People

* Spotlight on achievers

Cathleen Orchard

Captain, Laguna Beach Fire Department

When some Fire Department veterans learned that Laguna Beach would have its first female captain, they grumbled that the city had “given something away” by choosing a woman, Fire Chief William Edmundson said. But when they saw Cathleen Orchard’s qualifications, he said, they conceded the best man for the job really was a woman.

As for the former Poway fire engineer, she needed only a glance to feel certain she could be happy commanding an engine company in this coastal town. She felt an immediate affinity for Laguna Beach when she drove here to submit her resume.

She said she had a sense that “this could really work. I could live here and work here and enjoy this.”

From a field of 26 candidates, the rest of whom were men, Orchard was the clear winner, Edmundson said. Orchard, who begins her new job on Tuesday, also teaches fire-science classes at Palomar College and has a bachelor of arts degree in public administration.

Edmundson is predicting success for his new captain, a weightlifter who enjoys bicycling, backpacking and trout fishing.

“I don’t think Cathy’s going to be a captain long. I think she’ll move into full management. . . . She’s on her way. She’ll be a fire chief.”

Orchard’s imminent arrival has drawn less enthusiasm from the Fire Department’s rank and file, all of whom are male.

“Most have expressed something to the effect that, ‘Well, we knew it was going to happen, it might as well happen now,’ ” Edmundson said. “Not negative, but accepting.”

After 11 years as Poway’s only female firefighter, Orchard, 36, shrugs off such reactions. She and her co-workers, she said, will work through an adjustment period.

“Issues will probably surface,” she said. “I don’t anticipate them being of a magnitude that can’t be addressed responsibly. That’s certainly going to be my approach.”

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Suzanne Beukema

President, Friends and Neighbors

of Seacliff, Huntington Beach

Business owner Suzanne Beukema has been elected president of Friends and Neighbors of Seacliff, a nonprofit group supporting the development of the Holly-Seacliff community, which at completion will have nearly 4,000 homes.

As president, Beukema will be the group’s spokeswoman, head the 28-member advisory board and seven-member executive committee. She also will oversee the allocation of money that the 550-member organization donates to service groups.

Beukema, 40, owner of Suzanne’s Catering, is also a director of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce Board.