My Priorites Right Now
Support Across Perspectives
Fiona Ma, CPA
California State Treasurer
“Ashley Cintas brings the kind of thoughtful, results-oriented leadership our communities need. I’m proud to support her for City Council.”
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Tony Strickland
California State Senator
“Ashley brings real-world leadership experience, an independent perspective, and a practical approach to solving problems. She knows how to bring people together, ask the right questions, and stay focused on results for Laguna Beach.”
Laura Parisi
Laguna Beach Treasurer
“During her campaign, Ashley has promised greater financial transparency, stronger independent oversight, and accountability for taxpayer dollars. As City Treasurer, I have personally raised these issues, and I appreciate her commitment to addressing them. I’m proud to endorse Ashley Cintas.”
Laguna's biggest challenges require relationships beyond City Hall and the ability to work with everyone.
Leaders Who Know Finance, Government, and Results.
Laguna Needs More Than City Hall Experience
It Needs Real Leadership Experience. My Experience Includes:
A Better Kind of Leadership
1
Builds The Right Partnerships
Works across City, County and State to bring resources and expertise to Laguna.
2
Asks The Hard Questions
What is the outcome?
What does it cost? Who owns it?
When will residents see results?
3
Stays Independent
Not beholden to outside developer interest. Makes decisions based on facts, resident impact and what is best for Laguna.
4
Delivers
measurable results
Success is solving the problem not just holding meetings or making announcements.
5
Explains the Decision
Be transparent about what was decided, why, what it will cost, and how success will be measured.
A Different Perspective.
Thoughts, questions, and ideas for how we can move Laguna forward.
Ask Ash
Why
I'm Running
Because the decisions we make today will shape Laguna for years to come.
I’m running for City Council because I believe Laguna needs leadership that looks beyond the next meeting, the next budget cycle, or the next election.
As I became more involved in City issues, attended meetings, studied staff reports and City finances, and spoke with residents, I saw a larger pattern: many of our biggest challenges come back to how we make decisions.
Laguna is facing real choices about wildfire preparedness, emergency medical access, aging infrastructure, tourism, neighborhood quality of life, the local economy, and our long-term financial health. These issues deserve more than short-term reactions. They require clear facts, honest tradeoffs, and a willingness to ask difficult questions before conclusions are reached.
That is the perspective I want to bring to City Council.
I have spent my career managing multimillion-dollar budgets, leading complex operations and projects, balancing competing priorities, and being accountable for results. In the real world, plans have to work, budgets have to balance, and good intentions are not enough, we have to measure what actually happens.
I also believe City Council benefits from experience outside City Hall. Local decisions affect residents, employees, investment, public services, businesses, and the broader economy in ways that are not always obvious on paper. I want to bring that real-world perspective into the room while listening closely to residents and respecting the character of Laguna that generations have worked to protect.
I will bring independent questioning, financial and operational discipline, and a future-focused approach to every decision. I will ask what problem we are solving, what the alternatives are, what it will cost, who will be affected, and how we will know whether it worked.
I’m not running to change Laguna for the sake of change. I’m running because I believe we can protect what makes Laguna special while preparing responsibly for what comes next.
Plans have to work. Budgets have to balance. Good intentions are not enough, we have to measure the results.
I will listen, collaborate, and work across the table to find practical solutions that protect what makes Laguna special while preparing responsibly for the future.
For today.
For tomorrow.
For Laguna.
About Ashley
I’m a Southern California native, and after nearly two decades living around the country and helping build businesses for other entrepreneurs, I reached a point where I wanted to build something of my own. I knew I wanted that place to be Laguna Beach.
I grew up spending summers throughout Orange and San Diego counties, and I come from a fishing family, so the ocean has always been part of my life. When I decided to open my first restaurant, I wanted to build a sustainable concept in a community where environmental stewardship, the ocean, art, and small-town character genuinely mattered. That became Oto Sushi Laguna Beach.
My twin sister, an artist, designed the restaurant. I joke that she is the art brain and I am the math-and-business brain. And now my nieces spend their summers here much the way we did growing up.
Owning a restaurant also gives me a unique pulse on Laguna. Every day I talk with residents young and old, employees, local business owners, and visitors. I hear what people love, what frustrates them, what businesses are facing, and what residents want protected or changed. I don’t just hear about these issues in Council meetings; I live them every day.
But listening alone isn’t leadership, and caring alone isn’t a plan. My career has been about bringing people together, solving complicated problems, managing money and teams, and being accountable for results.
Laguna doesn’t need more people identifying problems. We need leadership that can turn what our community is telling us into actionable plans and measurable outcomes.
You can read more about me here.
Laguna Beach City Council is a nonpartisan office, and that’s how I intend to serve.
I’m registered as No Party Preference because Laguna’s challenges are not Democratic or Republican issues. Protecting our ER, strengthening wildfire preparedness, securing funding, and improving our financial future will require strong relationships at the local, county, and state levels.
My job is to put Laguna first, work with everyone, and make sure our community has a seat at every table.
Want to dig deeper?
Throughout this campaign, I’ve tried to go beyond slogans and explain my thinking in detail.
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Fiscal Management
Why Laguna needs stronger long-term financial planning and accountability.
Protecting Laguna means planning for its financial future -
Why economic stewardship belongs in O.C. cities’ fiscal conversations
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Emergency Healthcare
What has happened with our ER, where things stand and what I believe needs to happen next. Laguna spoke up. City Hall awoke. -
Wildfire Preparedness
Why having individual emergency programs isn’t enough unless we know the entire system works together. We Have a Wildfire Plan. Now We Need to Know It Will Work. -
Civility & Accountability
Why transparency, fairness and consistent standards matter in local government. Civility has to apply during the campaign too
Hear me directly
You can also hear me discuss these issues in greater detail through the candidate forums and podcasts I have participated in.
GET INVOLVED AND IMPACT OUR CAMPAIGN
Our community is stronger when we work together. There are many ways to make a difference.
Four ways to jump in:
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Knock on doors,
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Host a house party
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Post a yard sign
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Donate.