City Government and Voting in Laguna Beach

Laguna Beach is a city with its own council, its own departments and its own elected officials. This page explains who decides what, how to follow a meeting and how to vote. For phone numbers by department, see the city services directory.

How the city is organized

The City Manager’s Office describes Laguna Beach as a full-service city under the Council-Manager form of government. The City Council sets overall policy direction and appoints a City Manager. The City Manager puts that policy into effect and directs the departments that serve the community.

The City Council has five members, elected at large, with four-year terms. At-large means every voter in the city votes for every seat, so no member represents a single district. The current members are listed on the city’s City Council page. The city also elects a City Clerk and a City Treasurer, each for four years.

City Hall

City Hall is at 505 Forest Avenue. The general information line is (949) 497-3311. As of October 2026, the city lists these hours:

• Monday to Thursday: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• Alternate Fridays: 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
• Closed on the other Fridays. The city posts a City Hall closure calendar on its home page.

The Community Development counter keeps shorter hours than the building: Monday to Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., with the last sign-in at 12:45 p.m.

City Council meetings

The city says meetings are generally held at 5:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, with some exceptions. The City Calendar on lagunabeachcity.net shows the dates.

Watch and read the agenda

• Agendas, staff reports and attachments are in the city’s OneMeeting portal, linked from the Meeting Agendas, Minutes, and Videos page.
• Meeting videos are on the City of Laguna Beach YouTube channel. The city notes that the transcript feature lets you search a video for key terms.
• You can sign up on the city site for Council agenda emails.

Comment on an item

The city’s comment page covers written comments. You can send them to the City Clerk by mail to 505 Forest Avenue, by email, on a printed PDF form or through the online form on the same page. The city sets these timelines:

1. Submit by 3:00 p.m. the day before the meeting, and your comment goes to the Council and is linked to the agenda.
2. Submit by 12:00 p.m. on the day of the meeting, and the Council receives it at 2:00 p.m. but may not have time to review it.
3. Submit after 12:00 p.m. and before the meeting ends, and it is not linked to the agenda but is included later in the official record.

Written comments are not read aloud at the meeting. They are posted on the city’s website, so leave out personal information you do not want public. The city also warns that emailing the Council does not guarantee your comment enters the public record, and that emails to council members and staff are subject to the California Public Records Act. The comment page does not cover speaking at the podium, so call the City Clerk’s Office at (949) 497-0705 or check the posted agenda for that.

If you need an accommodation to take part, the City Clerk asks for 48 hours’ notice at (949) 497-0705.

Boards, commissions and committees

Residents advise the Council through boards, commissions and committees. The city sorts them into three groups:

• Decision-making, with appeals to the Council: Arts Commission, Design Review Board and Board of Adjustment, Planning Commission, View Restoration Committee.
• Advisory, on an ongoing basis: Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Committee, Environmental Sustainability Committee, Heritage Committee, Housing and Human Services Committee, Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee, Recreation Committee, South Laguna Water/Sewer Committee, Investment Advisory Committee.
• Ad hoc, for a single issue: the HIV Advisory Committee and the Hospital Task Force.

Laguna Beach residents apply to the City Clerk’s Office. The city says applicants may be interviewed and the City Council appoints members at a Council meeting. Committee meetings are generally held in person with no audio or video setup for presenters, so bring printed copies of any visuals.

Elections

The City Clerk runs Laguna Beach’s municipal elections and coordinates with the County of Orange. Regular elections are consolidated with statewide elections on the first Tuesday of November in even-numbered years. Council terms are staggered, so two or three seats are on the ballot every two years.

The 2026 General Election is on November 3, 2026. The City Clerk lists one city measure on that ballot, Measure E, a voter initiative to implement term limits for City Council members. The Registrar of Voters gives its full title as an ordinance adding Section 2.04.080 to the Laguna Beach Municipal Code to establish term limits for City Council members. The City Clerk’s ballot measures page links the impartial analysis and the arguments for and against. The Registrar posts results on ocvote.gov.

Register and vote

Elections in Laguna Beach are run with Orange County. The Registrar of Voters office is at 1300 South Grand Avenue, Building C, in Santa Ana, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday except holidays, and its main number is 714-567-7600.

1. Register online. The Registrar links to the California Secretary of State’s registration page. You need a California driver license or ID number, the last four digits of your Social Security number and your date of birth. Without a California driver license or ID card, you can still apply online but must take additional steps. Allow at least 48 hours for processing. The same service updates an address, name or party.
2. Watch the deadline. The regular deadline is 11:59 p.m. 15 days before Election Day. For the 2026 General Election it was Monday, October 19, 2026.
3. Use conditional registration if you missed it. During the 14 days before an election and on Election Day, eligible voters can still register and vote, up until 8 p.m. on Election Day. If the DMV has your signature on file, register online, confirm it was processed and vote a regular ballot at a Vote Center. Otherwise you vote a provisional ballot at the Registrar office or any Vote Center.
4. Vote. All registered voters in Orange County receive a vote-by-mail ballot. You can return it at a ballot drop box or vote at any Orange County Vote Center.

New to the city? The first 30 days guide covers voter registration alongside the DMV deadlines.