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Letters
People’s ice plant alliance
Dear ER:
As longtime residents of Manhattan Beach and people who have spent much of our lives in the ocean, on the beach, and on The Strand, the People’s Ice Plant Restoration Alliance must comment on the recent article about the Strand "gardens" ("Strand gardens allowed to stay," ER Oct. 11, 2001).
Strand residents surely had good intentions when they began landscaping the areas in front of their houses many years ago. Unfortunately, what began as a couple of plants here and there has evolved into a situation in which many Strand residents have clearly declared ownership of public property. Some have even hired professional contractors to install lighting, irrigation, retaining walls, and pavers, and to plant vegetation as well as lay sod on public property. Lawn furniture, children’s toys, statues, pink flamingos, barbecues and other objects litter the area. Incredibly, a sign admonishes those walking on The Strand to keep their voices down so as not to disturb residents.
Give us a break. We have a very hard time believing that the residents responsible for the "improvements" did so to beautify the area for the benefit of all. The majority of the areas are surrounded by fences, which Webster’s defines as "a structure erected around or by the side of any open space to prevent passage."
We’re sure these folks wouldn’t mind if they looked out their window and saw a few members of the public (rightful owners of the property) using the furniture or picnicking on the lawn for a few hours.
Furthermore, beauty is subjective – an 8-foot hedge obscuring the view of the ocean is not our idea of an "improvement," nor are the other non-indigenous plants now populating the area.
We are sure many residents support leaving the gardens intact. We completely disagree with this, as do other longtime locals who have recently formed the People’s Ice Plant Restoration Alliance. We will be contacting Supervisor Don Knabe to be certain our views are heard. We have confidence the county will do the right thing and mandate that the property be returned to its natural state. But if it is decided that these "gardens" should remain in their present state, as residents and taxpayers, our members will be first in line to be assigned our own personal parcels, and we will landscape them with ice plant.
Mark Turner, Steve Fisher, Tim Ferguson, Barry Host, and Daryll
Dickie
People’s Ice Plant Restoration Alliance
Manhattan Beach
F or fairness
Dear ER:
As a business person in downtown Hermosa Beach, I urge your Yes vote on Measure
F.
Parking is the most important element of any business, and my business suffers when a long list of commercial events hit town and consume all the parking.
And to make matters worse, commercial events compete directly with my sales. Not only do they set up malls on the beach selling exactly what I sell, they even set up their booths right in front of my shop.
The only way I can stay in business during summer holiday weekends is to pay the chamber $250 so I can set up a booth too. Otherwise, I’m out of business. That is patently unfair.
I am a small business struggling to make it and live the American Dream.
But all of this is sacrificed when my voice counts for nothing at city hall. Instead of the Hermosa Beach Chamber promoting my business, they support outside interests who take their profits out of the city, pay no business license or local sales tax to the city, and don’t have overhead.
The system has been broken in Hermosa for far too long. It’s high time we fix it once and for all. It’s the fairest thing we can do for all businesses and residents alike.
If you believe in the American Dream, please vote Yes on F and give the little guys a break in our downtown for a change.
Katherine Buchanan
Splash Bath and Body
Hermosa Beach
Magic moments threatened
Dear ER:
One of the groups performing at the Hermosa Beach Sunset Concerts on the Sand
this year invited audience members to come on stage and sing a chorus of "My
Girl." A few people got up and sang with great enthusiasm. The crowd was
delighted. There won’t be any more concerts or moments like that if Proposition
F on the November ballot is approved. This proposition is not the legislative
equivalent of a smart bomb. It will indiscriminately affect and could wipe out
all events in the coastal zone.
In the voter pamphlet, the proponents claim that the Mervyn’s Beach Bash, which featured extreme sports and beach volleyball drew the "worst elements of society" including Crips gang members to Hermosa. Actually, it was mostly kids and their parents. Crips gang members don’t skateboard nor are they particularly interested in beach volleyball.
They also claim that "paid admission for the beach has started." This is not true.
Considering the trouble the AVP got into when they decided to charge admission a few years ago, it is highly unlikely there will be attempts to charge admission to anything in the future.
They also cite "unruly crowds." As always, only the Fourth of July crowd got unruly this year. I doubt they can outlaw that particular holiday.
Proposition F is a rotten idea. A similar proposal was defeated in Manhattan. Let’s defeat it in Hermosa and continue to have the appropriate commissions and our elected city council review and approve beach events.
Victor Silva
Hermosa Beach
Rollover mentality
Dear ER:
They appear to be nice people, but why do they continue to mislead us? They
obviously don’t know the difference between available cash, restricted
funds, investments and real estate and all the ins and outs of a city budget.
To them it’s one big pot, available to be used any way and any time. Why
worry about tomorrow.
They know that few people can read a city budget but wave it around like they understand it and claim there are line items that do not exist…like another downtown parking structure.
One co-chairman claims the city council isn’t trying to cut the cost of upgrading city hall. The other screams rude remarks to a councilman for trying to do exactly that. The building has no heat, no air conditioning, is an electrician and firefighter’s nightmare and is not accessible to the disabled but that doesn’t matter because it only houses city workers.
