Mailbag: Ranch needs to give access to wilderness trails
Woods Canyon is one of the most spectacular hiking, biking, running and walking trail networks in Southern California, yet it’s nearly impossible to visit from Laguna Beach.
Laguna’s ridges make access to the park treacherous and inaccessible to youth, the elderly and, frankly, even the most fit among us. The only trail allowing access to the park (without embattling 30-degree grades) is through the Aliso Creek Golf Course — now known as The Ranch at Laguna Beach.
With The Ranch’s proposed redevelopment, I’m befuddled by the lack of public response regarding a proposed trail through the property. The previous owner and developer, The Montage, had proposed a trail linking Laguna Beach to the voluminous Wood and Aliso canyons — which have hundreds of miles of trails. The Montage made an effort to increase public access to this invaluable resource, so why isn’t owner Mark Christy and his “community-oriented” co-investors doing the same?
To paraphrase Christy: the issue is safety. But that doesn’t stop The Ranch from advertising the world-class mountain biking trails at the property. In other words, the trails are safely accessible to their guests but not to the general public. That’s not to mention the hundreds of public trails in the country that have safely provided access through golf courses — just take a walk in Crystal Cove State Park near Pelican Hill.
Laguna Beach needs to stand up for a 0.6 mile trail through The Ranch property.
James Heinman
Laguna Beach
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Canyon has changing demographic
I was not surprised to see all the young families in my neighborhood working on homework, eating dinner or playing in the yard while I strolled over to the Boys and Girls Club to the canyon area’s City Council candidates’ forum.
Families usually don’t have time for politics. But I was surprised to hear all the candidates uniformly implying that our neighborhood is inhabited by starving artists and diehard hippies, including Councilman Kelly Boyd reminiscing about all the canyon good ol’ boys.
Our candidates need to be aware of the new arrivals in the Milligan Drive/Canyon Acres neighborhood. There are now lawyers, I.T. executives, fashion designers, professors, a judge, teachers, a movie producer and many mid-career professionals.
They are people who have rebuilt and refurbished homes to raise their families in an area where they can stroll to the beach and town, avoid downtown traffic on their way to work, avoid beachgoers and late-night bar patrons and let their kids walk to the Boys and Girls club and roam free to play in the streets and open space. Homes are selling and listed in the millions.
Get with it, candidates. It’s not the canyon anymore, with all the prejudices that implies. This area is now better characterized as the Upper Village.
Ken Dalena
Laguna Beach
* Iseman is accessible problem solver
I have known Councilwoman Toni Iseman more than 30 years. I have admired her creative, pro-active thinking and effective problem solving.
Whether counseling a student or guiding our City Council, her solutions have made a positive difference in the lives of many of us. Recently, I emailed Iseman with a concern affecting North Laguna. By the next morning she called to say that she had already forwarded my concern to the appropriate city entity and had a name and phone number of someone with whom I could network.
That extraordinary accessibility and the ability to connect people with solutions are invaluable qualities in a public official. I am grateful to Iseman for being willing to serve another term on our City Council. We in Laguna need her perspective, creativity and expertise.
Judy Teverbaugh
Laguna Beach
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Candidate Jon Madison treated unfairly
My good friend Jon Madison has been subjected to a vicious politically inspired attack over the past month. The substance of the allegations raised against Madison are well known. Those of us who have worked on his campaign have been stunned and frustrated by the nature of the attacks and by the slowness to make a full response.
Madison has attempted to address the charges, but in truth, at this point any response will come up short for his critics. While I understand that it is legitimate to raise ethical questions when discrepancies in a candidate’s resume are found, what stuns me is the intensity of the hatred toward Madison. He has received threats against his business, his home, his friends, even his dog.
These threats included one saying that the Orange County Register article was “a shot across his bow, the next would be a shot to his heart.” His allies have received nasty, anonymous letters demanding that they disavow their support.
