Teen joins panel on environment issues

The City Council had a wealth of choices for the Environmental Committee, a testament to the public interest in protecting the environment, from high school seniors to senior citizens.

Laguna Beach High School Student Body President Graham Harris, Chip McDermott and Scott Sebastian were selected from 10 applicants, including one incumbent, with impressive credentials.

Harris had proposed creating a student liaison position on the committee, but he was appointed to a regular term that runs to 2010. Mayor Jane Egly asked him to recommend a student replacement when he graduates in June, which would be appropriate for a high school liaison but not for a regular seat, which is open to the public.

McDermott, a resident of Laguna for six years, was the top vote-getter of the applicants. He is the founder of zerotrashLaguna.org, which sponsors beach and street cleanups on the first Saturday of the month. McDermott has worked with city officials to upgrade public trash collection infrastructure: more trash cans, smarter recycling and ashtrays.

Sebastian, a landscape architect, has lived in Laguna for 25 years. His application for a seat on the committee was prompted by his personal inclination and professional experience, including environmental planning, design and policy research.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University College of Art, Architecture and Planning and a master’s degree in landscape architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He is a registered landscape architect in California and a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

His company, Sebastian & Associates, has been in business since 1987.

Harris, the son of Ellen and Ron Harris, has lived in Laguna all of his life, all 18 years of it. In addition to the student body presidency, Harris founded the high school recycling committee, and participates in the Surfrider water testing program, tutoring, the site council and community theater.

The council also appointed incumbents Oakley Frost and Sally Rapuano to another term on the Housing and Human Services Committee.

Rapuano is the director of the LaPlaya Center, executive director of Sally’s Fund, a transportation service for the elderly, and was on the board of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy.

She has lived in Laguna Beach for 20 years.

Frost has been a resident of Laguna for 16 years and a real estate attorney in Orange County for 40 years. On his application, he said his involvement with the Unitarian Fellowship in town has convinced him of the need to continue Laguna’s policies on the homeless.

Housing and Human Affairs Committee appointments are also for terms running to Nov. 1, 2010.

BARBARA DIAMOND can be reached at (949) 494-4321 or [email protected].