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Letter
76
memories
Dear ER:
I was a little too young to remember the Kordes brothers, who owned the Union
76 station at Pier and Pacific Coast Hwy. prior to Tae Joon Kim ("Kim Retires,"
ER Sept. 7, 2000). They sponsored my father Larry Booty's drag racer, a modified
stock 1938 Chevy coupe. The picture shown was taken around the beginning of
1955. I'm the one sitting on the fender. That little corner station has a long
history of service to the Hermosa Beach. It will be missed.
Walter Booty
Hermosa Beach
Riot history
Dear ER:
The story about the need for crowd control during Fourth of July Ironman event
in Hermosa Beach (ER Story Sept. 21, 2000) mentioned the oldest and biggest
mob scene in town -- the beach revelers at the Fourth of July riot in 1974.
For the record, that riot was in 1972. I had graduated from Mira Costa High
School several weeks earlier. At that time I was fortunate to be a member of
a summer student tour group traveling through Europe. While in Paris we read
of the Hermosa Beach riot in the French newspapers. Among our tour stops was
a visit to Munich, Germany, where we saw final preparations for the 1972 Olympic
Games.
Donald Hales
Hermosa Beach
Sand width
Dear ER:
So former Councilman Roger Creighton is ferociously opposing the city's attempts
to expand The Strand. He sites a 1907 deed that gave Hermosa ownership of its
beach. Let's not stop there. I say we reduce the width of the strand to half
of what it currently is, thereby expanding our beautiful beach by a few feet.
So what if no one can get from one end of Hermosa to the other. So what if it
produces an unimaginable impede to So. Cal's bike path -- it's all about the
sand, isn't it. Let's take "community" to the next level by requiring skateboarders,
razorscooters, bikers, rollerbladers, dog walkers, joggers, and pedestrians
to all share this same shrunken space. Hey, it was adequate in 1907. Who cares
about the accident potential? It's all about the sand - and that 1907 deed.
Fight on, Mr. Creighton.
Mark Harris
Hermosa Beach
Liberty Heights
Dear ER:
In response to reporter John Tawa's story on naming East Manhattan (ER Sept.
7, 2000), it would seem to me that the solution is simple. Why not "Manhattan
Heights" (as used by the city to identify the community center across from Polliwog
Park)?
Just one additional thought. It would seem that this neighborhood should be something smaller than that which is between Marine and Artesia, and Sepulveda and Aviation because the area includes the already named "Liberty Village."
Gerry O'Connor
Manhattan Beach
Cliff Dweller
Dear ER:
I bought a house west of Sepulveda in Manhattan Beach in 1982 where, at that
time, life began. I divorced a few years later, and sold the house. But I rented
an apartment in Manhattan Beach because I've always loved it here.
Three years ago I met my new wife and moved to Redondo Beach where housing prices are a little more reasonable. Two months ago we stumbled upon a cute affordable piece of property in the "Manhattan Cliff Section" as I began to call it because the house borders on Redondo(we were on the cliff edge). We are now back in Manhattan Beach where, to us, life begins once more, only this time it's in the Manhattan Cliff section.
Sam St. Germain
Manhattan Beach
(The Cliff Section)
Free to be developed
Dear ER:
As far as I know, we still live in a free society that recognizes an owner's
right to develop (within city codes) their privately owned property. Regarding
the Second St. and Aviation project in Manhattan Beach, what's truly stupid
and ludicrous is the nerve of neighbors who think they have the right to dictate
what others may do with their land. Those who already live in their dream homes
have no room to criticize others for wanting to do the same. Those living on
teeny maxed-out lots are being hypocritical when they oppose the development
of the large, 93,000 square foot site. Gasoline guzzling SUV's and inattentive,
speeding motorists cause dangerous traffic conditions, not the people who live
near the intersection. For the last 40 years the triangle shaped area has been
a busy place, generating lots and lots of truck and car trips. For the life
of me I can't imagine that a condo project could create more traffic or have
negative impacts than the current businesses' bar, furniture store and market
do.
