Mailbag: Shelter will draw homeless to Laguna

I have never written a letter to the editor, and I guess you might consider me part of the vast “silent majority.” But this “solution” to the American Civil Liberties Union’s bogus lawsuit against the city is going to create a long-term conundrum that will be impossible to reverse.

I believe a different approach needs to taken before it is too late.

The [emergency shelter] facility will be a magnet for the homeless.

There is no way the city can “sort through” the new homeless who will be coming into town and determine if they have “ties to Laguna.”

Just use some common sense, folks. With no other surrounding cities providing any support, our friends in Newport Beach are going to find ways of “dropping” off their homeless to us because it would be the best thing for them and their unwanted homeless guests. It’s not just Newport Beach.

The theory of “because there is no other homeless shelter nearby, the temptation will be for our surrounding cities to use the fabulous Laguna Beach facility” smacks a little of not in my backyard syndrome.

Despite some good actions that have been taken by the ACLU in the past, the action against Laguna Beach was unjustifiable and will result in irreparable harm.

Spending upward of $530,000 a year for shelter that will not fix the problem is just plain stupid.

The homeless issue is a national or state problem that needs the attention and resources of a governmental body that has the capacity to address these complicated issues.

So what is the answer? Perhaps it would be beneficial to form a nonprofit political action committee funded by donations from concerned residents, property owners and businesses that would work with the city to appeal the legal actions brought by the ACLU and fight this in the courts.

If it goes all the way up to the Supreme Court it would be years. Finding a reputable law firm would be easy given the potential billings this suit would generate.

If the city is willing to budget more than $500,000 for the homeless shelter, why not allocate $250,000 to this legal fund and have the citizens of Laguna Beach raise another $250,000 on an annual basis? We could fund this for years to come.

We could name this political action committee, “LBCABS.org“ “” Laguna Beach Citizens Against Being Stupid.

I’ll donate $100. All we need is another 2,500 property owners or residents to contribute.

Will the City Council join in? Will you contribute?

It’s your city, your property values, your quality of life.

LEON ROSEN

Laguna Beach

Citizens don’t support restrictions

Editor’s note: The following was written to the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative Blue Ribbon Task Force.

As a fourth-generation Lagunan whose family settled in Laguna Beach in 1871 and recreationally fished these waters ever since, I am appalled at Councilwoman Toni Iseman’s comment before the Blue Ribbon Task Force that 80% of Laguna residents are in favor of Proposal 3.

Iseman’s comment was a “flagrant falsehood” with NO support from our citizens.

In fact, Iseman never asked our citizens what they wanted nor did the other three council members.

We are elected by our citizens to represent them, and I firmly believe an issue this big should have either been put to our citizens for a vote or presented as a petition soliciting what our citizens want. This did not happen!

Recently, through my help and the help of the United Anglers of California, two weeks were spent polling the citizens of Laguna Beach where more than 1,800 signatures were collected in support of Proposal 2! This represents more than 10% of our voting citizens.

In addition, a phone poll of our citizens showed that 64% were against proposals 1 and 3 and fully supported Proposal 2.

I would think it would be your responsibility to support a proposal that the citizens truly want and not what four council members with no feedback from the citizens who elected them want!

Our citizens want reasonable access to our ocean for their families and future generations, as we have enjoyed for more than 100 years.

I believe it is the responsibility of the Blue Ribbon Task Force to support our citizens’ wishes and not the wishes of four council members who showed irresponsibility by not asking our taxpaying citizens what they wanted.

MAYOR KELLY H. BOYD

Laguna Beach

Community Alliance helps Goat Lady

The generosity of this town has never been more clearly illustrated than by the recent outpouring of donations to Rosalind Russell, the “Goat Lady,” as she once again prepares for her journey to Nepal, bringing laptop computers to schools and goats to villagers.

Rosalind’s plight in finding assistance is exactly the reason why the Laguna Beach Community Alliance was founded.

During these economically troubled times it has become difficult for many local groups to find the critical resources needed to continue their good works.

The Alliance, founded by the Woman’s Club with a grant from the city, brings together Laguna’s organizations, groups, associations, schools and clubs to learn about each other’s needs, help one another and increase community awareness so we all can support their efforts.

To that end, Laguna Beach Community Alliance recently launched a website featuring the more than 300 groups in Laguna Beach.

Its pocket guide details information about the groups, and a long-range community calendar highlights events planned for future months. We urge each group to log on and update its information, and we invite readers to log on and learn what our local groups are up to.

Rosalind’s plea for assistance was immediately responded to by members of the Woman’s Club, American Assn. of University Women, the Hortense Miller Gardens, the Laguna Beach Seniors Inc., Friends of the Library, Impact Giving and Helping Hands International.

And when Rosalind could not use all of the 80 computers donated, R Star Ministries, her nonprofit organization, in turn donated them to Afghan Amity Society Inc. for a school in Afghanistan.

The Woman’s Club thanks our City Council for awarding the Community Services grant that allowed us to create LBCA and develop tools for making so many more good things happen for our community’s groups. Go to www.lbcalliance.org and see for yourself.

LEE WINOCUR FIELD

Laguna Beach

Editor’s note: Lee Winocur Field is coordinator of Laguna Beach Community Alliance.

Power elite controls government

The road ahead is grim. The political system has proven to be akin to professional wrestling. All is scripted, the good guys and the bad; the left and the right. All act out the illusion of reality.

Democracy has devolved to “Dancing with the Stars.”

Everyone gets to vote for the stars who have been chosen by the producers.

Controversy is the stuff of media, manufactured to distract us from the real show. The real show is the dismantling of the Constitution, the looting of National Treasure, the subjugation of personal freedom, unjust wars, betrayal of the public trust.

The power elite have no interest in a well-educated and informed citizenry. There is no profit in a healthy society. We get the government we deserve!

We the people are to blame. We have traded integrity for spectacle. The system is designed to have us believe we are powerless. What can one person do? That is the responsibility of each citizen to decide for themselves, and decide fast because by the time you wake up the keys to the leg-irons will not exist.

If we continue to remain in our illusion that we have a choice of direction by voting for one party or the other will make a difference, we are sadly mistaken. We seem to always get the lesser of two evils, but always evils. Better is less worse!

The same people who caused the financial meltdown are the same people that have been put in charge of fixing it.

Past and present administrations have presided over the consistent eroding of our ability as citizens to pursue our happiness in a nation that was founded on that pursuit, by establishing a bill of Rights. You cannot fault government without faulting the financial power elite.

Is there any common citizen out there that really believes the government represents the people’s interest over the industrial and financial complex?

Maybe we should demand that the government change the preamble of the Constitution to reflect what is closer to the truth:

“We the TOO BIG TO FAIL CORPORATIONS of the United States, in Order to INSURE OUR CONTROL OF A perfect Union WITH THE CONGRESS, CONTINUE INJUSTICE, insure domestic DYSFUNCTION, provide for OUR PERSONAL PROFIT, PROMOTE OUR INTERESTS ONLY, and secure the Blessings of Liberty for OURSELVES and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the SURFS of the United States of America.”

Laguna Beach