Manhattan Beach stays green, schools excel, a leader leaves, a giant falls, and a young star fades
THE YEAR IN MANHATTAN BEACH
In 2009, a city manager left after 15 years, a police detective saved two women from drowning, and a controversial sand dune may have met its fate. The city and community rallied to keep a school district afloat through continual gouges in its budget and schools ranked fifth in the state academically. Residents united to dissolve two undergrounding utility districts and others saw their lawns turn brown after watering hours were restricted. There were tragic downsides — a car accident claimed the life of a former Mira Costa baseball player and a former politician passed away.
The city's long, fierce, and potentially costly battle over undergrounding moved towards wires staying above ground. Photo by Carley Dryden
If residents weren’t aware at the beginning of this year that California is in a severe drought, most know by now.
At the very least, they know that since July they have only been allowed to water their lawns twice a week.
After three consecutive years of drought and a 25 percent decline in state water reservoir levels, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state emergency on Feb. 28, urging urban water users to cut consumption by 20 percent.
On June 2, the city adopted a new water conservation ordinance in an effort to reduce its water use 20 percent by 2020 and by 10 percent immediately.
The updated ordinance went into effect in July and included a laundry list of permanent measures, such as limiting watering hours and turning off sprinklers during rainy periods.
By the time the ordinance went into effect, the state’s drought conditions were so severe that the Metropolitan Water District of California had declared a Stage 2 Water Shortage, prompting the city to implement greater restrictions, including no vehicle washing at home, no filling swimming pools, and irrigation of lawns on only Wednesdays and Saturdays for 15 minutes max between 6 p.m. and 9 a.m.
Enforcement of the ordinance is based largely on voluntary compliance. Warning notices were sent out to non-compliant residents, but no fines have been issued in violation of the ordinance to date.
“I’m not a firm believer that we’re going to get there voluntarily,” said Councilman Richard Montgomery. He said residents should tell neighbors who unknowingly have sprinklers going off at 2 a.m. that they are wasting water. “You’re not ratting out your neighbor; you’re doing your job.”
In March, the city’s environmental task force reported that citywide water use amounted to 2.2 billion gallons of water a year, or 170 gallons per person per day.
By November, water usage was reduced by an average of 22 percent per month.
While City Council members praised the success of the ordinance, many residents complained that their lawns were turning brown as a result.
Many drought-tolerant gardens sprouted up throughout the city, helping residents strike a balance between watering restrictions and curbside appeal.
“We’re on the path,” Councilman Richard Montgomery said. “We will continue doing the right thing.”
Manhattan schools endured more than $4 million in cuts but still managed to excel academically, scoring 5th in the state in academic testing.
Educational cuts
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District continued to excel academically this year in the face of economic challenges that forced it to cut more than $4 million from its $50 million budget and send layoff notices to more than 80 teachers.
MBUSD increased its Academic Performance Index score from 907 to 915 – on a scale of 200 to 1,000 – making it the fifth highest performing school district in the state.
The state imposed education funding cuts twice last year and at year’s end – with another $8 billion budget deficit looming – and appeared headed for yet another round of reductions. Thus far, however, the community has rallied to the school districts’ rescue. The Manhattan Beach Education Foundation contributed a whopping $2.7 million over the past year, while the City of Manhattan Beach stepped in with $1.3 million, despite facing its own budgetary woes. The city had for the first time in its history contributed to MBUSD the previous year, when the City Council voted to dip into its reserves to give the district $520,000.
“You all remember one teacher, your favorite teacher,” Rachel Thomas-Wilson, president of the Manhattan Beach Unified Teachers Association told the City Council. “You just brought back a bunch of those people for a bunch of those kids.”
The district was able to restore 56 positions that had been slated for elimination. But in December, Assistant Superintendent Steve Romines warned the school board to prepare for another $1 million to $2 million in cuts due to the state’s ongoing economic crisis.
“The political lay of the land is shaping up for budget cuts,” Romines told the board.
Rohrer said the district must be prepared for a long, tough slog financially.