If the area is such an eyesore, as several neighbors have claimed, you'd think they would be delighted with the proposed plan. Property values will rise and isn't that what's important back here in the "Mustang Ranch" (I love that name. Manhattan Hills is so boring) portion of Manhattan Beach?
Dawn Clifton
Manhattan Beach
Clean-up thank you
Dear ER:
On behalf of Beach Cities Health District, I would like to thank the 175 volunteers
who turned out to clean the beach at 45th and The Strand in Manhattan Beach
for the annual coastal Cleanup September 16. Special thanks and recognition
must go to those who represented Mira Costa High School-Ecology Club, Interact
Club, Key Club, Physiology Club, Biology Club, Oceanography Club, Girls League
and Girls in Action. Thanks also to the Sand Debs Service Club, El Segundo Elementary
School students and local Girl Scout Troops and the many individual students
and residents who cared enough about our community to dedicate an entire morning
to cleaning the beach. Due to their efforts, more than 300 pounds of trash were
collected. Special thanks also go to The Kettle Restaurant and Manhattan Bagel
Co. for providing food and refreshments for the volunteers. The Coastal Cleanup
is held the third Saturday of September each year. We hope to see you next year
but in the meantime, please continue to care for our beaches every day.
Sandy Franchini
Volunteer Coordinator,
Beach Cities Health District
Dear ER:
John Jackson ("Shadow Government Sept. 21, 2000) says that Proposition 38, the
school voucher initiative is "just a terrible idea."
Well, maybe for those with an unwavering faith in Big Brother.
With the exception of waging war, I'd ask Jackson to name one task the government has accomplished more efficiently and less expensively than the private sector. It's patently ridiculous to assume, as Jackson does, that the owners of private schools would staff them with untrained and inexperienced teachers and expect their schools to succeed. Unlike the government, the private sector doesn't exist to lose money. Any schools opened with such staffing will quickly be taken out of the competition.
Secondly, it's a slap in the face to all private and parochial school professionals to assert that they "dislike, distrust, and want to degrade" public school teachers and are not to be trusted. I'd bet Jackson has never set foot on the campus of Bishop Montgomery High School, a local example of success without government intervention. If he had, he would have seen a student body probably more diverse than any in the South Bay, a caring, dedicated faculty, many with advanced degrees who care not a whit about degrading public school teachers, and a clean, graffiti-free campus.
Jackson contents that private and parochial schools show no educational superiority "when social advantages are discounted." Bishop Montgomery has a graduation rate and college acceptance rate that other local school administrators would die for. Social advantages? These are kids of working class families who come from Wilmington, Harbor City, Torrance, and the South Bay cities, and not Palos Verdes Estates, Brentwood or Bel Air.
I agree with Jackson that direct funding of church schools by the government would not pass constitutional muster. However, that's not what Proposition 38 contemplates. Under Prop 38 the money goes directly to the parents to pay for tuition at the school of their choice, private or church-run. That's hardly a subterfuge. Does Jackson suggest that it's unconstitutional for a person on unemployment or a welfare recipient to tithe a certain amount, or even all of his welfare or unemployment check (tax money) to his church? I hope not.
Jackson wove a thread through his column that it's somehow unpatriotic to support school vouchers and allow all school children access to the best possible education. That's all children, not just the elitist, patriots by Mr. Jackson's definition, like Gore, Clinton and the super-wealthy who speak against school vouchers, yet make sure that their children never spend a day on a public school campus. Giving less fortunate kids a shot at the same education Jackson's "Patriots" take for granted speaks, in my opinion, to the highest democratic ideals of our nation.
Doesn't it kind of make you wonder why those so firmly entrenched in the upper levels of our social structure don't want the lower levels to get the best education possible? Just what are they afraid of?
The bottom line is that Proposition 38 is, to coin a phrase, a "Pro-Choice" initiative that gives underprivileged kids at least one of those "social advantages" that Mr. Jackson wants to discount.
Steve Switzer
Redondo Beach