THE CAMPAIGN PAST
What I find most discouraging about the November 4 election is that negative campaigning won. There is a landfill out there filled with David Hadley’s misleading campaign materials that filled my mailbox daily. The repetitive TV ads grew tiresome and yet Mr. Hadley now represents us in the State Assembly. I can only hope that this does not begin a trend in local elections.
Joan Arias
Hermosa Beach
THE COMING CAMPAIGN
As the vote on oil inches closer (provided E&B doesn’t deploy any further stalling tactics) I’d like to encourage my fellow residents to be ready for the onslaught of advertising from E&B that is undoubtedly coming. We’ve already seen a barrage of incredibly misleading ads filled with false promises. If E&B’s behavior to date is any indication of the future, and I believe that it is, the amount of misinformation and attempted voter influence via advertising is headed to another level. The future of Hermosa Beach is too important to be bought by slick ads and misleading copy. Please do your own research and rise above big oil’s attempted influence.
Jayson Repko
Hermosa Beach
OUT WITH E&B
Enough E&B, let’s get on with it.
Council meeting after council meeting I’ve watched E&B Oil play the City of Hermosa Beach like a puppet master controling a marionette with their ridiculous demands and delay tactics.
Week after week I’ve watched E&B mislead residents with their deceptive ads in local papers as they pretend to be warm fuzzy saviors to disguise their real position as cold hard profiteers.
It’s time to cut the control strings and end E&B’s machinations.
Please encourage the Hermosa Beach City Council to end all of the time and resource wasting labored negotiations with a minimalist agreement and to place this matter firmly for the resident’s decision in March 2015.
We’ve done our homework on this inappropriate project, it’s now time to be done with E&B.
Rick Ciampa
Hermosa Beach
E&B OPPORTUNITY
Very rarely does a community have the opportunity and privilege to vote on a project that could benefit future generations… to the tune of over $500 million. Each voter has the power to improve our schools, properly equip and pay our public safety service employees, and perhaps build a “Rainy Day Fund” for the City by voting to lift the ban on oil recovery. I feel fortunate to have the power to make immeasurable, positive changes in the lives of fellow residents with my “yes” vote.
The power of our vote is equaled only by the opportunities we would provide residents. E&B has decided to provide our schools with much needed funding, in the neighborhood of $40 million. With Measure Q failing, perhaps due to a low 36 percent voter turnout, the oil project is a great solution to shore up school funding. The royalties provided to the City over the life of the project could ensure we have adequately paid and equipped firefighters and police. Has City Council considered building a Rainy Day Fund for the eventual earthquake or tsunami that may inevitably wreck part of our community? And if we’re fortunate to escape major harm from the next “big one”, wouldn’t it be great to have a nest egg to rebuild an aging pier and infrastructure?
Supporting the E&B project is a conscience choice I have made because of the opportunity it will provide the entire City. It’s time that we recognize the opportunity we’ve been given.
Eric Foster
Hermosa Beach
MANHATTAN BEACH PRIORITIES
Why in the world is the Manhattan Beach City Council allowed to hire four new staff members at about a million dollars, when many residents feel the positions aren’t needed and the salaries are terribly bloated?
I feel there are better things this money could be used for and I will mention one: another full-time driver for the Dial-A-Ride program so seniors and the disabled can get to Kaiser or South Bay Orthopedics on Crenshaw (where many knee and hip surgeons are located). There are other out-of-area facilities such as these two where drivers are currently not allowed to go. Dial-A-Ride is a wonderful program with great drivers – I can’t say enough good about it – but many seniors still cannot get rides to where they need to go at the times they need to go.
I am disgusted with those who approved of the extravagant use of our city’s money. Are we going to be another Bell?!
Jane Porter
Manhattan Beach
A HARBOR NOT A MALL
The Redondo Beach city council has locked up another year with CenterCal developers for pier redevelopment by agreeing to continue their exclusive contract. Mayor Aspel and councilmen Jeff Ginsburg, Matt Kilroy and Pat Aust refuse to see the need for continued debate for this project. It’s massive size is double that of the plaza El Segundo (Sepulveda and Manhattan Beach Blvd). The public was only given eight meetings to participate. Residents have still not seen any plan views, except a few, two dimensional drawings. There is no plan online at the Centercal website. If Council had let CenterCal’s contract run to its yearly conclusion, the City would have had the advantage of allowing alternative ideas to be included in the plan. By shutting out groups such as R4, Building a Better Redondo, the South Bay Parkland Conservancy and others Council has denied proper representation at the bargaining table. Now it belongs to a developer whose sole intention is Return on Investment. Please go to facebook.com/rightsizeredondo and King Harbor — A Harbor not a Mall on Facebook. Revitalize our beloved harbor, don’t destroy it.
Melanie Cohen
Redondo Beach
