Bob Whalen, George Weiss begin reelection campaigns for Laguna Beach City Council

Incumbents Bob Whalen and George Weiss have each announced they will seek another term on the Laguna Beach City Council in the general election in November.

Four candidates have qualified for the ballot, including challengers Hallie Jones and Judie Mancuso. Local attorney Jennifer Zeiter also pulled nomination papers on Thursday.

Laguna Beach residents interested in running for the City Council have until 5 p.m. Friday to file nomination papers. The deadline would have been extended to Aug. 14 had either incumbent decided not to run.

Whalen, who was first elected to the council in 2012, has served as mayor five times. His public service also includes four years on the Planning Commission and an extended stay of close to 10 years on the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education.

A call to action has come from residents to address growing visitor impacts, and Whalen counted that as one of the challenges facing the city going forward.

“Residents are feeling overwhelmed by visitors and we have begun, but need to do much more, to implement programs and strategies to better manage the impact of visitors on our beaches, neighborhoods and parks.

“We also need to develop plans to upgrade our aging public buildings and other infrastructure, implement our climate action and adaptation plan, and find affordable housing solutions for local artists, workers and seniors.”

Whalen remarked that his top priority remains public safety. He helped roll out the wildfire mitigation and fire safety plan in 2019. The city has since made strides in that area, including the installation of an emergency outdoor warning system, as well as the addition of cameras and helicopter refilling tanks in open space to help detect and fight fires.

The council has leaned on Whalen, who is now the senior member of the governing body. He served as mayor four times in a span of five years between 2019 and 2023. That included three consecutive mayoral terms from 2019 to 2021, much of that time as the city navigated the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was a challenging time, but I believe the city did an outstanding job of protecting the health of our residents and helping our business community to survive,” Whalen said.

Weiss came into office with a promise of putting the interests of residents first. He has continually advocated for fiscal responsibility and transparency in local government.

His public service includes time on the Laguna Beach Beautification Council and the Housing and Human Services Committee.

The first-term council member was a founding member of Laguna Residents First, a group that sought to give residents a say in the fate of major development projects with a ballot initiative in 2022.

“I think keeping the essential character of Laguna is difficult because there are forces that want to monetize it so much,” Weiss said.

While Weiss acknowledged that the city needed to generate more revenue, he suggested it could be more judicious in its spending.

“Mistakes have been made, decisions have been made that we’re spending too much money on things that aren’t necessary, consultants included,” Weiss said. “That’s part of my running again. I do want to see us be more responsible.”

Since being elected in 2020, Weiss has not been appointed to the positions of mayor or mayor pro tem by his fellow council members. He brought an item for a mayoral rotation in November 2023, but it was abandoned due to a lack of support among his council colleagues.

At the time, Weiss said such a policy change would be “fair” and “democratic,” while adding that he would also support an election for mayor every two years. When reached for comment this week, Weiss said he had no ambition to be mayor but rather to influence the council to make the right decisions.

“I’ll continue to speak out because we do have too much secrecy and not enough transparency, and we have to shine a light on government,” Weiss said. “That’s when it better responds to the people and their needs, and I don’t think they’re being met. We’re spending way too much on other things.”