Fair Game by Tom Johnson
Courtesy of Stu News
August 7th has come and gone. That was the final day for someone wanting to run for City Council and/or a school board seat to file the requisite paperwork to qualify for the November ballot.
When the dust settled, here’s the final City Council lineup for Laguna Beach:
Nick Aronoff
Edward Bayuk
Joy Berry
Ashley Cintas
Sue Kempf*
Karen Martin
Mark Orgill*
Laura Parisi
Alex Rounaghi*
(* denotes incumbent)
The following Voter Initiative will also be on the ballot for residents to decide – Implement Term Limits for City Councilmembers.
It asks:
Shall an ordinance to amend the Laguna Beach Municipal Code by enacting a limit on consecutive years of service by members of the City Council to a combined total of two four-year consecutive terms, with the ability to again serve as a Councilmember after a lapse of service of at least two years, be adopted?
Simply: Yes or No?
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Obviously, one great way to decide who to cast your vote for is to attend an upcoming candidate forum. Here’s what’s scheduled so far:
August 31 – Village Laguna Council Candidate Forum, 6-8 p.m. at the City Council Chambers.
September 26 – LBAA Candidate Forum, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. in the Forum Theater on the Festival of Arts grounds.
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Equally as important, perhaps even more so to parents, is the race for the Laguna Beach Unified School District Board of Education. Here’s how that shook out at closing time: Five candidates, vote for three.
The incumbents are Joan Malczewski and Dee Perry; others challenging include Elizabeth Bates, Shaheen Sheik-Sadhal and Kimberly Smith.
This will be a race where you either support the present direction of the board/district, or you don’t. And it has been controversial. It will take one candidate aligned with the current direction to keep the majority with current board members Sheri Morgan and Howard Hills; it will take three candidates to create a new majority and potentially take the board in a different direction.
In the meantime, board member James Kelly, Ph.D., who has served on the board since 2018, has decided to hang it up, completely opening up his seat.
We join with many to thank him for his service and commitment.