Stop, police
Dear ER:
I just read this story [“Man arrested following drive-thru quarrel”, ER June 30, 2013] and it leaves me very concerned. You have a dispute between two different parties, an accusation by a third party witness that says there was a gun involved, and neither the supposed victim, or gun has been located. This seems to be another scary scenario where our people who are supposed to protect and serve are in a position to overreact and make arrests based on no evidence but just someone’s word, who, by the way was not involved in the incident.
This is very frightening. Anyone could say they saw something about anything or anyone. Is that enough evidence to make an arrest? I was raised to believe that the police were there to protect and serve, but it seems more and more we are hearing these stories of officers that make me wonder if some just enjoy being mean and bullying because they have a badge. At a time when people are worried about government tapped phones, should we also be concerned about over zealous protectors becoming the thing we need to fear the most? This makes the good police look really bad.
Robin Ridenour
Redondo Beach
Bad angle
Dear ER:
I’m disappointed in the May 9 [Beach magazine] cover photo of the athletically talented (and beautiful) Coral Kemp. I like to think sports should primarily provide positive role models. I’m sure Ms. Kemp deserves, and has many, up-and-coming athletes as fans.
My concern is the cover photo itself – her buns (or whatever you want to call them) should not be prominently displayed. As we live in a very body conscious area, many young female athletes have difficulties with body image, disordered eating, and self-confidence. I hope that most of our young, talented female athletes were too busy taking their AP tests and training for their next game or race to have noticed the photo.
That said, please make a better choice next time.
Laura Cattivera White
Hermosa Beach
SUP bro?
Dear ER:
Noah, I had to share your letter [Noah Caswell-Levy, LTE, June 13, “What’s SUP?”] with my family and we sure did get a good laugh. You are an eloquent writer – prosaic, yet your piece sounded a bit ungrateful. Last time I checked this was not your ocean so try to lighten up and enjoy your time out there.
Now, I totally agree with your complaints about etiquette and the education of new surfers, SUPers, etc. I get your frustration and you make some good points but you need to relax a bit. There are many, many SUPers that understand the culture so stop generalizing everyone on a SUP. Sounds like Manhattan Beach has changed too much for you so I invite you to come down to Hermosa for some water time. Maybe afterwards we can get a drink at Waterman’s or a yummy breakfast burrito at Brother’s?
Jose Bacallao
Hermosa Beach
A sensible approach
Dear ER:
At the 6/11 Hermosa Beach City Council meeting, a strategic plan for downtown was presented which demonstrated that when groups work together constructively towards a solution, concerns can be addressed in a well thought out manner. Some elements I support and want to highlight are:
– Encouraging daytime business. This is key to reducing reliance on the midnight – 2 a.m. “witching hour”. If the city works with the business owners and Chamber of Commerce towards activities and development that draw people to our downtown during the day, it will naturally alleviate some of the pressures associated with driving profits within a very short time window. A thriving daytime would also provide the opportunity for a different mix of businesses to succeed and broaden the appeal to all residents, including families.
– Cross utilization of our Community Service Officers with broader and more valuable enforcement responsibilities. For example, with additional training, CSOs could issue a broader range of citations than just parking, including ones involving “bad behavior” of unruly patrons. This additional enforcement maximizes the value of CSOs to the city and would demonstrate that Hermosa Beach’s culture of tolerance involving such behavior is coming to an end. If implemented, this could be a win-win-win for everyone; residents, business owners and the city.
I applaud their efforts and hope that this report is not simply “received and filed”, but will serve as a working document towards a long term strategic vision for our downtown.
Carolyn Petty
Hermosa Beach
Street trash
Dear ER:
In a city where parking is already at a shortage, our “leaders” decided to hire a new non-union trash company that uses a mechanical arm trash service. In the new flyer from Athens Services It says “cart wheels should be placed against the curb, with carts spaced 1 foot apart” and further “please make sure they are accessible and not blocked by any obstacles such as vehicles.” Really? People have a hard enough time finding a parking space now. With trash cans in the street, where are cars supposed to park? And if you have trash service the same day as street cleaning, you already lose one side of the street for parking…Do our city “leaders” really know our city? This means people are going to have to go out the night before and hopefully have a space in front of their house and try and block cars from parking in the spots. Because if cars are parked in front of your trash, how is the mechanical arm going to pick it up?
Gary Burritt
Hermosa Beach
Rosolowski’s rebuttal
Dear ER:
Dawn, thanks for your long list of qualifications. But you didn’t address my concerns.
Your biggest bit of real business experience seems puffed up and overblown. You make IMG Outdoor, a home-based business, sound like a Fortune 500 company. Annual revenues of $300,000 does not equate to running a big business, or a City Treasury. The business license application for IMG Outdoor lists you as a Director, with no mention of CFO. And until recently, your profile on LinkedIn listed duties consistent with being a Director – coordinate customs clearance and customer deliveries, trade show cold call sales, manage customer service and sales support employees at our manufacturing facilities. Only recently did you add financial duties.
Being a CFO myself, I know the qualifications I look for to hire someone into my Finance Department, and Dawn, you don’t have them. So how can you expect to run our city’s Treasury Department?
Sorry Dawn, I prefer a Treasurer who has 20-plus years of hands-on experience in a nice sized, local business, Steve Diels. And I’m thinking that many other voters feel the same way.
Vote experience – in finance, in city government, and in service to his constituents. Vote Steve Diels for Treasurer.
