Alex Rounaghi: A Boy Among Men Regarding Laguna Beach Pickleball?

Is Wunderkind Alex Rounaghi Here To Stay (For The Time Being)?

Perhaps a better question we Lagunans should be asking ourselves is this:

After his stubborn temper tantrum at LBCC last Tuesday night, June 11, 2024, is this 26 year-old a successful political prodigy on his way up or just another crony clone, in over his head, unseasoned and definitely NOT a ready for prime time playah?

It's obvious to all of us, even media when in office for only a year, that we're just the lowest rung on his political ladder. Yet after watching him in action (more like inaction) at the hearing it seems obvious that although god-mothered by empty vessels like Diane Feinstein and Katrina Foley, he's unable to comprehend what governmental accountability is. [1]

Councilmen Orgill, Whalen and Weiss all agreed: The City made a mistake in converting tennis into pickleball courts so close to residences for the elderly (over 62) ensconced in affordable income Aliso Vista immediately adjacent to Lang Park.

Orgill and Weiss weren't even seated back in 2017, but along with Whalen vocalized, emphasized that the buck in this case stops at City Council Chambers.

Twice (not once, but twice) Rounaghi said: "Pickleball Is Here To Stay (For The Time Being)." Huh? Which is it, or was that a Freudian slip, an acknowledgement that it trended up 50% due to Covid and could very well subside, court demand recede?

Orgill, Whalen and Weiss expressed the mature view: Accountability by government trumps a small minded, narrow view held by Rounaghi and echoed by another one of his godmothers, Mayor Sue (Martha Stewart Wannabe) Kempf. The established national standard, the goal is 500 feet from residential properties if possible.

The City made this mess, the adult thing to do is to relocate the courts, now a mere 25 feet from Aliso Vista resident leader, award-winning artist Ms. Susana Cruciana. I visited her home and experienced the courts for myself (windows/door open and shut), used both of my finely calibrated decibel and distance apps on my iPhone 14. I've compared with professional devices and they're pretty accurate.

Her unit is not only the closest in proximity: On the 2nd floor, the ineffectual sound dampener fencing practically useless, she bears the brunt of the staccato, Chinese water torture impacts as the cacophony, the crescendo of cries and screams by users rise up and into her home.

Rounaghi's repetitious "South Laguna players need this access" got (unlike him) old fast. Since one of the alternatives under discussion (that he and Kempf dismissed) was Moulton Meadows Park, (up at the top of Nyes Place---Portafina) was he saying that driving an extra 2 miles is going to kill those So Lag users?

Ironically, even the few players that spoke seemed amenable to renovating, updating Lang Park. Reconfigure the sites elements, consider actual usage today as opposed to when it was opened, the courts could be placed down near PCH and Wesley Drive.

Kempf lives near Moulton Meadows, even though the potential to build more pickleball courts at least 3-400 feet away from residences is in place, that's typical NIMBYISM right there. If Kempf thought of what are the most practical and compassionate solutions instead of her neighbors votes, Tuesday night might have featured a more just and definitive result.

Reportedly living in South Laguna, "Not Ready For Prime Time Rounaghi" can't be accused of pandering to his neighbors because (A) None of them opposed looking at alternatives, including Alta Laguna and Moulton Meadows, (B) Only his LBCC godmother Kempf seemed the recipient of his obstinacy, and (C) He's just using us as a political stepping stone.

Instead, we're all left hanging because the selfish baby in the basinet, already on his way out the door psychologically, ambitious eyes on higher office instead of the welfare of the entire community he's supposed to serve and protect, kept "wha, wha, wha-ing."

Our Council Chambers shouldn't be used as a political playpen, where his career journey is birthed and babied, his equivalent of holding his breath until he turned blue didn't find any traction with the 3 Councilmen----I think they've raised children and know the strategy?

