BRIEFLY IN BUSINESS

Laguna Niguel officials named hospital trustees

Laguna Niguel Mayor Gary Capata and Laguna Niguel Councilwoman Linda Lindholm have been elected to the South Coast Medical Center Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

Capata was elected to the Laguna Niguel City Council in 2004. In addition, he is the owner of Capata & Co., a firm with offices in Laguna Niguel and Century City, specializing in tax planning and compliance, retirement counseling, financial coaching and litigation support services.

Lindholm is currently serving a third term on the Laguna Niguel City Council, having been reelected in 2006. In addition to being a City Councilwoman, Lindholm also served as Laguna Niguel’s mayor for two years.

“Both of these leaders bring strong management skills to our board,” said Elizabeth Schneider, Executive Director of the hospital foundation. “They also have extensive relationships in the city of Laguna Niguel, one of the cities that uses our hospital the most.”

Capata has a master’s in business administration in taxation and finance. Lindholm received her master’s degree in public administration.

No more bus passes from retailer

Tom Williams of My Laguna Office has stopped carrying OCTA bus passes.

The Broadway shop is next to the bus depot and was a convenient location for bus riders to obtain the passes, Williams says.

The shop had stocked one-, seven- , 15- and 30-day passes at regular, senior and youth prices. But since OCTA has changed its policies, Williams said the shop would be losing money by stocking the passes.

He said that, under the old system, he could order the passes as needed and had 60 days to pay OCTA at a 5% retailer discount.

Under OCTA’s new rules, there is a minimum order of $1,000 and orders can be made only once a month, with 30 days to pay, and the margin has been reduced to 2%, according to Williams.

“I would be subsidizing OCTA under this system, which I cannot afford to do,” Williams said.

“I have built a relationship with many of these bus riders and am going to miss them. As far as I know the nearest place to buy bus passes is Ralph’s, and they only stock the 30-day passes, not the other ones.”