Time to take back the reins

Peter Walzer

When I was a young boy growing up in the Belmont Shore area of Long

Beach, my family frequented Laguna Beach.

We were always amazed that the town was continually able to defend

its natural setting and assets and maintain its charm. We knew about

the powerful, profit-hungry forces in southern California, so we knew

what Laguna had been able to do over the years was extraordinary.

Those of us who now live here seem mainly to be standing on the

sidelines as one project and one council vote at a time degrade what

our town “ancestors” have worked so many years to preserve. Do we

really want projects like the one the council recently approved for

an 11,000-square-foot. home with a 5,000-square-foot garage? Do we

really want the Driftwood project that the council crammed down our

throats?

Maybe things have changed in town: we’ve looked north at Newport

Coast and south at Dana Point and decided we really see a future for

us in this sort of “development.” If this is not the case, we all

need to let our town “representatives” know.

I am sure many of you saw the irony in the marriage proposal

during one of our recent City Council meetings. The proposal was made

by a former county official -- now a developer -- to one of our

newest council members. The proposal was accepted. Is this a parable

for our new town? Citizens of Laguna, is this what we want? Do we

want another developer-serving town?

Unless we want to see our town become another Dana Point, we need

to take our town back. There are plenty of organizations in town. Get

involved with one or two if you’re not already. There are plenty of

you who are more than qualified to run for City Council, and I am

quite sure most of you could do a better job representing Laguna’s

citizens than the current council. It’s time for us to take the reins

back.

* PETER WALZER is a South Laguna resident.