They don’t seem to understand that if a project is in this year’s budget but does not get completely funded or completed, it rolls over to the next year’s budget. They call the rollover a surplus.
Don’t be fooled. The new car dealers are leaving. The state has financial problems and can take more of the 20 percent returned to the city from your property taxes. The county can take more too. No other government can touch the UUT. We have to pay the Stop Oil lawyers. We will have to pay McPherson for breaking the contract (a figure that will be in the millions). We have street and sewers to repair. Keep the UUT. Vote No on H.
Susan Blaco
Hermosa Beach
Starbucks or bucks for stars
Dear ER:
The cost of our new Public Safety buildings is $17.50 per $100,000 of assessed
valuation (not market value). I understand the average assessed value in Manhattan
Beach is $300,000. This equates to less than $4.50 per month. Let’s see…that
probably buys a latte at Starbucks, a beer at Michi’s, a couple of gallons
of gas, or lunch at McDonalds. Or, it can buy new police and fire stations that
meet earthquake codes and house all of our wonderful police and fire department
employees. These are the people we’ll call on in an emergency and they
deserve better facilities. Vote "Yes" on Measure Y!
Joan Dontanville
Former Mayor of Manhattan Beach
Super majority
Dear ER:
There is little, if any opposition to the fact that Manhattan Beach's Police
and Fire facilities are in dire need of significant upgrades. Our city council
unanimously agrees that replacement of our existing public safety facilities
is of the absolute highest priority, even when compared to the many important
issues they currently face.
Yet do not be mistaken, the public facilities bond issue on our November 6th ballots (Measure Y) is no ‘slam dunk.' By state mandate, this bond issue requires a two-thirds majority of those who vote in order to pass. If our city's current plan for new Police and Fire facilities is to move forward in the most expedient manner, there will need to be two ‘Yes' votes for every ‘No’ vote.
There are approximately 24,000 registered voters in Manhattan Beach, but our voting history suggests that perhaps only 20 percent will trouble themselves to vote in this election. Rest assured that those who oppose this issue will vote. How about you?
Should this bond issue not pass, there are no guarantees that the city will do anything at all to replace the existing facilities. At best, starting from scratch with respect to defining a new source for the needed funds will involve a public process that will cause a significant delay, and therefore, increased costs. Meanwhile, our police and firefighters will be forced to continue to operate out of substandard facilities for that much longer.
Get out and vote YES on Measure ‘Y.’ Now more than ever.
Gerry O'Connor, Chairman
Residents for Public Safety (A Committee in Support of Measure Y)|
Manhattan Beach
Fire fighters’ thanks
Dear ER:
On September 29, Redondo Beach hosted the 79th Annual CSFA Conference, vintage
apparatus parade and memorial service. This was our first time coordinating
this event and we would like to extend our thanks and appreciation for Easy
Reader’s excellent coverage of the parade and memorial service ("Firefighters
discuss new challenges," ER Oct. 4, 2001).
Initially we anticipated a small number of participants; but, because of the tragic events of September 11, the number of apparatus displayed grew tremendously as did the spectators.
We appreciate the kind words and beautiful pictures.
Patrick Aust, Fire Chief
Redondo Beach Fire Department
Solemn duty
Dear ER:
The most important and solemn duty of the city council is to collect the public’s
money from federal, state, county and city sources and budget those funds in
the best interests of the citizens they serve. The present council and council;
candidates not only have a right, they have an obligation to understand the
city budget; not just the General Fund, but the "Total Funds Available"
our $51,547,245.00 city portfolio.This "understanding" is evidently
lacking because not one council person, council candidate or our city treasurer
has taken up my offer to debate one-on-one on public TV. Yet, they all oppose
the repeal of the UUT; they all plan to vote No on H. They all want to keep
collecting 6 percent on each one of our utility bills, while amassing an equivalent
surplus, the "unexpected fund balance," into the ever expanding city
savings account.
Have they spent your money well? After 16 UUT years have your street been repaired, the sewer project completed? Is the Mervyns Beach Bash and the Plaza your cup of community tea?
We will continue as best we can to get YES on H data to the voter via noutilitytax.com, our ongoing website.
Katherine Bergstrom, Co-Chair Committee to Repeal UUT
Hermosa Beach
Editorial symmetry
Dear ER:
On your front page you have a story about a young lady gone mad (ER 10/11/01
"Against her will"). On page 7 you have a column by a writer gone
mad (Shadow Government, "After victory"). "If we want peace again,
we shall have to earn it. And we will have to justify first to ourselves and
then to a skeptical world, especially the long-aggrieved world of Islam, the
blood we have begun to shed."
Would you ask of columnist Jackson a list of those things that the United States must do in order to be granted absolution.
Perhaps, for starters we should cast off Israel, allow Hoover Dam to be destroyed, and start a war with India. Jackson has gone too far. I know he comes cheap and gathers attention but like a snake's skin, he needs shedding.
David Wachtfogel