Committee members appointed

Andrew Edwards

City Council appointments to city committees returned several

incumbents to their posts and added a few new faces to the advisory

bodies.

Only one incumbent was not reappointed. As a result of the

council’s vote on Feb. 10, three-term member Jay Laessi will not

return to his post with the Parking, Traffic and Circulation

Committee.

Applicants vied for two-year terms by submitting personal

statements and resumes to the council. At the meeting, candidates

gave short presentations on their qualifications before city leaders.

The council appointed Carolyn Wood to another term on the body,

and named attorney Tim Dillon, consultant Dennis Meyers and engineer

Neil Katz to the committee. Dillon and Meyers are newcomers, and Katz

served an abbreviated term from October 2002 through February 2003.

After the vote, Katz said he wants to represent all Lagunans’

traffic concerns.

“[My] plan is to accept the input from the totality of the

people,” he said.

The Open Space Committee will receive two new members as a result

of the council’s decision. Landscape architect Bob Borthwick and

Robert Masterson, a retired consulting geologist were voted to join

the committee. Masterson’s application was approved after a

tiebreaker vote between him and retired real estate broker Michael

Hoag.

Masterson is a relative newcomer to Laguna Beach, having moved to

the city 15 months ago. In his application for the position, he wrote

that he would try to preserve the city’s image, and at the same time

take a pragmatic approach to development and improvements.

The council also decided to retain committee members Catharine

Cooper and Leslie LeBon.

The Telecommunications Committee was the only other board to which

the council appointed someone who was not an incumbent. Former member

Diane Leemon was named to a one-year term to fill a vacancy left by

Arlene Shevitski, who resigned from the committee.

Current members Ryan Caenn, Warren Finley, Paul Manfrini and Alan

Ring were returned to their posts. All applicants for the

Telecommunications Committee were given a slot on the board.

For the Heritage Committee, the council kept Tamara Campbell,

Steve Fairbanks, Anne Frank and Jon Madison in their old jobs.

In his presentation to the council, Fairbanks said the committee

members worked well together.

“This past year our committee really clicked, we’ve really been in

sync,” he said.

Though the council turned away challenger Charles Williams’

candidacy, the incumbents did not run away with the contest.

“It was close,” City Clerk Verna Rollinger said after counting the

council’s votes.

After the appointments, two committees had vacancies. The Housing

and Human Affairs Committee has one opening, and two open spaces

remain on the Recreation Committee.

The council reappointed current members to both of these groups.

Colin Henderson and Jerry Nielson were approved to remain with the

housing committee and JoAnn Moothart is slated to serve another two

years with the Recreation Committee.

After the appointments, Mayor Cheryl Kinsman suggested that

candidates whose applicants had not been accepted Tuesday apply to

fill the vacancies.

“Those of you who were not appointed to the committee of your

first choice, we encourage you to reapply,” she said.