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Letters
Lemonade into lemons
Dear ER:
Once upon a time when my kids were small, they’d go out in the back yard, pick a few gigantic lemons, add some water, a little sugar and go sell the stuff for five cents for a large glass. They were busy for hours and rarely made over a dollar or two because not that many cars or people came down our street.
Today, young children bark "Buy Lemonade" at passers by and charge 50 cents as they dart in and out from behind speeding SUV’s. I’m not at all surprised that the Manhattan Beach cops were called to shut down the pint-sized hustler’s lemonade stand. I’m amazed that the paramedics weren’t called out. My sampling last month tasted just like citrus flavored drains. It was caustic.
I’m sure a new recipe would help keep the complaints at bay.
Dawn Clifton
Manhattan Beach
Riviera sports
Dear ER:
As a former, long time resident of the Hollywood Riveria, I read with interest the article on the dispute over the patio at Dante’s sports bar. You are absolutely correct Councilman Bisignano -- "The critics of the bar did not handle it correctly." They should have hired an attorney from the outset and sued the city for taking so long to correct a situation totally out of control. With over 80 police reports for loud noise, fighting, etc., you would think that someone besides City Manager Lou Garcia might have noticed there is a problem. What is even more amazing is that the City Council decided to allow this sport’s bar to continue using a patio that has never had a permit, a sports bar that came into being under some very shady circumstances and is allegedly in violation of several city codes. I guess that it still depends on who you know as to how the rules in Redondo are applied. Obviously, the neighborhood that has to put up with this can’t know the right people. I think the perfect solution would be to move the bar to Bisignano or Councilman Kevin Sullivan’s neighborhood and see how they handle it. I’d make you a bet the situation would cease to exist. You have my sympathy Mr. Garcia. It must be very tough working with a flock of ostrich and a sand pile.
K. Smith
San Pedro
Redondo to ruins
Dear ER:
I brought property in Redondo Beach in 1979 because it was a quiet location. Since that time, several building projects have completed, resulting in loud and crowded living conditions. For example, the city re-zoned my quiet residential neighborhood to allow for multi-unit dwellings. This has served only the developers and builders. The developers have systematically razed Victorian-style homes for condominiums throughout the city.
It is very easy to push projects through the Redondo Planning Commission. They are practically rubber-stamped. It is also easy to convince the Planning Department if the developers agree to upgrade the existing sewer system. Redondo Beach has bastardized itself by selling out to the developers. We should place a sign at King Harbor that reads: "For Sale, Redondo Beach."
The Heart of the City Plan will serve only the developers/builders. If approved, the traffic situation will become impossible. At present, it takes a commuter about one hour to travel only seven miles north on Pacific Coast Highway from Torrance Blvd. to LAX. By adding several thousand more commuters, we will create total gridlock on all the streets. Every day will be like the 4th of July!
I am opposed to the proposed density of 55 units/acre. In addition, I am opposed to the 40- feet height for commercial and 30-feet height for residential structures. I am also opposed to evicting the mini-storage facility just because the City Planning Commission/Planning Department goofed when they hurried yet another project through. Is anymore at City Hall really listening to the residents of Redondo Beach?
Elaine Vandermay
Redondo Beach
Fighting words
Dear ER:
For the second time in a couple of months, we have to respond to highly misrepresentative reports in one of our local papers.
Last week Easy Reader printed a story in connection with the arrest of Roger Clinton about alleged brawls at The Beach Club, Patrick Molloy’s and our restaurant.
We close at 1:30 a.m. My key hits that lock at 1:50 a.m.. On the overwhelming majority of nights, customers are gone at 1:45 to1:50, save a few friends. At the time of the alleged incidents,we were already doing our batch-outs and sales settlements.
I’m sure there was an honest miscommunication between police dispacthers and officers or callers on the Plaza.
Both these stories have a common root. Our police dispatch communication process uses restaurant names to nail down specific geographic locations of even verbal altercations that police want to stop before anything else goes on. It’s good community policing, but there’s a glitch when reports are issued and then splashed in the newspapers regarding businesses that have already closed their doors.
Corporate parties booked by Cisco Systems, TRW, B of A, Imperial Bank, Lycos the office staff of our state representatives and Governor Davis, Justice Technologies, the Hermosa Historical Society, the Lennox School District, the Hermosa Teachers Association and Accenture are common on the Plaza, as are weddings, wedding receptions, and rehearsal dinners. This is the direction in which downtown Hermosa is headed.
