Iseman takes helm as new mayor

Steve Dicterow said “hasta la vista,” not “adios,” Tuesday when he retired from the City Council on which he served for the past 12 years.

“I am not going away,” Dicterow said. “As Kelly Boyd proved, you can take some time off and come back.”

Boyd, who last served on the council 24 years ago, and incumbents Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider and Toni Iseman were sworn in after Dicterow relinquished the mayor’s seat.

Iseman took the mayor’s chair.

“For 12 years, we have had Steve on board, and it has been interesting for me to watch,” Iseman said. “Not only is he a lawyer, but he leads with enthusiasm. He has a love of serving, and we have been blessed.”

Iseman presented Dicterow with a proclamation honoring his contribution to the city. Each of the four council members who served the past four years with Dicterow read some of the “whereases,” which included projects and programs initiated during his terms in office.

“I want to thank you, Laguna Beach, for giving me these 12 years,” Dicterow said. “I doubt that anyone has ever loved serving more — maybe as much — but not more.”

Iseman began her third term on the City Council as mayor, a unanimous vote by the council. She also got the most votes of any candidate.

The council reorganization was the first order of business after City Clerk Martha Anderson certified the November City Council election and announced the results. A total of 10,494 ballots were cast, with 5,731 votes for Iseman, 5,331 for Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider, 5,217 for Kelly Boyd and 5,079 for Verna.

Jane Egly, halfway through her first term on the council, was the unanimous choice for mayor pro tem.

Pearson-Schneider followed the mayor’s shift one seat to their left, with Boyd seated to their right.

Although not carved in stone, the mayor and mayor pro tem positions traditionally rotate to all the council members.

Iseman thanked the council for electing her.

“Each of us knows how blessed we are to be working for a town that is so special,” Iseman said. “One of the benefits of serving is you get to meet so many people you would never have [otherwise] known.”

Of course, there are drawbacks, and Iseman thanked her partner Steve Miller for his support.

“He reads or watches television and I’m on the phone. He drives and I’m on the phone. It takes a special kind of person to deal with that,” Iseman said.

Person-Schneider thanked the voters for her reelection and her husband, Ernie Schneider, for holding the family together when she was on-call 24/7 after the June 1, 2005 landslide.

“I am really excited about this council,” Pearson-Schneider said. “We had the best council experience for the past two years, and I know it will continue in a positive way.”

Boyd said it was his wife, Michelle, who told him to go for the election, after more than two decades of saying no way.

“After listening to Steve, I know I have my work cut out for me,” Boyd said. “I am returning after 24 years, and I hope to do a good job for all of you,” he told the standing-room-only audience in the Council chamber.

Dicterow bows out

Dicterow said he had a simplistic agenda when he was first elected to the council: a program for strategic planning, a reduction in litigation involving the city and improvements in the public safety departments and infrastructure.

“We haven’t lost a case [lawsuit] in the 12 years I have been on the council, but I am most proud of what we did with the police department,” Dicterow said.

“Shortly after I was elected, the city hired five new officers and crime went down 50%.”

Dicterow thanked his family for their support. He said his wife and daughter suffered because of the demands on his time as a council member.

Among the city’s accomplishments during his tenure cited Tuesday by Dicterow was the creation of the Disaster Contingency Fund created with former Councilman Wayne Peterson; expansion of the part-time arts coordinator’s job to full-time cultural arts manager; the rolling, 10-year capital improvement plan; and the visioning process.

“Most of all I want to thank the staff,” Dicterow said. “We are so lucky.”

It had been his good fortune, he said, to work with City Clerk Verna Rollinger and her successor, Martha Anderson, and City Clerk Laura Parisi and her predecessor, Susan Morse.

The top three on Dicterow thank-you list were Assistant City Manager John Pietig, City Attorney Philip Kohn and City Manager Ken Frank.

Dicterow said he was a better attorney after working with Kohn. As for Pietig, Dicterow is rooting for him to replace Frank, if Frank ever retires.

“And finally, I want to thank Ken Frank,” Dicterow said. “I saved him for last.

“Everything we [council] have ever done that people applauded is because Ken made us look good. “

And when things went wrong, the council escaped censure and Frank shouldered the blame, according to Dicterow.

“Ken lives and breathes Laguna Beach, 24 hours a day,” Dicterow said.

Dicterow often spotted Frank in his office on weekends and late at night.

“Man, I told him, get a life.” Dicterow said. “Well, this city is his life. What makes it great is having Ken as city manager.”

Dicterow was given a standing ovation when he stepped off the City Council dais.