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Letters
SB Center School lament
Dear ER:
As a parent of two students from South Bay Center School I want to thank you for bringing to the attention of perspective preschool parents the travesty that has become of our once great school.
Executive Director Colleen Mooney, along with bad luck and bad timing, has managed to turn what was once a wonderful school into a bad situation for any child to be in. The school sits in a very protected area with a great play area and three large classrooms. It would be a waste to let that location go to waste under its current mismanagement
Adi Zucker
Manhattan Beach
The treasurer's view
Dear ER:
Proposition 2000-A is simply bad law.
It severely limits the options that the community may wish to exert through their elected representatives in the development of the Metlox site. As Metlox has evolved, the proposed development envisions substantial open plaza/park space -- over one-third of the total area, in addition to commercial and civic buildings. An environmentally sensitive combination with subterranian parking, which will alleviate traffic congestion at the gateway to the downtown.
Metlox will provide some minimal monetary return to the city, which is only prudent and responsible stewardship. Without such stewardship this city might be two or three foolish decisions away from bankruptcy.
It was good stewardship, exercised by city councils and city management in the past, that has enabled our city to maintain the quality of life that we all enjoy in this city. The current Manhattan Beach City Council has been most receptive to constructive input from the community. Witness the past four years of an unprecedented series of studies, hearings, workshops, and community meetings, all in addition to the regular council meetings.
I encourage a "No" Vote on Prop 2000-A.
Earle Hupp
Manhattan Beach City Treasurer
Public safety valve
Dear ER:
I am troubled by the involvement of the Police and Firefighters associations in the 2000-A issue. Why might they oppose the initiative?
1. They believe that something other than commercial development might create safety problems for the city.
2. They believe that maximizing city revenue makes it easier for those associations come bargaining time.
3. They believe that doing so is a smart political move.
All of the above make me queasy. And that from someone who for close to 50 years has been well served by our public safety officers.
Employee unions should not, unless the danger is real and immediate and obvious, involve themselves with how folks in a city choose to live. Their mission is to serve and protect residents and citizens as they wish to be served. There is enough money in this town for collective bargaining to produce a salary schedule that does well by our safety personnel.
Employee unions should stay out of politics if for no other reason that that they know not how the winds will blow. Do your job, do it well, and insist on being paid appropriately. Beyond that one wonders who is serving whom.
David Wachtfogel
Manhattan Beach
No an A+
Dear ER:
It seems to me that the Metlox issue is pretty simple. Is the A+ corner at the entrance to a town's commercial district the right place for a park? No, it isn't. That's why I'm voting No on Measure 2000-A.
Tom Lyons
Manhattan Beach
Fear of people
Dear ER:
The Resident's Against Rezoning's (RAR's) catalog of misstatements, misdirection, and complete fantasy is so voluminous that it's hard to determine where to begin in addressing it. But let's commence with their rebuttal argument in the Sample Ballot:
1. Living near Polliwog Park and being a visitor to Sand Dune, I can say that Polliwog is well used only weekends, as it should be, and sparsely used during the daylight hours of the week (and practically deserted in the evening). At Sand Dune, I've never seen anything approaching crowding.
2. The Environtmental Impact Report will not "give facts to accomplish" anything. It'll merely hypothesize on the future of current trends. EIR's are frequently wrong or slanted, unfortunately.
3. No matter how frantically they soft-pedal the Tolkin commercial venture, it will always be a concrete nightmare, and the odds are most definitely against its success. Merely look next door to the old H2O building for proof.
I suspect RAR's incessant doom-mongering originates from the complete untenability of every point of their proponency. The real key to everything is in City Attorney Bob Wadden's inadvertant revelation in his "Impartial" Analysis: "If Measure 2000A passes, future changes to the zoning....may only be made by a vote of the People."
And there it is, the real horror that makes every corporation's and city council's blood runs cold: democracy. That's all a yes vote on 2000-A is for, the rest is just the gravy that come with self-governance.
Johannes Gaulthe
Manhattan Beach
Playground play
Dear ER:
It may turn out to be just a rumor, but I have it on quite good authority that David Mamet is rewriting Shakespeare's "Comedy of Errors" to reflect the year 2000. And wait'll you get a load of the new cast of characters: a gaggle of a corporate developer's cronies, sycophants, and flak-catchers as "concerned citizens;" a travelling clown show, roar, all sound and fury, signifying nothing; "engaged environmentalists" favoring shopping malls over greenery; library mavens indignant over increased information flow to children as "excessive;" insensate growth advocates who can't figure out why city surpluses aren't just incentives for ever more overdevelopment; "arts supporters" who swallow eternally unfulfilled city council fairy tales about art centers...in postage stamp buildings slated for the auction block; old codgers who find a city with a plentitude of citizen benefits embarrassing; a horribly brained ex-councilman proselytizing to council members; and a chorus of mongoloide who sing the show's most hilarious ditty "A Park Attracts More People Than A Shopping Mall".
That Mamet! Wotta wacky guy! Where on earth does he get his zany ideas? Good thing he's retaining the "Comedy" titling no sane being would believe such a cast of characters could ever possibly exist.
@M= Sometimes I'm convinced, that the Concrete Lovers of America have united in mass and decided to move to Manhattan Beach. I refer to people who come here and immediately start to worship the concrete barn like habitat that requires their children to explore and play in the busy streets. Only in Manhattan Beach is the idea of public use for public land such a negative. Only here do the residents tend to chant more commercialization, more cement, concrete, traffic, noise and pollution. They seem to truly believe that the solution to everything is to pour more concrete on everything.
