Letters 6-10-2021
Soul cleansing
Dear ER:
I live in a condominium in south Redondo Beach. Last week around 4:30 p.m. I witnessed a good Samaritan sweeping and scrubbing the sitting area below my patio in the nearby Czuleger Park. Consequently, I went down to give him $20 for his outstanding efforts. He tried to refuse my small gift but I wouldn’t let him. This man had no other intentions except to do something good. I introduced myself and asked what his name was. He informed me that his name is Luigi. Evidently, he is a house cleaner in the neighborhood, and that was why he had a broom, dustpan and bucket with him, as well as mops. Consequently, my faith in mankind has been restored for the moment.
Betsy MacAlpin
Redondo Beach
Remember the others
Dear ER:
News flash for the Hermosa Beach City Council: You are putting us out of business. There are many businesses in Hermosa Beach, other than restaurants/bars. It is nice that you helped them during the crisis, but you have used the pandemic to accomplish things that many small, local businesses do not want. Now that the rules allow for the full dining experience in restaurants/bars, the rest of us need the outdoor dining curtailed and parking restored. Some parking has been taken away and the restaurants/bars aren’t’ even using the designated space for their customers. We need the streets returned to pre-crisis status. Otherwise the dentists, nail salons, antique stores, doctors, dog groomers, locksmiths, beauty parlors, general retail and general stores will all be out of business soon. If the restaurants reopen and are allowed to keep outdoor dining on our streets, they will have a net gain of income while the rest of us suffer increased and continued losses. Come on now, let’s be fair.
Vernon Cheadle
Hermosa Beach
Unconditional plan
Dear ER:
Beach Cities Health District CEO Tom Bakaly asserts that the Healthy Living Campus plan does not require a vote of the people. It will need a CUP (conditional use permit) authorized by the Planning Commission and the City Council. So, yes it will get a vote of the people since the commission and council are made up of people acting as the public’s designees in such matters. They will vote yes or no to approve a CUP. In layman’s terms, this means RCFEs (Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly) are not allowed on public zoned land. So, if you want it there, an exception from these two groups must be approved for the project to move forward. Bakaly implies that since Silverado Memory Care received a CUP, then the HLC plan should also. Yet, the plan on the table is no Silverado. It’s a monstrous, for-profit private entity (though claimed to be a “public-private” partnership). It’s presented as necessary in a city with senior housing options in every direction. It’s the antithesis to what should be granted an exception on a publicly-zoned area, in the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood. The Planning Commission and City Council of Redondo Beach need to be reminded that their review is critical to this project and they need to hear from residents. They should recognize that the spirit of this public zone allows for open space and recreational facilities, period. This fact is especially critical since Redondo Beach suffers a density crisis as it is, and faces more with the possibility of state density bills passing in the future. Our city planning commission and city council have the control and should easily see that a privately run, massive and unnecessary structure in a public zone warrants a sound denial for a CUP.
Lara Duke
Redondo Beach
Circling of smoke
Dear ER:
Who comes up with these pipe dreams and street diets (“Traffic circle to recircle,” ERNews)? None other than the Green New Deal, lefty Hermosa Beach City Council.
Amigo Gaghcia
EasyReaderNews comment
Day and night
Dear ER:
As a resident in this area, the real problem is cars blowing and rolling through stop signs at all times of day and night (“Traffic circle to recircle,” ERNews). More effective enforcement would be beneficial.
Alex Virtue
EasyReaderNews comment
Tight turn
Dear ER:
I travel Prospect Avenue frequently and I thought they were nuts to put in that traffic circle (“Traffic circle to recircle,” ERNews). There’s not enough space to navigate a traffic circle in a car.
Mary Hammer
EasyReaderNews comment
Pedestrian challenge
Dear ER:
Are they going to install a roundabout so cars must slow down and circle around (“Traffic circle to recircle,” ERNews)? The intersection is at the crest of a hill which is dangerous. Also, the streets are not perpendicular, which makes pedestrian crossing a challenge.
Bad Intentions
EasyReaderNews comment
Think it through, suck it up
Dear ER:
Recalls are a waste of time and money (“Former DA Cooley leads Manhattan Beach rally to oust current DA Gascon, ERNews). Are we going to have elections every year for the same position? I could understand if the recalls were coming from voters who voted for the candidate and then realized they made a mistake. But for someone to support a recall of a candidate they didn’t vote for in the first place seems like sour grapes. Make a case for another candidate in the next election and please stop wasting our time and money. And, if your chosen candidate loses, suck it up, and try again next election, while looking inward to determine what it is you are missing in the debate, and why the majority disagrees with your viewpoint.
EasyReaderNews comment
Michael Ian Sachs
Safe behind gates
Dear ER:
George Gascon is a cancer eating away at justice (“Former DA Cooley leads Manhattan Beach rally to oust current DA Gascon, ERNews). I’m a lifelong Democrat and the irony of a career Black woman, Jackie Lacey, being defeated by an outsider funded by multi millionaires and billionaires would be humorous, if it wasn’t so tragic. Most of the murder victims Gascon is abandoning are poor and people of color, so Gascon’s supporters have little to fear behind their gated mansions. Recall Gascon.
Joshua Marquis
EasyReaderNews comment
The old playbook
Dear ER:
Looks like this is the Republican playbook. When they lose they try their desperate recall strategy, using fear as a motivator and putting a bandaid on our societal problems. We should be working on the root of the problems of mental illness/drug addiction/homelessness, and not locking everybody up. Shame on these people.
Joe Maria Distante
EasyReaderNews comment
Luck Manhattan
Dear ER:
Arcadia’s loss is Manhattan Beach’s major win!! God bless you, Chief Lang!
Joyce Kristensson
EasyReaderNews comment
Power plan
Dear ER:
Our two overdevelopment-hungry Redondo Beach City Council Members (Laura Emdee and Christian Horvath) are attempting to divide the city, while pushing thousands of condos again at the AES Redondo Power Plant site. This time it’s under the guise of compliance with ridiculous housing bills coming out of Sacramento, meant to force high-density housing across the state. In reality, the AES Power Plant site is the worst location for any such housing development. Read more about it here and what we can all do to fight back against those in Sacramento, and the local enablers who want to destroy our city: RescueOurWaterfront.org
Wayne Craig
EasyReaderNews comment
First class Private
Dear ER:
It was a beautiful event to recognize Private First Class Joe Eskenazi for his service during World War II and for those who paid the ultimate price to protect our freedom (“PFC John Eskenazi recalls Pearl Harbor during Redondo Beach Memorial Day Observance,” ER June 3, 2021).
Peter Dabbieri
EasyReaderNews comment