Embattled Laguna Niguel Councilman Resigns

LAGUNA NIGUEL (CBSLA) — Jerry Slusiewicz has abruptly resigned as Laguna Niguel councilman, saying he feared for his family's safety after a window of his office appeared to have been shot over the weekend, it was reported Wednesday.

Slusiewicz, who's been butting heads with city staff and the rest of the Laguna Niguel city council over the past several months and who stepped down as mayor in August, sent a resignation letter to City Clerk Eileen Gomez around 6 p.m. Tuesday, an hour before the start of the regular City Council meeting, the Orange County Register reported.

"Serving the citizens of Laguna Niguel has been a tremendous privilege and I am grateful to the taxpayers who twice elected me their advocate," Slusiewicz wrote in the letter. "Yet, my greatest commitment has always been to my family and my highest honor serving as a husband and a father. Their safety is my top priority, and this has shaken us to the core.

"Considering the events of the last 48 hours, we have decided as a family that it would be unwise for me to remain on the City Council."

According to his letter, Slusiewicz Monday morning arrived at his office -- inside a business complex across Alicia Parkway from Laguna Niguel City Hall -- and found someone had shot through his window. Slusiewicz is a manager for Pacific Financial Planners.

Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Matthew Barr, who serves as the city's chief of police services, said he received a call from Slusiewicz around 8:30 a.m. Monday and sent a deputy to Slusiewicz's office. There was a hole in the window, but the deputy didn't find a bullet, Barr said, according to the Register. Investigators are looking into the case, and there was no suspect as of Tuesday night, he added.

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