Laguna Campaign Still Keeping Its Cool : Elections: The hottest things in this year’s race are the candidates’ appointment books, keeping track of all the political forums.

If this year’s City Council election has not yet generated the acrimony many had predicted, it has at least stirred an onslaught of interest.

Candidates say they have been inundated by requests from diverse groups, from Police Department employees to neighborhood associations, to address their members. Groups not holding candidate forums are instead mailing questionnaires to candidates to pinpoint their views.

One candidate said he now has 16 political forums noted on his calendar; some say they have begun to dread the daily trek to the mailbox.

“There’s a million more to go,” one candidate said recently. “Two this week, four next week, one the next week and one the next week, as far as I know. But there’s probably more in the mail. . . . Do I sound irritated?”

While one candidate insists he is “energized” by the activity, others are clearly wearing down. And the election is still a month away.

The piqued interest, however, is understandable since many believe 1994 may be a defining political year for the city of Laguna Beach when conservatives or moderates wrest control from the city’s liberal majority for the first time in 12 years.

“I think this points to the fact that it is really an important election,” said Councilwoman Kathleen Blackburn, whose term doesn’t expire until 1996.

Three of five council terms will end this year, but only incumbent Ann Christoph has decided to run for reelection. Robert F. Gentry and Lida Lenney, two political allies who have guided this city through a decade of liberal activism, have chosen not to run again.

The political playing field here was reconfigured by the October firestorm, which destroyed or damaged 441 homes in and around Laguna Beach and has had a profound effect on this city. The blaze switched many people’s attention from issues such as the purchase of open space and preserving the city’s village ambience to the enhancement of public safety.

Although about 86% of the city’s general fund already is directed to police, fire and lifeguard service, the new battle cry is for a refocus on basics, including beefing up police and fire forces. The discontented also maintain the city has unreasonably favored neighborhood preservation over property rights and has been too willing to wade into costly land-use lawsuits.

Those satisfied with the current leadership say the council has focused on environmental issues and concerns such as preserving the village atmosphere in Laguna Beach, because that is what’s important to most residents.

“I think the biggest issue today is the same issue we’ve been talking about for a quarter century, and that is development,” said City Clerk Verna L. Rollinger, who is also a board member with Village Laguna, a group that formed 20 years ago to keep high-rise buildings off Main Beach and to preserve the city’s village ambience.

But those seeking change say they want simply to shift back to “a middle ground.”

“If we have a new council (that) could govern through common sense and avoid a lot of these land-use lawsuits we’ve become involved with, it will . . . save us money,” said Michele L. Oliver, executive director of United Laguna, a community group that has opposed the council majority on many issues in the past. “And we can . . . use that money to purchase open space.”

Besides incumbent Christoph, the candidates are real estate broker and former City Councilman Wayne Baglin; attorney Steve Dicterow; community relations specialist Paul Freeman; attorney Ronald Harris; legal clerk Darin Henry; artist and seven-time candidate Beth Leeds; former professional football player Mel Owens, who finished third in the last election; administrative assistant Mark Petersen, and media consultant John Schug.

Baglin and Dicterow have won endorsements from The Laguna Coalition, an umbrella group representing dozens of civic groups, the Laguna Beach Firemen’s Assn., the Laguna Beach Police Employees Assn., the Laguna Beach Taxpayers Assn.’s Political Action Committee and the Laguna Beach Board of Realtors.

Christoph, Freeman and Harris have been endorsed by Village Laguna, in the past the city’s most influential political action committee, and by a new political group, Protect Laguna ’94.

While many had predicted a bloody campaign in 1994, so far the political waters have stayed fairly calm; candidates admit to wondering what will happen when the political interest groups feel the pressure of deadline.

The coming month’s prediction is for increasing turbulence.

“I think the drama’s yet to come,” Blackburn said.