Leters 1/22/15

A schooling on Measure B

Dear ER:

AES soon will tell you that Measure B is in the best interest of Redondo schools. It will tout how 600 new condos, houses, and townhouses will bring an annual windfall to our schools through property taxes. Don’t fall for the hype.

Our schools receive operating funding based on a complex formula of property taxes sent to Sacramento, then sent back to the school district, calculated by the number of students attending our schools. Therefore, RBUSD will receive additional operating funding only for new students attending schools, not from homes with no students. More students means larger class sizes, or more hired teachers, which is an additional operational expense.

Schools near AES are full. Students from the area will attend Beryl Elementary, Parras Middle, and Redondo Union High. Beryl’s attendance has gone from 350 to 483 over the last several years. Parras’ attendance is 1,100 and Redondo Union’s attendance has surged from 2,450 to well over 2,600. Both Beryl and Parras either constructed, or will soon construct, new classrooms just to keep up with current capacity. Where will we teach future additional students?

Measure B is just too big of a plan. A new power plant won’t be built, so let’s go back to the drawing board and scale down the project to the responsible amount of residential and commercial development so that it doesn’t negatively impact area schools.

I urge you to vote No on Measure B on March 3.

Todd Loewenstein

Former President, Redondo Beach Board of Education

A polliwog not a skate park

Dear ER:

Manhattan Beach School Board member Ellen Rosenberg announced to City Council last week that the School Board remains open and willing to consider a skatepark in Polliwog Park. She said we should not set a precedent by taking Polliwog Park or any other school district assets off the table unless it is a decision of the School Board and the entire community together.

We want to remind the School Board that its representative and the community were a part of that decision. Last January, our Parks and Rec department formed an ad-hoc skatepark committee that convened six public outreach meetings. The committee included Parks and Recreation commissioners, a representative from Mira Costa High School and School Board representative Nancy Hersman. At the April 28 Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, the commission voted on each of 22 candidate locations, selecting the five most promising sites for further consideration. The 17 rejected candidates included all Polliwog locations. School Board representative Nancy Hersman voted that night.

The following month the commission quietly slipped Polliwog back onto the candidate list. This underhanded action prompted cries of foul from the community, so the City Council scheduled a review of the Parks and Rec Commission’s recommendations on July 15. At that meeting the City Council upheld the April 28 Parks and Rec Commission’s vote.

We ask the School Board to respect the fairness of that decision and to move forward in cooperation with the City on the newly approved skatepark consultant study.

Julie Profet

Friends of Polliwog Park

Manhattan Beach

Listen to the consultants

Dear Editor:

The Urban Land Institute public engagement intervention generated a framework for addressing the identity crisis confronting downtown Management Beach. It represented a dramatic shift by the Manhattan Beach City Council by empowering residents a deliberative role. Further, it demonstrated the willingness of our residents to participate in civic efforts if provided a meaningful role. Councilmember Mark Burton and City Manager Mark Danaj deserve special kudos in promoting the ULI initiative and ensuring its success.

In contrast to councilmembers patronizing and alienating residents, the ULI public engagement employed processes to promote active dialogue between citizens and councilmembers. In essence, it represented a shift from representative to increased consultative democracy.

The ULI report emphasized long-term political will as essential to success requiring “bold moves and dedicated leadership.” It further emphasized our political leaders, “Must listen to a diverse set of stakeholders and formulate actions that are in the best interest of the community.”  It is a call for profiles of courage.

Edward C. Caprielian

Manhattan Beach

An emotional stake

Dear ER:

For over a year I’ve watched my friends and neighbors pour their hearts and souls into preserving this beautiful little beach town that all of us residents are so lucky to call home.

Not a day goes by that I don’t stop and have a great conversation with at least one of my neighbors and on many days I’m blessed to have this experience many times a day.

I’ve watched their kids grow through the years. I’ve house sat for them, pet sat, shared laughs, shared waves, shared sunsets, and drinks around the block fire pit. I’ve attended neighbors’ birthdays, little league games, and dinner parties.We all take care of each other and what at first seemed like just another place to live has now become an extended family.

I’ll out myself willingly, I’m a transplant and a renter. So perhaps the proponents of destroying Hermosa’s future would dismiss my stake in the vote on March 3. I don’t stand to lose property value or possibly obtain “mineral rights.” My stake, however, is stronger than hollow promises of potential monetary gain. My stake lies in those all around me, whom I care about deeply.

