Letters to the Editor 1-27-21
Zoom out a doom out
Dear ER:
The Board of Education is a volunteer position that demands countless hours of work and forces our elected officials to make difficult decisions. I have no doubt in my mind that all of our board members do what they believe is best for our children. We should be grateful for the work the RBUSD board members do and I am embarrassed by the manner in which some community members have chosen to behave. This is the time to be supportive. The idea of a “Zoom Out” only hurts our children.
Kimberly Quihuis
Redondo Beach
Respect ourselves
Dear ER:
The recent Letters to the Editor and the movement to force the reopening of schools are critically flawed and misinformed. There is no RBUSD school board member who doesn’t want our students back in school. The governor’s executive order limits the ability to reopen schools in Southern California. The best we can hope for is what we have, a waiver for K-2 students. Based upon this waiver schools were scheduled to open for K-2 in January. Because of the significant increase in positive cases and the lack of hospital resources in our area, our school district made the difficult decision not to open until Feb. 1. All other surrounding school districts did the same. We live in an amazing community. Let’s treat each other with respect and support our school district during these difficult times.
Anita Avrick
RBUSD Board Member
Redondo Beach
Zoom and gloom
Dear ER:
In response to a recent letter to the editor, I am curious: Who says that the “vast majority” of parents want to send their kids back to school? Or that the “Redondo Beach Teachers Association has made it very clear they don’t support opening schools?” From what I understand, parents, teachers, students, administrators and staff are all doing everything in their power to navigate through the unimaginable. While we can all likely agree that distance learning is not best for kids, there are huge differences between grade levels and what each child needs. There are teachers who are ready to go back and teachers who are rightfully scared. Backed by the Redondo Beach School Board’s recommendation, Superintendent Dr. Steven Keller and his team will make a decision that’s in the best interest of our students. This is a time to be supportive and work together. The idea of a “Zoom Out” is preposterous and self-serving.
Patricia Harris DiLeva
Redondo Beach
Communications to council
Dear ER:
Hermosa Beach City Manager Suja Lowenthal is proposing to eliminate written communications of a general nature to the city council being placed in the agenda packet (“Plan to limit public input put on hold,” ER Jan. 14, 2020). Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the city council meetings are being held virtually, the written communication is the best way the Hermosa Beach citizens have of making their positions known to the council. Moreover, it appears eliminating these written communications may violate the First Amendment.
George Ikeda
Hermosa Beach
Take a bow
Dear ER:
Though I’m married to a championship high school football coach, I don’t usually follow sports stories (“All Sports,”ER, Jan. 21, 2021). I have been disturbed by the initial reaction of the public and the National Football League to the players who first “took a knee.” It was very gratifying to watch the metamorphosis in recent months, especially toward The Hater In Chief, Donald Trump. And, as an old English major, I loved “All Sports’” writing.
Barbara Epstein
Manhattan Beach
Unanimous vote
Dear ER:
Even though Redondo Beach Unified School Board of Education members do not always agree, every one of them has endorsed Rachel Silverman Nemeth and Dan Elder. I’ve known them both for years and have seen how dedicated they are to our community and our children. It is not surprising that so many other leaders in our school community have endorsed them and are supporting them. Our kids deserve the best education possible which is why I urge you to join me in voting for Rachel and Dan for RBUSD School Board.
Thank you,
Andrew Beeli
Redondo Beach
Culling the candidates
Dear ER:
Karen Ford Cull would be a tremendous asset to the Redondo Beach Unified School Board. 15 years ago, I met Karen in Moms Club. She is a remarkable mother of three amazing boys, including one son with Down’s Syndrome. Though she previously taught university students, learning about how he could be educated and how to navigate the school system was uncharted territory. And through the years, she has become an educational expert. To increase family involvement, as Alta Vista’s PTA President, she initiated programs to embrace a more diverse community. Another of her priorities is nurturing the 4 Cs: creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. She also served as Hands on Art’s Co-President twice. As an advocate for special needs children, Cull created and raised the money for a no-cost inclusion workshop attended by over 100 local teachers and parents. Studies have shown that inclusion is good for both special needs students and general education students too. Plus, she was elected to the state Cal-TASH board. I wish that everyone voting could know Karen personally, like I do. She is unassuming, caring, a deep thinker, financially conservative, and a bridge builder. Lastly and importantly, she is singularly devoted to education. Redondo students, families, staff and residents would be in good hands with Karen Ford Cull on the Board. For her qualifications and positions, please go to kfc4rbusd.org.
