Laguna Council’s Iseman, Weiss face censure for reported disclosure of confidential information

A censure request has appeared on a Laguna Beach City Council agenda again.

Council members Toni Iseman and George Weiss face a censure vote at Tuesday’s meeting at the request of Mayor Bob Whalen for the unauthorized disclosure of confidential information from a closed session about a renovation project at the Hotel Laguna.

The hotel project was discussed in closed session at the council’s meeting on June 29, according to a staff report. Days later, on July 1, Iseman and Weiss, along with former mayor Paul Freeman and others, reportedly met with Mark Fudge, who has been involved in an appeal of the project to the California Coastal Commission.

It is during that meeting at Fudge’s office in Irvine that Iseman and Weiss, according to Fudge’s own public statements before the council on July 27, shared information out of the June 29 closed session despite the fact they were not authorized to do so.

A transcript of those comments was included with the staff report that accompanies the agenda item seeking censure.

“At the meeting, I was told that on the night of the 29th [of June] in closed session, many things were discussed,” Fudge told the council, according to the transcript. “[Community development director] Marc Wiener presented a project for getting the hotel opened up and was seeking to get the red tags removed so that the project can move forward. A vote was held. Bob Whalen, [Mayor Pro Tem] Sue Kempf and [Councilman] Peter Blake voted in the affirmative. George Weiss voted in the negative and Toni was put down as abstaining.”

California’s Brown Act, while specifically crafted to allow the public to attend meetings of local legislative bodies, also authorizes city councils to hold closed sessions under certain parameters and to keep those discussions private.

Whalen’s censure request cites the Brown Act and argues that by disclosing information intended to be kept confidential, Iseman and Weiss have called into question the integrity of the council and negatively impacted the ability of the governing body to conduct its business going forward.

Iseman and Weiss disagree with the mayor.

“I’m hoping that as a result of this censure issue, we actually open the door to transparency at the city, because there are things that need to be shared with the public,” Iseman said in a phone interview on Friday. “We need to listen to the public, and that’s not happening.”

Weiss, in a text to the Daily Pilot on Friday, noted that while he is new to the council and has had little in the way of training, “I have purchased and read the three sets of Brown Acts [SIC] and interpretations of it. Based on that, certain procedures need to be followed in both closed and open city council sessions.

“The goal is transparency and equal treatment for all businesses and residents in Laguna Beach.”

Both Iseman and Weiss will be able to participate if a vote is called for on Tuesday night.

The council previously censured Blake in March for violations of the city’s rules of decorum and civility policy.

Due to concerns over a spike in coronavirus case rates, the format for Laguna Beach City Council meetings has reverted to a previous version of the hybrid meeting. Members of the public who choose to speak before the council in person on Tuesday will be allowed to enter Council Chambers to give their comments, and then they will be asked to exit the building after doing so.

The regular meeting begins at 5 p.m. and can also be viewed on Zoom or on Cox cable channel 852.

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