Laguna Niguel Mayor Sandy Rains Resigns

The Civic Center in Laguna Niguel, Calif., on Sept. 20, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Laguna Niguel Mayor Sandy Rains resigned as the city’s mayor Feb. 27, but will continue to serve as a councilor.

Mayor Pro Tem Rischi Paul Sharma is temporarily serving in her place until the five-member city council selects a successor on March 7.

The move comes after controversy erupted over a Feb. 21 council meeting agenda item—which included the review and possible dismissal of the city manager—that Rains agendized, though it is unclear why.

Laguna Niguel Councilwoman Sandy Rains. (Courtesy of City of Laguna Niguel)

Her resignation came shortly after Councilwoman Stephanie Oddo called for her resignation saying she wanted to possibly fire the city manager in a retaliatory move as some on the council had also agendized a discussion about the possible removal of the city attorney.

“[Rains] would be willing to take off the word ‘dismissal’ from the city manager agenda item, if we took off the word ‘dismissal’ from the city attorney review,” Oddo said during the earlier meeting.

Councilman Ray Gennawey called Rains’s move “strange and retaliatory.”

Ultimately, the issue of dismissing City Manager Tamara Letourneau was not discussed and she thanked the council at the end of the meeting.

“Thank you for your trust in me. I love this city. And I love being the city manager of Laguna Niguel,” she said.

During the meeting, Rains called her action a mistake, and apologized to Letourneau and her council colleagues, saying she was given “bad legal advice,” without clarifying further.

“Our city does deserve better and I will accept whatever the consequences are of my actions because I feel that’s the right thing to do when you’re an adult and you make the wrong decision,” she said.

Rains said when she agendized the discussion regarding the city manager, she had “no intention to terminate” her.

“There were just some discussions that needed to be had and unfortunately the advice that I was given was poor,” she said.

Rains clarified in a March 3rd emailed statement to The Epoch Times she “misunderstood the information that was given to me which caused the spiral of unfortunate events,” without further elaboration.

“I hope as we move forward that we would at least allow each other the courtesy to be heard because our residents deserve to hear all sides regardless of differing opinions,” she said. “At this time, I am ready to continue to work with my colleagues and city staff to do what is best for our city.”

Rains’s brief stint as mayor began last December. She was elected to the council in November 2018 and reelected in November 2020.