City response to slide was excellent I...

City response to

slide was excellent

I am a resident of Bluebird Canyon. We have now returned to our

home and feel very lucky to be back. I want to make sure the entire

community knows what an excellent team we have on our side. The

Laguna Beach Police and Fire departments have been top notch. An

exceptional standout is Capt. Danell Adams. She represented us so

well in news conferences and meetings. We have been respected,

well-protected, and treated with care.

I also want to thank our mayor and City Council members. Within 36

hours we were able to return to our home. This would not have been

possible without the professionalism and diligent work of our

community services. I applaud you and thank you for a job well done.

During the disaster we were well-informed. The dissemination of

information is what kept most of us sane and optimistic.

Thank you to all the hard-working individuals who helped us return

to our home. I am proud to call Laguna Beach my home. Now it is time

for our community to rally around those who have lost their homes.

PEGGY WOLFF

Laguna Beach

Community

effort appreciated

I’d like to thank everyone who pitched in on short notice and

helped make Saturday’s breakfast in Bluebird Park so meaningful for

the evacuees. Thanks to the Boy Scouts, Albertson’s, Ralphs, Caffino,

Diedrich’s and other merchants in town, we more than accomplished our

goal of feeding neighbors devastated by the recent landslide. Along

with all the fantastic food people brought, friends like Mark Christy

and his son, Jackson, donated $16,000 in sales of T-shirts to the

relief fund. Talk about a mitzvah. Just for future reference, if

anyone needs to know how to spell Laguna Beach, it goes like this:

c-o-m-m-u-n-i-t-y. Again, thanks to everyone who helped Saturday

morning.

DENNY FREIDENRICH

Laguna Beach

Iseman should be thanked for her work

I grew up in Orange County and for years have stood by helplessly

as farmland gave way to endless housing tracts and our beaches

disappeared behind high-rise hotels and exclusive gated communities.

To say I was pleasantly surprised when the Dana Point Headlands

and Bolsa Chica projects were dramatically scaled back is an

understatement. Most of us were resigned to wall-to-wall concrete,

and now we have public beaches, parks and trails instead.

It’s sad that some in the environmental community just don’t see

the obvious: We have Toni Iseman and the coastal commission to thank

for these amazing victories for the environment and the public.

LIZA INTERLANDI STEWART

Laguna Beach

We need stewards like Iseman

Yes, Toni Iseman should be reappointed to the coastal commission.

Ms. Iseman represents our town and our region. She has a strong track

record on environmental issues. Perhaps some environmentalists oppose

her reappointment because they are unwilling to compromise between

protecting our natural resources and allowing private property owners

to use their land. Environmentalism may be defined as “no

development” in some parts of the country, but that is impractical in

coastal Southern California. Rather, we need stewards of our

resources, like Ms. Iseman, who endeavor to balance development and

protection of natural resources to benefit flora and fauna as well as

the interests of the public.

JOHN CHAMBERLIN

Laguna Beach

Iseman should go

Our opinion is that Toni Iseman should not be reappointed to the

Coastal Commission.

TONI GALLAGHER

ED GALLAGHER

Dana Point

Job Center is bad for Laguna Beach

Yes, absolutely the immigration status of the workers at the

Laguna Canyon worker’s site should be checked. As a Laguna Beach

resident, I am furious over the city’s use of public funds to

maintain and support the day labor site. The workers who show up

there every day are not Laguna Beach residents nor are they even

American citizens.

Laguna Beach prides itself on its liberal views and openness to

all cultures and races, but then they give public money to an

isolated group that excludes all other races and cultures. The day

workers site is set up and run for the exclusive use of Latinos.

This month, our city will see a new bunch of high school graduates

who will be looking for part-time summer work. But that opportunity

is not available to them.

Although I am opposed to any funding of day labor sites, as there

are many, many private businesses who assist in part-time labor for

employers, I am outraged over the funding of assisting undocumented

workers. There are laws in our state making it a crime to assist or

employ a non-citizen. Laguna Beach thumbs its nose at our laws each

time they write that check.

Since the majority of the workers at the site are non-citizens, we

must assume they are driving our beautiful city’s streets with no car

insurance. Already we have a congested and dangerous canyon, why

would our city’s government encourage uninsured drivers here?

Yesterday, during a televised public meeting, our mayor,

Pearson-Schneider, asked for donations to help the residents who have

lost their multimillion dollar homes, but they give thousands and

thousands of dollars each year to help undocumented workersand

non-Laguna Beach residents. The arrogant nerve of our mayor and our

city.

EILEEN GARCIA

Laguna Beach

Illegal status means cheaper labor

In answer to your question regarding whether the legal status of

day workers should be checked is yes. Isn’t it against the law to

hire people who are illegal and not properly insured under workers

compensation insurance? Why would any city want to make it easier for

a small group of contractors or homeowners to get cheaper labor when

the rest of the world must abide by the laws?

As a Laguna Beach homeowner, I wouldn’t want someone working on my

home who was 1) uninsured 2) has questionable skills 3) already

proven to be a criminal by breaking our immigration laws. Would you?

Yes, the legal status of workers should be checked, but more

importantly, the city should not be funding this site.

DONNA BISHOP

Laguna Beach