Laguna Museum’s Merger Foes Hope to Replace Trustees Board

Opponents of a proposed merger of the Laguna Art Museum and the Newport Harbor Art Museum announced a campaign Thursday to recall the Laguna museum’s board of trustees and seat a new board.

“How dare these people take our museum away from us,” G. Ray Kerciu, a member who is leading the effort, said during a City Hall news conference. “This has been a hostile takeover while we were asleep. . . . Well, we’re waking up now, and we’re going to take our museum back.”

About 40 opponents attended the news conference, including representatives from about 10 neighborhood associations and the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Laguna museum members have a legal right to recall trustees and to elect a new board, said Robert Braun, an attorney from Costa Mesa who is advising the group called SLAM (Save Laguna Art Museum).

But Laguna museum trustee Ellen R. Marshall, who practices corporate law in Irvine, said “members are not going to be able to remove the trustees unless they can prove fiduciary breach. There would have to be pretty severe conduct and disregard of the museum’s best interest.”

Opponents said they will send a letter to the board requesting a special meeting of the members to vote on the recall issue.

The merger, which was approved by trustees of both museums on Tuesday, would require ratification by the Laguna museum’s rank-and-file members but not by the Newport Harbor membership.