LAGUNA BEACH : Rhodes Pulls Out of Race for City Clerk

Dorothy J. (Sunny) Rhodes, a candidate for city clerk in the Nov. 3 election, has pulled out of the race, throwing her support behind one of two other candidates for the job.

Rhodes said she felt that she did not have the support to win the election and did not want to split the anti-incumbent vote, as she and candidate Elaine Smith probably would have. Rhodes, who is controller of a local masonry supply company, also ran for city clerk in 1984 and 1988.

In hopes of unseating Verna Rollinger, who has been city clerk in Laguna Beach for 16 years, Rhodes said she will begin stumping for Smith, a businesswoman and art consultant.

“I’m at her disposal,” Rhodes said. “My main thrust is to have a representative in there that the people of Laguna Beach can feel comfortable with, all the people, and they are comfortable with Elaine.”

Rhodes has denounced Rollinger as a city clerk who caters to members of Village Laguna, the city’s most powerful political action committee. Rollinger is a longtime member of that organization and has won its endorsement in this year’s election.

Rollinger denied Tuesday that she gives preferential treatment to anyone and said that she has not received a single complaint about her services.

“The only special interest group I serve as city clerk are the citizens of Laguna Beach,” Rollinger said. “And in 16 1/2 years, there has not been one person who’s come to our doors who has not received the help they needed if it was in our power to give it.”

The city clerk fields about 25 to 30 requests for help each day, either from callers or those who visit City Hall, Rollinger said. “Most of the people we see we have never seen before and may never see again,” she said.