Sue Kempf for Laguna Beach City Council

Proven leadership for a safer Laguna.

Sue Kempf brings practical leadership, deep local knowledge, and a record of turning complex challenges into progress for Laguna Beach.
COMMUNITY SERVANTSince 2011
Sue Kempf
Proven Local Leadership

Mayor 22 and 24

Leadership that feels like Laguna.

SAFE+PREPARED+SMART+UNIQUELY LAGUNA
A Record of Results

Experience you can see across Laguna.

From stronger wildfire readiness to smarter visitor management and support for local businesses, Sue has focused on practical improvements that make daily life better.
Safer Neighborhoods

Building Our Protections –
Safety, Water & Land

WHAT THEY DID → WHY IT MATTERS
  • Moved wildfire preparedness from plan to action
  • Increased public safety investment
    • The safest beach city in Orange County for violent crime, and the second-safest city overall
  • Supported Helipods built on the ridgeline
  • Facilitated record number of undergrounding utility poles
  • Implemented water independence by 2030
  • Facilitated establishment of the now-private Land Trust 501(c)(3) for Artist Spaces
Continue reading →
Fiscal Responsibility

Smarter Government
Not Sexy but Necessary
Saving Us Time & Money

WHAT THEY DID → WHY IT MATTERS
  • Kept Eye on money — we need to cut operating costs while still progressing
  • Supported Beta test of AI-Powered Community Processing
  • Provisional Ordinance to Streamline Design Review Board (DRB)
  • Removed code inefficiencies for Faster processing
  • Improved risk management of sidewalk trip-and-falls
  • Established Economic Development staff
Continue reading →
Residents First

Protecting Laguna's Lived Experience

WHAT THEY DID → WHY IT MATTERS
  • Stewardship program with both fines and positive enforcement
  • Launched the Summer Surge program (2025)
  • Clean Laguna Program of 74 wrapped trash cans
Downtown Beautification Initiative
  • Developed Business Beautification Ordinance
  • Permanent walk street Forest Promenade with improved infrastructure
  • Supported Irvine Bowl Concert Series
Continue reading →
Safer Neighborhoods

Building Our Protections –
Safety, Water & Land

WHAT THEY DID → WHY IT MATTERS

"Safer streets, safer water future, safer hillsides, and a safeguarded creative community — this council protects what makes Laguna, Laguna."

← Back to Her Record
Fiscal Responsibility

Smarter Government Not Sexy but Necessary Saving Us Time & Money

WHAT THEY DID → WHY IT MATTERS

"This council is modernizing City Hall — using technology and smarter process design to cut red tape and protect taxpayer dollars."

← Back to Her Record
Residents First

Energizing the Lived Experience

WHAT THEY DID → WHY IT MATTERS
Downtown Beautification Initiative

"They didn't just talk about a prettier, livelier downtown — they built it, painted it, and booked the concerts to fill it."

← Back to Her Record
Looking Forward

A positive agenda for Laguna's next chapter.

Current city priorities call for clear thinking, responsible investment, and the ability to bring people together.
1

Building Our Protections –
Safety, Water & Land

Most of Laguna sits in a high or very-high fire hazard zone, and residents have made clear that fire safety can't wait. Sue helped write the city's original Wildfire Mitigation and Fire Safety Plan — this is the next phase.

  • Make Laguna the first Fire Safe Community in Orange County. Get every property certified as "fire safe" — safer homes, and a track record that gives insurance companies a real reason to reconsider rates.
  • Expand AI heat-sensor deployment throughout the open space for earlier fire detection.
  • Keep neighborhood utility undergrounding moving, prioritized in the highest fire-risk canyon and hillside areas.
  • Fund the Sewage Master Plan. It's not glamorous, but aging infrastructure doesn't fix itself — this keeps ahead of the next spill or backup instead of paying for it after the fact.
  • Get the new fire station built and open. Our plan to fully outfit our response team depends on this station. The dollars are allocated, the risk is real. Let’s get it done.
2

Smarter Government — Efficiency & Accountability

Residents are telling the city, in budget town halls and permitting complaints alike, that they want a government that's easier to work with and honest about costs. Sue's business background means she pushes for the numbers to add up before asking residents to pay more.

  • Balanced budget — Sue is committed to cutting cost to achieve this goal.
  • Protect the city's reserves and fiscal discipline while being upfront with residents about what's coming in infrastructure and wildfire costs over the next several years.
  • Clear the permitting backlog. Support digital tools and process fixes so residents and businesses aren't waiting months for routine approvals on remodels and permits.
  • Scrutinize every proposed tax increase — hotel, business, or sales — for what it actually funds, and push for the option that does the job at the lowest cost to residents.
3

Protecting the Laguna Experience — Neighborhoods & Community Life

Laguna's economy runs on visitors, but residents shouldn't have to absorb all the downside — trash, noise, and crowding — with none of the benefit. This is the next phase of the Neighborhood & Environmental Protection Plan.

  • Raise the bar on stewardship increase "leave it as you found it" education, increase parking patrols and fines, wrapped trash cans in high-traffic areas.
  • Let the Promenade evolve with the community that uses it — community-initiated gathering.
  • Put real teeth in loud exhaust enforcement. Explore sound-detection technology, and support the state's January 2027 change that sends repeat loud-exhaust fix-it tickets to a state referral instead of a ticket-and-release cycle that doesn't change behavior.
  • Negotiate lower group rates for sidewalk power washing to help business owners keep our downtown clean.
  • Help fill empty storefronts. Bring back "Open for Business" forums with city staff to cut through red tape, and work directly with commercial brokers to actively market available properties instead of letting them sit vacant.
Sue Kempf at the beach in Laguna Beach
At home in Laguna Beach
Meet Sue

Prepared to lead.
Committed to serve.

Sue's path to public service includes technology leadership, emergency preparedness, planning, and decades of community volunteering. She brings a systems thinker's eye to city government — and a neighbor's understanding of what makes Laguna special.

"If you have the gift of time, you should volunteer." — Sue Kempf, official city biography
2011–2014
Environmental Sustainability Committee
2014–2018
Planning Commission
2018
Elected to Laguna Beach City Council
2019
Helped advance the Wildfire Mitigation and Fire Safety Plan
2020–2021
Maintained fiscal stability during the pandemic and, unlike most cities, did not dip into reserves
2021
Led the Neighborhood & Environmental Protection Plan
22 & 24
Selected by colleagues to serve as Mayor
2025
Launched Summer Surge program
Today
Fire, coastline and neighborhood protections, Balanced budget
Let's Keep Laguna Moving Forward

Local leadership starts with listening.

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Local Action

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Help keep Laguna
moving forward.