“Everybody has to hear this and understand in order for this to start moving down… It’s going to take a number of years,” Rohrer said. “We’re looking at three to four years. We need to do anything we can do to increase revenue locally, and we need to be creative.”
Sand dune closed
The controversial dune at the city's Sand Dune Park was closed while city officials tried to determine a way to asuage neighborhood concerns over the traffic and noise associated with the popular training facility. Photo by Carley Dryden
After nearly a decade of controversy, the city in August closed the sand dune at Sand Dune Park, possibly forever.
Residents flooded the City Council chambers at an Aug. 4 meeting, angry about the crowds, noise, the verbal assaults, and parking issues the dune has attracted over the years.
“It was never intended to be a regional athletic resource,” said longtime 33rd Street resident George Salmus. “Return it to the community who built it.”
The City Council agreed to explore different alternatives for the dune’s fate, including charging admission, limiting park hours, installing parking meters and permanent closure.
Many residents expressed fears that such measures — save the last one — wouldn’t cut it.
In July, 9,000 people visited the sand dune, according to the city. A typical summer brings 6,000 people in the busiest months, 3,000 in the off season (October through December).
“The whole issue is the sheer number of people. It’s gotten completely out of hand,” resident Cheryl Vargo said.
The City Council temporarily closed the dune on Aug. 14 and said it would reopen it when maintenance issues were resolved. They tasked the Parking and Public Improvements Commission and the Parks and Recreation department to explore alternative options.
In hopes of getting the sand dune at Sand Dune Park closed permanently, neighbors bombarded commissioners during the following weeks with horror stories of overcrowding and verbal abuse from visitors to the 100-foot dune.
At a Sept. 24 commission meeting, nearly 100 angry residents made clear that parking meters and a residential parking permit wouldn’t suffice. Similarly, the majority of residents at a Nov. 16 Parks and Recreation meeting refused to consider the advantages of any plans requiring the reopening of the dune.
Meanwhile, frequent sand dune users pleaded with the city not to shut down the park that makes Manhattan Beach unique. Others questioned why residents moved into an area that they knew housed a 100-foot amenity and now complain about the consequences.
“I don’t think it’s right to penalize Manhattan Beach resident users and close a very unique facility,” said resident Bill Hory. “There is no other place you can have a muscular workout with minimal impact to the back and knees.”
Most neighbors have enjoyed the peace and quiet of the past four months since the closure of the controversial dune.
“Come live our lives and you will understand how our quality of life has been disrupted these last 15 years,” said Sandy Franchini. “It has been wonderful to have our quality of life returned to us.”
Parks and Recreation Director Richard Gill said the two commissions will have a joint meeting in January to discuss the proposed solutions. City Council will choose from the commissions’ proposals in February.
Baseball tragedy
A car accident that took the life of former Mira Costa High School baseball player Henry Nigel Pearson and Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart made national headlines in April.
Courtney Stewart, 20, of Diamond Bar was driving Pearson, 24, Adenhart, 22, and Jon Wilhite, 24 — also a former baseball player at Mira Costa — when her car was struck by a drunk driver in Fullerton April 8, just hours after Adenhart had thrown six scoreless innings in an impressive start against the Oakland Athletics.
The foursome had been celebrating Adenhart’s success at a local club before the collision tragically cut short the lives of Adenhart, Stewart and Pearson, of Manhattan Beach.
Wilhite, also of Manhattan Beach, survived the accident after remaining in critical condition at the University of California, Irvine Medical Center in Orange. He suffered an internal decapitation — a rarely survivable injury where the skull is separated from the spine.
Suspect Andrew Gallo, 22, of Riverside, was later arrested for driving his minivan while intoxicated through a red light, broad-siding Stewart’s Mitsubishi Eclipse, and fleeing the scene. He was later indicted on three murder charges.
Former Costa baseball coach Mike Neily said it was a day he would never forget.
“It went from bad to worse to worse,” Neily said, still in shock the day after receiving the news of his former players. “I was sad to hear about Adenhart, who I had just watched pitch the night before. Then I get a call from the hospital in Irvine telling me about Jon. Later, I get the news about Henry. It’s a sad, sad day.”
