Budget review workshop set

A workshop to review the proposed city budget for 2004-05 will be

held at 9 a.m., Saturday in Conference Room A at City Hall.

The draft was prepared before the League of California Cities and

the Governor reached an accord to balance the state budget. The

agreement allows the state to draw on city and county revenues for

the next two years, with the understanding that the legislature will

approve a ballot item that will protect local revenue after that.

Laguna Beach took the hardest hit per capita of any city and the

budget will be revised to reflect the loss.

“A lot of pet projects are going to be delayed,” said Councilwoman

Elizabeth Pearson, who represented the city in Sacramento.

City Manager Ken Frank prepared the budget with an assumption that

the state would take $550,000 from city revenues and once taken,

probably would never come back. The city’s hit was $674,990, but only

for two years.

“It’s better than a sustained loss,” Frank said.

Pearson urged the public to attend the budget workshop to help the

council identify priorities.

“We have all been urging people to come,” Mayor Cheryl Kinsman

said.

Council members Wayne Baglin and Steve Dicterow will not attend.

Dicterow said Tuesday that he had a long-standing family commitment.

The workshop was scheduled in July 2003 and has been included in

subsequent tentative agendas.

City code requires the city manager to submit a proposed budget by

May 1 of each year. The 2004-05 draft was distributed to council

members in April.

The proposed budget does not include community assistance grants,

which will be reviewed by Baglin and Pearson. Both have publicly

stated that nonprofit organizations must try to better fend for

themselves financially, rather than leaning on the city --

particularly for operating expenses.

The next budget hearing will be at the June 15 City Council

meeting, at which the council is expected to approve the budget. By

law, a balanced city budget must be in place by June 30, unlike state

and federal budgets.

-- Barbara Diamond

Laguna Beach wins twice in court

City Atty. Philip Kohn announced two victories for the city in

recent litigation.

A Laguna Beach man fessed up two days into a trial that he had

done some unpermitted construction on his home and built an illegal

second unit.

After Mark Bayless switched his plea from not guilty to guilty,

the court sentenced him to three years probation and he agreed to

bring his property up to code and pay $10,000 restitution to the city

for the costs of tracking him down and taking him to court.

The restitution was paid out of the escrow on the sale of the

home, completed after sentencing.

Kohn complemented the city’s Community Development Department for

its diligence in pursuing the case.

In a separate court action, the Orange County Superior Court

upheld the city’s refusal to extend roads or grant variances that

would have made legal building sites out of vacant lots in Arch Beach

Heights owned by Arnold Lutz.

Lutz wanted the property designated as legal building sites and

took the city to court when his request was denied.

-- Barbara Diamond

Public invited Taxpayers Assn. meeting

City Manager Ken Frank will be the guest speaker at the Laguna

Beach Taxpayers Assn. luncheon and membership meeting, set for noon,

May 25 at Montage Resort and Spa.

The public is invited. The luncheon is $50. Valet parking for $5

or public parking are available.

For more information, e-mail Mlydick@aol.com or call (949)

497-7053.

-- Barbara Diamond

Free compost offered to residents

Laguna Beach residents can scoop up free compost from 8 to 10

a.m., Saturday, near Santa’s Hut in the City Employees Parking Lot

across from the Festival of Arts Grounds.

Bring containers and tools. The compost is for residents only and

not for commercial use.

The compost is offered on a first-come-first-served basis by

Tierra Verde Industries, the green waste processor for Waste

Management of Orange County, the city’s trash hauler.

Last year, Laguna residents diverted about 4,200 tons of green

waste from landfills, 43 percent of all recyclable materials

collected in the city.

For more information, call (949) 497-0323.

-- Barbara Diamond

Grant would pay for police at schools

The city has applied for a federal grant that would help pay the

costs of a police officer dedicated to Laguna’s public schools.

The City Council voted to apply for the grant on Tuesday and Capt.

Danell Adams said she has already mailed the application.

The officer would be a veteran that would not only respond to

traditional school-related safety concerns like fights and substance

abuse but would also serve as a mentor to students, Adams said.

The grant opportunity is part of the Dept. of Justice’s Community

Oriented Policing Services in Schools program. If the city’s

application is approved, the federal government would provide

$125,000 over three years to cover part of the cost of a new police

officer. The city would have to keep the officer for at least one

year after the grant expires.

