Bring back the birdman
Dear ER:
Why is Manhattan Beach banning the Bird Man (“Birdman banned,” Letters, June 11, 20111). You state someone complained. How about the rest of us who are happy to see a man being kind to sea birds? We should be thanking him for feeding these beautiful birds and in so doing, spreading a little joy. It also teaches children to be kind to other creatures and it helps to keep the birds alive. The city should reconsider its decision. How sad and dull our world will be, when we never hear a bird’s song.
May Gordon
Hermosa Beach
Bond vivant trustees
Dear ER:
School board or oligarchy? This question occurred to me after attending several Manhattan Beach Unified School District meetings to learn more about their Facilities Master Plan, particularly the expansion into Polliwog Park.
From the outset, the entire process was disturbingly vague. No one on the board could present a statistically-driven rationale for all of this expansion. Instead, attendees were told by MBUSD to regard their plans for MBMS/Polliwog Park as a “wish list.”
The Master Plan does not contain any measurable improvement goals. Even in the not-for-profit world of public education, taxpayers should not be asked to support a $319 million bond, absent of measurable goals.
Many of the residents who attended the last two board meetings on this topic expressed frustration that they had only found out about the Facilities Master Plan because of outreach from the Friends of Polliwog Park. Ironically, the same board that would blithely indebt taxpayers to this monumental sum, expressed concern about the cost of mailing notices to residents.
If MBMS truly needs a 750-seat performing arts center and Olympic-sized swimming pool, why has the Board not provided supporting data and an Educational Needs Assessment showing how this will measurably improve the education of our children. After all, this is for the children, right?
Steven Robins
Manhattan Beach
And good riddance
Dear ER:
Hermosa Beach Mayor Nanette Barragan stands for nothing but her own self promotion.
She quit her job as councilwoman. Does she reimburse Hermosa for the expenses it will incur replacing her? Her arrogance and hysterical hyperbole are infantile behavior. She’s imbued with a deep rooted sense of entitlement, a disease like many others, except those who have it don’t want it cured but prefer to spread it. Good riddance to Barragan and her group of sycophants.
Fred Katz
Redondo Beach
Pier into the past
Dear ER:
I am responding to the most recent epistle from Miyo Prassas (“Don’t repeat Bond 101,” ER Letters July 23, 2015). Once again she trots the Community Center out for a dead dog walk, hoping someone will think it still breathes. For those who have been resting with Rip Van Winkle in the Catskills the last decade, here’s (once again) the litany of reasons that repurposing the Community Center (nee Pier Avenue Junior High) into a school is impractical:
The Hermosa Beach School District would have to purchase the property. The school district does not own the property, having sold it to the city in 1978. Contrary to persistent local myth, the school district does not have the right to continued use of the facility, having reserved only the right to use the tennis courts and gym for two hours per day and the auditorium for 10 days each year, with even that limited use subject to a series of renewable three-year leases that expired 30 years ago. And contrary to other myths, the city cannot give the facility back since the California state constitution prohibits “any gift, of any public money or thing of value”.
The building itself would have to undergo substantial reconstruction. Most of the existing rooms in the building are smaller than the 960 square foot state standard for classrooms; there is no play space (although there’s plenty of parking for all the kids who drive their cars to school). The building does not meet disability access standards. The building, although possibly compliant with general building code standards, probably does not meet the stricter standards set by the Division of the State Architect for schools. Given its age the building is undoubtedly contaminated with asbestos. And the building does not meet current fire/life/safety standards.
These are all surmountable with plenty of money and time, two commodities in short supply. All the school district would have to do is re-purchase the building from the city (anyone looked at the price of real estate recently, compared with values in 1978?), gut the building (or bulldoze it), resize all the classrooms, add American Disabilities Act compliant elevators and bathrooms, add play space (probably by removing parking, since parking is never an issue in our community); and reconstruct the school. Architects have advised the board that it’d be cheaper to bulldoze the Community Center than to rehabilitate it.
