Heads up
Dear ER:
As an aging athlete who has played and coached both American Football and rugby, I believe if we returned to the old style of tackling/body contact we would minimize head trauma (“Heads up,” Easy Reader April 16, 2015). Tackling using your shoulder is more conducive to safety. Using the head as part of the collision arsenal is creating many problems. I have had my “bell rung” when my form was bad and my head lead part of the charge. Shoulder tackling may not be as glorious, but it is safer.
Louie Pastor
Rugby and football coach
Development squared
Dear ER:
Watch out Redondo Beach. It’s not just about Legado’s development at Palos Verdes and Pacific Coast Highway. Another Mixed Use project is coming soon. More traffic, noise and pollution threatens our quality of life. The planned project, just south of Pacific Coast Highway and Prospect Avenue, now known as Sea Breeze Plaza, backs up to the alley near St Lawrence Martyr Church and School.
The San Clemente developer’s 1.5 acre site plan calls for 52 condos, over 10,000 sf. ft. of retail/office and 182 parking spaces. It’s just too much. Say no to overdevelopment. Attend the May 21, 7 p.m. Redondo Beach Planning Commission Public Hearing at Council Chambers. Yes, the same night as the Legado hearing, so arrive early for a seat. Keep our beach the beach.
Jane Abrams
Redondo Beach
Blow back
Dear ER:
The circumstances are suspicious at best surrounding Chris Miller being asked to step down from the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors (“Chief prompts Chamber board member removal,” ER April 23, 2015).
I was at the March 3, “No on O” celebration the night our community crushed an oil company, as were Chris Miller and a couple of hundred others, including some Hermosa Beach council members. The allegations against Miller (inciting a riot, and chants of “F… the Police”) are not only laughable, but couldn’t be further from the truth. Chamber president Ken Hartley used this false information to defame Miller and fire her from her volunteer position. The only chanting that evening was during a Channel 5 news report where “No on O” was repeated during the live coverage. I suggest everyone have a look, more importantly, a listen, including the chief of police.
Miller is one of the most honest and sincere people I know. She loves Hermosa Beach with all of her heart. The chamber needs more people like Chris and fewer people like Hartley.
If the Chamber has a zero-tolerance policy for embarrassing behavior from its members, then Hartley should be asked to step down from his position immediately. Hartley owes the Chamber and the City Council a public apology. His behavior is far from what Hermosa residents expect from their Chamber’s president.
Name withheld by request
A dark inner dialogue
Dear ER:
I have always been an ardent supporter of Hermosa Beach Police Chief Sharon Papa and our police department. But now that they are pointing a false finger in my direction and I have to speak out (“Chief prompts Chamber board member removal,” ER April 23, 2015). I was in attendance at the joyful community gathering at the Standing Room in Hermosa during the timeline of the election night incident. I was outside, inside and for an extended period on the patio, hugging, shaking hands and participating in the emotional and energy filled triumph over E&B’s inappropriate drilling project. My voice and heart were lifted to maximum volume during the spontaneous mass chants of “No on O!”
Regardless of who may or may not have said what during that time, we’re now facing the additional wound of Papa and her squad using inappropriate, veiled threat laden, backdoor communication to bully and punish one of our own. In doing so, Papa also has chosen to indiscriminately accuse those of us in attendance on that patio merrily participating in our happy and positive family celebration.
If Papa wants to hold certain individuals “to a higher standard,” she needs to start by looking in the mirror. Though still gentrified and polite on the outside to our uniformed officers, this latest questionable act by Papa and her squad have caused me to be outraged and personally highly offended, to the point that my inner dialog is now angrily chanting “F… the police!”
Rick Ciampa
Hermosa Beach
Eye on District 3
Dear Editor:
I had the privilege of serving as Redondo Beach’s District 3’s councilman for two terms. I’ve lived in District 3 for 58 years. My family first moved to Redondo Beach in 1904. Many of my family members and close friends still live in the District. I think I have some knowledge of the issues that are important to District 3. Both candidates in the run-off election, Candace Allen Nafissi and Christian Horvath, live within walking distance of my front door. I have met both of them during this campaign. This is a relatively quiet, residential area of Redondo Beach, sprinkled with elementary schools and some small parks. It has remained mostly off the radar of special interest groups and the Chamber for many years. It has been ignored because the District has no shoreline, no pier, and no major businesses. Previously, in the eyes of these special interest groups, it did not mean much because they controlled the majority of the City Council.. There has to be an acknowledgement that District 3 has remained the ignored stepchild of City Hall politics for many years. For example, there is rampant drug use and prostitution at Lilienthal Park on the eastern edge of the District. Dominguez Park and the Dog Park remain ignored and in disrepair. The streets throughout District 3 were last slurry sealed in the early 1990s when I was Councilman. Capital projects seem to escape our District in favor of those in the harbor and pier areas. Unfortunately, the last three Councilmen were obsessed more with the Chamber of Commerce and the pier and harbors areas than the District they were elected to represent.