Laura MacMorran
Redondo Beach
Lowenstein raises bar
Dear ER:
As a resident of Dist. 2 in Redondo Beach I’m very happy to see that our Councilman Todd Lowenstein is running for re-election on March 2. Todd won 63 percent of the district vote four years ago, and with his record of fighting for closure of the AES Plant, removing the power lines, hosting the BeachLife Festival and more, Dist. 2 residents are fortunate to have him. Activism is nothing new to Lowenstein, who was the head of R4 (Redondo Residents for Responsible Revitalization), which kept 600 condos out of the AES site. He was also a two-term school board member. Meanwhile, if Lowenstein’s opponents had their way, ReCondo Beach would have condos at AES and CenterCal would be adding brick and mortar buildings to our beloved King Harbor when those structures have never been more obsolete.
Ross Yosnow
Redondo Beach
Obagi for 4
Dear ER:
It’s election time again for Redondo Beach residents and soon we will be receiving ballots to elect the mayor and city council members for districts 1, 2 and 4. I live in district 4 so I’m especially interested in this particular race. There is much to be accomplished in our district in the years ahead and we need a leader who understands the issues we care about most. We need a leader who will prioritize and take action on quality of life issues such as “cut through” traffic. We need a leader who will push back against overdevelopment, who will take action to bring new businesses to Artesia Boulevard, who speaks out against environmental pollution, who stands up against Sacramento’s effort to take control of our zoning, and finally we need a leader who will not raise our taxes. That’s why I’m voting to elect Zein Obagi for Redondo Beach City Council, District 4. Zein Obagi is a family man, father, husband, small business owner, and dedicated to public service. He is the right person to represent the residents of district 4.
Sheila W. Lamb
Redondo Beach
Fishing around
Dear ER:
Looking forward to trying out Crazy Fish (A La Carte, ER Jan. 21, 2021). I really enjoyed the freshness, simplicity and reasonable pricing of The Fish Shop in Hermosa Beach. I had heard the Hermosa Beach pier avenue location closed over a year because the landlord increased the rent. Vera Jimenez, the owner of The Fish Shop, must have been a visionary because she apparently bailed out just before the Covid 19 pandemic.
Joel Saltzman
ERNews.com
Camel noses into Hermosa traffic
Dear ER:
The reduction to one lane of traffic on Pier and Hermosa avenues will just force everyone to take other streets. If you live on 16th, 8th, 27th, or Monterey, enjoy all the new traffic noise, courtesy of the city council. We now have achieved a government in Hermosa where the council and the city manager show open disdain for the residents. Time to vote in a whole new group and hire a new manager. Next on the docket: eliminating parking requirements so that the Mermaid can be turned into Montage north.
Dino Smith
Hermosa Beach
For whom the bell tolls
Dear ER:
Ultimately, the rising death toll will call cities leaders of Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach to account for their failure to responsively address the COVID-19 crisis. The cities’ excuses for inaction will wilt in the heat of the rising death toll. People will look at incidents like city councils support of the restaurant owners’ subversion of Covid-19 safety protocols against the advice of the cities’ own medical experts and call them to account.
Anthony Ward Higgins
Hermosa Beach
Strange bedfellows
Dear ER:
The Biden administration cancelled the permits for the Keystone XL pipeline that hauls tar sands oil from Canada to US refineries. BCHD’s “environmental” consultant is big in the tar sands, with 400 employees, according to their own reports. So why did BCHD hire Wood PLC, a prime contractor in tar sands, to conduct its California Environmental Quality Act assessment?
Why should we trust a tar sands contractor to protect the health and well being of the surrounding neighborhoods from BCHD overdevelopment?
Why do we even have a health district might be the right question, since voters approved an emergency hospital with a 24/7 ER, not a taxpayer funded fiefdom with poor management and board judgement and a thirst for using publicly owned land for private commercial development.
Mark Nelson
Redondo Beach
A Londoner’s advice
Dear ER
As the owner of the premier open-[h]air salon, The Londoner, I know first-hand the never-ending struggles of just keeping the doors open and my staff employed during the pandemic. And though I personally do not agree with the current limits on personal service-based industries, I do understand the need to help protect the community. I want to remind residents of the South Bay community to please continue supporting your local businesses. My team and I have been very fortunate to have extremely supportive clients who continue to purchase gift cards and products so I assure you, every little bit helps. It’s important for all of us to recognize that if we truly want our communities to be the same after this catastrophe is behind us, we must continue to rally together to keep open the doors of all our local shops, restaurants, and personal care salons. These shops employ our friends, family, and neighbors, and are staples within our beloved community. If you need ideas on how to help businesses around you, please, just pick up the phone, give your business of choice a call, and ask. I assure you, anyone would be thrilled to receive such a call.
Anthony Morrison
The Londoner
Hermosa Beach