Festival members stop licensing

Festival of Arts members voted overwhelmingly in favor of new rules

that would prohibit any licensing of the Pageant of the Masters.

The votes were tallied Tuesday and the results were announced at

Wednesday’s meeting of the Festival of Arts board, festival

spokeswoman Sharbie Higuchi said.

Out of 1,449 ballots, almost half of the festival’s voting

membership, all but 84 votes were cast in favor of amending the

festival’s bylaws to ensure the pageant could not be franchised by

other organizations outside of Laguna Beach.

Festival board President Anita Mangels, who campaigned for the

board on an anti-licensing platform, welcomed the news.

“It’s a validation of the input we received from the membership

last year, and the sentiment has not weakened,” she said.

Last year, the festival’s executive director, Steve Brezzo,

resigned his post after his proposal to license the Pageant of the

Masters was met with stiff resistance. Former board President Bruce

Rasner, who supported the idea, was not re-elected.

Mangels said the pageant was the festival’s primary fundraiser,

and she believes that sanctioning pageant’s outside of Laguna would

siphon visitors and their money away from Laguna.

“The whole concept of licensing would bring us into the realm of

facilitating competing pageants,” she said.

New stretch of road opened in canyon

The road to Laguna just got a little different.

On Thursday, Caltrans shut down two miles of Laguna Canyon Road

between the San Diego Freeway and the San Joaquin Hills

Transportation Corridor. For the next nine months, traffic will be

diverted to a new stretch of road that will be part of a redesigned

roadway, Caltrans spokeswoman Pam Gorniak said.

“The old road goes by the wayside,” she said.

Caltrans is in the middle of a $32-million project to renew Laguna

Canyon Road. It is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

The project will redesign the route from a two-lane highway to a

separated road with two northbound and two southbound lanes. Caltrans

officials expect the plan will enhance traffic safety and reduce

flooding by realigning part of the highway west of the Laguna Lakes.

“People are going to find that it’s more user friendly,” Gorniak

said.

Montage paying off more than expected

The debt accrued from the construction of Treasure Island Park

could be paid back earlier than expected, City Manager Ken Frank

said.

In December, the City Council approved a refinancing of the

$8.1-million owed to Montage Resort developer Athens Group, which

paid the up-front costs for the park. The refinancing was

accomplished by taking $5 million from the Community/Senior

Center-Community Clinic project, $400,000 from the Open Space Fund,

$800,000 from the Vehicle Replacement Fund, $500,000 from the General

Fund Contingency and $1 million from the general fund. At the time,

Frank estimated the city would save more than $1 million.

Frank said revenue from hotel and bed taxes levied on the Montage

Resort have been significantly higher than expected, allowing the

city to replenish funds used to pay for refinancing.

The contingency and open space funds have been completely

restored, and more than $100,000 has been paid back into the vehicle

fund. By the end of the year, Frank expects $500,000 will be restored

to the general fund, and that money will begin to go back to the

clinic.

Frank initially estimated the city would receive about $2.3

million annually in taxes from the Montage. Through May, more than $1

million has been collected. Frank did not provide a specific estimate

for how much would be collected by the end of the year.

The debt could be fully paid off six months earlier than expected,

in January of 2007, instead of July. The sooner the debt is paid off,

the earlier city officials will be able to spend money on municipal

facilities.

Volunteers sought for home delivery of books

Just about anyone can get a pizza delivered to their home, but if

senior library clerk Sheila Loomis has her way, book deliveries will

be on the horizon.

The Laguna Beach library is looking for volunteers to drive books

to Lagunans who are confined to their homes, Loomis said. People

receiving books would be able to submit a list of their reading

interests, and volunteers would be hooked up with patrons needing

deliveries.

“I’ve done it before for a lady on my street, and I’d done it

before at another library ... and they really appreciate it,” Loomis

said.

The plan is ready to go as soon as volunteers sign up, Loomis

said. For more information, call (949) 497-1734.

Fundraiser set for candidate Jane Egly

A fundraiser for City Council candidate Jane Egly will be held at

Len’s Wine Site and Wine Tasting Bar. The event will be a chance to

meet Egly and participate in wine tasting. Donations will be accepted

at the door.

The event will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Len’s Wine Site is at

303 Broadway.

Center celebrates anniversary

The South County Cross-cultural Council will hold a luncheon to

celebrate five years of operating the Laguna Day Worker Center.

The center allows for people in Laguna and neighboring cities to

recruit laborers for short-term work. In the days before the center,

Peck said the center’s location on Laguna Canyon Road was designated

as the place to hire day laborers, but it was very disorganized. Even

earlier, workers would congregate at various locations throughout the

city.

The event will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at the Laguna

Day Worker Center on Laguna Canyon Road, across the street from

Ganahl Lumber. Information: (949) 497-3936.

Historical Society seeks volunteers

The Laguna Beach Historical Society is looking for volunteers to

staff the Murphy-Smith Bungalow on Ocean Avenue. The bungalow, which

houses historical materials from 1920s Laguna, is open to the public

from 1 to 4 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The historical society is hoping to recruit volunteers who are

“primarily responsible people who can just be there at the bungalow,”

historical society board member Gene Felder said. “The more they know

about local history is great.”

Volunteers do not have to be experts on old-time Laguna, Felder

said. Volunteers will learn their task at the bungalow by working

alongside experienced volunteers. Anyone interested in volunteering

can call Felder at (949) 939-7257.