Beach and our city manager. The background to this action came in the form of a press release by the City Council which explained that this was the end result of a complaint by our city manager alleging the conduct of Councilmember George Weiss and his alleged continuing harassment and creation of a hostile work environment.

This is a very serious matter and not to be taken lightly. The city press release explained that this separation agreement allows the city to resolve all claims without costly and time-consuming litigation and represents a “responsible stewardship of public funds”:

The bottom line is our city manager will get a separation package consisting of:

1. Nine months of severance pay and,

2. $223,077, and

3. Health insurance of nine months, and

4. Reimbursement of legal fees up to $10,000

The city manager makes a compensation package of $292,600 in salary plus $57,029 in benefits. Added together and doing the math this equates to $349,629 a year or a separation pay of $262,221.75. Adding in the legal expenses of $10,000 this is $272,221. The press release also states that Dupuis will get an additional settlement of $223,077. Sum Total: $495,298.

If we look at history, City Manager Dupuis was appointed city manager in June 2021. We had a municipal election fairly recently on November 8, 2022. That election added Alex Rounaghi and Mark Orgill to the council. That means the legacy councilmembers were Mayor Bob Whalen, Sue Kempf and George Weiss.

My questions are as follows: Why was this situation allowed to go on to the point of a formal complaint being made by City Manager Dupuis which resulted in legal action?

–There was no mention of any censure of Councilmember George Weiss. Will the toxic environment alleged by Dupuis continue to exist?

–Efforts will go forward to find a new city manager with the question mark that a toxic work environment may exist within the City Council.

The legacy city council consisting of Mayor Bob Whalen, Sue Kempf and George Weiss purported to act in “responsible stewardship of public funds” while in my opinion perpetuating the root cause.

There is a saying: “Act honorably.” You will be held personally accountable if you act improperly, and concurrently your colleagues and organization will also carry the burden of your shame. These actions have a direct impact on the City of Laguna Beach and we as its citizens.

Eric Axel Jensen, Captain

U.S. Navy, Retired

Laguna Beach

Village Laguna supports Sensible Laguna’s request for needs assessment at LBHS

Given its mission of helping to preserve and enhance Laguna’s village character, Village Laguna is concerned about the scale and scope of the changes the school district is proposing for the high school area. In particular, we support Sensible Laguna’s position on the pool size. The organization’s outreach to aquatic sports consultants has shown that a 50-meter pool is simply not needed for high school aquatic sports, unless the proponents envision Laguna as a hub for Olympic-sized aquatic events.

Furthermore, there is no room for a 50-meter pool without completely altering the character and look of the surrounding area and negatively impacting an already tight traffic area during construction and during years of large events for which, by the time of completion, the proponents’ children will have already graduated from the high school.

We support Sensible Laguna in asking, as taxpaying citizens, that LBUSD do a professional needs/use assessment by a qualified unbiased professional organization as to the need for this very expensive remodel. The public deserves transparency and clarity on why the school district is proposing this excessive use of taxpayer dollars. We deserve a cost/benefit analysis for a 35-meter pool. We also deserve an impact report on the noise generated by huge events on the surrounding neighborhoods’ right to peaceful enjoyment of their homes.

Let’s be sensible and find a common ground that supports students’ aquatic sports activities with respect for neighbors and without causing overuse of the existing property and the potential for emergency and everyday traffic issues.

Anne Caenn, president

Village Laguna

Turning 75…who knows what’s planned, other than I intend to live it!

This coming Thursday I will be 75, so I know I’m in the 4th quarter of my life. What I don’t know is this: Do I have 15 minutes left on the play clock or just 2?

No matter which it is, I am determined to make the best of growing older. Here are five truisms I’m committed to living by now:

First, with age comes wisdom. Considering this is my new mantra, what’s the smartest thing I’ve done? I no longer seek approval from others;

Second, with age comes selection. I’ve stopped trying to change people. Instead, I’ve begun letting go of people who are toxic, bitter and unhappy;

Third, with age comes reality. I don’t party much or stay up late any longer. Instead, I wake up at 5 a.m. anxious to write my letters, op-eds or blog posts;

Fourth, with age comes purpose. If action is the antidote to despair then count me in – especially when it comes to a Camp David gun summit; and,

Last, with age comes legacy. I’ve raised three great children and now I’m a grandfather. I know the world is far from perfect, but it is when I hold my grandchildren.

So happy 75th to Moi. I may be in the 4th quarter now, but I’m going to give the game of life 110% until the final whistle blows.

Denny Freidenrich

Laguna Beach

Letters to the Editor

Open letter to Councilmember George Weiss

Mr. Weiss:

Now that the matter of your (alleged) misbehavior as a city councilmember has resulted in a potential lawsuit against the city, and has now been made public, this is the right time for you to consider your options. I’ve lived here since 1970 and have never seen this kind of (alleged) misconduct by an elected official directed toward anyone in city government, much less a City Manager. This is a first and, with your cooperation George, it should be the last. Your (alleged) transgressions are costing the taxpayers of Laguna close to a half million dollars when all the component parts are tallied. The cost likely would have been much greater had the city chosen not to negotiate a separation agreement with the City Manager. Clearly the city and its attorneys knew the merits of the potential lawsuit against it were incontrovertible.

Here are two options you should consider now – I recommend you choose both:

–Your immediate retirement from City Council; a resignation letter would work.

–A substantial reimbursement from you to the city for triggering this liability.

Jerry Immel

Laguna Beach

(Stu News Laguna editorial has added the three references of “alleged” above until said guilt is determined.)

There are a lot of folks to thank for keeping this neighborhood sparkling

Victoria Beach, like most of our city neighborhoods, has a great deal of maintenance work that is required to keep the area feeling like a well-kept and comfortable home, regardless of it also being a major tourist destination.

I am writing to specifically acknowledge and thank some of the many people that make up that (maintenance) department. Mark McAvoy is the director, the people I usually work directly with are Reza Jafari (assistant director) and Wayne Chintala/Todd Henry (supervisors). All these guys have been very responsive to helping put in place programs that give us at least some of the necessary resources to deal with the constant impact of tourism as well as the general wear and tear.

In addition, the real, main motivation for this letter is to sing the praises of some of the workers on the front line of all these efforts. They have consistently shown a superior level of commitment to doing the various jobs whole heartedly and with a great deal of care – they deserve some recognition:

–Graffiti removal: Gilbert Aguirre is the usual guy for that. If you see some graffiti, just call the non-emergency police number and it is usually taken care of within hours. I don’t know how many of you saw the rather extreme graffiti that was all over the Victoria stairs the other week or painted all over the bluff by the Pirates Tower this weekend, but it was gone within hours of the next morning. Some other guys from Public Works that have also been called are Elias Campos and Jose Torres Ballinas. This is sometimes very difficult work, and they don’t stop until it is gone.

–Stair Sweeping: Jose Cortez 

–Planter area entrance to Victoria: Sergio Lopez. That is a lot of maintenance to keep on top of and he has quite a bit of other areas to care for as well.

There are always times when they may not have enough time to get everything done due to various demands beyond their control, but it is really apparent that they truly care about the contributions to the city and to our neighborhood. No way they could work that hard otherwise.

So, take a moment of appreciation when you see them out there!

(Diver) Dave Forsyth

Victoria Beach