On Sept. 30, Regency Properties, L.P. made a single contribution of $100,000 to an Independent Expenditure Committee, a type of Super PAC, specifically created to support three candidates for Laguna Beach City Council: incumbents Sue Kempf, Mark Orgill and Alex Rounaghi.
The incumbents do not have control over these funds, which are being used to fund various reelection efforts.
On Oct. 2 — just three days before early voting began — the committee spent approximately $20,488 per candidate, or a total of $61,465 of the initial $100,000, to support the three candidates, according to FFPC Form 496 and FPPC Form 497, official campaign finance disclosure forms required by the California Fair Political Practices Commission.
For each candidate, the around $20,000 that has been spent on the reelection efforts has been used on:
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consulting ($3,333)
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mailers ($7,420)
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newspaper and digital ads ($3,764)
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state mailers ($5,970)
“Like other residents, I was shocked when I read the filings from the City Clerk’s automated email earlier this week about the independent expenditure,” Rounaghi said in a statement to the Indy. “As I stated at Tuesday’s forum, I was not aware of, did not ask for, and do not approve of or welcome this expenditure. I don’t know why a major company would spend this kind of money on a small-town Council race. If this were a donation, I would give it back, but I have no control over this independent expenditure. What I can control is running a resident-focused campaign on the important issues facing our town.
Regency Properties is the legal business entity that owns the Surf & Sand Resort, a luxury oceanfront hotel located at 1555 S. Coast Highway in Laguna Beach.The entity is a subsidiary of JC Resorts, a Southern California-based hospitality management group that owns and operates several prominent regional hotel and golf properties. As of press time, Regency Properties has not responded to a request for comment.
The Laguna Beach City Council controls local zoning laws, coastal developments permits, noise ordinances, traffic management and occupancy taxes related to hotels and real estate properties.
Laguna Beach city ordinances enforce strict limits on how much an individual or entity can donate directly to a candidate’s campaign account. Following a November 2024 update, the maximum direct contribution limit is $500 per individual donor. Candidates have full control over these direct campaign accounts and dictate how the funds are used.
Under state and federal law, independent expenditure committees can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money for supporting election campaigns, completely bypassing the local $500 contribution limit. The committees are legally prohibited from coordinating with or giving money directly to a candidate’s campaign.
For an independent expenditure committee to legally accept and spend unlimited funds, there must be strict non-coordination between the committee and the candidates.
The committee operates entirely on its own to fund the independent mailers, digital ads and consulting it is providing to the reelection efforts.
Council candidate Ashley Cintas held a press conference on Oct. 8 in response to the $100,000 contribution. In a statement to the Indy, she stated that “Laguna Beach is not Sacramento or Washington, D.C.” and political spending of this magnitude requires “extraordinary transparency.”
“Independent expenditures are governed differently, and I am not alleging that this contribution is illegal or that there was improper coordination,” the statement said. “But simply saying something is legal does not answer whether it is appropriate. This is a city of roughly 22,000 people with a five-member City Council. One committee is now spending to support three of those five seats.”
“If the incumbents believe this amount of outside spending is inappropriate for a Laguna Beach election, they can say so publicly,” she added. “They can disavow it and ask the committee to stop spending on their behalf. They cannot return money they never received, but they can make clear whether they believe this should become the new standard for local elections.”
Nine candidates are vying for three open seats on the city council this November: Sue Kempf, Rounaghi, Ashley Cintas, Laura Parisi, Mark Orgill, Nick Aronoff, Edward Bayuk, Joy Berry, Alex Rounaghi and Karen Martin. Election Day is Nov. 3, and early voting began Oct. 5. The last day to register to vote online is Oct. 19.
Kempf and Orgill did not respond to a request for comment by press time.