He kept pointing out that he refused to believe that spending $80,000 on an advanced pickleball study had any value yet speaking out of the other side of his mouth he says that he's in favor of planning. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

“When the politicians complain that TV turns the proceedings into a circus, it should be made clear that the circus was already there, and that TV has merely demonstrated that not all the performers are well trained.” — Edward R. Murrow

Well, if the City in 2017 had performed more due diligence (aka planning, Little Alex), including cost/risk benefit assessments, environ-impacts to neighbors in such close proximity, reviewed existent industry experts (acoustic engineers), then we wouldn't have even had this friction in our public square to begin with, it was avoidable.

Stooge News Laguna (because its founder was always a stooge and pawn for City Hall propaganda) actually captured the tone and content of the LBCC's pickleball banter pretty well......and reading Rounaghi comments again, he seems to be going (in real time) around and around, in the same circles mentally that he accuses the City of regarding the topic. [2]

Sir William Blackstone in his Commentaries On The Laws Of England pointed out to King George III and his fellow noblemen that no one has the right to use public resources to the diminishment of, and inflict discomfort upon, the general population.

"If one does any act, in itself lawful, which yet being done in that place necessarily tends to the damage of another’s property, it is a nuisance: for it is incumbent on him to find some other place to do that act, where it will be less offensive."--Sir William Blackstone, 1768(1)

Here in America, his legal position regarding rights and wrongs has become codified, including the California Real Estate Disclosure Act: A home is not a castle, no one has the right to use their property to the diminishment of their neighbors(s), and anyone not revealing adverse conditions and facts upon listing for sale can be litigated.

CREDA requires the divulging of material facts that affect the value or desirability of a property, including those in the neighborhood. It's not a stretch to see how and why many communities, HOAs, etc., have "Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions" (CC&Rs), plus municipalities like ours these standing citizen oversight entities: A Design Review Board.

It's an extension of the "Golden Rule," do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Or maybe Alex should crack open the Old Testament: "As you do unto the least of me, so you do unto Our Lord God."

If this is what a very very expensive Ivy League (Dartmouth) education gets you? A 100% lack of accountability and responsibility, haphazardly coupled with a total lack of compassion for senior citizens 3 times his age, because it's difficult to discern how this sets the stage for future political success.

He must have slept through his classes in Government, History and Public Policy, how else to explain his clueless positions, a flipping, gyring flag on a pole where he tortures out ill-thought resolutions?

A major plank in Rounaghi's run for LBCC in 2022 was his declaration, his personal commitment to "data driven government." Cross that off of his goals and objectives list only 18 months after being elected as he refuses to follow the meta-data, the piles and piles of expert analyses acquired over pickleball's glaring negative impacts within residential neighborhoods going back years.

OTOH, maybe fluff his ego up, let's all ingest some "hopium," shove him out the door to the next level of government, wish him well and grant us hopeful respite.....and don't let the pickleball screen door hit him on the way out.

How can we miss you if you don't just got away, Alex? As your generation would advise: Let's all smoke the fictional drug "copium" to attenuate the withdrawal of our loss. Vote him into higher office via election to rid ourselves of Boy Wonder.

Come to think of it (something he doesn't seem to do a great deal of), maybe hit that metaphorical bong now while we're in acute pain?

The 3 Councilmen in the room get remorse and contrition, acts of atonement which America has woven into the fabric of our democracy, core values. $80,000 seems a small amount to finally remedy this societal wrong, bring closure and pacification.

As for Rounaghi and "The Peter Principle," i.e., rising to his level of incompetence? Don't let that "basso profondo" voice of his fool you into feeling he has gravitas. Affectations are the hallmarks of faux poseurs-cum-politicos.

What he has is community insensitivity and a callous regard for science-based solutions. Maybe he needed more crib time and less attention promoting his narcissism back when, but too late now, and we're being punished as his extended family?

In other words, he's a perfect fit for a career in politics where everything is transactional. Translation: He'll go far, just please let it be sooner than later.

[1] https://patch.com/california/l...

[2] https://stunewslaguna.com/council-directs-staff-to-analyze-potential-redesign-061424/#more-10586