OUR QUESTIONS TO THE CANDIDATES

JANE EGLY

1. What experience do you believe best qualifies you to be on the City Council?

All of my experiences to date, from being the middle child in a large family, going to college, law school, practicing law, being married, a parent, a grandparent, traveling, participating in civic activities, chairing boards, teaching, speaking, reading lots, and living in and loving Laguna.

2. What is the biggest issue in the city, short term, and what can be done about it?

The hospital, and the City Council is doing all we can to keep a full-service acute care hospital with an emergency room. We have the aid of experts to make certain the seller, Adventist Health, knows our wishes as they pick the buyer. We need the community to use the hospital and participate in the public hearings that will be held by the attorney general of California.

3. What is the biggest issue, long term, and what could be done?

Maintain the quality of our life (sewers, roads, clean beaches and ocean) and keep us safe. To do this we must stay fiscally sound. So we must constantly watch the details and our budget while exploring better ways to improve how we operate.

4. What would you bring to the council that no other candidate does?

All my experience, especially my education and legal background.

5. What is your position, and why, on residential development for the Aliso Creek area project?

At this point I think the number of residences, 45, is way too many for that canyon. All that is built must fit the space and the environment of the canyon and have little impact on our streets and neighbors.

6. What would be the ideal situation for new ownership of the hospital?

What we have now, plus a plan and the ability to stay in Laguna forever and our citizens supporting the hospital.

7. What direction should the city take on the issue of the homeless in Laguna?

I applaud our Homeless Task Force and the work they are doing, with continued council support, on the issue of our homeless population. The next step appears to be a permanent location that will house the homeless on a temporary basis so that we may try and get folks to the help they need. We also need to determine the best way to deal with the few folks who do not want help and behave badly in our city.

8. What do you want to see at the village entrance, and how do you propose to fund it?

I need to see and evaluate the impact of the additional parking developed this summer at Act V, the hospital and the lot across from the Playhouse. This will help determine the summer need — which is far more than the other 10 months of the year. With this information we will know what we need year-round.

9. How can the city best handle its special parking needs?

As long as Laguna is a mecca for tourists who come in individual big cars, we will have a parking need. We shall continue to add parking and get folks out of their cars. The best help will be to expand our trolley/ bus system, and develop safe ways to walk and bike to town.

10. Do you support the proposed expanded lifeguard headquarters at Main Beach, and why or why not?

Plans are going through the process of review and an EIR, so I shall wait to see the actual proposal. I want to balance the lifeguard needs and preserve “our view to the sea.” From what I have seen to date we can balance the two.

CHERYL KINSMAN

1. What experience do you believe best qualifies you to be on the City Council?

I am the only accountant on the City Council. I understand how to analyze complex financial data and how to manage scarce resources.

2. What is the biggest issue in the city, short-term, and what can be done about it?

Retaining South Coast Medical Center is the largest issue facing Laguna Beach at this moment. I have worked for five years to keep the hospital here, and have established good working relationships with the parties involved. It is important to keep the communication with SCMC active and friendly.

3. What is the biggest issue, long-term, and what could be done?

In the long term, one major issue facing Laguna Beach is our continued financial stability. The state, which has consistently overspent its budget, is looking to take money from local governments. Laguna Beach needs to assure that its interests are protected and that we remain financially viable by continuing our healthy business climate and by fiscal responsibility. As a CPA, I watch Laguna’s pennies and dollars carefully.

4. What would you bring to the council that no other candidate does?

I am the only person running in this race who is independent of any Political Action Committee. I am here to represent the citizens of Laguna Beach, not a narrowly focused group who wants to take control of your city.

5. What is your position, and why, on residential development for the Aliso Creek area project?

It is very easy to say “I am opposed to any residential development at the Aliso Creek project.” I do not believe opposition, before a project is actually presented, is appropriate. My initial reaction to the preliminary plans is that the housing proposed is invasive and inappropriate in location and scale.

6. What would be the ideal situation for new ownership of the hospital?

Some would have the citizens of Laguna Beach buy the hospital. Unfortunately, the economics of that situation do not worked based on my study. The best alternative purchaser of the hospital is a private purchasing group or a larger existing hospital that has adequate reimbursement rates from second-party providers. That will provide long-term financial stability for the hospital, assuring we keep our hospital and 24-hour emergency room.

7. What direction should the city take on the issue of the homeless in Laguna?

Laguna Beach should provide an appropriate safety net, which I believe is currently in place. Aggressive panhandling and threatening behavior needs to be dealt with to the full extent of the law. Finally, we cannot make Laguna Beach a magnet for the homeless or allow other cities to export their homeless to Laguna Beach.

8. What do you want to see at the village entrance, and how do you propose to fund it?

I support the recommendation of the Village Entrance Task Force, which is a modest parking structure, creek restoration and a public park.

9. How can the city best handle its special parking needs?

We must continue to provide more peripheral parking, and increase our bus and trolley service.

10. Do you support the proposed expanded lifeguard headquarters at Main Beach, and why or why not?

The lifeguards have proposed a new headquarters that is both reasonable and safe and which impacts public views minimally.  

VERNA ROLLINGER

1. What experience do you believe best qualifies you to be on the City Council?

A lifetime of public service and three decades as the city’s elected city clerk.

2. What is the biggest issue in the city, short-term, and what can be done about it?

There are a number, but one is the increased late-night activity in the commercial areas that impacts the quality of life of our residents. The City Council should use the tools it has in the conditional-use permit process to keep that activity in check.

3. What is the biggest issue, long-term, and what could be done?

Remembering that Laguna Beach is first a residential community and that quality-of-life issues for residents must come first. We should take steps to curtail mansionization and implement the provisions of the Vision 2030 Plan.

4. What would you bring to the council that no other candidate does?

I have observed the city functions including the City Council for nearly three decades and have a knowledge and history not possessed by others. I remember when each of the environmental protections were put in place and why they are there.

5. What is your position, and why, on residential development for the Aliso Creek area project?

The current zoning doesn’t allow residential uses in this zone. I would need to be convinced that residential uses on this property were in the best interests of Laguna residents.

6. What would be the ideal situation for new ownership of the hospital?

Ownership by a not-for-profit hospital committed to a full-service hospital with a fully operational emergency room as originally intended to serve our residents.

7. What direction should the city take on the issue of the homeless in Laguna?

The city should implement the recommendations of the Homeless Task Force as adopted. We’ve always been a town that reaches out to those in need. By providing assistance to the homeless, we also assist the businesses in our downtown.

8. What do you want to see at the village entrance, and how do you propose to fund it?

The project could be phased and scheduled in the capital improvement budget. Income from the parking structure should be dedicated and only used for this project. The parking structure could be built with fewer levels at first but stressed for additional levels in the future. If the cost is too great, we might establish the equivalent of SchoolPower to raise funds for the project.

9. How can the city best handle its special parking needs?

We need to get people out of their cars by establishing peripheral parking and greater use of trams. If parking spaces are available adjacent to City Hall 10 months out of the year, they should be made available to people who work in the downtown at a low or no cost.

This would be less expensive than adding a story to the Glenneyre garage and have far less visual impact.

It would also keep cars away from the center of town.

10. Do you support the proposed expanded lifeguard headquarters at Main Beach, and why or why not?

Public safety should be the guide. Our lifeguards need a larger facility with more functionality than the current headquarters. Non-safety-related aspects could be off-site to preserve the “window to the sea.”