Lively first debate but doubtful long-term change

There’s an old fable that says we are known by the company we keep.

So it was telling that the first debate for the Laguna Beach City Council candidates was sponsored by Village Laguna.

Village Laguna, the protector of all things worth protecting. The preservationists par excellence. The sacred keepers of everything holy — as long as it happened in 1971.

As a result, the candidates toed the line, said all the right things and did not offend anyone.

Except one.

Judie Mancuso went rogue, often to the gasps of the audience.

It quickly became the Mancuso show. Before every answer there was palpable anticipation, as in, “Oh my word, what the heck is she going to say next?”

And boy did she bring it.

She would often hold up official city plans, like the lofty Vision Laguna 2030 paperweight published in 2001, and claim they were “everything that’s wrong” with the city.

“And guess what? No solutions yet,” she added, turning the knife.

At first the audience seemed stunned. There was a lot of uncomfortable squirming. The other candidates were flat-footed.

Eventually, some challenged the details of her claims, but by then it didn’t matter much. She had everyone’s attention, putting her on a completely different level from the seasoned politicians on the dais.

Bob Whalen, the diplomat and behind-the-scenes pro, countered that it was easy to beat up on consultants, even though he had some heartburn there as well.

Steve Dicterow, the excitable, hard-working everyman, seemed to get more flustered as the night went on but pointed to “day trippers” as the cause of all evil.

Verna Rollinger, the long-suffering former public servant, ignored the fireworks around her and started a lot of her comments with, “I remember when....”

Then there was Mancuso, the fireball outsider who basically scared the hell out of people.

You have to remember, this is a tough crowd. Every debate from here on out — and there will be many more — will go downhill from here: fewer people and probably less impact.

The Village Laguna audience is like a room full of political lions. They know every issue, every document, when it was created, who was on the subcommittee and who broke ranks.

And afterward, they will talk about it over coffee. Then they will email their friends with a recap.

So by the next meeting, if there is some vote, you will be expected to not only show up, but you’ll have to wear the T-shirt.

Literally.

White, yellow, blue — the colors change. Not sure how they decide on the colors.

Anyway, there were a lot of red faces on Tuesday night.

Most of the major issues were covered, and efficiently moderated, by the way, by John Monahan.

There was the downtown, residents versus tourists, budget, Laguna Canyon, short-term lodging, Laguna “character,” consultants, village entrance, the arts, businesses, parking, affordable housing, historic buildings and more.

Oddly, however, there was nothing about the homeless, which I found interesting.

If there was a theme, it was downtown-centric, perhaps not surprisingly.

On the question of whether the 36-foot building height limit should be revisited, no one even questioned it. Without discussion, every candidate said keep the limit. One word answers: absolutely … yes … support.

But here’s the rub: If we do not allow judicious expansion of some downtown areas (for example, lofts in key areas for student or affordable housing), then the downtown will remain as it is, circa 1971.

And for almost all of the candidates, that’s fine.

But there are buildings downtown that violate the limit. The boxy, windowless Verizon building, for example, is 49 feet tall. Granted, it was grandfathered in because there used to be a 50-foot limit in some commercial zones.

But at its core, the height-limit issue is one of the most significant discussions the city will need to have when the consultants get done with the Downtown Specific Plan (DSP) recommendations. Forget parking, forget closing Forest. The livelihood and business vitality of downtown rests on new thinking and creativity.

So as part of the DSP, the height limit will be on the table.

If it is not, then the hired consultants — who are paid to think outside of the box — will have gotten the memo. They will not even try to change the minds in Laguna.

And judging from the reaction of the alleged majority, we might be settling in for another four years of status quo.

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DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com.