Whalen joins Dicterow in announcing City Council re-election campaigns

Laguna Beach Councilman Bob Whalen announced Friday that he will seek reelection, meaning both council incumbents will try to retain their seats in November.

Mayor Steve Dicterow officially announced that he would seek another four years on the council during a campaign kickoff event at the venue [seven-degrees] two weeks ago.

The Woman’s Club of Laguna Beach was honoring Whalen, who served as mayor in 2015, with its annual outgoing mayor’s lunch when the former planning commissioner and Laguna Beach Unified School District board member answered the question he said several people had been asking for the past several weeks.

In a phone interview after the lunch, Whalen, a public finance attorney, said he started mulling the decision to run six or seven months ago and decided a week ago before the event to announce then.

“I concluded it would be a good place to do it,” he said. “It came down to a lot of different factors, but primarily that I have a great deal of respect for this current council. We work well together and got some good things done for the community. The council has the potential to get [more] good things done, and that is important to me.”

Dicterow, an estate planning attorney, echoed Whalen’s comments that he wants to continue what the council started since voters elected him in 2012.

“There are hundreds of projects going that did not get completed during the first four years that I want to see get completed,” Dicterow said. “I enjoy it. I enjoy the reception from people in town.”

Laguna has several urban planning efforts in the works, including the downtown specific plan update, the Village Entrance Project and the Laguna Canyon Road study.

Compared with his first council stint in the late 1990s, Dicterow said the number of projects going on now is “not even close.”

“Normally you do things sequentially ... but parking and traffic issues are all stuff that relates to each other,” he noted.

Whalen said he wants to continue the push to put the city’s utility lines underground and complete zoning changes and improvements to Laguna Canyon Road to lessen traffic and make the route safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

As of Tuesday, no prospective candidates had filed intention statements with the city clerk’s office. The first day that candidates may pull nomination papers is July 18, with the period closing Aug. 12.

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Twitter: @AldertonBryce