Letters to the Editor 6/02/16
School myths
Dear ER:
I would like to dispel some myths about Hermosa Beach Measure S. First, the Hermosa Beach Community Center (formerly Pier Avenue Junior High) is fully utilized, serving members of our community, young and old. It is not for sale. The city cannot sell the Community Center to the school district for a nominal sum because that would be considered a gift of public funds, which is illegal. The property would have to be purchased at current market rates. Why would the school buy property when it already owns property? Second, criticism referring to “waste” is misguided. Education spending in California ranks at the bottom of the country, and Hermosa ranks at the bottom in the South Bay. We cannot waste what was never there in the first place. That said, this bond is about infrastructure investment, not operating expenses. Third, traffic could actually be mitigated because the school would serve 3rd and 4th graders who could walk through Valley Park, as opposed to the preschool children currently driven to North School who require an adult for drop-off and pick-up. Our schools our outdated and overcrowded. Children are educated in trailers. If you look to the school districts to the north and south, you will see that our neighbors have already demonstrated their commitment towards educational infrastructure. I urge Hermosa Beach residents to unite in support of Measure S and by extension, the future of our community.
Carolyn Petty, Mayor
Hermosa Beach
Measure K’s bait and switch
Dear ER:
The argument that the Senior Living Center to be built on Knob Hill, if Redondo Beach Measure K passes, will be a boon to the local economy simply is not the case. The city comes out about $40,000 ahead on the deal per year and that’s it….not much for a four-acre development, two blocks from the beach. These facilities really don’t generate much of anything for a city. They qualify for all kinds of state and federal tax breaks and they employ a very modest staff of low paid cooks, medical assistants and janitors. These jobs pay between $8 and $16 per hour, so I doubt most of these workers will originate from within our city limits, where the average price of a home is $750,000 and rents are soaring. The only truly “liveable” wage will be paid to the one nurse/supervisor working per shift. Yes, there will be construction crews building the site, but those folks aren’t local either. This site won’t even generate enough dollars to pay for adding one part time fireman/paramedic. And by the way, this site alone, will generate between 17 and 21 ambulance calls per month (patient average age of 84 years old). The developer tried to maintain that most of those ambulance calls would originate in Redondo Beach anyway, so there would be no overall increase in the demand on the Redondo Beach Fire Department. That’s an absurd correlation, since we have no existing Alzheimer’s site and have no idea where these patients will be coming from. Vote yes or no for Measure K based on what you think of the idea, but do so knowing that it is removing this site as a potential school use forever and is providing almost zero economic stimulus to our city. Lastly, there isn’t a business enterprise in America going bankrupt at a faster rate than senior living institutions. This is happening because elderly people and their families simply lack the $5,000 to $10,000 per month required to stay in these facilities. The average American goes into retirement with about $50,000 in assets. So what usually happens to these sites once they are abandoned by the senior living tenant? They almost always become high-end drug rehab centers or halfway houses. Because they are built like hospitals (no kitchens in the rooms) they cannot be readily converted into anything else. Lastly, don’t forget that Redondo property taxpayers are currently paying on an astounding $300 million in school bond assessments (three bonds) enacted since 2001. Please don’t feel like you aren’t already doing your part for our city’s schools.
Carl Lund
Associate Professor, Economics, UCLA, CSULB (1982 – 1989)
99 year mistake
Dear ER:
Redondo Beach Measure K on the June 7 ballot is promoted as a zoning change that benefits the school district, Redondo Beach seniors and the community, at no cost to the residents. That is not what Measure K does. Measure K enables a developer to lease public land cheaply. That is why the developer has underwritten the cost of the ballot measure. The developer claims Measure K is good for RB seniors. Is it? Current rent at other Kensington Assisted Living Facility sites are $6,000 per month, plus additional fees for treating Alzheimer’s and dementia. Beds will be filled by whoever can pay the price. Redondo residents may not even get to use the facility. The developer can build the facility on land in the area that is already zoned for an assisted living facility. Measure K takes 3.2 acres of public land and transfers it to private use for 99 years. The school district and the City have not planned that far out. The school district has said if there is a future need for an additional school, they would expand Alta Vista and other school sites.
Student enrollment will continue to grow. Expanding Alta Vista School could require redeploying the land currently used for recreation by all residents. We should use the 320 Knob Hill land for the 19 public uses for which it is already zoned. Then, when we need the space at Alta Vista and other schools, the Knob Hill land will be available for all residents to enjoy.
