City fights loss of tax revenue

The City Council passed a resolution opposing any action by the

governor or the state legislature to shift motor vehicle revenue from

cities and counties.

“They promised to keep us whole,” City Manager Ken Frank told the

council Tuesday night. “We will take the brunt of the tax cut they

will take credit for.”

As part of his plan to balance the state budget, Gov. Gray Davis

proposes to shift about $4 billion in motor vehicle taxes, which

translates to a loss of $1 million to Laguna Beach.

In 1998, the state reduced motor vehicle fees, which affected

revenue to local governments, Frank said.

“When they reduced it they promised us they would backfill the

lost revenue,” he said.

As part of a statewide coalition of public safety officials,

Police Chief Jim Spreine and Fire Chief Ken MacLeod traveled to

Sacramento in support of legislation proposed by Assembly Speaker

Herb J. Wesson Jr. to restore vehicle license fees.

“From day one, we promised that the state would repay cities and

counties the money they were giving up -- money they need to keep

police officers and firefighters on the street,” Wesson said in a

written statement.

Wesson estimates that unless the fees are restored, cities and

counties may be forced to lay off 12,000 police officers and

sheriff’s deputies, or 15,000 firefighters across the state.

Councilman Steve Dicterow asked, if the city faced the worst case

scenario, what steps could be taken to raise the bed tax. Frank said

that they would need to hold an election and get a majority or

two-third votes.

“We need to be conscious of the fact that we’re very vulnerable,”

Dicterow said.

Restoring the fee would cost the owner of the average car $103 a

year, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

-- Mary A. Castillo

Council will consider rescheduling of meetings

City Council meeting schedules are not carved in stone.

The council voted on Tuesday to discuss the rescheduling of

regular meetings to accommodate the schedules of council members at

its retreat on Feb. 1.

Traditionally, the council meets on the first and third Tuesdays

of the month, with byes for one of the August meetings and for ski

week, if it conflicts.

“Once we have set the schedule for the year, I don’t expect it to

change,” Councilwoman Cheryl Kinsman said. “My professional life and

my family life are arranged around the council schedule.”

However, with the heavy burden the council bears and the

complexity of some of the issues, added meetings are scheduled. “If

we have to have extra meetings, fine, but the public expects us to

have meetings on the first and third Tuesday, and we owe it to the

public to stick to the schedule,” Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson

said.

Pearson, who was elected to the council in November, has a

standing meeting on the second Tuesday of the month.

“It would be a miracle if we didn’t have a meeting scheduled for

the second and fourth Tuesdays,” said Mayor Toni Iseman.

The council meeting schedule is set at the beginning of each new

calendar year. However, before the end of January, council members

had asked that the first meetings in February, March and April be

rescheduled. Rescheduling has become a common, if not a routine

practice in recent years. Agendas also have been rearranged so

council members can participate in discussion of items of special

interest to them that are scheduled for a meeting that they will

miss.

Mayor Toni Iseman requested a change Tuesday for the date of the

first council meeting in February, which conflicts with a meeting of

the California Coastal Commission, to which she has been appointed.

The commission meets on the first Tuesday through Friday of the

month. Iseman expects that the commission will move its meetings to

Wednesday through Friday.

Councilman Steven Dicterow had asked the council to consider

rescheduling the first meetings in March and April because he will be

out of town. Should the coastal commission not change its dates

before the March meeting, that could mean that only three council

members would be available.

“I am not comfortable with that,” Iseman said.

Rescheduling the March and April meetings could mean rearranging

joint meetings with the Arts Commission, the Laguna Beach Board of

Education, the Planning Commission and the Design Review Board.

City staff, including the city attorney, might need to rearrange

their schedules, as would members of the public interested in items

on the scheduled agendas.

“I don’t think we should change meetings to accommodate the

personal schedules of council members at the expense of everyone

else,” Kinsman said.

Meeting notices must sent to publications 10 days in advance,

which made the decision to discuss the rescheduling at the Feb. 1

retreat too late to change the Feb. 4 or 11 meetings.

The retreat would have been held earlier, but Councilman Wayne

Baglin, who was absent from Tuesday’s meeting, asked to have it

rescheduled so he could attend.

-- Mary A. Castillo

Tree root blockage causes Bluebird beach closure

Those who were lucky enough to get a three-day weekend weren’t

quite so lucky when they tried to swim at the beach at the base of

Bluebird Canyon Drive.

A resident contacted Laguna Beach Police after noticing a manhole

overflowing in the 2200 block of Temple Hills Drive at 8:03 a.m.

Friday. City workers were dispatched at 8:15 a.m.

“The beach was closed on Friday and reopened Sunday,” said Monica

Mazur, senior environment specialist of the Orange County

Environmental Health Division.

“Most, if not all of the spill was contained at the storm drain

outlet at the beach,” Assistant City Manager John Pietig said.

But because of the high tide conditions, the county decided to

close the beach as a precaution.

Pietig said he believes the overflow was caused by tree roots

freed from a private sewer that made their way into the city line.

“The tree roots grow into a private sewer lateral line and fill up

the pipe and cause a blockage,” he said. “Residents called a plumber,

who cleans the pipes and cuts roots off in a private pipe, which flow

into a city main and ball up.”

Water compacts the roots, and a stoppage results in an overflow.

“The No. 1 cause of sewer spills in Laguna Beach is tree roots,”

Pietig said.

To address this increasing problem, the Wastewater Advisory

Committee will sponsor a workshop from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 8 in the

City Council chambers, 505 Forest Ave.

The six-member committee, which is co-chaired by Mayor Toni Iseman

and Councilman Wayne Baglin and includes six citizens, will discuss

problems with tree roots and private sewer lines.

In 2001, the city was fined $60,000 for excessive sewage spills,

and in March 2002, the City Council approved a strategic plan to

improve the sewer system. In September, the Environment Protection

Agency issued a formal order for the city to implement that plan.

“This is the first step in the policy development process,” Iseman

said. “We really want to encourage people to participate and share

their ideas.”

Citizens are invited to attend the workshop and provide comments.

For more information, please call (949) 497-0378.

-- Mary A. Castillo

Baskin Robbins murder suspect pleads not guilty

The preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Baskin Robbins

robbery and murder suspect Gilbert Garcia, 30, on Jan. 31.

Garcia pleaded not guilty at his second arraignment on Friday on

charges of murder, attempted murder and possession of a firearm with

a special circumstance of robbery.

Prosecutors alleged that Garcia entered a Baskin Robbins and

seriously wounded Firooz Roshdieh, 70, and shot and killed his wife,

Simindokht, 52, on Feb. 20, 1995.

Laguna Beach investigators issued a warrant for Garcia on Dec. 5,

2001, and brought him from Pelican Bay State Prison, where he was

serving a sentence for car jacking in Long Beach, police Sgt. Jason

Kravetz said.

-- Mary A. Castillo