FEMA helps, but tax is still needed

City officials are understandably relieved that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, has reversed its earlier decision that the June 1 landslide in Bluebird Canyon was not due to the record rainstorms of last winter.

That means the city is eligible for possibly as much as $5 million in disaster funds to pay for the city’s response to the disaster and for repairs to the infrastructure.

But the city’s still not out of the woods when it comes to fully recovering from the landslide.

FEMA and the state Office of Emergency Services will provide about one-third of the cost associated with the landslide, and that means the city will have to come up with about $10 million more -- which computes to nearly one-third of the city’s annual budget.

That’s just to get the Bluebird Canyon area back to where it was before the landslide, to stabilize the area and to allow property owners to rebuild their homes.

But the city needs to be prepared for other possible disasters in the future, and that’s why it’s important that city voters come out on Dec. 13 to vote for Measure A, the temporary, half-cent sales tax that will enable the city to set aside a disaster fund for the future.

This city has had more than its share of natural disasters, from wildfires to landslides.

Because the election will take place only a week after the Dec. 6 election to fill the vacant 48th District Congressional seat, supporters of the measure are mounting a get-out-the-vote drive.

Measure A has been written such that it needs only a majority vote, and there has been no opposition to the sales tax hike -- even the watchdog Taxpayers Assn. has endorsed it. So it may seem like a sure thing.

But there is no such thing as a sure thing in politics.

One way to make sure you vote for this important measure is to vote absentee.

Now is the time to fill out an absentee ballot application and put it in the mail so it is received by the Registrar of Voters by the deadline -- Dec. 6.

The city has posted all the information needed to accomplish this on its website, www.lagunabeachcity.net.

As Thanksgiving approaches and holiday lights and decorations begin to proliferate throughout the town, it’s important to focus not just on the happy times at hand, but on the need to have a safety net for the future.

Then Laguna will truly have something to be thankful for.