Which is why on March 3, I’ll stand by their side with a no vote on O. Will you stand with your neighbors too?

Jayson Repko

Hermosa Beach

A park for all

Dear ER:

Redondo Beach has a real choice to make about the future of development in our fair city.  That is why the AES power corporation wants to deceive voters and ask for a “Yes on B.” The president of AES Redondo states they will continue the licensing process for a new power plant if measure B does not pass. Not true. The California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission have approved existing plants in Los Alamitos and Huntington Beach. There are no plans for a new plant in Redondo Beach. Even worse are the flyers AES is  sending to your home. The density of the development calls for multi-unit properties that will cause gridlock and hardship for the city, with an estimated 20,000 new car trips a day and money losing dense development. We have been down this slippery slope (Heart of  City 2005). What about a park? Open space in the project is only for residents of this mega development and it’s the size of a football field. Residents deserve better especially when they voted for a park way back in 2005. Redondo deserves sensible tax generating businesses, homes and a park. To be done right, there must be collaboration. Redondo needs a master plan. Good things come to those who vote and join the process by getting involved and spreading the word. No on Measure B.

Melanie Cohen

Redondo Beach

Unpaid but not uninvolved

Dear ER:

The unfounded belief that Hermosa residents who support Hermosa Beach Measure O are paid by E & B seems to be the only way opponents can deal with the fact that there are a great many Hermosa residents who believe the project is a good idea; is safe; and will be a hugely-positive, financial windfall for our town.

This is what we supporters believe. Not because anyone is buying our support but because we have studied the project: read the Health Impact Assessment (conclusion: “…. we do not believe that the project will have a substantial effect on the community health in Hermosa Beach.”); read and understood the EIR; and maybe most importantly gotten to know the people at E&B. They are, without exception:  professional, conscientious, responsible, law-abiding, concerned, trustworthy business people. They are routinely attacked and demonized as dishonest, earth-threatening, money-hungry pirates. These baseless accusations, relying on scandal mongering and outright fabrication, show up in Facebook posts, letters to the editor, during comments before the city council and printed in misleading flyers. And no, I was not paid to write this letter.

Jim Sullivan

Hermosa Beach

Certainty versus uncertainty

Dear ER:

Drilling opponents claim oil drilling is a significant danger/health hazard to the city. If this is true, why are there literally thousands of working and capped oil wells in the Los Angeles area? Why is there an oil island the size of the one proposed for Hermosa directly across the street from Cedars Sinai Hospital? Why does Beverly Hills have four such oil islands with one of them being right on the high school grounds? The only answer a logical person can come up with is, with proper management, the probability of oil drilling being a danger/health hazard is so very remote it can safely be ignored.

The people of Hermosa should allow drilling because the probability of danger or health hazards is so very, very remote and because the probability of crippling the finances of the city with a $17.5 million fine if drilling is banned is so very, very certain.

John Szot

Rebuild Hermosa

Dear ER:

Two Hermosa Beach homeowners recently filed claims totaling $22,500 against the City of Hermosa Beach for damages they incurred inside their homes due to clogged storm drains. Both events occurred on December 12, 2014 as a result of the rain we experienced on that day.

It doesn’t rain much in Southern California and perhaps that’s the reason the City has neglected maintenance on its storm drains.  Or perhaps it’s because it doesn’t have the money to maintain them.

The city of Hermosa Beach has identified over $100 million worth of unfunded capital expenditure projects, including $12 million for storm drain improvements. The city cannot repair, clean or maintain its storm drains without revenue to do so. However, the city will have revenue if the residents approve the upcoming oil drilling project (Measure O).  It would make a lot more sense to apply valuable funding to our city infrastructure than to wash money down the drain by not approving the oil project.

Lorie Armendariz

Hermosa Beach

All about timing

Dear ER:

It’s easy for former Mayor J.R. Reviczky to claim that when he served on the City Council “that the city never faced bankruptcy while I was on the City Council” (ER Letters, January 8, 2015). That’s because the potential penalty phase of the trial and the City’s mock juries that returned huge verdicts of $285 million happened after he was long gone.

