By Michele Monda
Residents have had it—they’re hopping mad and totally fed up. Their outrage was abundantly clear at the July 23 City Council meeting during Public Comments: visitor hordes have created a nightmare that residents no longer will tolerate: traffic gridlock, no parking, illegal parking, dangerous jaywalking, DUIs, overrun beaches, trash left behind and virtual tent cities on the beach.
Visit Laguna has helped create and propagate these massive problems. Hotels give the city 2% of a visitor’s hotel bill to fund Visit Laguna and support local art institutions, such as the Laguna Art Museum, Playhouse, LCAD and other arts programs. One percent goes to Visit Laguna. Last year, that was $1.6 million – projected to increase this year to $1.8 million. All to promote Laguna as a great place to visit and attract more visitors.
In January 2023, the President and CEO of Visit Laguna wrote, “We have stopped posting on social media about the tower, pools and caves, and have successfully been able to have Visit California remove their recent posts talking about those locations due to the danger of them.” Interesting because as of this writing, the Visit Laguna accounts still have lots of these posts on social media.
When is enough, enough? That was the question asked by almost half of the speakers at the council meeting. One resident said that Laguna is a cautionary tale for other California beach towns, citing Malibu and Carmel City Councilmembers who want to avoid the “Lagunification” of their towns, that Laguna is no longer a quaint five-star beach town.
Visit Laguna’s constant social media promotion of Laguna’s beaches, coves, tidepools and “secrets” (including the Pirate Tower) on platforms such as Instagram, X, Facebook and its own website has made Laguna the cool place to come. And all for free. Even today its website states that beach parking is free – come on down, your day is on us. That website is a free guide to all our beaches, coves etc., all in an enticing, exciting way.
So what was the reaction of our City Council members to all the entreaties to do something about Visit Laguna marketing our town relentlessly?
Councilmember Weiss stated that we are losing this place day by day.
Councilmember Orgill, a founder of Visit Laguna and current board member, said he wants to have “conversations” with Visit Laguna and the people upset by what they are doing. He is forming a subcommittee with Mayor Kempf to explore ideas.
Mayor Kempf added that we need a better strategy to reflect other aspects of the town besides our beaches. Both felt that we needed to enforce our laws more for littering, tents, smoking, etc. so that the message would get out that Laguna would not tolerate the abuse of its beaches.
Councilmember Rounaghi advised that Visit Laguna’s contract is up next year, and we can change its focus.
They all mentioned that we need to transition to a stewardship role, stating that Visit Laguna is a Destination Management Organization.
But absolutely nowhere was there any mention of getting Visit Laguna to stop its marketing to the local Southern California area immediately. No mention of pressuring the organizations’ removal of all social media posts extolling Laguna’s beaches and treasures.
In tandem with allowing Visit Laguna to continue marketing Laguna anywhere, the City Council declined to advance any ideas on how to capture money from visitors to offset the $22 million residents annually pay for visitor services.
They declined to increase the Transient Occupancy Tax (bed tax) on hotel guests. Hotels offered to give the city $500,000 in lieu of a rate increase which would have netted the city $1.75 million annually.
The Council declined raising overall business license fees (which haven’t increased since 1996) or specifically increase the fees on restaurants and bars to capture dollars where visitors spend the most money.
So, while visitor numbers are going up, residents will be spending more money to host them – and the only solution the council came up with was to explore increasing parking fees and adding parking meters along Coast Highway.
Stewardship is a great idea. But that won’t stop day trippers (who spend virtually no money) from coming to Laguna without residents being able to capture revenue that’s being spent on visitor services.
Visit Laguna needs to stop all local marketing immediately of our free spaces—trails, beaches and coves. Take down videos and posts and stop selling Laguna as the cool place to hang. Eliminate the website’s guide to our beaches, tidepools, trails, etc. Increased day trippers just cost residents more money, with nothing coming back to offset their expense. Stewardship won’t solve that problem.
The time has come. Residents are demanding that something be done.
