OUR LAGUNA:Whatever happened to ... ?

He also said the YMCA did not favor the proposal to break up the park into small components that could be installed in city playgrounds.

"That would be a neighborhood attraction, rather than a city-wide attraction," Nokes said.

However, two years have passed and sometimes you just settle for what you can get.

"Marshall and I will be working with the city to explore locations in public parks for smaller elements," Nokes said Wednesday. "This probably won't be done through the YMCA, probably it will go through the recreation department.

"We will come up with some designs and run it by the community and see how it goes."

And so it goes.

Foundation still alive

The Laguna Beach Community Foundation is another public-spirited project that has languished.

In 2003, a committee began to explore the establishment of a foundation that would provide technical information on fundraising for Laguna Beach nonprofit groups.

Founding committee members Michael Pinto, Mary Fegraus, Peter Kote and Wayne Peterson invited representatives of local 501 (c) (3) organizations to a meeting in May 2004 at the Assistance League Chapter House.

Invited participants ranged from arts organizations to organized sports.

So what has happened since then? That question elicited a big sigh from Fegraus.

"We finally got our own 501 (c) (3) last fall," Fegraus said. "That was a big accomplishment, but it took forever. Now we need to take the next step, but everyone is so busy."

"We have to form a board of directors who would then hire paid staff to move forward."

The committee expects the foundation to deal with planned giving, although outright cash gifts are always the preferred option. Donations could be in the form of stocks, bonds, art work or real estate, which could be accompanied by charitable trusts, gift annuities, life insurance or other methods of giving when getting a tax benefit.

Donors would be asked to designate the organization(s) or field of interest to which the donations should be distributed and over what period of time.

"The goals have not changed," Fegraus said.

For more information, call (949) 494-0614.

Deja view

Critics of the city's view ordinance have slipped from view since they held a public meeting in September 2005.