Quality of Life in Laguna Beach

By Jeff Powers

How do we keep what we love about Laguna while the world around us changes?

I have a sense of urgency in dealing with our water quality concerns before our beaches become so polluted that they damage our health, drive tourists and residents away and lower our property values. We need to accelerate the repair and replacement or our sewers and we should have an emergency response team that is trained and equipped to keep spills from reaching the ocean. We should be actively working with neighboring cities and the county to end the pollution that comes from outside the city limits.

I have a sense of urgency about building peripheral parking before our downtown becomes even more strangled by traffic and congestion. Also, by establishing a residents-only parking area downtown we will help support resident-serving businesses.

I have a sense of urgency about saving neighborhood open space before it is lost to development. One proposal, for example, calls for a road extension into the open space where a canyon is too steep to accomodate one. The developer's solution is to truck dirt to fill in the canyon so that city access standards can be met and new residential whitewater-view lots can be graded and sold. We need to enforce our General Plan's environmental policies to keep things like this from happening.

The design review process, when backed by a strong Council, gives us the tools to preserve and protect the character of our neighborhoods. I believe that we can make the process more effective by creating specific plans that make each neighborhood's special character explicit.

I am committed to stopping the El Toro Airport. I will work in solidarity with neighboring cities to bring about a resolution that doesn't include an airport.

I am committed to keeping the pageant, the artists and their festivals in Laguna Beach.

I am committed to responding to citizens concerns and needs. The seniors deserve their center. The students deserve their playing fields. And, Lagunans deserve their town.

I have the ability to follow through and resolve issues. I have served on both the Planning Commission and Design Review Board and on the boards of the Laguna Greenbelt, Friendship Shelter (Founding Member), Laguna Shanti, Village Laguna and my neighborhood association. I am a local business owner with insight into the practical matters that affect our community.

I look forward to building a consensus and working together, with you, to create a better quality of life in Laguna. Please Vote Powers.