Madison is virtually without peer for the level of charitable works and altruism he has shown our community. He has been an unofficial ambassador of goodwill and kindness for our entire town. He has dedicated his life to making others happy; no one visits Madison Square without a smile on their face. This is what makes the obvious pleasure taken by some at the attacks leveled against Jon so difficult to understand.
Tom Osborne, husband of the president of Village Laguna, a few weeks ago wrote a letter that was mocking Madison’s very name. I know that this was one of the issues raised in the original attack, now laid to rest for me by his birth certificate, but I was genuinely angered at someone gleefully mocking Mr. “Madison” “(his presumed name)”. How clever he must have thought himself, to laugh at something so fundamental to a person.
I know that the attack wounded Madison on a very personal level. Which brings to mind the most fundamental question to come out of this entire sorry affair: do we really want politics in this beautiful city to look like this?
We all can choose to accept Madison’s version of events, or not. Vote for him, or not. But, if not for Jon, there are five other candidates more deserving of support than a 16-year incumbent whose whole campaign seems more about tearing down her opposition than running on a record of accomplishment. There must be a reason for that.
Jon Stordahl
Laguna Beach
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Madison needs to step out of race
I was shocked and disappointed to learn that candidate Jon Madison has more than exaggerated his experience and professional affiliations now revealed as false by Cornell and UCLA.
Madison is the current president of the city’s Heritage Committee appointed by City Council by virtue of his stated qualifications; these are now highly specious and Madison should resign from all city committees and drop out of the council race. Laguna cannot afford to waste energy, time or funds on scandal.
It is no pleasure to write this but it’s necessary. While many may appreciate, like and benefit from Madison’s offerings, his records tell us something we cannot ignore.
This is not a partisan or political gripe, but watchdog civics at work.
As a voter and citizen of our community, I am very concerned about the possibility that anyone would attempt to take the reins of our city under false pretenses. If he is elected will the city attorney or the district attorney weigh in?
Leah Vasquez
Laguna Beach
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Iseman has proven herself valuable to Laguna
Come November, Laguna voters will select three members for the City Council. One of these three must be Toni Iseman.
During her tenure on the council, Iseman has worked tirelessly for Laguna in ways most citizens will never know. But one crusade she was forced to wage, sometimes single-handedly, highlights her extraordinary value to our city.
Over the course of the last two years, certainly the most momentous and most contentious issue facing the Laguna City Council was the question of whether to authorize more than $40 million ($60 million, including interest) to build a village entrance whose main feature was the now almost universally derided massive parking garage that would have degraded the charm of our central village.
Bowing to thoughtful independent criticism of both its financial and design aspects, and to rising public opprobrium, the City Council finally voted to reject this plan. That this final decision was unanimous speaks as to how obvious its folly had become.
And yet, for many months leading up to this final rejection, the City Council voted time and again, by 4-to-1, to support the plan. These votes committed Laguna to expend hundreds of thousands of dollars in ever-expanding architecture, engineering and other studies. The one reliable dissenting vote was cast by Iseman. This wasn’t obstructionism; this was insight gained through diligent investigation of the issues which led her to correctly recognize the plan’s critical defects long before her colleagues.
Her steadfast lonely stance took both insight and courage. Her votes and her vocal opposition focused public attention, rallied citizens, and gave us the time to study the issues and to demand an end to this folly.
A few months later, city staff revealed that employee pensions are enormously underfunded, forcing the council to allocate $1 million a year in increased pension funding. Had Iseman not stood forcefully against the parking garage plan, the city may well have already committed $2.3 million a year to financing its debt.
Finding that addition million dollars then would have forced traumatic budget decisions to cut services and/or increase taxes. Her actions saved this city from real financial pain. In short, the citizens of Laguna Beach have (among many others) $65 million reasons to return this diligent, dedicated and intelligent public servant to the City Council.
