Big deal

Barbara Diamond

Wayne Baglin began the year with the mayor’s gavel in his hand and

ended it with a judge’s gavel concluding the councilman’s arraignment

on charges of felony conflict of interest.

Baglin pleaded innocent Dec. 6 to charges that he had violated

state government code 1090, which prohibits elected officials from

financially benefiting from contracts with the city.

Orange County Deputy District Atty. Jeffrey Winter said that

Baglin had stepped outside the law when he accepted a $36,000

commission from clients who sold two parcels of property on Third

Street to the city.

Baglin declines to comment, on the advice of his attorney, Michael

Molfetta.

Town folks are not so reticent. But even those who think Baglin

was wrong to take the commission don’t rejoice in the outcome.

“I am sad about this, but I feel it is important that elected

officials obey the law” said Jean Raun, one of the first to call for

an investigation of the propriety of Baglin’s acceptance of the

commission.

Molfetta, of Newport Beach, characterized the accusations against

Baglin as politically motivated.

Baglin’s feisty independence has occasionally put him at odds with

some residents and council members whether he was in or out of

office. He has also been harsh with staff.

He has his share of admirers, too.

“I have known him for 20 years and consider him to be a man of the

highest integrity and honesty,” contractor Al Oligino wrote in a

supportive letter to the editor (Coastline Pilot, Nov. 1).

Cal State Long Beach art professor Gene Cooper echoed Oligino in

another published letter.

“Anyone who has watched Baglin’s leadership during his long

note-worthy career in various areas of public service knows that his

opinions have been carefully shaped by ethical considerations ...

almost to a fault,” Cooper wrote. (Coastline Pilot, Nov. 8)

Baglin’s supporters point out that the councilman never voted on

the $1.8 million purchase of lots at 374 and 386 Third St. from

Dorothy and Edward Hatfield, longtime clients of Baglin Real Estate.

Voting is not the focus of government code 1090. It deals with

financial gain.

“His recusing himself is irrelevant,” resident John Selecky said.

Baglin was indicted one year and two days after the City Council

elected him to his second term as mayor of Laguna Beach and almost

exactly two years after he was seated in December 2000 for a third

term on the council, none consecutive.

He stated in his 2000 campaign literature that residents would get

representation and access to the council if he was elected.

“I back that statement with my reputation for in-depth study of

the issues, independence from special interest groups and

unquestioned integrity,” the literature read. “I have a passion for

good, open government.”

Baglin also has a passionate desire to reduce pollution on the

California beaches and in the ocean waters that lap those beaches.

When elected, Baglin was chair of the State Regional Water Quality

Board, San Diego Region, which fined the city $60,000 that year for

sewage spills. Baglin, who had been a member of the board since 1997,

was not re-appointed when his term ended.

Baglin was also serving in 2000 on the State Water Resources

Control Board, the Enforcement Order Review Panel; the Southern

California Wetlands Recovery Project Board of Governors; the Aliso

Water Management Agency Board of Directors, of which he had been a

member since 1995; the Laguna Canyon Foundation Board of Directors;

and as the city’s Open Space Committee chair.

He participated in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Aliso Creek

Watershed Study and in the county’s Dana Point Harbor Water Quality

Task Force.

As mayor pro tem, to which position he was elected the night he

was re-seated on the council in 2000, Baglin proposed the formation

of the city’s Water Quality Advisory Board in July of 2001.

Appointments were made in September, and Baglin was named chair.

He was a proponent of the Laguna Canyon flood control project

until his stunning reversal this past fall.

Baglin was -- and is -- a member of the Laguna Board of Realtors.

He was on the board of directors when elected, a past president and

the 1998 Realtor of the Year. He is the owner of of Baglin Real

Estate.

He had previously served on the council from 1978 to 1981 and from

1994 to 1998. His first term was interrupted when he moved to Saudi

Arabia as an employee of Arabian American Oil.

Toni Iseman narrowly edged Baglin out of office in the 1998

election. While others attributed Baglin’s loss to Dave Connell’s

candidacy, which they said siphoned votes from Baglin, he blamed

himself for not campaigning hard enough.

Baglin ran again in 2000, one of nine candidates competing for the

two open council seats. He came in second behind Cheryl Kinsman and

paid $25,114 for the privilege of serving his community. His

expenditures were the third highest of the campaign, behind Kinsman

and Elizabeth Pearson.

A resident of Laguna Beach since 1969, Baglin’s recreational

interests include body surfing, scuba diving, skiing, reading,

gardening, cooking and being with friends and family. He is married

and has two adult children.