South Bay Surf Baseball raised $2,000 for the Jon Wilhite Recovery Fund. Remarkably, the former Cal State Fullerton catcher returned to the diamond only two months later.
Undergrounding’s end?
The city’s long-fought battle over utility undergrounding may have met its fate after the City Council dissolved Utility Undergrounding District 13 at a Dec. 1 council meeting, citing a combination of high prices, confusing methodology, and bad timing.
“This will kill undergrounding,” Council Member Nick Tell said. “…This is the end of undergrounding in Manhattan Beach.”
District 13, located between Rosecrans and Marine avenues from Alma to Highland avenues, was the second district to be dissolved after years of heated debate. District 8 was dissolved in October. Districts 1, 3, and 5 have already been undergrounded.
Undergrounding opponents, some on the verge of tears, pleaded with council to consider the fairness of forcing some residents to pay thousands of dollars for something they simply don’t want.
“Undergrounding will put me right back to working three jobs,” resident Barbara Burdick said.
Some residents argued there wasn’t enough evidence supporting the premise that safety and reliability would be enhanced and felt that they were being asked to pay thousands of dollars simply for beautification purposes. Mayor Portia Cohen was likewise skeptical.
“I am not convinced of the reliability and safety benefit,” Cohen said.
The decision before the council was whether to allow a vote among property owners to proceed in the district.
“I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity for 33 years,” resident Tim Jonas said. “I’m asking for the opportunity to try this. If we don’t do it now, it will be far down the road and numbers will be a lot worse.”
That opportunity was eliminated after an emotional 3-2 vote.
The $6.67 million cost that residents would have borne — and the confusing methodology used to arrive at undergrounding cost assessments ranging $3,653 to $119,482 — ultimately doomed the district.
Council Member Richard Montgomery warned that the cost of undergrounding will be higher in the future due to additional costs that do not apply now, most crucially a new 45 percent administrative surcharge from Southern California Edison. Opponents were not swayed.
“It is not the time to move forward on this,” Cohen said. “I would like to see our utility lines underground, but that is for a later time.”
Moving on
The city said goodbye to long-time City Manager Geoff Dolan Dec. 13, when his 15 year tenure ended abruptly.
City officials announced that they and Dolan had mutually agreed that he would step down to pursue other endeavors. The city declined to state the reason for the city manager’s sudden resignation. But Dolan, in a brief interview, hinted at friction between himself and the counsel.
“It was a mutual decision for both of us,” Dolan said. “It will give the city the opportunity to move forward and select a manager they want to work with, and I’ll move on.”
Dolan left a city that has been vastly transformed since his arrival in 1995. He oversaw the politically and financially complex building of the Metlox center and police and fire stations. Under his tenure, the city also became known as one of the best financially managed cities in the state. The city is one of only two in California that holds an AAA bond rating.
“I’m going to take some time off,” Dolan said. “I don’t know what’s in store for me. I’m not sure if I will stay in local government or look for a career change. I feel like it might be time to try something different.”
Director of Community Development Richard Thompson was named interim city manager while the city searches for Dolan’s successor, which will most likely take four to six months.
“With the departure of Dolan, we will transition city government into a new era yet to be defined,” Mayor Portia Cohen said.
Former Risk Manager Howard Fishman also retired on Feb. 3 after 18 years of handling all accidents, injuries, claims and lawsuits in the city. He investigated harassment cases, performed labor negotiations, handled employee benefits, purchased the city’s insurance and ensured employee safety. Prior to taking the position as risk manager in 1991, he spent 10 years as the community services supervisor and was the acting Human Resources director three times.
“Howard’s been a fabulous employee… an example of a dedicated public servant who really cares about the city,” Dolan said. “He’s going to be difficult to replace.”
Rescue at sea
The year ended with a daring rescue. Manhattan Beach Police Detective Sgt. Brian Brown paddled out alongside the pier in choppy, 58 degree water on the evening of Dec. 20 to rescue two women clinging to the pier’s pilings.
