Laguna Hills Voices Silenced When the Lights Conveniently Go Out
—Five Times—
During Controversial Agenda Items!
Laguna Hills City Hall was packed during last week’s Council Meeting with residents eager to speak out about the final two items on the agenda—issues that have stirred weeks of frustration and concern across the community. But just as the public finally had a chance to be heard, something strange happened: the lights went out. Not once. Not twice. But five separate times—each blackout conveniently timed as discussion turned to the most controversial matters before the Council.
The topics in question? The La Paz Village Project, seen by many as a pet project of City Attorney Greg Simonian to cover up his own inability to enforce the agreement made by himself and Merlone Geier to help the City meet its RHNA goals in return for the Laguna Hills Mall project being allowed to move forward, and the resident demand letter addressing what neighbors describe as years of being ignored when it comes to neighborhood impacts, zoning, leadership and transparency.
For more than two hours, the meeting ran smoothly. The room was full, the lights steady, and the microphones clear. Then, as the council prepared to take up these last agenda items—those that residents had waited all night to address—the chamber suddenly went dark.
When the lights flickered back, attendees murmured uneasily. By the third blackout, the frustration in the room was palpable. By the fifth blackout, people had given up hope of a fair and transparent meeting where they could voice their concerns and were leaving.
A call placed to the City the following morning yielded a curious response: officials claimed a “power outage.” But San Diego Gas & Electric reportedly denied any outage in the area that evening.
Coincidence? Maybe. But for residents who’ve been fighting to be heard, it felt like something far worse—a convenient disruption that silenced public input and conveniently pushed key issues deep into the night.
The Council finally reconvened after midnight, many in attendance had already gone home. The California Voting Rights Act (CVRA, district elections) issue—an item with major implications for representation and accountability—was rushed through with minimal discussion. Longtime resident Arthur Sanchez, who had waited patiently until midnight to speak, never got the chance to deliver his prepared remarks. (Mr. Sanchez’ remarks are available below.)
For a city that prides itself on civility and transparency, the optics were disastrous. Residents left wondering: how could this happen? Why were the lights steady all evening—until the precise moment dissent was about to be voiced?
Whatever the explanation, one fact remains undeniable: Laguna Hills residents were effectively silenced. And the city’s leadership owes them an explanation.
The people of Laguna Hills deserve better—honest governance, transparent process, and a council chamber where the lights don’t mysteriously go dark just as accountability is about to shine through.
It’s time for the people of Laguna Hills to take back their City!
Resident Statement: Arthur Sanchez
Good evening, fellow Laguna Hills residents!
My name is Art Sanchez, and I’m a long-time resident of this great city. I’m here tonight because what’s happening is not just wrong — it’s a sham. And worse yet, it could have been avoided.
More than two years ago, I, along with a number of other concerned residents, sent a letter to the City demanding a transition to by-district voting. Why? Because our current system allows just one area — Nellie Gail — to dominate representation in City Hall. With the map proposed by our demographer, every neighborhood would have had a seat at the table — not just Nellie Gail. And let me be clear: Nellie Gail would still have representation, just not three or four out of five seats.
So why does this matter?
Well, if we had proper representation across the city, the Merlone Geier / Laguna Hills Mall project wouldn’t have derailed the way it did. That project was supposed to help meet our RHNA housing obligations — something cities across California are required to do. But instead, under the watch of our City Attorney and Council, the developer was allowed to walk away from those promises. That decision landed us in violation of RHNA.
Then, in March of 2022, the organization Californians for Homeownership sent a formal demand letter. What did Greg Simonian recommend to the council? He recommended that they ignore it. That decision led to our city being sued. Good for Greg’s law firm. Bad for the residents of Laguna Hills.
And now here we are — with the City scrambling to meet its RHNA obligations by pushing through a rushed and ill-thought-out project on La Paz, conveniently located away from Nellie Gail. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
What’s even more interesting? After we sent the demand for by-district elections, Mr. Simonian told us he needed this current Council to approve a project. Coincidence? You decide.
Now, I am glad to see the City reconsidering by-district elections. But be warned: based on Mr. Simonian’s track record in Rancho Santa Margarita, we can expect a repeat of the same costly mistakes. Over there, he refused to pay a modest $30,000 fee and instead made the City spend $69,000 SOLELY (not including the City’s legal fees) on his preferred demographer — National Demographic Corporation (“NDC”) led by a man whom a judge in South Carolina publicly called unethical. (FYI – our demographer cost $18,000, which was included in the $30k attorney fee cost invoiced and ignored by the City of RSM.) Then he ramped up legal bills, brought in an expensive law firm from up north, and the RSM residents can expect to be hit with a bill well over $500,000, when they lose or settle in Court, which is what happens in 100% of these cases. Again, profitable for Mr. Simonian and his law firm, detrimental to the residents.
Enough is enough.
Laguna Hills — it’s time to put our foot down. Let’s take our city back.
Thank you.
One correction, that im surprised no one has mentioned: LH city hall is not within the SDGE service area, it is serviced by SCE so you would have to call them. But if there was an outage on that property, you would be able to call the county offices there to ask if they had issues that night or call the hotel and drive thru pharmacy on the same plot of land to see if they had problems.
While it does seem like it was intentional, having a mistake like this in your article will seem like a huge red flag and be used against you/your arguments. With the way republicans act now-a-days they would probably throw out your entire article as “fake news” with an “obvious mistake” like that..