JOINT MEETING WITH THE LAGUNA BEACH CITY COUNCIL
AND
THE LAGUNA BEACH UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT (LBUSD)
Laguna Beach City Hall
505 Forest Avenue
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Wednesday, May 7, 2025
3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ROLL CALL TO ESTABLISH QUORUM
Members of the City Council: LBUSD Board Members:
Mayor, Alex Rounaghi President, Dee Perry
Mayor Pro Tem, Mark Orgill Clerk, Howard Hills
Councilmember, Hallie Jones Member, James Kelly
Councilmember, Sue Kempf Member, Sheri Morgan
Councilmember, Bob Whalen Member, Joan Malczewski
Student Representative, Carter McKinzie
Student Representative, Kate Hennessy
3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
4. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
Members of the public are welcome to address the Council and LBUSD Board of Education concerning any issue on the agenda when that item is before them. Any person who wishes to address the Council or Board of Education regarding a subject that is not on the formal agenda, but that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the City Council and/or the LBUSD, may do so under “COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC.” To aid the Council and Board in the timely completion of its business, speakers are asked to LIMIT PRESENTATIONS TO THREE (3) MINUTES OR LESS. This time may be reduced or extended for good cause by the City Council, upon consideration of such factors as the subject matter of the agenda item, the complexity of the issues, and the number of persons wishing to be heard on the item.
Joint City Council Meeting with the Laguna Beach Unified School District May 7, 2025
5. DISCUSSION ITEMS
1. Student Leaders Recognition: Proclamation by the City to recognize students serving in leadership roles for their respective schools.
2. Action - Direct staff to work together on creating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the intent to share in the pool usage and operational costs associated with the shared use.
3. Action - Create a City/District AdHoc committee focused on sustainability initiatives and projects to share updates and best practices, as both organizations have committed to enhanced sustainable practices.
4. Information - Update regarding both City and District assisting in the protection of open space from unauthorized entry points in conjunction with the Orange County Parks.
LAGUNA BEACH CITY COUNCIL ADJOURNMENT TO THE
CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL BUDGET WORKSHOP
AT 4:00 P.M., TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2025
ADA ACCOMMODATIONS
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Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, persons with a disability who require a disabilityrelated modification or accommodation in order to participate in a meeting, including auxiliary aids or services, may request such modification or accommodation from the City Clerk at (949) 497-0705 (telephone) or (949) 497-0771 (facsimile). Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to assure accessibility to the meeting.
COMPLIANCE WITH GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 54957.5
********************************************************** Materials related to an item on this Agenda submitted to the City Council after distribution of the agenda packets are available for public inspection in the city Clerk’s Office at 505 Forest Avenue, Laguna Beach, California, during normal business hours.
THIS CONCLUDES THE CITY'S STAFF REPORT
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EVERYTHING BEYOND THIS PAGE
• IS NOT PART OF THE STAFF REPORT.
IT IS CORRESPONDENCE
RECEIVED FROM THE PUBLIC
Public Comments- Electronic Submission - May 7, 2025 LBUSD/LB City Council Joint Meeting Name
Student Leaders Recognition: Proclamation by
the City to recognize students serving in
leadership roles for their respective schools.
Action - Direct staff to work together on
creating a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) regarding the intent to share in the pool
usage and operational costs associated with
the shared use.
Action - Create a City/District AdHoc committee
focused on sustainability initiatives and
projects to share updates and best practices, as
both organizations have committed to
enhanced sustainable practices.
Information - Update regarding both City and District assisting in the protection of open space from unauthorized entry points in
conjunction with the Orange County Parks.
Gary Kasik
Actually I thought this was underway based on comments
from the city manager but,
regardless, a necessary and
important activity. It’s important
the city retain the same programs
they operate today. This makes
the transition more straight
forward and consistent with the
city recreation programs. Commitments made by the current and prior board on timing, scope
and scale of use should be
incorporated into a final
agreement if not the MOU. Consistent recreation management by the city will avoid confusion.
This is great but why limit it to
sustainable practices. Give the
committee a broad scope to
identify opportunities across
multiple functions INCLUDING
sustainability.
Please be sure any action taken is
decisive and truly addresses the
problem and doesn’t just shift
access. Securing open land,
preventing not just making access
difficult, is difficult.
sue
LBUSD students represent their
schools and the community and
they do us proud. It is imperative
to call out the outstanding
dedication by the student school
board members. They prepare
well for each meeting and
contribute articulate comments
reflecting student voice. Thanks
to them for taking the time to
make the district better able to
serve students
Mr. Dixon has been on this since it
became clear (after it was shared
in sub committee meetings by the
city council members Whalen and Kempf) that the city budget did not allow for financial participation
in the building of a new pool. The
previous board, superintendent
and Mr. Dixon held numerous
meetings and contacts with the
city committee members to
discuss how the district could still
meet the needs of the city
programs as it will still be a shared
facility. This MOU should reflect
this reasoning behind this mutual
decision. The city has already
stated they will pay to use the pool
as a facility use agreement. In
addition, of course, the city will
provide the personnel for any of
their programs. Contrary to
misrepresentation by some who
are on the board the city has never paid for any of the personnel for district use. Our
coaches are the lifeguards and
instructors, and are paid by the
district.
LBUSD has been focused on
sustainability initiatives including
various considerations in the
recent update of the 10 year
Facilities Master Plan. The district
framed a goal of being carbon
neutral by 2030 and it is
incumbent on what we are
teaching our students through the
commitment to environmental
literacy and education that the
new board majority support these
plans. Whether you are able to move on from the blame game and acknowledge that the previous
board and superintendent
approved the FMP worked
diligently on by Mr. Dixon and his
staff. To turn away from this
pathway which has global reach
beyond the district or city as we
deal with climate change would be
irresponsible. Updating each other
on plans and goals is fine but keep
in mind the district and city
operate as separate bodies with
tasks that sometimes benefit from
collaboration but the overall needs
of education versus all the massive needs of a city will not always mesh. If a committee is formed to meet rarely please make sure Joan is appointed. The district
board needs to remain cognizant
that the city council has many
committees and boards to meet
with and to have an ad hoc just to
update would not be considerate of people's time.
This is an example where knowing
what the other entity is doing will
save repeat efforts. The district
since the fire storm of 1993 has
worked on all the many aspects of
not just fire but safety. There
have been regular collaborations
with various organizations such as
OC Parks, local fire and police,
regular table top exercises, etc.
There has been considerable work
done on protecting TOW, Thurston
and El Morro which all back up to
open spaces. This particular area
near TOW is a concern which
seems to have heavy use when
school is not in session and is a
neighborhood issue. District will
continue to work toward the
needed safety measures as has
been the historical practice.