AROUND TOWN - May 28, 2009

Local businessman honored in Florida

Laguna Beach business consultant Nathan Rosenberg received the Silver Buffalo Award at the annual national meeting of Boys Scouts of America, held May 22 in Orlando, Fla.

The award is scouting’s highest commendation for service to youth.

For more than 15 years, Rosenberg has used his business experience to help guide scouting into its second century of service.

Rosenberg, an active scout in his youth, has been a supporter and volunteer to the national council and his local council.

“Nathan has dedicated his life to serving young people through the Boy Scouts and volunteer activities in Orange County,” said Robert Mazzuca, chief scout executive of the Boy Scouts of America. “The Silver Buffalo Award recognizes the immeasurable impact Nathan has made on generations of young people in California and across our country.”

Rosenberg has also served young people as a Little League and Youth Soccer Organization coach and fundraiser for Orangewood Children’s Foundation. He and his wife, Karen, have five grown children and reside in Laguna Beach.

A graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Rosenberg saw military service as a naval aviator flying search and rescue missions in the Caribbean Sea.

Rosenberg is a founding partner of the global management consultant firm Insigniam Performance.

Boy Scouts of America serves almost 4.1 million young people between the ages of 7 and 20, including the members of Laguna’s Troop 35.

For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, visit www.scouting.org.

City Council rejects Mills Act review

A City Council majority doesn’t care at this time what the Mills Act is costing the city, but it is willing to learn.

The act is a state program that allows a reduction in property taxes as an incentive to owners to maintain properties that are historically of architecturally significant by city standards. The reduction can reduce city revenue from taxes, but the council voted to continue the program without reviewing the cost.

“Keep the Mills Act,” said Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson. “Preservation is a core value for Laguna Beach.”

City Manager Ken Frank proposed a future agenda item to consider suspension of the program.

“It occurred to me to ask, what are the benefits and what is this costing the city and school district?” Frank said.

Some owners get as much as a $20,000 reduction in taxes. One gets a $124,000 tax break.

Sixteen homes have Mills Act contracts with the state. The homes must be on the city’s Historical Register and approved by the council; the most recent one was on Hawthorne Drive. The city’s Heritage Committee unanimously recommended against the Hawthorne Drive designation, but was overruled by the council.

“The goal is to encourage preservation, but do you [council] really know what it costs?” Frank said. “It’s our money and state money, and we probably should take a look at it.”

However, the council did approve an educational presentation for a future agenda.

— Barbara Diamond