Captain Greg Lee of the LA County Fire Department Lifeguard Division said that Brown very possibly saved the lives of the women, both 23, both from Ontario, Calif. and both intoxicated before they entered the water, according to police.
“It is likely they would have drowned, based on how they looked after receiving assistance,” Lee said. “They were in bad shape.”
Brown and detectives Matt Sabosky and Andrew Enriquez responded to a call about the women and were the first responders to the scene. “We ran down to the sand and contacted a surfer who told us that a couple girls were drowning in the water, but we couldn’t see them” Brown said. “I noticed his boogie board and fins on the beach and grabbed them. I took off all my clothes, except my jeans, and paddled out. It was pretty nasty. I had a hard time getting out there. I found one female under the pier 50 to 70 yards out, screaming. I put her on my board and saw the other one 20 yards west holding on to the last pier support. I paddled out and she was screaming too. The rip was so strong where they were that I put her on my board too and started paddling north, parallel to the water line to get out of the rip.”
After several minutes, the trio was met in the water on the north side of the pier by lifeguards, who transferred the women to a longboard and brought them ashore. The women suffered cold exposure and minor cuts and lacerations from barnacle-encrusted pilings and were transported to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance.
Police Chief Rod Uyeda praised the work of Brown.
“That’s not what we’re trained to do,” Uyeda said. “When you can call upon someone to do something like that, I think it’s truly a heroic thing. I want to personally shake his hand.”
Rest in peace
Another year gone by gives a chance to reflect on and learn from those who have gone before us.
Former South Bay political giant Bob Beverly Sr. passed away the morning of Oct. 14 at his Manhattan Beach home after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was a former mayor of Manhattan Beach who had gone on to serve in both the California State Assembly and Senate.
Appreciatively known as “The Last Moderate” by colleagues on both sides of the legislative aisle, he authored 427 California laws as a representative for the South Bay. Many locals credit Beverly with saving the Manhattan Beach pier, which had been slated for demolition in the early 1990s. “Without him we wouldn’t have a pier,” former Manhattan Beach Councilman Bob Holmes said.
During Beverly’s Oct. 24 funeral service at American Martyr’s Church, the home of his son and Shellback owner Bob Beverly Jr. was being burglarized by three Hawthorne women. Detective Andrew Enriquez of the Manhattan Beach Police Department later arrested the trio. “That’s one of the lowest things you can do,” Bob Beverly Jr. said. “Thank you to all who honored my father’s life with their presence.”
Manhattan Beach musical institution David Freeman, a.k.a. “Tuba Dave” of the Manhattan Beach Hyperion Outfall Serenaders, died on Sept. 23 of congestive heart failure. He was 69.
Freeman played with the Dixieland jazz band for more than three decades. Friends said Freeman’s most defining attribute was his loyalty to family and friends. “He was always on hand, dependable in any situation and giving of himself,” said fellow band member Bob White.
Freeman’s favorite hobby was cooking. The bigger the group to feed, the more Freeman relished the challenge, White wrote. Freeman was born on April 6, 1940 in Syracuse, N.Y. and moved to Southern California in 1960 to attend El Camino College. He served in the Army from 1964 to 1966. He also worked for General Telephone and Hughes Aircraft. He retired from Hughes in 1990.
Dave’s devotion to the band was intense, and his skill with electronics brought him added “roadie” status as he dealt with the Serenaders’ sound system, White said. His father had played tuba with the famous Sousa Band, a talent that White likely inherited.
Freeman was laid to rest Oct. 2 at the Manhattan Beach Community Church.
On July 26, Dexter Lima, 17, of Torrance, was swimming just south of the Manhattan Beach pier and pulled underwater by abnormally high surf. Authorities said that both Lima and a family member were both pulled under by a powerful wave. While the family member resurfaced, Lima could not be found for at least 20 minutes. A diver from a Redondo Beach Baywatch rescue boat found Lima under 10 feet of water. He was not breathing and without a pulse when he was brought to shore. He was transported to Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center, where he was placed on life support. Lima died the next day.