Nick Aronoff

“I am comfortable with Laguna Beach’s current at-large election system and would be cautious about moving to district elections. Laguna is a small city, and I believe every Councilmember should be accountable to every resident, whether they live in North Laguna, the Village, TOW, the Canyon, or South Laguna. Dividing a community of our size into districts could encourage Councilmembers to focus primarily on the interests of one geographic area rather than making decisions for the city as a whole. I would be open to reviewing ways to improve elections, but I have not seen a compelling reason to replace Laguna’s citywide system with districts.”

Written response · answer only

“My minimum acceptable outcome is preserving 24-hour emergency care that can accept ambulances, along with sufficient inpatient acute-care capacity to support it. Laguna should not be left with only an urgent-care or outpatient model. Providence is currently evaluating whether a smaller-scale hospital could preserve a 24/7 emergency department and some acute-care beds. I support aggressively pursuing that option. If Providence ultimately will not provide it, the city should explore every realistic alternative, including another qualified hospital operator, partnerships with other healthcare systems, land-use and entitlement options, and advocating for state legislation that could allow a standalone emergency department even though that is not currently possible. I also believe the existing campus is larger than what Laguna may need going forward. As future uses of the property are discussed, affordable senior housing should be part of that conversation as well. For me, preserving meaningful emergency access in Laguna is the priority.”

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“Yes. I support one complete, public accounting of every Promenade-related cost. From the planning design phase to the temporary closure and interim operation, final construction, change orders, furnishings, tree removal, landscaping, staff costs where reasonably attributable, and ongoing maintenance and replacement costs. The city has publicly stated that the permanent Promenade budget is $7.2 million. As of this writing, it was alleged to be $500k under budget. Residents would like to see those details. We should not have to search through multiple budgets, contracts and staff reports to understand what the project ultimately cost. I would support putting the full accounting in one clear, easy-to-read public report showing the original estimates, actual expenditures, funding sources and continuing annual costs. Regardless of whether someone supports or opposes the Promenade, basic transparency requires knowing the complete cost.”

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“No. I do not support placing a special additional tax on restaurants. Our local restaurants already face high operating costs, and I do not think the city should make it harder to run a local business to address visitor impacts. This is the wrong approach. If additional visitor-generated revenue is needed, I would first look at sources more directly tied to visitors, including TOT, parking revenue, and increased enforcement. I would also look at whether existing tourism-related revenues are being spent as effectively as possible before asking anyone to pay more. Visitors should contribute a greater share of the costs they generate, particularly for beach management, sanitation, public safety, parking, transportation, and infrastructure. The goal should be to connect the revenue source as closely as possible to the people creating the demand, rather than placing another broad burden on local businesses and residents.”

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“Yes. I would support an actual neighborhood focused wildfire-evacuation exercise. After hearing the issues from residents living in Arch Beach Heights and their difficulties evacuating, I believe we need to take further measures. Laguna has already held neighborhood preparedness workshops and updated evacuation maps, which is useful, but a live exercise would test what happens when residents, traffic, alerts, police, fire, and limited evacuation routes all interact in real time. I would want a controlled pilot exercise within the next year, followed by a public after-action report identifying bottlenecks and specific fixes. I also think our broader emergency preparedness needs to be more proactive. The city did not declare its El Niño-related local emergency until September 10, after significant coastal erosion and damage had already occurred. We should be preparing earlier for predictable seasonal risks such as wildfire, flooding, mudslides, storm drains, coastal erosion. We should not wait until the problem is already at our doorstep.”

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“I am not in support of an increased taxes on residents or small businesses. I would first postpone discretionary capital projects that are not essential to public safety or critical infrastructure. One example is the Ocean Avenue and Beach Street streetscape project. As of this writing, the project is paused but they are still moving forward on reviewing the intersection of Beach & Ocean for traffic calming. The final construction cost has not yet been established. I would pause it before committing additional construction dollars and reassess whether those funds are better directed toward storm drains, roads, sewer infrastructure, or other core needs. We can look at making the Laguna Local more efficient, possible receiving funds from the school district to support the costs associated with students using the Laguna Local service to get home from school. I would set a goal of saving approximately $2 million on consultant and outsourced services in 2027, followed by additional reductions of roughly $500,000 per year over the next four years. Before asking taxpayers for more, I believe the city should show that it has prioritized necessities over discretionary projects.”

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“If elected, I would be proudest if my tenure helped preserve Laguna as a community for residents while making City Hall more accountable, financially disciplined, and proactive about the future. If I were not elected, my greatest concern would be seeing Laguna become increasingly dominated by large retail and hotel corporations and high-end development while the small boutiques, galleries, restaurants, and locally owned businesses that give the town its character are pushed out. I would also worry about major properties such as the Ruby’s site turning into a hotel, St. Catherine’s being sold off for housing, and parts of the Canyon being developed primarily for hotels, luxury retail, or other uses that do little to serve residents. Growth and redevelopment are inevitable, but they should strengthen the community rather than turn Laguna into a destination that increasingly feels designed for visitors instead of the people who live here.”

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