In a recent issue of the LA Times the award winning staff writer, Al Martinez wrote eloquently about a grass-roots group of residents that was fighting for a little quality open space. As usual the Concrete Lovers of America are demanding more over-development. Martinez writes the neighbors are willing to march into hell to stop the development. He writes that "We need all the green we can get. Hell is a place where there is none at all. Just a lot of wailing souls trying to endure eternity on unforgiving concrete".
Under the circumstances I think his words also apply to the proposal Metlox development plan. Is this the legacy we wish to leave? Once the Metlox land is paved over it will never be regained. Voting Yes on 2000-A is the best choice.
Dawn Clifton
Dear ER:
My fridge was dark late Saturday morning -- no electricity again. Who do I call to switch to a different power company? I'm getting pretty good at figuring out how long the power outages last by comparing my plug-in and battery-powered clocks. Quick. What's 1:18 p.m. minus 10:25am?
This last time was actually kind of fun. I started wondering whether ice cream tastes worse if it melts a little and then re-freezes. This made for pretty good neighborhood conversation, with people weighing in on both sides. In the end, we figured different flavors might be affected differently. This was after a few beers.
In a fantasy number I run in my head, I imagine these intermittent outages to be the result of the rapid dismantling of the Redondo power station. Man, that thing has got to go. Who maintains a power station right next to a beach resort? When I do that in SimCity, the people all freak out and stop paying taxes, and then Godzilla smashes the whole town. Can we get some local gadfly action on this?
Kevin Knight
Dear ER:
The biggest accident-waiting-to-happen I know of is the junction of Pier Ave. and Valley/Ardmore in Hermosa Beach. Whether on foot or on wheels, negotiating across this dangerous intersection is always nerve-wracking. There are more than a dozen traffic lanes meeting in one small area. Cars and people are reduced to a jerky contest of right-of-way, with the aggressive or the oblivious usually winning. Four-way stops work fine at simple intersections, but are woefully inadequate for a complicated situation such as this one.
Like many others, I pine for the simpler days of the old funky Hermosa. But, for better or worse, Hermosa is growing up fast; and the time has come to bite the bullet and put in a full-fledged traffic light. I know it won't be cheap, but we seem to be fairly flush at the moment. Does someone have to be killed before action is finally taken? Let's hope not.
Allan Mason
Dear ER:
Our Hermosa Beach City Hall and library share their antiquated mid-1960s auto parking lot. It contains about 45 parking stalls plus two handicap spaces. Now, some 35 years later, our civic center parking lot has not kept up with today's parking needs generated by our community's energetic growth plus recreational, skate-park, theatrical and social needs. City Hall staff has also expanded. The library patrons are many.
Why not add some 40 or more parking stalls opposite the civic center, along Valley Drive, and on the Greenbelt? The parking spaces would be between the tall eucalyptus trees. The full width of the Greenbelt, just south of Pier Avenue, would be retained to preserve its park-like atmosphere, southward for several hundred feet. The non-functional present hedge and curb-side grass area would be converted to badly needed parking.
Design-wise, the between-the-trees proposed parking would be similar to the present parking along Valley Drive opposite Clark Stadium and its auditorium. Believe it or not, in the early 1990s, when the Clark Stadium parking area along Valley Drive was first proposed, controversy erupted. The sky was falling!
Today the Clark parking area is heavily used by all, including Friday's Farmers' Market.
John Hales
Dear ER:
What a shame that Manhattan BeachSchool District Assistant Superintendent Scott Smith has chosen to blame the special education budget on the fact that parents are asking for services to allow their children with special needs access to an education ("School District Ponders Cuts," ER May 18, 2000). How unfortunate that the district did not do an appropriate needs assessment to plan for the changing numbers of children needing these services, despite the fact that it was specially called for in the last Coordinated Compliance Review by the CDE. The special education enrollment numbers according, to the California Dept. of Education CASEMIS database, indicate that the number of children with autism in the Manhattan Beach school district has risen from 14 in 1999 to 23 in 2000, nearly double in one year. Additionally, two children with autism are enrolled in LA County programs, another child with autism who lives in Manhattan Beach is receiving services in Redondo Beach, and another child with autism who lives outside the district receives services in MBUSD. Children who are receiving services under Part C of IDEA, ages 0-5, are not included in this data. Including the children with autism currently in our preschool programs, adds approximately six more children with autism in MBUSD. The numbers combine to over 30 children with autism within MBUSD.
The California Dept. of Developmental Services last year released a report to the legislative giving a 273 percent increase in autism from 1987 through 1998. What a shame that the MBUSD did not consider the substantial and very public increases in the numbers of children with autism when planning their special education budget.
How unfortunate that in spite of these increased needs, they plan to reduce staff development costs. There is a direct connection to the lack of staff development, the rise in district litigation costs, and autism. What a shame that MBUSD does not recognize this.
Dona Wright
Dear ER:
I am more convinced than ever to vote NO on Measure 2000-A. Monday night's
debate at the Joslyn center was lively indeed. Thanks to Marika Bergsund and
Helene Lohr, it demonstrated that rezoning would limit our choices, use taxpayer
money and potentially result in poor use of this wonderful location.
As an active member of Small Town Downtown, I am committed to working with
the city council and concerned residents to ensure a small commercial development
with substantial open space -- a project that fits well with our current downtown
atmosphere and complements existing businesses. Small Town Downtown is opposed
to uses that would result in increased traffic and congestion.
I have personally heard at least three of the five City Council members express
their commitment to a development that is smaller than the 90,000 sq. ft project
currently being considered by the EIR. For voters who may not have heard them,
I urge City Council members to repeat their commitment to a smaller project.
Susan Enk
Manhattan Beach
Concrete thinking
Manhattan Beach
Lightning bug
Hermosa Beach
Old RR crossing
Hermosa Beach
Shelving cars
Hermosa Beach
Autistic reasoning
Manhattan Beach
Small Town Downtown
Manhattan Beach