It won’t be if business owners aren’t responsible or misunderstandings like this continue to get local headlines. The truth belongs in our newspapers. Miscommunications that damage people do not.
Michael Santomieri
Sangria Restaurant
Editor’s note: An item in last week’s editions stated that Hermosa police broke up three fights near Pier Plaza establishments in an eight-minute span on Feb. 17. The incidents were outside the establishments and police did not connect the fights with the establishments themselves, except as a way to identify where they occurred. Easy Reader apologizes for the confusion.
Chorus of credit
Dear ER: There are many outstanding programs at Mira Costa High School, several of which have received national recognition, including Model United Nations, boys and girls volleyball and, most recently, robotics.
These programs are the result of an incredible amount of hard work by talented students, teachers and parents alike. They typically require year-round effort, with a few months of concentrated study or practice leading up to one or more major events. They have great meaning for those involved, and are an important part of the fabric that makes Mira Costa a fine school.
These programs have a natural ebb and flow from year to year, but occasionally everything comes to together to produce an extraordinary level of achievement. The programs are never the same from that point on, with the "bar" permanently raised for years to come for both the participants and the community.
We believe this year's production of "A Chorus Line" is a case in point. Thanks to improved sound and lighting equipment, a great musical score, an unprecedented four months of rehearsal, superb casting, solid direction and choreography and, most of all, a gifted ensemble of students, the Mira Costa Performing Arts Department created a truly wonderful production that sets a new standard of excellence on and off stage.
Linda Lehde
Mark Turner
Manhattan Beach
Pipelines to paradise broken
Dear ER:
On a recent spring day I took some visitors from Germany down to the beach. The weather was perfect, the beach clean and inviting, and I could see that they were impressed. Later we had occasion to stop at the restrooms at 22nd Street. The men’s room has three urinals. Two of them were broken and covered with garbage bags. The place was dirty and can best be described as tacky. Outside, the water fountain had capped off, rusted pipes, broken faucets and no water. It has been this way for at least three years.
Why don’t we use some of our city funds to improve and maintain existing facilities instead of spending big bucks permitting all sorts of activities designed to keep the bars filled? But then maybe I have skewed perception and unreasonable expectation.s
Paul Gerhards
Hermosa Beach
Women remembered
Dear ER:
I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciated the coverage of the South Bay Woman’s Summit ("Women warned against loss of rights under Bush region," ER April 16, 2001).
This was an important program to cover as it served to remind us of how much we have evolved-in utilizing the skills and capabilities of a group that was previously dismissed --and of the work yet to be done.
In addition, I always look forward to the South Bay Homes insert. We have great architecture, gardens and interiors, and it’s very inspiring to see what others have done.
Seena Sharp
Hermosa Beach
The government Redondo deserves
Dear ER:
At the May 1 Redondo Beach city council meeting a number of citizens addressed the city council mayor, and staff and questioned who the city government was really representing. The accusation was that they acted to the benefit of business, notables, and moneyed interests rather than for the citizens of Redondo Beach. Since fewer than 10 percent of registered voters voted in our last city election, the odds are that the people making these accusations have no room to complain. The great majority of voters have made it clear that they do not care what happens to the city. How then can they complain when others do care, even it for their own benefit?
R.L. Nelson
Redondo Beach
State trickery
Dear ER:
At the current rate of spending by the state for electrical purchases, the state surplus will be gone before June. The state is spending $50 million per day to purchase electricity, or $1 billion every three weeks. All the rhetoric over what to do with the state surplus was for naught. The power producers found a way to take it for themselves. I wonder if any city leader has thought about what will happen when the surplus is gone, and the state runs a huge deficit instead.
I’ll tell you what will happen. The state will look to the city property taxes to cover their deficit. Maybe people remember eight or ten years ago when the state ran a deficit, and took a portion of the property taxes that went to city governments to subsidize the state deficit. They did it before, and they will do it again. For Redondo Beach, the result was the loss of enough money to give the city serious financial problems. The city secured a new city manager to solve the financial crisis.
City governments need to consider the possibility of a state seizure of city taxes to fund a deficit. If cutbacks on non-essential costs, and postponement, or slowdown, on future projects is started now, the individual cities may weather the financial storm. The kind of deficit the state could have this time may dwarf the last deficit. I have seen predictions of up to $70 billion to be spent on electrical power purchases. This kind of deficit spending will bankrupt California.
