Letters to the Editor 6-12-25
Kid safety before gun safety
Dear ER:
The Redondo Beach City Council is considering eliminating school crossing guards to save money, as well as borrowing millions to cover pension liabilities due to lower-than-expected tax revenues. What’s truly alarming? While we’re slashing basic safety services and borrowing just to pay the bills, the city is spending $1.3 million to plan a $17 million dollar police gun range. Yes, you read that right: the safety of our children is being put behind an expensive, speculative gun range project.
Even worse, this $1.3 million is to develop the proposal—before any construction starts. The full $17 million cost is supposedly contingent on a Federal grant covering 70% to 80%, leaving Redondo taxpayers on the hook for $3.5 to $5.1 million, plus operating costs for decades. And let’s be real: with nationwide Federal cutbacks there’s no guarantee this grant will ever come through—no matter what vague promises were made by a General from the capital.
It appears this effort is being driven more by the political ambition of a councilmember to curry favor with the police union and its campaign support than by any real public safety need. That’s not leadership, it’s trading our kids’ safety for political gain.
Stop this pie-in-the-sky gun range project now. We should be focusing on real needs—like keeping our kids safe on the way to school—and balancing the city’s budget without borrowing or cutting essential services.
Wayne Craig
Redondo Beach
Owner consideration
Dear ER:
My parents live in Hermosa Beach, and own rental property in the parking permit areas. They are 80 years old, and cannot walk for blocks carrying heavy tools. But it is impossible for them to find nearby parking to work on their Hermosa properties because Hermosa does not allow property owners to get parking permits.
Karlyn Clifton
Hermosa Beach
Chapel true to the goals
Dear ER:
We moved to Rancho Palos Verdes just as the city was incorporating, with the goals of preservation and conservation at its heart. We lived there for 40 years, so I am grateful for the good news about Wayfarers Chapel. In addition, letting the chapel’s former site go back to nature makes perfect sense, and keeping bees there is helping nature replenish. Making the honey available at the Point Vicente gift shop is brilliant. The City of Rancho Palos Verdes has shown a true faithfulness to its original goals of preservation and conservation. Plans to preserve the Point Vicente Lighthouse and the Wayfarers Chapel fulfills the wishes of the City Founders.
Barbara Epstein
Redondo Beach
Redwood resurrection
Dear ER:
I grew up in Palos Verdes and several friends were married in Wayfarers Chapel. I remember it as a rest stop during the “walk for hunger” in the early ‘70s. I understand some of the Chapel’s redwood beams have degraded and might not be usable in rebuilding the chapel. I live in Humboldt County in a home surrounded by Redwood trees. If Redwood beams are needed, I would be willing to donate suitable trees. Although logistics of transportation could be difficult.
Colleen Tarr
Humboldt
Redondo Parker remembered
Dear ER:
Not only was Parker Herriott active in Hermosa Beach, he was equally active in Redondo Beach (“Memorial for activist Herriott,” ER June 5, 2025). He worked to get council meetings televised, he worked to preserve historic homes, he worked to improve Dominguez Park, and he was forever videoing historic events. We owe Parker so much for his activism. Just a great South Bay guy who loved people. He also worked on local campaigns for council. We’re going to miss you Parker. Thanks for everything you did.
Steve Colin
Redondo Beach
Parker’s Park a Noble effort
Parker Harriott was described by La Playita owner Harold Cohen (top photo) as “The Happy Warrior” during a gathering of friends and community leaders on Sunday at Noble Park, at 14th Street and The Strand in Hermosa Beach. Though named after a financial contributor, the park was Parker’s creation, Cohen said. “After his first four park ballot measures failed, I told him to stop wasting his time. But he wouldn’t listen. And on his fifth try, in 1992, he got his park initiative passed.” Former Councilmember Jim Rosenberger (bottom photo) recalled Parker telling opponents who complained the park would attract undesirables, “Just call the police and tell them to throw the councilmen out of the park.”
Photos by Kevin Cody