None of this is new information. The district has had this information available for anyone to review since I was on the board a decade ago. I think even Prassas would agree that using property the district already owns at North School is more efficient than raising funds to repurchase an old facility, since one of her stated concerns is the prudence of district spending.
As for her most recent nickname for me, I am not Mr. Know It All – I’m just Mr. Know More Than Miyo, which is not a very exclusive club.
Greg Breen
Hermosa Beach
Measure O a measure of the man
Dear ER:
Former Hermosa Beach Councilmember Howard Fishman is seeking appointment or election to the Hermosa Beach City Council again. Fishman is one of the very few Hermosa Beach civic leaders who refused to take a stand on Measure O — the failed oil drilling measure. Moreover, Fishman was asked to sign a mailer against Measure O that was signed by numerous former Hermosa Beach mayors and he refused. Fishman’s actions are the Hermosa Beach equivalent of a U.S. Senator or Congress member refusing to take a stand on the Iran Nuclear Deal. I hope our council members and residents consider this important fact about Fishman before making a decision whether to have him again serve on the city council.
Fred Huebscher
Hermosa Beach
Build it and cars will come
Dear ER:
After 100-plus years of “Beach Culture,” Hermosa Beach, a 1.3 sq-mile beach town by day and bedroom community by night, is now going into the parking operations business.
For some two years all five council members have been wheeling and dealing individually, in private, with the two deep-pockets, downtown hotel developers.
Without a single public hearing to vacate and close Beach Drive, Hermosa’s council has evidently promised the city’s Beach Drive easement to the developers. Beach Drive is apparently to be completely closed north and south of Pier Plaza.
More illogical, Hermosa’s council is moving quietly to change Hermosa’s zoning laws, to provide a radical 60 percent reduction in the parking spaces required of downtown businesses. They’re moving to reduce from 10 to just 4 parking spaces per 1,000 sq-feet of restaurant/bar floor area, and from 4 per 1,000 sq-feet of retail space to essentially 2 or 0.
The reason is to permit the two proposed, massively out-of-scale, Strand-front hotels to build more, while also permitting existing restaurant and bars to expand without meeting even the city’s present loosey-goosy parking requirements.
The council’s code name for this stuff is “Downtown Core Revitalization.” It’s the primary reason they just resurrected their “Hermosa Parking Authority” and created a new “Hermosa Finance Authority” to finance multiple parking garages with revenue bonds.
The council is setting up the city to be in the parking operations business. It’s all about bonding-out and building sun-blocking, multi-level concrete parking structures on city property downtown, at City Hall, and the Community Center.
Increased density and activity day and night in Hermosa’s downtown bars-district, by adding more hotel rooms, bars, cabs, cars, limos, busses, trucks, noise, chaos, drunks, crime, and general through-town polluting-traffic is the council’s ignorant agenda.
Howard Longacre
Hermosa Beach
Times that try dad’s soul
Dear ER:
In its most recent attempt at meeting management, the Manhattan Beach City Council again seeks to dangerously limit our rights under the First Amendment of freedom of speech and redress of grievances (“New mayor takes over in Manhattan,” ER July 9, 2015). The council’s pernicious actions call forth the warning of Thomas Paine, an American revolutionary against British colonialism, who said, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
In discussions on these dangers with my newly engaged daughter, I raised the possibility of civil disobedience to turn the tide. Her response was, “Who cares?” My retort was, “That’s the point. Civil disobedience will create awareness and caring by our residents.”
I then asked her if she would bail me out if Mayor Mark Burton ordered me arrested for refusing to be silent beyond the new council meeting time limit. She said, “No.” Her response to why not, was, “We need the money for my wedding.” You cannot make this up.
However, it did remind me of how far we have drifted from the patriotism of the “Greatest Generation,” who grew up in the U.S. during the Great Depression and went on to fight in World War II.
