CITY FOCUS:Tourist spending down

"August rocked," said Rebecca Meekma, Sawdust Festival media and community relations manager.

"I don't have the grand totals for ticket sales yet, but the paid attendance the last week in August was up 10% over last year. July did not rock. That heat killed us. People were coming to Laguna to cool off, not to buy or enjoy art and culture."

Sawdust exhibitor Ken Lauher said business was down as much as 20%.

"Attendance was down in the canyon big-time, especially during the heat wave, and we struggled very hard to bring the attendance back up in August," said Floyd O'Neil of the Art-A-Fair. "When it's as hot at the beach as it is inland, it's pretty scary."

He describes himself as "cautiously optimistic" for the future. "I don't know what to predict for next year; it's a little disheartening and disconcerting," O'Neil said.

The consensus is that more people visited Laguna this summer.

"We particularly noticed a pick-up in teenage traffic," said Sgt. Jason Kravetz, police department traffic supervisor.

The Explorers, a youth group attached to the police department who worked as traffic control to reduce congestion at the corners of Forest Ave. and Third St. and Glenneyre St. and Beach St., were bombarded with questions about locations seen on the Laguna Beach MTV show.

"Their purpose was to stop the double parking while waiting for a parking space or to drop off passengers, to group pedestrians at street crossing and to clear intersections as traffic backed up," Kravetz said.

"The by-product was that they became ambassadors for the city. They directed people to restaurants, shops, parking and the locations on the television show."