OUR LAGUNA: The good, the bad and the newsy

2008 wasn’t the best of years in Laguna, ending on a sour note with the suit filed by the ACLU, which claims the city’s anti-sleeping laws are aimed at the homeless and disabled. It is said to be the first such suit filed in the country. City officials cried foul.

Spring and fall brought sewer spills that blemished the city’s record for clean beaches and the assumption of South Coast Medical Center Foundation assets by Adventist Health was ripped by residents and foundation supporters.

But there was cheerier news. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved about $35 million in funding for the repairs of city infrastructure damaged in the 2005 Bluebird Canyon landslide, subject only to an audit currently underway.

Adventist began negotiating the sale of the medical center with not-for-profit St. Joseph Health System, preferred by city officials over other bidders. Laguna Beach High School was awarded a Blue Ribbon for excellence.

City officials and environmentalists celebrated the federal decision not to approve another toll road through parkland.

Here is a brief recount of the good, the bad and the in-between in the first six months of 2008, culled from the pages of the Coastline Pilot.

Jan. 4: Outdoor diners at a Laguna restaurant were shocked to see a driver fatally shoot himself on New Year’s Day after firing rounds at passing police cars on South Coast Highway. Definitely bad.

Jan. 11: Councilwomen Toni Iseman and Elizabeth Pearson cut the ribbon on the City Maintenance Yard on Laguna Canyon Road, which had more ups and downs than Bluebird Canyon until they brokered a compromise that ended a decade of political infighting on the relocation. Really, really good.

Menton, France, was adopted as Laguna’s sister city.

Jan. 18: The council approved a remodel of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church Guild Hall after church officials restored some of Ron Kaufmann’s view, which had been obliterated by the original plan.

Bobbi Cox hosted the Chamber of Commerce’s 21st Leadership Luncheon — show and tell for community groups and businesses.

Jan. 25: The council approved 14 recommendations from the Laguna Beach Homeless Task Force to resolve homeless issues in town, including assigning Officer Jason Farris to reach out to the disadvantaged.

Appeals were the hot topic at the council’s annual retreat, at which city officials discussed their concerns and goals for the upcoming year.

Feb. 1: The council voted unanimously to proceed with plans to combine about 50 city-owned parcels into an Arch Beach Heights view park.

Feb. 8: Laguna residents, including Mayor Jane Egly, were among opponents of the proposed toll road through San Onofre State Park who attended a hearing in San Diego.

Feb. 15: Proposed revamp of booking procedures for the Artist’s Theatre on the Laguna Beach High School campus opened dates for CaDance performances, previously denied.

Feb. 22: California Coastal Commission changes to the city’s Certified Local Coastal Plan got the council’s goat. The council exempted annual weed abatement and approved fuel modifications programs — read: goats.

Feb. 29: The Girl Scouts of America announced that Eleanor Henry would be awarded her platinum pin for 75 years of membership. Henry is known in Laguna for her outspoken opposition to war, recent Republican presidents and paying the same rate for water as owners of bigger homes.

March 7: Preferred parking in residential neighborhoods got a no-confidence vote from the council, which also bucked an Arts Commission recommendation to install a large sculpture in front of the Community and Senior Center on Third Street.

Good art, bad location, the council said.

The annual Patriots Day Parade honored Robert Meyerhof for patriotism, Claes Anderson for community activism and high school seniors Rebekah Farrar and Paul E. Hester as junior citizens. Harry Lawrence was parade grand marshal. Good day.

March 14: A council sub-committee reported that sludge from Newport Harbor dumped in the ocean was not a cause for alarm in Laguna. Clean Water Now! founder Roger Butow was outraged.

Tourism and home prices dipped, but had not yet markedly affected Laguna’s economy. The bad news had yet to come.

March 21: Arts organizations honored Diane Challis Davy, CaDance, the Hagan Place Mural and Arts Commission Chairwoman Nancy Beverage at the annual Art Star Awards Dinner.

The Legacy Ball honored past Laguna Beach Seniors Inc. presidents Louise Buckley and Pauline Walpin, and Friendship Shelter founder the Rev. Colin Henderson. All good.

March 28: Marine Mammal Center staff and volunteers bade a fond farewell to Nick, a sea lion rescued and restored to health. A $5,000 grant from Simple Green’s Adopt a Clean up Contest was awarded to the center for its environmental efforts. Goodbye.

April 4: Laguna Beach High School graduate Derek Ostensen spent a day restoring the L to the Laguna sign that has been on the city’s hillside since the 1930s.

Athens Group agreed to host an open house on its Aliso Creek property for the public to visit the site and learn about the proposed redevelopment plan.

April 11: Day laborers offered to up their ante to keep open the hiring center, in financial difficulties because hiring was down and less money was coming in.

South Coast Medical Center closed its maternity wing, citing $1 million-a-year losses. Their bad.

April 18: Memorial services and a Brooks Street Beach “paddleout” was held in memory of Mark Barry Metherell, killed April 11 in Iraq.

The Village Entrance was put on hold due to “sticker shock” from drastically increased cost estimates.

April 25: Crews worked feverishly to stop a leak from the North Coast Interceptor. Really, really bad.

May 2: Sam Goldstein’s plans to remodel the Heisler Building were approved.

May 9: The hilltop home of Kathy and architect Jim Conrad wowed the guests at a Laguna Beach Community Clinic fundraiser. About 150 clinic supporters attended the Sunset Fiesta. Ole!

May 16: The council vetoed an extension of Thurston Drive, rendering moot Leonora and Gale Pike’s request to sub-divide their 13.3-acre property into six parcels.

May 23: Athens Group’s plans for the Aliso Creek Redevelopment Area went under a public microscope. Some 500 folks prepared for the scoping session by walking the grounds a couple of days earlier, at the invitation of the developer.

Bed taxes exceeded $1.8 million, about $100,000 higher than expected. That was a good thing.

May 30: Folks gathered to honor the men and women who died in the service of their county. Retired U.S. Marine Corps Col. Charles Quilter solemnly intoned “No Answer” when the names were called of local veterans who died since the previous Memorial Day. So sad.

June 6: The council forked over $18,000 to buy the Day Labor Hiring Center parcel from the state.

June 13: Gay Laguna Beach couples rushed to formalize their relationships when the state began issuing marriage licenses for same-sex marriages.

June 20: Ed Sauls announced that the Laguna Beach Resource and Relief Center had to find a new home because its lease was running out on the rented headquarters in Laguna Canyon.

June 27: Marine muralist Robert Wyland revoked the use of his design for personalized license plates when the California Coastal Commission refused to divvy up the proceeds with his foundation.

More to come: July to December next week.

OUR LAGUNA is a regular feature of the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot. Contributions are welcomed. Write to Barbara Diamond, P.O. Box 248, Laguna Beach, 92652; hand-deliver to Suite 22 in the Lumberyard, 384 Forest Ave.; call (949) 494-4321; fax (949) 494-8979 or e-mail [email protected]