As the inevitability of the Manhattan Beach City Council’s repressive measures become a reality, we must be prepared to adhere to Paine’s admonition, “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
Edward C. Caprielian
Manhattan Beach
Harbor fixer-upper
Dear ER:
When I read a recent article about the Redondo Beach waterfront needing up to $108 million in work, I was shocked. I mean I knew the situation was bad, but I didn’t realize it was this bad.
It seemed like the list of improvements we so desperately need wouldn’t end – the parking structures, Seaside Lagoon, the three piers, the bike path, and that’s not even the entire list.
This is unacceptable. I don’t want to have to worry about the water in Seaside Lagoon not being clean enough, or that a piece of the parking structure will fall and hit someone on the head. These are issues that our city is obligated to solve right away, and if a public-private partnership with CenterCal is the most cost effective and efficient solution to solving these problems, what are we waiting for?
Let’s stop fixing the waterfront piece by piece, and finally address all the issues in a comprehensive and all-inclusive manner, before someone really gets hurt. Let’s not pass up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with a company that can finally revitalize our precious waterfront.
Chris Voisey
Redondo Beach
Willing and able
Dear ER:
Reading the article about how much work the Redondo Beach waterfront needs made one thing clear: we need change. No matter how many ways you try to wrap your head around it, $108 million is a lot of money, and it’s money Redondo Beach simply does not have. The pier parking structure is already falling apart and won’t last more than a few years. This alone is about $50 million to replace. Seaside Lagoon comes in at about $10 million, and splash and break walls to protect from sea level rise are estimated at $8 million.
So let’s work with CenterCal. We finally have a developer willing to come in and work with us to solve our most plaguing problems. Waterfront revitalization is no longer a choice; it’s a necessity.
A recent independent market analysis of the proposed waterfront revitalization project and this new independent analysis say the same thing – a public-private partnership between the City of Redondo and CenterCal is a win-win for everyone!
Let’s end the discussion, and start taking action. Let’s face the financial facts and finally revitalize our aging waterfront.
Thomas A. Gray
Redondo Beach
Land use overuse
Dear ER :
The proposed General Plan for the city of Hermosa Beach is on track to outlaw single family homes and urbanize the city unless residents speak out. The goal is to do this via “minimum density zoning.” You can view the proposal on the City’s website under “PLAN Hermosa Land Use and Transportation.pdf.”
Under the plan for low density residential, the proposed minimum is 2 dwelling units; for medium density residential, 13.1 dwelling units; for high density residential, 25.1 dwelling units. Currently there is no minimum density requirement.
If you agree that increased density means decreased quality of life, or if you believe in personal property rights, contact the Planning Commission and City Council ASAP and voice your concerns. Email addresses are available on the City website hermosabch.org.
Warren Barr
Hermosa Beach
Inspired
Dear ER:
They are more alike than different (“Manhattan Beach kid with Down Syndrome holds own in rigorous Junior Lifeguard program,” ER July 23, 2015). Give our kids a chance and they will rise to the challenge. As a mom of a 12 year-old with Down Syndrome, Kirra Troeger is inspiring and amazing. She has overcome physical and emotional challenges. I’m so happy for her and so thankful to those coaches and fellow students who open their hearts and look inside at who she really is, and what she is good at, not just what she can’t do.
Michelle Tetschner
Website comment
A rare note
Dear ER:
Howard Rumsey was an astute businessman and one of the nicest guys around (“Founding Father of West Coast jazz, dies at 97,” ER July 30, 2015). Guys like Rumsey are extremely rare and the kicker was, he could make music.
Rowland Major Hill
Website comment
Reuse. Don’t ban
Dear ER:
Bummer. (“Hermosa moves toward plastic bag ban,” ER July 16, 2015). Those plastic bags are so useful. I use and reuse them all the time, as does everyone I know. Bigger bummer for the dog-walkers. The plastic bags are great for picking up poop.
Lorie Armendariz
Website comment
Bag ban a slippery slope
Dear ER:
Wonder what’s next (“Hermosa moves toward plastic bag ban,” ER July 16, 2015)? Newspaper? Cardboard? Paper bags? Straws? Starbucks cups?
Martha Logan
Website comment
