Hush money
Dear ER:
I was greatly disturbed by Hermosa Beach Mayor Carolyn Petty’s offer to pay residents who speak less than two minutes at city council meetings. Residents are entitled to speak for three minutes, while surrounding cities allow up to five minutes.
How is it that Mayor Petty can represent the community while encouraging residents to be silent? This an outrageous display of governmental hypocrisy. Residents have to spend far more time listening to her ask us to speak “quickly” than she spends listening to those who speak more than two minutes.
If she does not want to hear from her constituents, she should not have run for public office.
Speak out and speak loudly, Hermosa Beach.
Katrina Bacallao
Hermosa Beach
Sound of a champions
Dear ER
Thank you to reporter David Mendez for covering news of the RUHS Band and Guard becoming State Champs. High school sports get weekly coverage and even have their own section in most local papers. High school bands work just as hard as the teams and have over 100 players on their team (and over 100 sets of parents behind them). They compete in the fall and spring and perform at music festivals as a concert band. There are a host of benefits to music and arts education and marching band in particular.
I look forward to seeing coverage of the band’s appearances here in Redondo. The RUHS Jazz Program played at the Redondo tree lighting Tuesday night. Tues. and the State Champion Marching and bring their talent to the Riviera Village Holiday Stroll on Thursday night.
Then the music department has a concert on Dec. 17. It’s open to open to the whole community in Redondo Union’s state of the art auditorium, followed by more concerts and festivals in the spring.
Suzanne Haring
Website comment
A voice, not an echo
Dear ER:
I attended Redondo Beach Councilman Bill Brand’s District 2 meeting to show my support for The Waterfront development. I should’ve known this meeting would be like all his others. He should know not everyone in his district shares his negative views of The Waterfront. However, instead of answering my questions, I got: “Read the EIR” or…the usual — (resident) Jim Light answered for him. I stated bluntly I wanted to hear from my city councilman, as a District 2 resident. Sadly, the meeting was mostly a coaching seminar for his negative activists on bringing down The Waterfront. It was shocking how much time he spent deriding our community’s efforts and how negatively he viewed our city government. Our city attorney recently warned councilmembers about injecting bias into their rhetoric. Bill Brand and Jim Light are going to get our city sued (or be the ones who actually sue).
Erika Snow Robinson
Redondo Beach
Truth lightens the load
Dear ER:
I recently attended a District 2 meeting to determine firsthand if truth was dispensed regarding CenterCal’s Waterfront Project, as delineated in the Draft Environmental Impact Report. The short answer was No. For the record, this was the second time I attended a Councilman Bill Brand, resident Jim Light meeting, the first being a meeting prior to the .March 2015 Measure B election to rezone the AES property.
Emboldened by the narrow defeat of Measure B, the most recent incarnation of R4 (Redondo Residents for Responsible Redevelopment) is replete with clever phrasing that encompasses the exact same messaging: We are right; everyone else is wrong. Respect and admiration is given to residents who consistently engage in local issues. However, leaders who flaunt their biased evaluation of a lengthy document as truth should be questioned and held accountable for their flawed, inaccurate depictions.
Though a longtime resident, I was silent with regard to past efforts at the revitalization of our Waterfront. My belief was that because revitalization was desperately needed, it would be accomplished. I was wrong. In silence, me and all Redondo residents who believe that our City needs a thriving Waterfront, have been complicit with the dark forces who aim to derail any project not of their genesis.
The heavy lifting required to make the Waterfront project a reality can be made lighter by the distribution of fact – not fiction. The EIR contains the unbiased truth of CenterCal’s Waterfront project from many perspectives and should form the basis of our opinions.
Arnette Travis
Redondo Beach
Thanksgiving letters
Dear ER:
I woke up Thanksgiving morning to read the letters to the editor from Dan Elder, Chris Voisey and Steve Goldstein (“Thankful,” “Get the facts,” and “Tired of waiting,” ER 11/26, 2015) I loved reading their sensible opinions about the needed revitalization of our Waterfront. I was most thankful to not have to read misinformation by the opponents (most of you know their names by now). Citizens of Redondo Beach, “Don’t believe the propaganda, get the facts,” as Voisey stated so well.
Ron Troupe
Redondo Beach
No other choice
Dear ER:
I am a resident who cares about the future of the Redondo. And that future includes a waterfront area that improves the city. Yes, there have been small fixes — a restaurant here, a statue there. But it’s obvious that these tiny changes aren’t going to transform the area. Plus, with the awful state of disrepair the infrastructure is currently in, particularly the parking structure, there’s no way to know how much longer it’ll even be safe to visit before we have no choice but to improve the area.
Our City Council was smart in entering into a public-private partnership, meaning that a private developer pays the millions that it takes to revitalize the area, and the City benefits from the project and its revenue. Further the recently released Draft Environmental Impact Report, in which the City studied so many potential environmental impacts, shows that this project is great for our community environmentally as well as economically. Let’s show our City Council that we agree with their actions and support this project that will improve our waterfront like never before.
Joanne Galin
Redondo Beach
A leashless wonder
Dear ER:
Bryan Newman was my favorite surfer to see in the water from when I was a kid in the early ‘70s until today. His surfing wasn’t rooted in ego, but seemed more an expression of “purity of spirit.” When I was little, Bryan was my idol. He was kind to me when very few were.
When I was older; one day while we were in ankle deep water finishing a session at the pier, I confessed to Bryan, “All I want to do is surf as good as you.”
Bryan looked at me with a soft chuckle and said something very nice about the way I surfed. Bryan was a Hermosa local who never wore a leash, and taught me kindness by example. Over many years, the words we exchanged were few, the waves we shared were many. His example of honest surfing, and gentle kindness inspired me to cultivate the same within myself.
Marcus Fender
Website comment
Take the play
Dear ER:
I attended Bryan Newman’s service on Saturday and I have to say it was the most beautiful service (“Newman was fearless local surfer,” ER Nov. 26, 2015). On the beach the sun setting, the paddling out, the Lifeguard boat circling and shooting water…his wife Karen standing in the water with her granddaughter, then, a friend came out and stood next to her in the water while the paddle out was going on. Boy, was that water cold. But the surfers didn’t care. I have never heard so many people stand up and speak at a service like this one. Many and all spoke of how kind hearted Bryan was. I will always remember one thing he said at our softball games: “Don’t let those guys step in front of you and take the play. It is yours, take it.”
Kathi Crockett Daniels
Website comment
Best of the beach
Dear ER:
Bryan Newman was one who reflected the best of the Hermosa Beach vibe from days gone bye (“Newman was fearless local surfer,” ER Nov. 26, 2015). His genuine sense of humility was reflected in his surfing and his friendships. I will miss him and loved seeing him at Hermosa Beach pier for surf checks very early in the morning. Thankful to have known Bryan “on the road to Happy Destiny” — John 14:1-6
Daniel Bradford
Redondo Beach
