Letters to the Editor 12-26-19
Cool it, police
Dear ER:
I am appalled by the tactics of the Hermosa Beach Police Officers Association in regard to the negotiations with the city [“Police turn up heat on council in contract fight,” ER Dec. 19, 2019]. Negotiations have gone on for months, and HBPOA inexplicably and disingenuously hiked their raise request to 30 percent in the middle of the drawn-out discussions with the city. To rally residents to their side, they have stood out in front of the schools passing out flyers. They have robocalled residents. This has whipped up a frenzy of support, but this support is based on misinformation. We are not in the middle of a crime wave. I have listened to several residents who support the HBPOA. None have the facts. The HBPOA is wasting everyone’s time in a city that has limited resources. This process has left me trusting them significantly less, and not wanting to interact with any of them. In fact, I was relieved when my kids decided they were too old this year to go see Santa’s Sleigh Ride [with the police department] in Hermosa Beach.
Melyssa Guerry
Hermosa Beach
Smoking and Big Brother
Dear ER:
I am disappointed to see some Manhattan Beach City Council members once again promote their special interests over the desires of their constituents. At its Dec. 17 meeting, the Council voted to prohibit the sale of tobacco products in the city, citing the number of deaths directly and indirectly related to tobacco use across the country [“Stores given a year to comply with tobacco ban,” ER Dec. 19, 2019].
I do not smoke, do not have friends who smoke and do not like to be around people who are smoking; however, this measure is extreme. With over 90 percent of Americans polled concerned about the loss of individual liberties, what right do the four Council members who voted for the prohibition (thank heavens for Councilwoman Suzanne Hadley) have to say what we can and cannot sell or buy?
What’s next, non-grass fed beef or non-organic fruits and vegetables? It has gone too far. We live in a highly educated community with involved parents. Certainly, we are able to make thoughtful decisions on what we want to consume on our own, without Big Brother arbitrarily limiting our choices.
This prohibition is not going to reduce smoking in our community or by our community members, including our youth (for whom it is already illegal to purchase tobacco products) At approximately four square miles, there is nowhere in Manhattan Beach that a short trip (walk, bike or car) cannot give a resident an opportunity to buy tobacco just outside city limits.
If the Council is truly concerned about the health of its constituents and their children, they should address the sale of alcohol in the city. There is an epidemic amongst our youth with alcohol drinking, but no one wants to talk about it.
Matt Clark
Manhattan Beach
Black market smokes?
Dear ER:
I suspect, as happens in cases like this, Manhattan Beach will now have an active underground black market as cartoons of cigarettes purchased outside the city come in to fill this Council-imposed vacuum [“Stores given a year to comply with tobacco ban,” ER Dec. 19, 2019]. We’ll see.
Bob Nelson
ER News web comment
Petty politics
Dear ER:
Bob Pinzler’s column about the Hermosa Beach mayor fiasco is 100 percent right on [“On Local Government, ER Dec. 19, 2019]. The rotating system every nine and-a-half months was started in Manhattan Beach by Jack Cashin, my predecessor on the Manhattan Beach City Council. Before that the council would elect the mayor, and if two people wanted to be mayor the council had to choose up sides, and that created divisions. The rotating system takes the politics out of it. In about 1985 it was Gil Archeletta’s turn to be mayor, and he definitely did not get along with Bob Holmes, Jim Walker and me, and was defeated when he ran for re-election. Someone suggested he be passed over as mayor, but that idea was soundly rejected, basically using the logic in Pinzler’s column.
Russ Lesser
(Former councilman/mayor)
Manhattan Beach
Wild for wild foods
Dear ER:
I’ll bet the real nutrition in all the Blue Zones is coming from foraged herbs, greens, wild fruits and such, which were the basis of “Mediterranean diets” in the past [“Dan Buetnner on the wisdom of ancient kitchens,” ER Dec. 12, 2019]. Studies have revealed over 300 wild foods in the Mediterranean region that were part of the culinary traditions of its villagers. It is not just oily fish, olive oil, garlic and beans with tomatoes added in more recent times.
We can’t adopt the lifestyles of Blue Zone villagers, but we can look to wild and near wild foods to reduce carbohydrate drives, satiate our needs for phytochemicals, and unlock mental and physical energy through better vascularization and mitochondrial function. Wild foods are rich sources of antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, anti-allergens, anti-rogue cell immune boosters, adaptogens, organic acids, organ protectants, live enzymes and enzyme regulators, good sugars, dietary fiber and bioavailable minerals. Modern foods are not.
Vic Cherikoff
ER News web comment
Blue Zone ‘bluewashing’
Dear ER:
Unfortunately with the Beach Cities Health District, this is a case of “bluewashing” the truth [“Tripping over health: The Blue Zones Project’s plan to re-engineer communities, one city at a time,” ER Dec. 5, 2019]. For surrounding neighborhoods of BCHD, the agency has been the leading chronic stressor since the 1950s. And now, BCHD is gearing up for a 15-year demolition and construction project that will put continued, chronic stress on the surrounding neighborhoods, and especially the entire generation of children in those surrounding neighborhoods [“Redondo Beach Residents eye Healthy Living Campus plans,” ER July 18, 2019].
Bluezones.com states that stress “often called the silent killer,” can strain people’s work, school, friendships, relationships, and even sleep habits, cause physical suffering and reduce the ability of the immune system to fight off illness.
In this case, we know the cause of the stress. It’s BCHD’s zeal to expand its scope into real estate investments and spend $500 million to become a 430-unit senior apartment landlord.
With its tens of thousands of truckloads of debris, and hundreds of thousands of worker commuter trips, BCHD will plug up streets and impact both parents and commuters from 190th Street south to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Couple that with the noise, digging, demolition, vibration, dust, and toxic particulate emissions of heavy construction, and the health of the local neighborhoods is undeniably being sacrificed by BCHD for their starry-eyed real estate development lust.
It’s unfair and hypocritical of a purported Blue Zones practitioner to force a half century or more of chronic stress on its neighbors.
And in these days of quid pro quo, I can’t help but wonder if this interestingly timed, P.R. fluff piece cover story is a quid pro quo based on advertising revenues from BCHD.
Mark Nelson
ER News web comment
Stuff happens
Dear ER:
That’s a nice looking boat. Mishaps happen. God bless those lifeguards [“Boat beached at Manhattan pier adds excitement to pier holiday fireworks show,” ER Dec. 12, 2019].
Peter Rech
ER News web comment
Lifeguard legacy
Dear ER:
I appreciate these legacy stories [“‘Perfect Merc’ McFarlane, Hermosa Beach pioneer lifeguard passes on,” ER Dec. 12, 2019]. They make a body wish they were more than just readers of these lives. Thank you.
Celia Gonzales
Thanks a lot
Dear ER:
NIMBYs prevent construction of an essential storm drain and all of us get a polluted bay [“Beach Cities lag on stormwater goals, report finds,” ER Dec. 12, 2019]. Thanks NIMBYs!
Paul Moses
ER News facebook comment
Into the sunset
Dear ER:
What a wonderful dynasty they were in Redondo [“Passing of Body Glove’s, Dive N’ Surf’s Patty Meistrell marks end of a dynasty, end of an era,” ER Dec. 12, 2019]. Loved by all. So many fond memories.
Karen Sherman
ER News facebook comment