The rent from the developer goes into the school district’s general fund. There is no guarantee it will be used for teachers’s salaries or for hiring more teachers. The school district’s finances are in excellent shape. It has an $8.3 million dollar reserve that is 10.1 percent of the district’s $82.6 million dollar operating budget. The rent from the developer is less than one-half of one percent of the $82.6 million dollar operating budget. The district’s budget forecast for the next three years shows the reserve staying at over 10 percent, without rent from the developer. The proposed 80,000 sq ft building would be twice the size of the Main Public Library on Pacific Coast Highway. It does not conform to the neighborhood. Measure K contains a provisions that allows a three story building up to 440,000 sq. ft, without another vote by Redondo Beach residents. The school district will be responsible for 100 percent of the cost of environmental clean-up of the land, and 50 percent of the cost of asbestos removal from the building. We already have more senior facilities than any other city in the South Bay, and most areas of Los Angeles County.
Vote No on Measure K, and avoid a 99-year mistake. For more information, go to www.measureknotok.org.
Bruce Bernard
Redondo Beach
Favorite son
Dear ER:
If you want a leader you can trust and not a politician who has his or her own agenda, vote June 7 for Steve Napolitano for Los Angeles County Fourth District supervisor. Napolitano has served the Fourth District both as Senior Deputy to incumbent Supervisor Don Knabe and also as a three term Manhattan Beach Mayor and Councilman. He will keep our neighborhoods safe, promote jobs, protect our environment, rebuild our infrastructure, supporting early childhood education and protecting seniors, veterans and the homeless. The Fourth District Supervisor represents about two million people. Over 160 current and former local elected officials in Los Angeles County endorse Steve Napolitano for Supervisor because he can be trusted to be fiscally responsible and hold government accountable.
Robert Bush
Manhattan Beach
Good debt
Dear ER:
While I am impressed with the newfound subtlety of political consultant Fred Huebscher (former campaign manager of Hermosa council deserter Nanette Barragan), his recent letter slamming Hermosa Beach Mayor Carolyn Petty for her support of Proposition S is tired and irrelevant (“Republican feels the Bern,” ER Letters May 26, 2016). This is an issue that has nothing to do with party lines. All long term infrastructure in the private and public sectors is funded with debt. With interest rates at the lowest levels in 100 years, borrowing is arguably the smartest thing this city has done in decades. Thank you Mayor Petty for attempting to be rational.
Jeffrey Bronchick
Hermosa Beach
Low ball budgeting
Dear ER:
The Hermosa Beach City School District’s June 7 Bond Measure S uses the architect’s low-end price estimate in 2015 and 2016 to determine the total amount of the bond. At $59 million, the proposed bond amounts to 86 percent of the district’s legal debt limit. HBCSD will not be able to borrow more for a long time. HBCSD is using the architect’s most optimistic, low end estimates. The high-end construction estimate is $5 million more. What will be the actual cost in 2018 when campus construction likely commences? After the district finishes rebuilding North School how much will be left to accomplish the proposed renovations at Valley and View school? The district is also using the low-end estimate prices for the Valley and View schools. The high-end estimate is also $5 million dollars more. According to the district’s own documents, the total price range in 2015/2016 prices is estimated to be as high as $76.4 million, not the district’s amount of $59 million. Our district cannot borrow enough money to afford the district’s plans if actual costs amounts exceed the low end estimates. Please vote No on ‘S’.
Miyo Prassas
Hermosa Beach
Shame tactic sham
Dear ER:
The arguments for Measure S boil down to an exercise in public shaming. We should be ashamed that we spend less on school facility bonds than all our neighboring districts. We should be ashamed that the kids are schooled in old buildings or trailers. We should be ashamed of class overcrowding even though it is abating, based on this year’s enrollment decline and the school board’s own 10 year flat projection. I, for one, am not ashamed. These allegedly “shameful” conditions have existed for years and yet our schools have consistently provided an educational experience that has resulted in superior academic performance. The evidence indicates that these “deficiencies” have little or nothing to do with schooling’s prime purpose: delivering a quality education. Please vote No on Measure S.
Lee Hennis
Hermosa Beach
Remember the Matteson house
Dear ER:
I have heard a lot of back and forth on whether or not North School is qualified to be on the state’s historic registry. Whether it does or not does not change the fact, North School is one of the oldest buildings in Hermosa Beach and should be preserved. Many people bemoaned the loss of the Matteson house on 19th Street when it was knocked down. Now is the time for our community to stand up and protect our history and upgrade North School, rather than demolish it. Our neighbors in Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach have done a great job refurbishing rather than rebuilding. We don’t need to overspend, building an oversized school, overburdening the neighborhood with traffic and parking problems. Measure S is too much cost for too little benefit. Here is your chance to save a piece of Hermosa’s history by voting NO on S.
Kathy Osborne
Hermosa Beach