Picking a Name for a New City

I was among the astounded minions in Laguna Niguel when the Local Agency Formation Commission bowed to minority pressure and subverted a well balanced and financially sound proposal for cityhood. Incredibly, they have called a special election Nov. 3 in our neighborhoods to help them decide whether we should be aligned with a City of Laguna Niguel or with the proposed City of Dana Point. Confusing? You bet it is.

As one of the homeowners in Monarch Beach--and as a Dana Point business owner-- I have carefully followed the incorporation movements in both areas. The push for cityhood for Laguna Niguel was inspired by a large corps of local residents, but the move in Dana Point stemmed essentially from the business community.

The anti-Niguelers in our area argue that we in some way stand to gain more by an alliance with a patchwork of coastal areas that include Dana Point and Capistrano Beach. Their arguments are emotional and vague and simply underplay the slipshod planning and iffy financial conditions of this proposed city. Any tour of Capistrano Beach, for example, reveals substandard housing, mobile home parks, unimproved streets, a sewage disposal plant and shoddy industrial areas.

Who needs such liabilities before we even start? Certainly not those in Laguna Niguel’s beach areas.

The idea for a City of Laguna Niguel emanated from dedicated local residents and is free of the abuses brought by the taint of special interests. It makes good planning sense, from freeway to the ocean, and control of planning is what cityhood is all about. As a former mayor of Lafayette, Calif., my experience says that a City of Laguna Niguel is clearly the better alternative.

JIM DAVY

Laguna Niguel