Letters to the Editor 4-6-23

Changing the future

Dear ER:

My children’s book, “New Year at the Pier,” winner of the Sydney Taylor Gold Medal for best Jewish picture book of the year, takes place on the Manhattan Beach Pier. It’s about tashlich, a Jewish new year’s ritual in which we admit wrongs and apologize for them. At the pier, the rabbi says, “Tashlich is the time we apologize for things we wish we hadn’t done…Tashlish is like cleaning your heart’s closet. A new year, a clean heart.” As Manhattan Beach Mayor Steve Napolitano said at the Bruce’s Beach Plaque unveiling, “We have acknowledged and condemned, but we haven’t apologized. It’s a simple difference but with a much deeper meaning” (“The Apology,” ER March 23, 2023). Manhattan Beach City Council: do the right thing. Our community deserves it; our country needs it. As author Kevin Hancock said, “Apologies aren’t meant to change the past, they are meant to change the future.”

April Halprin Wayland

Manhattan Beach

 

Business costs

Dear ER:

I can’t believe how greedy our Pier Ave bars are (“$10 per sq. ft. too rich for outdoor dining decks, Hermosa restaurant owners say,” ER March 30, 2023). The going rate should be at least $10 per square foot, or more. They don’t seem to understand the more seating they have, the more occupancy equals more people overcrowding our city. All of this with less parking because of the street dining decks. I say No to street decks, and return outside Pier Ave seating to pre-pandemic size at $10 per square foot. We don’t want to be a city of just bars. We are killing other small businesses. It is time to return our town to the good people of our neighborhoods. 

Cody Wright

Hermosa Beach

 

More business costs

Dear ER:

Last Friday, March 24, we had dinner at The Brews and parked in Lot C. My bad for thinking parking was free and didn’t see the pre-pay station until we were headed out. I’ll pay the fine because I was at fault. What galls me though, is the Hermosa parking enforcement team went out of its way to look at the front of my car, which was parked inches from the concrete wall, to see if I had a front license plate, and issued an additional citation for that, as well. Really? Squeezing between parked cars to find additional opportunities to make money? Seems to me Hermosa Beach is on a money grab. In the future my dining experiences will be in Redondo, Manhattan or El Segundo. That $38 fee just cost Hermosa about $400/month in dining.  

Regards,

Stan Mah

Redondo Beach Resident

 

Help we’ll all need

Dear ER:

March was Social Workers Month. I want to personally thank all local social workers, and particularly those at Beach Cities Health District. (we call them Care Managers), who provide compassionate, timely, practical, and life-enhancing support to older adults, including my 96-year-old father. For older adults and their caregiving children, finding help can be complex and confusing. BCHD helps older adults navigate their health care needs, and get support for Activities of Daily Living. This helps keep people in their homes and communities and maximizes their health and wellbeing. BHCD Care Management, one of more than 40 programs and services BCHD provides to Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Hermosa Beach residents, conducts in-home visits and assessments, creates care plans, and follows-up to support independent living at home for older adults (ages 60-plus), and adults with disabilities (ages 18-59). Additional BCHD Care Management offerings include Conversation Companions, who help fulfill social needs of clients; Errand Assistance, for those unable to get their own groceries or prescriptions; Brain Buddies, who provide structured activities and socialization for clients dealing with memory loss; and Support Line Volunteers, who make check-in calls monthly or quarterly. My father confidentially meets with his Care Manager for conversation and support. She helps him to articulate his needs, so I understand them better. Every family’s needs are different. BCHD’s Care Managers are adept at talking with older adults and their families about their needs, wants and values to insure independent living for as long as possible. Appreciating Social Workers shouldn’t just happen during one month. Care Managers at BCHD help  hundreds of older adults in our community 365 days a year.

Vanessa Poster

President, Beach Cities Health District

 

More help we’ll all need

Dear ER:

As a founding and current Board Director of ourManhattan Beach’s Community Emergency Response Team (MB-CERT) program, I believe it’s imperative that everyone in our community receive training on disaster preparedness, and survival for mass casualty incidents ( earthquakes, tsunami, fires/explosions, terrorism, etc.), and first aid for home/auto accidents, heart attacks and strokes. The MB-CERT course teaches emergency first aid, CPR, fire suppression, safe search and rescue, and communicating/surviving until help arrives. MB-CERT instructors are members of the Manhattan Beach Fire Department and MB-CERT Association. MB-CERT graduates have applied their lifesaving skills as first responders for various emergencies such as heart attacks, strokes and automobile/home/work accidents. Signups are now being accepted for the next course which is Friday (6 p.m. to 10 p.m.), and Saturday and Sunday (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), May 5 through 7. The course is free to Manhattan Beach residents. Participants receive a backpack with emergency supplies, a photo identification badge, manual and a graduation certificate. To enroll, visit  mbcerta.org or email info@mbcerta.org.

Wayne Powell

Manhattan Beach

 

Department of clarification

Editor’s note:  The following response was submitted by the City of Hermosa Beach, in response to Easy Reader’s March 30, 2023 article, titled

$10 per sq. ft. too rich for outdoor dining decks, Hermosa restaurant owners say.”

The City has asked The Easy Reader to clarify that the City Council did not “instruct” staff to charge $10 per square foot for outdoor dining, as was reported in an earlier version of the story and in the print edition. The City appreciates the change in language and wants to note that Mayor Pro Tem Justin Massey commented that six late night establishments with full liquor licenses on Pier Plaza should pay “in the neighborhood of” market rent for their outdoor dining space because those establishments impose extraordinary public safety costs on the City. Mr. Massey then noted that he understood market rent for those establishments to be approximately $10 per square foot and, if so, that would be “the neighborhood” for outdoor dining fees for these establishments. No discussion on the point was had, and no instruction was provided. The City is seeking information on market rent for Pier Plaza, and early information indicates it is between $5 and $10 per square foot. The City Council will address the fees for outdoor dining at a future meeting. ER

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