In 2011, the Los Angeles Superior court issued “several rulings to shape the Macpherson Oil Company breach-of-contract which, officials say, could bankrupt Hermosa Beach,” according to an Easy Reader new story at the time. Faced with a judgment that most certainly would have bankrupted our city, E&B offered to broker a deal to end the litigation and threat of bankruptcy.  E&B negotiated a deal that took Macpherson out of the mix, loaned Hermosa our share of the settlement and received the lease for oil recovery in return. And E&B agreed to drop the penalty phase of the trial for good, lifting the threat that if the oil measure fails, the City would not be faced with hundreds of millions in judgment.

Martha Logan, Hermosa Beach

All for it, done correctly

Dear ER:

Contrary to popular belief, R4 (Redondo Residents for Responsibility Revitalization) want both CenterCal and AES developments to take place, but in a complementary and integrated manner,  not two separate plans.  There are legitimate concerns that are not being addressed. One of these is the proposal to have Seaside Lagoon open up to the ocean, with a boat launch adjacent to that area. Will the proximity of the oily water from boat engines be a hazard for children to play in? The proposal for a specialty cinema is certainly good in theory, however, many of the large multi-theater complexes that have replaced smaller town theaters are now playing empty. This area naturally draws people looking for outdoor activities. Do we really want an empty theater on our beachfront? Finally, how will our infrastructure support the additional anticipated traffic and if, by chance, we are overestimating the amount of proposed customers, what will we do with another larger version of the Pier Plaza?

Vicki Starkey

Redondo Beach

Past is prologue

Dear ER:

Once upon a time, Steve Layton and Mike Galesi owned a company called Equinox Oil. While drilling in rural Louisiana, Equinox Oil had a blowout. Wetlands and wildlife were damaged.  When I asked Layton about the blowout and Equinox Oil’s subsequent bankruptcy, he told me that by doing the right thing and cleaning up the spill, Equinox went bankrupt. What he didn’t mention is that many of the service providers who helped stop the blow out and clean up afterwards went unpaid by Equinox. Some of these service providers sued in federal court but given the intricacies of bankruptcy law and insurance policies, they lost (see In Re:  Equinox Oil Company, Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit).  Unfortunately, these providers were left holding two bills: One for the equipment, time, and resources they spent cleaning up the spill and one for the legal battle to be rightfully compensated for their hard work.

Layton is now the president of E&B Oil which was formed when Francesco Galesi bought Equinox assets out of bankruptcy. If E&B Oil has a catastrophe in densely populated Hermosa Beach it will likely include human lives, property damage, and infrastructure disruption. How will E&B Oil compensate us for our grave losses if, in their former incarnation, they couldn’t pay the companies who helped them clean up environmental damage?

I say if you can’t afford to pay your bills, you can’t afford to do business. Vote no on Measure O.

Monique Ehsan

Hermosa Beach

Hermosa cleans up

Dear ER:

Thanks to the Hermosa Beach City Council’s recent decision to switch the trash system. The city is looking much nicer on trash days and the new system is working better than the old.  I spoke up against changing the system at a city council meeting and, now with hindsight, pretty much everything I said was either wrong or misconceived. Previously, on trash day heaven knows what piles of cans and trash were stacked in front of residences and drifted into the streets, including mine.  I find the new system much easier, more flexible, no more expensive, and heaven knows much cleaner.

Jim Parkman

Hermosa Beach

A new revenue stream

Dear ER:

Why you should vote Yes on oil drilling in Hermosa Beach? To protect Hermosa’s future by increasing a significant amount of stable revenue to the city over a 35 year period to prevent stagnation and decay without increasing taxes. It will also provide much needed revenue to the Hermosa Beach School District. All of the city’s independent studies and the city attorney’s impartial analysis show that this oil recovery project is environmentally sound, safe, and without any health impact to its residents.

A yes vote means the city taxpayers will not have to pay the $17.5 million dollar penalty and if the oil company finds that there isn’t a sufficient amount of oil to be recovered they will stop the project, leave town and the city will receive up to $30-plus million and get back the current toxic city maintenance yard site cleaned up at no cost to the city — a cost estimated to be $5 million dollars. This is a win win for the city.

To learn more about the facts of this needed oil recovery project please attend the city’s educational events on Saturday, January 31, 10 AM to 1:00 PM in the city council chambers and Wednesday, February 11, 7-10 PM at the Hermosa Beach Community Center Theater.

Please join me and the Hermosa Beach Police Officers Association and vote Yes for measure O to protect Hermosa’s future.

George Barks

Hermosa Beach Mayor (retired)

Redondo Beach