Larry Rosolowski
Redondo Beach
Treasurer by the numbers
Dear ER:
The City Treasurer has three main duties:
1) Fiduciary Manager of City’s $67 million investment portfolio – ensure the safety (no loss of principal), liquidity (cash needed to pay city bills are available); return (interest income earned off investments).
2) Tax Administrator – Ensures receipt and audit of tax revenues from businesses (User Utility Tax, Occupancy Tax, Sales Tax). Manages audits performed by contracted professional auditors. Responsible for increasing tax revenues $1 million/year on average through audit process.
3) Provide internal checks and balances on City’s finances.
Currently the office is staffed with two full-time professionals, Acting Treasurer and Deputy Treasurer. As part of the 2013/14 fiscal year budget package, a plan has been submitted to Council to right-size the office and replace the Deputy Treasurer with a part-time support person to save $122,000 annually. This is in line with the Deputy Treasurer’s plans to retire. I support this plan and believe the three main duties of the Treasurer should remain under the elected Treasurer’s responsibility.
My opponent has stated the Treasurer’s department is a burden on the City. Let’s look at the numbers. With the right-sizing of the office, the budget is $385,000. The forecasted return on the investment portfolio is $567,000 (0.87% return) of which $380,000 goes to the General Fund. Even in this extremely low interest rate market, the interest income covers the Treasurer’s cost, and as an extra bonus, tax revenues are increased by approximately $1 million per year by the Treasurer. This important office is hardly a burden on the City.
Dawn Esser
Redondo Beach
Oil city
Dear ER:
I’ve lived in Hermosa a long time, and up until now life here was pretty sweet. Never once did I think it might be sweeter if City Hall had more money and we had oil wells in our backyard.
Hermosa Beach is known and loved all around the world. We’re a “Best Little Beach City”, a winner of Green City awards, and now we’re pushing toward carbon neutrality. The tragic irony of such a city killing itself by oil drilling is completely unacceptable to me. Who will want to visit or live here when we become the latest oil disaster on the nightly news?
Allan Mason
Hermosa Beach
Mall Expansion
Dear ER:
Manhattan Beach residents: Why would you want something in our city that would bring more traffic, congestion, crime and trash? Why is the mall expansion moving forward when most of the residents do not want it? Do we really need to enlarge a mall that will have most of the same shops as every other mall in the country and will bring in even more traffic? Isn’t this “our” city, and what can we do to stop it?
Every resident I have talked to is opposed to this expansion for many reasons. Sepulveda is already a traffic nightmare, Rosecrans and Manhattan Beach Boulevard are not far behind, and Marine is catching up. We all know that crime has become much more prevalent in our city. We already have the new El Segundo development bordering our city, and the Galleria is only a short drive away. The developers will be more than happy to take the money, and we will be left with all the problems.
The mall was never better than when it first opened, and it fit nicely into the charm of our city. We had some unique little shops that, unfortunately, were forced out due to huge monthly rent increases which they were unable to afford. Some time after the mall opened, there was an article in the LA Times about malls and how most of them were losing money. They mentioned the Manhattan Beach mall as being one of the most successful ones, and said that they rarely had a vacancy. What happened? Maybe because it’s not unique anymore….
In the recent city election, many of us voted for the candidates who were opposed to a large mall development. We need to let them know how we feel about this and listen to what they have to say. I trust they will not let us down. We all need to realize that the larger the mall, the more traffic, congestion, crime and trash will be left for us to deal with, and is this what we want? Maybe we should take a vote to see how the residents feel about this expansion. Perhaps we need a committee to pull something together and put a stop to this before Manhattan Beach become Manhattan Metropolis.
Shirley Eshbaugh
Manhattan Beach
Consultant Beach
Dear ER:
Directly and deviously related to Hermosa’s Mermaid property hotel-intensification dumb idea was a brief Council study session held June 11 with one of the numerous consultants Hermosa Beach has been hiring lately. This consultant (ultimately costing $225,000) is providing “direction on a strategic plan for economic development of the civic center and downtown opportunity sites”.
Welcome to Hermosa’s latest scam to justify raising Hermosa’s downtown building height limit by 50% (from 30 feet to 45 feet) and build parking garages for no less than 2,000 vehicles all around the downtown.
The consultant has been directed by Mayor Bobko and Councilman DiVirgilio (the council’s behind-the-scenes liaison to this costly consultant) to return with proposals to increase the downtown’s height limit up to 45 feet, and place parking garages under the tennis courts, skate park, City Hall, behind the Bank of America and other locations, all at taxpayer expense, to provide parking for private downtown owners unwilling to pay for and allocate parking on their own property, as every residential developer must.
Justification for increasing building height downtown was comically explained by the consultant as “you can’t design nice 3-story buildings within a 30-foot height limit.” Well, hello! That’s absolutely correct. But what the consultant, Bobko, and DiVirgilio are clearly ignorant of, is that Hermosa voters, over twenty years ago, noticed the success of Manhattan Beach’s late-1960s voted 26-foot downtown height limit. They also, wanting to reduce Hermosa’s own downtown intensity and chaos, similarly then voted to reduce Hermosa’s downtown height limit to 30 feet to all but discourage overly intensive 3-story developments.
Hermosa voters wanted to protect the eclectic nature of their downtown and encourage high-quality two-story remodels and new construction with architectural roof facades. 30 feet is more than enough for that. Who wants wall-to-wall 45-foot-high, 3-story monoliths and another 2,000 cars parked downtown?
Howard Longacre
Hermosa Beach
