Get a dog
Dear ER:
In response to your reader who alleges that having dogs in our live exposes use to an unbelievable array of diseases and that you are in fact “risking your life,” the facts are quite the contrary. Numerous scientific studies have shown that dog owners are healthier and live longer than others. More recently, research into why children are increasingly at risk for autoimmune diseases indicates that children and infants exposed to dogs are healthier, develop more mature immune responses, and are less prone to autoimmune diseases. A simple internet search will turn up a large number of such studies. My suggestion is that your reader get a dog.
Gordon J Louttit
Manhattan Beach
Healthy walks
Dear ER:
While I wholeheartedly agree that all pet owners should clean up after their pets, can we please put this in perspective? My family and I often walk the Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach Strand and greenbelt. We have yet to witness urine infested benches and walkways and we smell the ocean and the plants. We see tons of fabulous dogs, and often strike up conversations with their owners. Â My kids have grown up with both cats and dogs, and I am happy to report nobody in our family has succumbed to anything described on the “partial” laundry list of horrible diseases listed in the most recent letter. People in our community are suffering from many things — depression, addiction, obesity, loneliness and anxiety to name a few. Risks to kids include stress, drugs, alcohol, vaping and social media. Despite all our resources, the South Bay ranks extremely high in stress and anger. Pets are proven antidotes to this. Pets reduce blood pressure, loneliness and often give sedentary and lonely people a reason to go for a walk and connect with others. Any dog owner will attest to the unconditional love dogs provide. We have wonderful dogs parks and paths, and we are a community with resources to keep the neighborhood clean. Â Dogs are an integral part of the South Bay and it wouldn’t be as wonderful without them. For those “pissed off” I suggest getting to know these wonderful creatures better. They are man’s best friend for a reason.
Marie Walsh
Redondo Beach
Flush the plan
Dear ER:
Plans to implement the  Hermosa Beach stormwater project against the residents of Hermosa Beach and common sense, destroying the Greenbelt, have to be stopped (“Added scrutiny for Hermosa Beach stormwater project,” ER June 21, 2018). Many of us have written letters, presented our views, however I see the writing on the wall from the city council. They will do this, regardless of our combined disgust with this waste water holding area, serving other cities, dumping their waste in our precious greenbelt. The ongoing delays, meetings, discussions,  and providing the perception of listening to the residents is a strategy in which they will move ahead regardless. Please for past, current and future generations, turn this discussion into creating the Greenbelt as a protected, historical trail and don’t turn it into a holding tank cesspool.
Brian Hilgers
Hermosa Beach
No call to small
Dear ER:
As a former prosecutor, general counsel to several police departments and Mayor/Councilmember, I can say with certainty that our Manhattan Beach Police Department officers are the “best of the best.” Â MBPD officers are exemplary in community policing. However, community policing begins with the residents of Manhattan Beach. We, the residents, are the eyes and ears and the foundation of support. For our community to be the safest we can be, we need to help our MBPD officers by doing the following. First, if we see something, we need to say something. If we see something out of the ordinary or suspicious, we need to call 911. The MBPD culture is “no call too small, we respond to them all.” Second, all residents, property owners and business owners, need to contact MBPD to register their security cameras. Â If all security cameras were registered with MBPD, it would serve as a deterrent and be a great crime fighting tool. Third, each and every block throughout our City needs to join Neighborhood Watch. Imagine how 100 percent participation would deter crime and prevent crime. Finally, as residents, we need to heed the advice of MBPD “lock it or lose it” campaign. Let’s help the women and men of MBPD in making Manhattan Beach the safest city we can be.
Mark Burton
Manhattan Beach
Escape route
Dear ER:
Last week, the Redondo Beach City Council was tasked with the decision to use taxpayers money to defend one of the Council Member’s allegedly illegal activity (Nehrenheim had to recuse himself from that vote) (Nils demands defense in trespassing suit,” ER Aug. 20 2018). While they unanimously voted to use the taxpayers money to pay for legal fees they also reserved the right to withdraw support and be reimbursed.  Thank you Council Member Lowenstein for maintaining the right for withdrawal and protecting the taxpayers.
Mickey Marraffino
Redondo Beach
A councilman goes into a bar…
Dear ER:
A man goes into a bar, a bar he’s banned from (Nehrenheim had to recuse himself from that vote) (Nils demands defense in trespassing suit,” ER Aug. 20 2018).. Then when the man is asked to leave, he becomes belligerent and ignores the request. I believe the owner is within his rights to ban this man. I the man didn’t agree, he should have proceeded by lodging a complaint, not by trespassing. As a result of ignoring the ban, the owner filed a lawsuit against the man for trespassing. And now the city will be held financially responsible for defending this man. If District 1 Council member Nils Nehrenheim truly cared about our city, he wouldn’t have put us at risk over something so stupid — just because a man went into a bar.
Susan Ludwig
Redondo Beach
The right call
Dear ER:
To their credit, both Redondo Beach Councilmembers Todd Loewenstein and Nils Nehrenheim expressed their gratitude to their fellow councilmembers for sticking their necks out, in a 4-0 vote, to defend Nehrenheim in a personal lawsuit (Nehrenheim had to recuse himself from that vote) (Nils demands defense in trespassing suit,” ER Aug. 20 2018). For the City Council, this was a tough decision, and woefully unpopular with their respective constituencies — why should taxpayers be footing the bill for a personal lawsuit when there are potholes to be patched and trees to be trimmed. But, believe it or not, it was the right call. As long as, Nehrenheim remains a citizen of these United States he’s is afforded the Constitutional principle of the Presumption of Innocence. Loewenstein and Nehrenheim’s tributes to their fellow colleagues are well deserved and much appreciated. Hopefully, their declarations of goodwill will not be drowned out in the din.
Pat Healy
Redondo Beach
Pattern of misbehavior
Dear ER:
Two months after the July 11, 2018 Citizens’ Oversight Committee meeting, the Hermosa Beach School District has still not posted a current report on Measure S expenditures. District officials will probably claim that failing to post current Measure S expenditures was an oversight;  just like the “oversight” that occurred when the same district failed to inform voters on the the 2002 ballot that the primary planned expenditure of the Measure J bond was to be a gymnasium instead of classrooms. Taken should be taken together with the facts that 1. district personnel conspired in six hours of meetings with HBCSD’s attorney to prepare a one hour presentation for a May 31, 2016 joint meeting, one week before the 2016 Measure S vote, that was rife with incorrect information and mischaracterizations of facts; 2. that the same HBCSD attorney who outright lied in his May 31st presentation has been responsible for managing the preparation of the North School Environmental Impact Report; 3. that the consultant hired by the district fabricated information in her historical assessment of North School; 4. that 12 pages of public comment were missing from the draft Environmental Impact Report and 5. that the district deleted financial reports off their website that reported declining enrollment and much more. It is therefore not a stretch to assume that the reason the district has not posted current Measure S expenditures is because it doesn’t want the public to know how much and on what their bond funds have already been spent.
Miyo Prassas
Hermosa Beach