Garth E. McWhorter
Redondo Beach
Chief goal
Dear ER:
After many years of discussion, study and public input, the Manhattan Beach City Council has taken definite steps toward the construction of a new Public Safety facility for our community. The current facilities for both our Police and Fire Departments were not designed to support the expanded array of services that are currently delivered by the men and women of these Departments. As Mayor Walt Dougher recently noted, we have first-rate Public Safety employees working in second-class facilities.
The Manhattan Beach City Council has chosen to face this problem head on. It recognizes that the best and most effective option for our community is to construct a new, modern, and earthquake-safe Public Safety facility. Council has also directed City staff to begin the design process in conformance with the site plan that was developed with extensive community participation. Most importantly, the City Council has set aside funding for approximately half of the total project costs.
With such a strong financial commitment already in place, we are hopeful that our residents will step forward as a committed partner in the development of a new, efficient, and user-friendly Public Safety facility for our community. Additional information and tours of the current buildings are available by contacting the Police Department at 310 802-5103 or the Fire Department at 310 802-5203, and we welcome our residents input on this important project.
Ernie Klevesahl, Chief of Police, MBPD
Dennis Groat, Fire Chief, MBFD
Running in circles
Dear ER:
In spite of all our best efforts, the runners, joggers and walkers who use the track at Aviation Park seem to have run out of time. The City of Redondo Beach is moving ahead with plans to partially wipe out one of the few available measured running surfaces in the area. Apparently, plans to renovate Aviation Park for development of the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center have been in the works for a couple of years, although many people who live in Redondo Beach and use the track regularly were unaware of this until just a few months ago.
Regular track users saw no postings announcing this development, and those of us who contacted the city requesting that we be made aware of upcoming council meetings on this issue were largely ignored. Concerned citizens have presented constructive alternatives to city council members, which would leave the tract intact, yet still allow for development of the Performing Arts Center.
I urge those citizens who favor park preservation over parking lot development to contact the city council. Once this unique facility is destroyed, it is unlikely that anything comparable will be developed to replace it.
Vivieane Nixon-Lash
Redondo Beach
‘weiser, safer driving
Dear ER:
The good news this Memorial Day is that drunk-driving fatalities during the holiday weekend are at an all-time low, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The 31 percent decline in driving fatalities since 1982 compares favorably to the record decrease in drunk-driving fatalities throughout the year.
These are clear signs that we’re making progress in the fight against drunk driving. But instead of declaring victory and stopping our efforts, we must all recognize what works and do more. Designated drivers, designated skippers, playing it safe on the water, driving safely and making responsible drinking choices are all ways in which we can ensure that this Memorial Day is full of memories of fun-filled activities with family and friends.
Help drive Memorial Day Holiday drunk-driving fatalities lower. Make safety and personal responsibility your first and foremost concern. Everyone here in the South Bay area can make a difference in the fight against drunk driving.
Sincerely
Ron Wrobel
As dense as they come
Dear ER:
After having read the article about the proposed condominium project development at 511 Torrance Blvd., a couple of things come to mind: Why is the planning commission recommending a change in zoning, which would allow the developers to build the largest and densest-possible project on the site? Isn't the traffic on P.C.H. already approaching unbearable? Why should the rules be bent for this developer; and which developer will they be changed for next?
My hat goes off to Adele Borman for organizing the opposition to this project. Hopefully, this effort will impact any potential zoning changes; forcing developers to incorporate compatible setbacks, green space, and move toward more positive future developments.
There is a reason the South Bay is such a great place to live. Let's not let that get lost, with avaricious developers, whose only vision is one of high density.
Crayon Cards
Redondo Beach
Memorial memory
Dear ER:
It was early in 1946 and my mother was about to take the first airplane flight of her life. She and my father were relocating their family from the East Coast to California. Since my father was to drive their few belongings across the country, it was left to my mother to fly out with my two brothers, a one-year-old and a four-year-old. It was her first time in an airport, and with two rambunctious boys on her hands it must have been obvious to everyone there that she was confused and a little scared. A soldier, seeing her distress, came to her rescue. He picked up the younger of the boys and took the other by the hand. He took my mother and brothers to their plane, and saw to it that they were safely on board. He then left without a word before my mother could thank him for this simple act of kindness. Judging from the ribbons on his chest, she could only imagine the hardships and sacrifices he must have experienced during the war. My mother always regretted the fact that she didn’t get a chance to thank him, not only for his help that day, but for serving his country at a time of great conflict.
As Memorial Day arrives, it is a reminder that our Armed Forces have endured great sacrifices, and may be called upon in the future to do so again. For all of their unselfsih acts, no matter how small, I would like to say "thank you."
Lance Jaakola
Hermosa Beach