Laguna mayor beats out Cook for state seat

Paul Clinton

Surf City Councilwoman Debbie Cook says she’s not dismayed at

being passed over for a seat on the California Coastal Commission as

a replacement for departing member, and former Councilwoman Shirley

Dettloff.

The commission announced that Laguna Beach Mayor and environmental

activist Toni Iseman had been chosen.

“I’m happy Toni got it,” Cook said. “I’ve got a full plate.”

Iseman beat out Cook and a handful of other officials for the

post, including L.A. Councilwoman Janice Hahn, the sister of that

city’s mayor.

Irvine Councilman Chris Mears, Seal Beach Councilman Paul Yost and

Orange County Supervisors Jim Silva and Tom Wilson had also applied.

“I think I was a longshot,” Iseman said.

Cook, who served as the city’s mayor during 2002, was lock step

with local environmentalists in pushing for the eventual dropping of

the Orange County Sanitation District’s controversial sewage waiver.

Cook still sits on that agency’s board. She also holds seats on

the Orange County Harbors, Beaches and Parks Commission and on

advisory subcommittees of the Southern California Assn. of

Governments and League of Cities.

Cook, an environmental attorney, was elected to the council in

2000 after many years as an environmental activist in the city and

leader of the group that successfully passed Measure C.

Iseman succeeds Dettloff, who can no longer hold a seat because

she is no longer a member of a city council.

“She was a fine, hard-working member of the commission,” Iseman

said about Dettloff. “I hope I can follow in her tradition.”