LAGUNA BEACH : Lenney Steps Down; Recalls City Troubles

In a ceremony more emotional than in previous years, Ann Christoph became mayor of Laguna Beach this week as Lida Lenney shifted into a lower-profile City Council seat after guiding the city through the most tumultuous months of its history.

With a second unanimous vote, the council chose Kathleen Blackburn as mayor pro tem.

Before relinquishing the gavel to Christoph, Lenney spoke of the heartache and accomplishments of 1993.

She recounted a troubled year that included the January beating of a man who was targeted because his assailants thought he was gay, a vicious rape and robbery at Crescent Bay Beach “and, finally, the holocaust” of Oct. 27 when a wildfire destroyed 366 homes.

Then Lenney ticked off a list of the city’s achievements, including the banning of leaf blowers, the development of a commercial recycling program, the purchase of open space in Laguna Canyon and an agreement with a nonprofit group to convert the GTE building into an apartment house for people who are HIV-positive.

“That’s a pretty impressive list of accomplishments,” Lenney said. “And I am proud to have served as mayor of this group as we did all of those things.”

With her husband, George, sitting in the audience, Lenney, who has come under increasing political pressure since the fire, thanked family members for their support, accepted a round of applause and then said, “Ann, I give to you the gavel. Good luck.”

The position of mayor is largely ceremonial in Laguna Beach. Generally, the mayor pro tem is elevated to the mayor’s seat each year.