Enough beach closures already

LAGUNA LIFE

All right, here we go again.

I want to start this week off with a big round of congratulations

going out to Toni Iseman, in part for being elected to the California

Coastal Commission, but more importantly for handcuffing herself to a

tree in 1994 in protest over the construction in our beloved Laguna

Canyon. In finding this out last week, I felt I must applaud your

passion that you hold for our environment and remind you that our

mother ocean is the biggest part of our environment.

Last week, there was another sewage spill at Aliso. At least one

or two at Bluebird beach, but it’s hard to tell, since city workers

merely post a few “Contaminated Water” signs on the beach and leave

them there for days on end. Lazy. Here’s a small hint: try posting

these signs at the entrance of the path or staircase that leads to

the beach. This would give people notice that the water is

contaminated before stepping foot on the beach. Sounds logical,

doesn’t it? Twice last week I was already in the water before

noticing these tucked away signs warning swimmers and surfers of the

contaminated water.

One more thought: Where does this runoff come from that continues

to pollute our beaches? It hasn’t rained in weeks.

So Toni, you being our passionate environmental leader, otherwise

known as our mayor, please do something about this and stop this

ongoing pollution of our ocean and handcuff the people responsible

for doing it.

In the meantime, start posting signs at the entrance of our

beaches ... makes sense, since you continue to pollute them.

After getting out my thesaurus last week I finally understood what

Roger von Butow meant in his letter titled “Term limits -- it’s about

time.” I agree 100% that there should be term limits on city

officials. We need to inject some new blood into this city and start

making some changes. We have been suffering from the Ken Frank cold

long enough.

Peace.

* JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach resident, professional surfer

and co-founder of “They Will Surf Again,” a nonprofit foundation

assisting people with spinal cord injuries. He was also a member of

the Water Quality Advisory Committee.