Tom Halliday
Laguna Beach
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Citizen academy, docent program positive experiences
I write to respond to Joe Cockran’s letter in the Oct. 10 Coastline Pilot and extol the virtues of two local programs — the Citizen Police Academy offered by the Laguna Beach Police Department and the Tidepool Docent Program operated by the Laguna Ocean Foundation.
I recently completed the Citizen Police Academy and can’t say enough good things about this great educational experience. It was both highly informative and a lot of fun. I would recommend the academy to anyone who wants to learn more about the work of our police and fire departments.
The academy is typically offered twice a year. The next class will begin early in the new year. In the academy, I learned about the city’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. The CERT program bolsters the capacity of our first responders in the event of a local emergency.
Increasing Laguna’s resilience in emergencies is something we can all support and I plan to enroll in the next scheduled CERT training program in March 2015. For enrollment information, call (949) 497-0356.
The other program I want to trumpet is the Tidepool Docent Program.
My wife, Robin, and I went through training led by intrepid Docent Coordinator Letty Skeen last February, just as the sea stars population was being decimated by wasting disease. We chose this volunteer opportunity because it is one we both support.
Serving as a docent is rewarding. We are now learning about the juvenile sea stars that are starting to reappear in our tide pools. Docents will contribute to identifying juvenile sea stars and tracking their hoped for recovery to adulthood.
Working our shifts, we’ve met visitors from around the world as well as many locals. Most are surprised and thankful that docents are there to provide information about our tidepools and ocean resources. To become a docent, visit contact Letty at LagunaOceanFoundation@gmail.com.
Robert M. Zur Schmiede
City Council candidate
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Merritt has background of integrity
The campaign for Laguna Beach City Council is in full swing, and I’m concerned that citizen groups and candidates haven’t come together for civil debate about issues that affect all. A steady climb of pedestrian injuries and deaths; overdevelopment of Laguna Canyon’s diminishing rural areas; marine ecology; environmental integrity; budget oversight and planning.
Falsehoods about Paul Merritt’s background and credentials abound. I’ve worked with Merritt many times over the years. Merritt is the name on his drivers’ license and voter-registration card. I was there when Merritt presented original university diplomas at an editor’s interview.
He earned and was awarded his doctorate in jurisprudence and as an adjunct professor, Merritt taught complex federal tax law to students in three states.
At a forum put on by Village Laguna in August, Merritt got one of the highest votes but two “slate” candidates were picked by the group to be endorsed by the Village. To be independent, Merritt spurned a “slate” endorsement from Village Laguna, yet many residents still trust him with their own independent endorsements.
And, a former mayor disavows her endorsement of Merritt because her likeness appeared on his campaign brochure in a photo collage. Merritt apologized about impressions her photo may have given voters before she began to deny her endorsement. Here are the facts: she is a public figure and she gave me permission to take the picture at a public event her group invited Merritt to attend.
The season of the City Council race is indeed upon us. I am confident that Merritt stands for a new direction for Laguna Beach.
Rex Claytor
Laguna Beach
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School board candidate should be more involved
I attended the Laguna Beach school board candidates’ forum last week and came away with some real concerns.
Two candidates, Ketta Brown, incumbent, and Carol Normandin, were very well prepared, and it was obvious that they knew their subject — the well being of our public schools here in Laguna Beach. They were thorough, well informed and articulate. They both seem to be exceptionally well qualified to carry out the work of the school board.
My concern is with Annette Gibson. She doesn’t even think well enough of our public school system to enroll her three children, yet she wants to manage our students. Why does she think that we need her on this local school board when her children are being educated in another city?
She wants to be on our school board but has attended only one meeting in the last two years. Most disturbing, perhaps, is that she wants to do away with Common Core, a state-mandated set of standards that the district must implement by law.
I have not had a student in the Laguna Beach Unified School system for many years now, but I think it’s imperative that we all take note of what is happening with this election and specifically who serves on our school board to best represent the welfare of the children still in the system. These kids are our leaders of tomorrow so we all have a vested interest. Please vote thoughtfully.
Trudy Josephson
Laguna Beach
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