The balance of the cost would be split between the city and the

Laguna Beach Unified School District, City Manager Ken Frank said.

Between 2004 and 2007, the estimated cost for the officer is more

than $273,000 dollars. More than $68,000 would be contributed by the

police dept., and the school would provide more than $80,000.

ACT V parking rates won’t be reduced

A proposal to reduce parking rates at the ACT V parking lot died

at the City Council meeting on Tuesday.

In April, rates at the parking lot were raised to $7, but at the

May 4 City Council meeting Councilwoman Toni Iseman suggested the

body bring the fees at ACT V back down after the Council raised fees

at the lumberyard and city employee lots to Downtown during the

summer festival to $9.

In the agenda item, Iseman wrote the plan would encourage visitors

to park further away from downtown and ease traffic congestion.

However, when Iseman brought forth a motion for the idea on

Tuesday, no other member of the council provided a second, and the

proposal was killed without a vote.

Sea lion’s death is linked to trash

A California sea lion rescued by the Pacific Marine Mammal Center

died Monday and a veterinarian discovered the animal’s stomach was

full of trash.

Two sandwich bags, one trash bag, Styrofoam, four balloons, and a

piece of plastic were found inside the sea lion, according to a

release.

The animal, which was named Ping, was rescued near the Crystal

Cove Historic District on Sunday. Veterinarians who examined Ping

noted the animal was dehydrated and malnourished.

The fact that the animal ate litter was likely a strong factor in

its death, said Emily Wing of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

The Pacific Marine Mammal Center advises people to avoid

littering, not to release balloons, clip six-pack containers and to

participate in beach cleanups.

Arts and Planning commissions need help

The City Council will interview applicants for the Arts and

Planning commissions at their June 15 meeting. The bodies serve as

advisory panels for the council and respectively provide

recommendations for proposed ordinances and other council actions

regarding the promotion of the fine and performing arts in Laguna and

development and land use.

Members of the commissions meet twice each month and spend a good

deal of their own time performing their duties outside of meetings.

Arts commissioners receive a $60 monthly stipend, planning

commissioners are paid $90 per month. Four arts commissioners and

three planning commissioners will be chosen. Applications must be

filed with City Clerk Verna Rollinger by 5 p.m. on June 9. For

information, call (949) 497-3311.

MOMS Club holds annual Spring Tea

The MOMS Club of Laguna Beach, South Chapter, held its fifth

annual Spring Tea, “Tea and Cuddles,” to benefit the Costa Mesa-based

Project Cuddle on May 1 at the Laguna home of Jim Palmer and John

O’Neill. More than $12,000 was raised for Project Cuddle, a program

that since 1996 has incorporated a 24-hour crisis line to prevent

infants from being abandoned.

The state uses Project Cuddle to serve as its primary hotline for

mothers taking advantage of the 72-hour abandonment law that allows

mothers to abandon their babies in a designated safe-haven such as

police and fire departments, hospitals and private facilities within

the first 72 hours of the infant’s birth. For more information on

project cuddle, call (888) 628-3353 or https://projectcuddle.org.

Villa Rockledge program packs house

The Villa Rockledge program put on by the Historical Society had

the City Hall Chambers packed Monday.

Roger Jones bought Villa Rockledge in 1973 and restored it,

achieving the only residential property in Laguna Beach that is

listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jones spoke to the audience while showing more than 70 slides of

historic photographs of the oceanfront bluff-top home. He talked

about the construction performed without power tools.

Villa Rockledge was built by Frank Miller, developer of the

Mission Inn in Riverside and a leading figure in promoting Mission

and Mediterranean influenced architecture in Southern California.

Construction took more than four years beginning in 1918, and cost

more than $100,000. Villa Rockledge incorporated Miller’s keen

interest in the art and architecture of the Mediterranean countries.

After the property suffered a disastrous accident in June 1973 when a

loaded cement truck severely damaged it, Jones completely restored

the damaged property and made improvements to the grounds.

The Laguna Beach Historical Society Murphy-Smith House is at 278

Ocean Ave. It’s open to the public from 1 to 4 p.m. every Friday,

Saturday and Sunday.