Editorial: Well done, Mr. Boyd

In an annual rite of passage, Laguna Beach has a new mayor “” and has retired a mayor.

Kelly Boyd will move over on the council dais to make way for Elizabeth Pearson, who returns to the central position after two years as mayor in previous terms.

The mayor not only wields the gavel and keeps order in the sometimes tense Council Chambers, but is also the public face of the city.

Representing the city and shaking a lot of hands isn’t the only job for the appointed mayor.

Laguna Beach has a city manager form of government, which places most executive decisions in the hands of the council-appointed city manager. So the mayoral post is somewhat of a figurehead, but, especially during times of crisis, the mayor has a bully pulpit and a potential for leadership far beyond that of civic booster.

Pearson, for example, led the city during the tumultuous aftermath of the Bluebird Canyon landslide in 2005, and was reseated in 2006 by acclaim.

Boyd had a tumultuous year as mayor in 2009 “” leading efforts to handle a homeless problem made intractable by an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit that forced the city to rescind anti-camping laws.

Homelessness had already been high on Boyd’s agenda after his election in 2006, and he and Councilwoman Toni Iseman formed the nucleus of a task force that met for nearly a year and came up with recommendations, such as an emergency overnight shelter, that are now in place in the wake of the ACLU suit.

These two worked hand in hand on the issue, but Boyd and Iseman also went head-to-head against each other on the volatile issue of the Marine Life Protection Act and a proposed marine reserve designation for all of the city’s coastline that would have banned fishing or any taking of living marine animals, which Iseman championed and Boyd vigorously opposed.

They exchanged some harsh words “” all in the name of politics, nothing personal “” but have since mended fences.

We congratulate Boyd for his leadership on the homeless issue, which no one else really had the stomach to confront, and his courage in speaking his mind and representing a constituency of local fishers who had been all but ignored in the zeal to protect the coast. The issue of marine protection will be up again next week before the Fish and Game Commission, which will make its recommendations on a modified no-take zone Wednesday.

And lastly, we welcome back Pearson to a post she has already served with distinction and look forward to watching her tackle the challenges of another mayoral term.