The Laguna Niguel Summer Concerts kicked off on Friday night with a big crowd at Crown Valley Park, there will be 8 concerts this summer at the park. I am wishing everyone a fun and safe Independence Day on July 4! On July 4, the concert at Crown Valley Park will run from 6-8PM, followed by fireworks at the Laguna Niguel Regional Park.
OC SUPERVISOR LISA BARTLETT PROMISES TO REVIEW ALERTOC SYSTEM Lisa Bartlett agreed to “review” the AlertOC system to see how it performed during the Coastal Fire, after my comments at the May 24 OC Board of Supervisor’s meeting. Voice of OC reports only 63 of the 900 evacuated homes got a message. Please note that this system is an opt-in system, but it appears not all folks who opted in got the message. Read the Voice of OC article here.
RESIDENTS OPPOSE LONGVIEW TRAIL GATE For many years residents have complained that the Bear Brand Ranch HOA keeps blocking public trail access on the Longview trail. Residents came out to the June 7 City Council meeting in support of public access to the trail. City attorney Ennis seemed to signal that the city would be suing the HOA regarding this issue during a report on the closed session meeting that was held prior to the public meeting. I support public access to public trails.
2022-23 FY BUDGET PASSES The city council unanimously passed this coming year’s budget at $60M with $9.4M in capital projects, but held off on contributing to the 115 Trust to reduce the city’s pension liability. Councilmember Richi Paul Sharma advocated for increasing the set-aside amount to $1.1million, but council members wanted to gather more information before committing to the higher number. I tend to agree with Sharma, the piddly $350,000 that was contributed last year may not even been covering annual expenses on the city’s $9.4M of pension liability. Let’s see what the experts have to say in the coming months.
CITY CENTER PROJECT ON JUNE 21 CITY COUNCIL AGENDA The city center project will be on the agenda for the June 21 city council meeting. If you are interested in learning about the project or have concerns, please make your voice heard at this meeting. I support this project for multiple reasons: I believe the city needs a central, signature gathering place, the wishes of the Friends of the Library have all been met, there are fabulous opportunities for new restaurants, the center will help redevelop adjacent areas, and there will be over 1 acre of green space in the project.
BODY WORN CAMERAS Chief reported at the June 7 city council meeting that all deputies in Laguna Niguel have been outfitted with body worn cameras.
E-BIKE SAFETY NOT ADEQUATELY ADDRESSED IN 2022-23 BUDGET For all the concerns with e-bike safety in town, the only effort moving forward is an educational campaign that was initiated last year. Please listen to my public comments at the June 7 city council meeting. I believe we can do more. I’ve also included a graphic that explains CA e-bike laws below, Laguna Niguel follows the state’s laws regarding ebikes.