Horvath came to my front door three times and represented to me that he was running a small grass roots campaign. Impressive, I thought. But, he lacked knowledge of the District’s issues, even for a stay-at-home parent who lived around the corner from me for 10 years. He failed to mention that he refuses to send his three kids to Jefferson Elementary School, just up the street from my house, and his house. This is a California Distinguished School with an Academic Performance Index of 935 out of 1000. He knew nothing of drug problems in the parks, the fact that drug deals occur on 190th Street. Dominguez Park and the Dog Park weren’t on his radar. He did not even know I was a former City Councilman for the District.
When Candace Allen Nafissi came to my home I was equally tough on her. It mattered little to me that she lived for a short while in District. In fact, she lived next door to my good friend, Ann Baker, for over 5 years in District 2 before she and her husband invested a million dollars in their current home on Paulina Avenue, next door to my good friend of 35 years, Frank Bostrom. Both friends adore this mother of two small boys. She is married to a police officer, and understands law enforcement better than most on the Council. We all know that she is the best candidate for the District 3 Council seat.
Nafissi’s campaign is truly a grassroots campaign, consisting of neighborhood volunteers, and neighborhood donations. She has a master’s degree in public administration – the same degree I earned in college that helped me when I was elected into office. She is not controlled by the Chamber of Commerce, or other special interest groups that have pumped obscene levels of money into Horvath’s campaign.
I am confident that District 3 will once again become relevant in City matters with Nafissi as our Councilwoman.
Stevan Colin, Esq.
Former City Councilman, District 3
Redondo Beach
Two for District 3
We all know that Redondo Beach is a spectacular place to live, work and raise a family. City Council candidate Christian Horvath, a family man and small business owner in Redondo, perfectly reflects that ideal. So does his wife Dr. Michelle Charfen. Besides being a wife and mother in Redondo Beach, Michelle has dedicated her work to our community, just like her husband. After graduating from Harvard Medical School, she completed her residency in the South Bay. Today she teaches parenting courses to families in Redondo Beach and works at Providence Little Company of Mary, the closest hospital to Redondo Beach, as an emergency medicine physician.
They both care about helping families in our community and are committed to helping Redondo Beach grow and thrive. Christian and his wife’s dedication to the Redondo Beach community prove to me why Christian is the perfect candidate for City Council.
Yvonne Vick
Redondo Beach
Dual chambers
Dear ER:
The only thing the Redondo Beach District 3 Candace Allen Nafissi campaign has going on right now is attempting to slam candidate Christian Horvath on the financial donations issue. The mastery in their art of wording deceives the unknowing into believing all this money is going to Horvath. It is not. There is an organization that has been facilitated by a number of business leaders within Redondo, who are part of the Chamber. This organization interviewed both Nafissi and Horvath and considered their ability to make a difference within Redondo’s businesses. Both of these candidates were looking for the endorsement of the Chamber. It is ironic that the campaign for Nafissi, who works for another the Los Angeles Chamber, is set on slandering not only the Chamber but also anyone associated with it.
The Political Action Committee (PAC) was set-up to make sure an appropriate person gets elected. I am not a member of the group, but I believe they want to help change Redondo Beach from being such a horrible place to do business to a place where businesses thrive.
Having the pleasure of knowing Horvath, I can tell you that he has made many requests to keep the campaign honest and focused on the issues of the city and more specifically, District 3. The bottom line is that we are seeing the latest tactics of a bunch of bullies and thugs who are ruining the spirit of a friendly community. This has been growing over the years and the same people who vandalized the AES sign, ignore the laws of our city and worst of all bring down the friendly spirit of our community are once again targeting the nice people of Redondo Beach. This has to come to an end and we have to work together, not against each other. Please help to stop the bullying in Redondo Beach
Chris Voisey
Redondo Beach
Down from the hill
Dear ER:
We moved from Palos Verdes to Redondo Beach a few years ago to downsize and enjoy the beach and the waterfront. It didn’t take long to find out that something was very wrong with the way Redondo Beach is managed. The power plant company AES and the Chamber of Commerce pretty much run the town and the majority of City Hall officials. Soon after we got here Mayor Aspel and his council majority voted to give away the waterfront to some shopping center development company, taking our valuable coastal land away from the citizens and gifting it to a private corporation to do with as they pleased. Next, we watched Mayor Aspel and the Chamber of Commerce being the head cheerleaders for AES’s scheme to bypass the normal planning process with “Measure B.” This measure would have given AES power to do as they pleased with their side of the waterfront, causing extreme increases in traffic and a huge condo-commercial development to nearly match the monster that is there now. Mayor Aspel and friends vetoed Councilman Bill Brand’s motion to put this up to the vote of the people, shutting the rest of us out completely.
