Can’t Fight This Ticket at City Hall

There’s trouble brewing behind the brown cinder-block walls of Leisure World--and trouble wears a badge.

Some of the 18,000 residents of the retirement village, which recently voted to incorporate into the new city of Laguna Woods, are fuming over a crackdown on speeders and motorists making rolling stops at intersections inside the tidy gated community.

Police aren’t dishing out the tickets. The citations come courtesy of Leisure World’s private security force, which includes 220 resident retirees armed with ticket books to enforce the development’s traffic and parking laws.

Leisure World Security Director Bill Sonka said he recently beefed up traffic enforcement because drivers were blowing through stop signs, endangering the residents strolling down the sidewalks and within the crosswalks.

But the flurry of citations has some residents complaining that their blissful retirement mecca has turned into a police state.

“I moved to Leisure World to be safe, not to be harassed by these people,” said Doris Miller, who in February was nailed with a $35 ticket for a rolling stop. “People here are absolutely terrified about how these officers are treating them.”

Miller would take her case to court--if she could.

Inside the walls of Leisure World, her only recourse was to appear before the Third Laguna Hills Mutual board, one of the residents’ associations that govern life inside the retirement community.

On Thursday, the board promised to investigate Miller’s claims of innocence. But Miller, joined by a contingent of other angry residents who were cited, left the meeting with more doubt than hope.

Along with writing the traffic regulations, those very same board members oversee Leisure World’s security force and sit as judges at traffic hearings.

“They’re not going to do anything--why should they?” said Miller.

What makes the small uproar unique is Leisure World itself--a private “city” within a city.

Except for a few strip malls, shopping centers and three condominiums, the newly formed city of Laguna Woods consists of the residential neighborhoods of Leisure World. Yet Leisure World remains a private, gated community exempt from city traffic laws and the California Vehicle Code.

Instead, the development has adopted its own traffic covenants, which residents agree to follow when they move in.

The traffic regulations mirror state traffic laws, but can be enforced only by the Leisure World Security Division. The fines range from $25 to $200 but are not reported to the state Department of Motor Vehicles or to the driver’s insurance company.

Traffic and parking violations aren’t the only infractions that can lead to fines.

Dog owners who don’t pick up after their pooches can be slapped with a $25 citation. At the Leisure World golf course, players who fail to rake after landing in a sand trap likewise face a $25 fine.

“It’s not that different from other gated communities,” said Tanya McElhaney, spokeswoman for Professional Community Management, Leisure World’s management company.

In another private community, Coto de Caza, for example, “if someone puts up a basketball court in violation of the bylaws, they’re fined by the homeowners’ association,” McElhaney said.

When there is a serious traffic offense, such as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs or a hit-and-run, or if there is an injury accident, the California Highway Patrol is called. That duty may soon be transferred to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department under a contract being negotiated with the city. Sheriff’s deputies already investigate all crimes reported inside Leisure World.

The vast majority of Leisure World’s 235-person security force is made up of residents who work part time at a rate of $5.50 to $8.50 an hour. They staff the gates and patrol the community. They don’t carry firearms.

The force is supervised by 15 security guards, all retired police officers who are licensed by the state. The supervisors work full-time, carry guns and handle the most explosive situations.

Sonka said the security force makes most residents feel safe and that many retirees move to Leisure World precisely because they feel protected by its gates, walls and security patrols. The security force is stressed in almost all Leisure World’s advertising.

Fanny and Charles Goldberg, who have lived at Leisure World for 14 years, agreed.

“It’s one of the safest places in the country,” Charles said.

As for the traffic tickets, Fanny Goldberg had little sympathy for the complaining residents.

“If they get traffic tickets, they probably deserve them,” said Fanny, 85. “There are a lot of the old people in this place who probably shouldn’t even be driving.”

The average age of Leisure World residents is 77.

But Jean Truan, recently ticketed for making a rolling stop, suspects the security officers may be dishing out more tickets so they can buy new squad cars: “I stopped. I know I stopped, and I got a ticket anyway.”

Sonka said the money from the fines goes into the general revenue fund for the housing association and has no relation to the security budget. He also dismissed rumors that his officers have ticket quotas.

The small uproar over the tickets doesn’t surprise Frank DePrizio, a part-time security guard who has worked at Leisure World for eight years.

“It’s just like on the outside. When they need you, you’re a hero. But when you pull them over and give them a ticket for speeding or running a stop sign, you’re a bum,” said DePrizio, a fit 71 years old, who took the job after retiring as a machinist for several major aerospace firms.

DePrizio said he writes only a handful of tickets every month, and only when he sees a flagrant violation.