Michèle is a 21-year Laguna resident and actively follows Laguna politics. She is the Treasurer of Laguna Beach Sister Cities and is involved with the local arts scene. She can be reached at Michelemonda3@gmail.com.
Thanks Michele!
I have a pied-a-terre (tiny rental footprint) in lower Victoria Beach.
I could have made a fortune these past 5-6 years by giving tours to stray visitors that included the “Pirate’s Tower.”
We’re over-run and under-parked down here: The Visitor’s Bureau is definitely culpable. They hired drone specialists to post video flyovers (falsely color saturated of course), and once SM got wind others did drone-overs, Google® chiming in, Covid driving people into outdoor distancing exacerbated the jam, the already crowded conditions.
Victoria Beach no longer calms down as it’s a destination in and of itself, visitors often park, go down, look for the Tower, take a few fotos, then leave.
We’re under siege most of the year, no longer that 8 month (October–May) respite, so we can exhale psychologically.
We’d be worse off if we (God forbid) had restrooms. This is the only mitigating, limiting factor—-which of course, by my own observations, leads to people using our yards as toilets, unless they use the ocean.
I caught a teenaged boy defecating in my front yard in broad daylight—-I turned on my hose, sprayed him like a dog and he hastily ran off cursing, pulling his pants up.
And yes, as I wrote in my own previous column here at the Indy, those parking on the inland side of PCH run the gauntlet, randomly cross PCH at their own and vehicular driver’s risk. Lots of “slamming on the screechy brakes” to enhance the beach auditory experience.
It’s extremely dangerous, and the newest jaywalking law has given pedestrians the wrong impression regarding their rights.
As reported by now deceased Barbara Diamond in a September edition of the Daily Pilot:
“Tivoli Terrace owner June Neptune has been named president (of Save Main Beach). Karyn Phillippsen, president of the Laguna Beach Conference & Visitors Bureau, is also on the supporters’ list, along with Anne Caenn, president of Village Laguna.”
https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-xpm-2008-09-04-cpt-savemainbeach090508-story.html
The GM of the Inn at Laguna was on the LBC&VB Board (now Visit Laguna), lobbied hard, and helped coalesce this group. These people held up the demolition and building of a new HQ for many years.
I personally know that not only was the old one dilapidated, not really fit for occupancy, but totally inadequate considering their emerging needs.
Cindalee Penney-Hall founded Save Main Beach because she was vengeful, she and her husband fought the installation of a permanent lifeguard tower below their multi-million dollar beach front residence (I think Shaw’s Cove?). Payback time, she drove Chief Kevin Snow crazy.
The present Marine Safety HQ? Because they stretched out the process, which included help from City Hall (especially the CM), the HQ was never built to industry standards as originally proposed over 10 years previously—yes, you read that right, 10+ years!
All because of a small but powerful, influential opposition cabal.
Has anyone noticed that if it weren’t for the donors, the guards wouldn’t have those jet skis or that boat?
Every election cycle candidates claim that public safety is a top priority—-Shouldn’t providing our Marine Safety Dept. the tools they needed in the past and yes, still need, a critical element in that purposing?
These career politicians are just paying lip service, in the case of Marine Safety, fallen short for decades.
The guards and their leadership don’t complain, they just do their jobs—which is now under a year round deluge of tourists, a daily tsunami or tidal wave when it’s over 70°.
And good little residents, we’re supposed to be snookered by a go-to word that’s not only passé but been way over-used: “Stewardship.”
Oh yeah, that declaration solves everything.
The tourist horses are already out of the metaphorical barn, so what does that word even mean? Is the City Council going to herd them elsewhere for us?
No, As Visit Laguna’s name states, the goal was to make us a “Year Round Tourist Destination.”
OK, mission accomplished, so why not let the hospitality businesses underwrite their own promotion, why are we their brokers?
Use that $1.6 million/year to enhance funding for municipal services like fire, police, lifeguards, public works employees?
Defund Visit Laguna.
Now.