My vision was to continue making the improvements to the pier that have already started under public ownership and work our way around the waterfront to retrofit and beautify everything to match a new and better plan. I am in touch with two non-profit organizations that will help us with funding and will keep the waterfront in the hands of the people of Redondo Beach. One is the “Trust For Public Land.” The other is “Rails To Trails.”
We need to change the culture of City Hall with qualified elected officials. We are so very fortunate to have Candace Allen Nafissi running for the city council District 3 seat. I’ve known Candace since she and our granddaughters went to school together.
Barbara Epstein
Redondo Beach
Yelping about Yelp
Scared funny
Dear ER:
The business model for Yelp is simple. Once you receive your first review your company is shown on their website. This is done without your permission. Then you get a phone call from their staff encouraging you to buy advertising. It is explained to you that unless you do this they will continue to place your competition underneath your placement on their web site. I am not an attorney so I can’t call this extortion. However it certainly feels like it. I did pay Yelp at one time. However, I found the return on investment was horrible and had them tear up a six month contract. To their credit they did cancel the contract. Recently we received an unfounded review and they did take it off within 48 hours. It is a sad commentary that unless you’re a $3.5 billion dollar company you can forget about fighting the issue. I understand you can take this negative business model and turn it around. However, the fact that you must do this in order to compete is what I feel is unbalanced.
Here is the funny part. I was a little afraid to write this comment. What does that tell you.
Stewart Fournier
EasyReaderNews comment
Turn it around
Dear ER:
Yelp gets the fifth most traffic of any website in the U.S. A Harvard study found that a 1 star increase or decrease can drive revenue 10 percent up or down ( (“Local locksmith accuses Yelp of extortion, ER April 23, 2015.”) (yelpblog.com/files/hbs-study-yelp-reviews.pdf).
Yelp is one of many tools Art Kuperstock of PCH Lock & Key could tap into that are free. He could use Facebook, Google Places and Google Plus. If a company wants to pay for ads, it should use hyper local sites such as Google, Facebook and Yelp.
The Harvard study explains Yelp’s algorithm for reviews. Yelp tries to make sure they are authentic. The reason Kuperstock’s poor reviews were showing up is because they had activity. You can sort reviews on Yelp by “Yelp sort,” “Date,””Rating,” or “Elites.” The default is “Yelp Sort,” which uses their algorithm.
Kuperstock should focus on getting more reviews. He could send people to Google if he doesn’t want to support Yelp. I would do it all if I were him.
Notice though how many comments are on the Easy Reader Facebook and the EasyReaderNews Probably over 100. So many people complaining about Yelp. You know how many new reviews Kuperstock got to support him? Four.
It is easy to complain but hard to give a compliment. Kuperstock should focus on making sure those that have a bad experience don’t think about reviewing on Yelp and those who are happy review him on Yelp, Google, etc… If he doesn’t do it then he should not complain in a story about it.
Dave Andrews
Hermosa Beach
Where’s the proof
Dear ER:
If Yelp worked like this advertisers would have all excellent reviews and non-advertisers would have all bad reviews (“Local locksmith accuses Yelp of extortion, ER April 23, 2015.”). This is clearly not the case. No one who has made allegations like this has ever come up with a time, date and the name of the Yelp employee making the alleged offer to suppress bad reviews. No one has anything on tape. My small business has been on Yelp for nearly eight years. We have yet to advertise. No one has ever made any offer to suppress a review or promote a review. I have only been asked that we advertise something and we have so far declined.
Steve Basile
EasyReaderNews comment
Elite Yelp
Dear ER:
If you ever talk to Yelp ask them about restaurants that host “elite member dinners.” Talk about a scam (“Local locksmith accuses Yelp of extortion, ER April 23, 2015.”)
Samara Friedman
EasyReadernews comment
Frustrating
Dear ER:
I’ve had the same experience with my pet sitting business in the South Bay. Very frustrating (“Local locksmith accuses Yelp of extortion, ER April 23, 2015.”)
Jill Rose
EasyReaderNews comment
Sounds familiar
Dear ER:
I’ve heard the same from my mechanic and dog sitter.
Marta Allen
EasyReaderNews comment
Me too
Dear ER:
Me too. They have been throwing my good reviews out and keeping the bad ones and calling me three times a day to ask if I will pay $200 a month. For a while I was paying and they made sure I had the good reviews. So I stopped paying and I put up a paragraph about what they have been doing to me and they took it down and threatened me in an email
Shannon Briscoe.
EasyReaderNews comment
The fixer
Dear ER:
Yelp just recently changed my logo to a pair of pants after I stopped advertising and now they are trying to make me pay $25 a month to change it back
Tara Bar-el
EasyReaderNews comment
