Laguna Beach to consider repealing municipal code provision that checks foul language

The Laguna Beach City Council will welcome members of the public to speak at the Council Chambers at its next meeting on Tuesday, April 6.

In the first meeting with in-person public participation since meetings went virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic, the council will consider repealing a portion of the municipal code that criminalizes using foul language during council meetings.

A staff report cited the section of the code added in 1953. It said that a council member or other person speaking at a meeting could be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor if they engage in profane, vulgar or boisterous speech. According to staff, the city attorney believes that excerpt from the municipal code is unenforceable due to statutory developments and court decisions that have followed the original adoption of the policy.

The council is also expected to accept a donation for a new art installation called, “Suspended Islands,” by Christopher Jeffries, a Laguna Beach-based artist. Jim and Suzanne Mellor have offered to give $20,000 to support Jeffries’ work, which would incorporate blown-glass elements. It would eventually be scheduled to be on display outside City Hall beginning in August for a three-month period.

Two thousand dollars were raised through the Laguna Beach Community Foundation in support of a press chair in honor of the late Laguna Beach journalist Barbara Diamond. The tribute to Diamond has been fully funded, Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf said. The press chair was designed by Randy Bader, an artist in town, and it will include the words, “Barbara Diamond Press Chair.”

The hybrid meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, with the option to speak in person by entering the Council Chambers through the rear door, speaking before the council, then exiting through the front. Members of the public are to wear a face covering and social distance themselves from others while waiting to speak.

The meeting will also be accessible through Zoom at https://lagunabeachcity.zoom.us/j/98119947004 or on Cox cable channel 852.

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