Spot on Michele. My take away is very clear. You said what needs to be done. The city council since 2018 under Kempf and Whalen’s hand has and will do nothing. In my opinion the remedy is vote Whalen out. Do not elect Jones who is directly connected to Kempf. Re elect Weiss and elect a new candidate that will vote with Weiss. In 2026 vote Kempf and Alex out. See If Mark changes his support to deliver what you ask for. If not vote him out. Elect new candidates in both instance’s that commit to these changes in writing.
If resident voters don’t act they should not complain.
At the very least Visit Laguna should stop using pictures of how beautiful the beaches are and list the fines for littering, drinking, putting up tents, and all the other laws we have. They should talk about how fragile our Tidepools are and how fragile the Marine Animals are and how the littering is destroying what they love to come see, play and enjoy will be gone if it isn’t respected.
The 1.7 million dollars should be used to hire more to fine those that disrespect our Coast, if the city continues to give Visit Laguna money. Laguna Beach does not need advertising; we need people to give fines to all the laws we have.
By the Council’s 23 July action to consider an increase in Occupancy Tax from 12 to 13% and removing a ballot measure it is clear to me the Council nor Planning Commission nor Staff understand the full nature of our day-tripper financial problem. The meeting RECAP states: Continue the Ad Hoc Committee of Council members Whalen and Orgill to investigate options targeting day trippers to help address financial challenges the City is facing while maintaining services and investing in public safety programs, road maintenance, and
emergency preparedness”
None of staff summaries nor the 23 July council meeting Item #17 reference any analysis study for justification and the solution to effectively mitigate day-tripper visitation. Simply redirecting $1.8M in Visit Laguna funding to Enforcement and Lifeguards (ok a tithing for a Victoria toilet) or adding Occupancy Tax does not address the issue. Occupancy Tax like bar and restaurant tax is like taxing Peter to pay for Paul. Laguna’s problem is Paul not Peter. Peter arrives by valet invitation, Paul arrives by Carmageddon.
The Staff response inadequate, the Council posture 4:1 is misplaced. Where is the analysis to justify a taxed solution? Maybe the cause for this poor city process is explained by our failure to produce an audit in 9-months, see Delay Audit Reports Cause Concern by Robin Hall. In short the tax solution is proposed because the city does not adequately understand the problem.
The analysis is more complex and multi-faceted but our city staff do not venture outside their 1950 city revenue comfort zone: taxes, parking revenue and fines. The solutions used elsewhere for Paul visitation (Malibu, Venice IT, Blackrock, Yosemite) is not recognized in Laguna much less adopted.
[The city solution proposed is zero-order when any physicist will tell you we live in a second-order (Newtonian) Universe, the effective solution to day-tripper finance is also second-order captured in a genuine economic analysis but lost on our Planning Commission and Staff.]
Tech industries make use of higher-order tools to predict the behavior of the systems they design to achieve some product or goal, these tools are available to LBC, but I see nobody on Staff or the Planning Commission refer to them. Instead they refer to consultants who respond predictably to whatever the RFP specifies.
Engineering curriculums teach us that analysis mistakes are very costly (in my industry hundreds of millions in a fireball for Primetime), but as Roger Butow points out, politicians wield authority but no accountability. Can the Council and Planning Commission and Staff adopt better techniques? Is anybody there listening?
The low level of qualifications for a.) Those getting paid for cushsy Visit Laguna patronage jobs or b.) Critic-Monda, is (again) laughable. Those of us with experience in this specialized marketing tried to talk with various ‘leaders’ about the target destination markets over the past decade. Experts focus on top dollar national and international visitors. Visit Laguna’s focus is on Inland Empire drive-ins who want free. Now you see the result of a fools ship with a political captain.
What the writer is saying is there are too many low-income visitors and this is due to the migration of a lot of people into So Cal in the past five years. They’re from all over the world including many from South of the Border. Laguna’s seeing what San Diego beaches found five years ago, just plain old too many day tripping people. Look at Temecula, Murrieta, Corona and those surrounding are bursting at the seams. Too many people. No tax or parking plan will work. It’s a strategy long gone that now must cater to the immediate drivers one to two hours away that tent camp on the beach from 8AM to 9PM for free.