Letters to the Editor 5-22-25

Has the beach gone mad

Dear ER:

Have our streets and bike paths become the Wild Wild West of the South Bay? I ride the bike path six times a week to work and for exercise. I don’t ride an electric bike nor do I own one. Every day I ride I see so many crazy illegal things happening. I have been sideswiped, pushed out of the way by someone traveling beyond the speed limits, I have been yelled at, and cut off numerous times. I’ve been gut punched by an out of control roller skater who was going too fast with her hands out ready to fall. But instead of her falling I took the brunt off her fists going into my stomach. I’ve had a Tesla aim right at me making a left hand turn that scared me and knocked me off my bike. Have people gone color blind and they can’t see the colors of the signals? I would say 90% of the people I’m referring to are on something electric, whether it’s a bike, skateboard, scooter, or mono wheel. I thought there was a speed limit. And kids on electric bikes popping wheelies. As I ride my bike down Harbor Drive I am constantly seeing people running through stop signs with no regard to oncoming  traffic. I’ve seen pedestrians walk through signals, usually on their phones. Do they think they are immortal?

Are there no more police patrolling our streets and beaches? 

I still see people with dogs on the beach. There is supposed to be a $250 fine for that offense. The other day I saw someone let their dog urinate on the beach while taking them on a stroll on The Strand. 

And people walking down the middle of The Strand with dogs on expandable leashes not even thinking about oncoming bikes. Or young kids running a muck. How about the ones that walk in the middle of The Strand. Or the groups of four or five people in a row vertically across. Isn’t it called a bike path?

Hermosa needs to separate the bike path from the walkers, like the path in Manhattan Beach. 

I’m getting tired of all of this danger and summer is around the corner. I think it’s going to get worse unless something changes.

Bike rides are supposed to be a form of relaxation but I’m finding that every time I ride I’m getting angry. Please Hermosa do something about it. Make some revenue. Get out there and patrol the beaches and The Strand. 

Name withheld by request

Redondo Beach 

Requiem for a lightweight

Dear ER:

Hermosa Beach Councilmember Raymond Jackson’s recent letter does not read like a public servant’s farewell to a departing City Manager (“Requiem for a Heavyweight,” ER Letters, ER May 15, 2025). It reads like a graduate thesis in victimhood studies—equal parts race-baiting, historical fiction, and personal grievance.

Let’s dispense with the falsehoods. No one ever said a new City Hall would “smell like curry.” If Jackson has evidence of this alleged comment, he should present it. The complaint that someone compared Suja Lowenthal to the Taliban is equally dishonest. Those who take the time to read or listen to the actual remarks will find a critique of Suja’s inaccessible style of governance—not religious extremism.

As for the “Taj Mahal” reference, this is an old metaphor for government boondoggles. It has been used to describe every overbuilt city hall from Palo Alto to Peoria. It’s not racist; it’s rhetorical.

Jackson claims Lowenthal and her family were physically threatened. Despite repeated public records requests, not a single iota of evidence has surfaced indicating any personal or physical threat toward the City Manager. What has surfaced are emails and public comments from frustrated residents pledging to protest, to attend council meetings in large numbers, and to speak forcefully against the changes being imposed. Time and again, Jackson has twisted those constitutionally protected forms of dissent to serve his own narrative. They are not threats. They are a democracy.

What’s most revealing, however, is what Jackson omits. Namely, the results of two elections where voters chose a different direction. Voters rejected the heavy-handed cultural shift Lowenthal openly bragged about in her own words: “I led a cultural transformation.” Residents noticed she wanted to push a cultural transformation. They voted against that. That is the true story here—not some fairy tale of a competent administrator chased out of town by the angry mob.

Let’s also be clear: competence is not the same as vision. One can be competent and still lead a city down a path the community rejects. Lowenthal’s vision—bureaucratic, rigid, obsessed with process over people—may have thrilled our previously bureaucracy-minded council, but it suffocated the soul of Hermosa Beach. Under her tenure, getting a parking permit became a Kafkaesque ordeal. Opening a business felt like trench warfare. Local customs were dismissed, long-standing relationships ignored.

Jackson is not angry because Lowenthal was wronged. He’s angry because the public stopped listening to him. The real cultural shift wasn’t Lowenthal’s. It was the public’s. They realized they were being talked down to, dismissed, and mischaracterized. And they voted accordingly.

We are a diverse, tolerant, and open-hearted beach town. We can survive change. But we shouldn’t be expected to applaud the erosion of what made Hermosa special. Residents want accountability, not lectures. Clarity, not dogma. And leadership, not martyrdom.

Suja Lowenthal may have left City Hall. But what has left Jackson, I fear, is his connection to the community he claims to represent.

Raymond Dussault
Hermosa Beach

Abundance of advice

Dear ER:

Here’s a perspective on the Hermosa city manager controversy from an angle not so personal. The 2025 book Abundance , #1 New York Times Bestseller by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, critiques liberal governance for creating scarcity through overregulation and inefficient spending. It advocates for a “liberalism that builds,” emphasizing streamlined processes and tangible outcomes. 

In Hermosa Beach, recent events—Suja  resignation as city manager and Michael Keegan’s election to the city council—mirror the book’s concerns and offer a path forward under Mayor Rob Saemann’s leadership.

Lowenthal became city manager in 2018, introducing progressive initiatives like green energy and infrastructure improvements. However, her tenure faced criticism for high costs and inefficiencies. The city spent $400,000 on a parks master plan and $100,000 on a solar panel for a single restroom light bulb at Sea View park. Staff costs increased 35% over five years, straining the budget.

The permitting process also frustrated residents and business owners, who reported delays and high costs for tasks like parking permits and business approvals. Two proposed tax increases, including Measure HB in November 2024, were rejected by voters.

Despite these challenges, council members Justin Massey, Michael Detoy, and Raymond Jackson supported Lowenthal. Abundance notes that defending underperforming leaders can deepen public frustration, a pattern seen here.

In November 2024, Michael Keegan won a council seat, campaigning on fiscal responsibility and efficient governance. The former council-member and local business owner criticized excessive spending and proposed remodeling city hall instead of building a new $100 million facility. His election, alongside Rob Saemann’s role as mayor, shifted the council’s focus. 

Keegan’s priorities align with Abundance’s call for practical solutions, such as reducing consultant costs and simplifying processes.

To address these challenges, Hermosa can adopt Abundance’s principles under Mayor Saemann’s leadership: Simplify permitting, control spending, build trust for news taxes, promote council unity and engage the community.

With Mayor Saemann at the helm, Hermosa Beach has a chance to overcome recent challenges. Ed Hart

Hermosa Beach

It’s over

Dear ER:

The “Wicked Witch” Suja Lowenthal is gone. Hermosa Beach City Manager Lowenthal’s reign was terrible. Costs spiraled out of control, unnecessary staff was hired, including an assistant city manager for the first time in the city’s history to cover her absence at City Hall. Her actions will financially harm the city for years to come. Every project during her reign ended up over budget and years behind projected completion times. Consultants were hired to state the obvious, when if she had ever worked a full day at City Hall would have been unnecessary. She hired the worst, woke Police Chief in the history of Hermosa. Under his watch, crime exploded, but he will be best remembered for his woke policing ideas and attempted “blackmailing” of a council member. Lowenthal leaves Hermosa 10 times worse than when she was hired. My thanks go out to Councilmembers Dean Francois, Rob Saamann and Michael Keegan who had the courage to oppose carpetbaggers Raymond Jackson, Michael Detoy and Lowenthal. Let’s hope all DEI practices are binned along with Jackson, who has never seen a contract he did not like. Let’s hope the false narrative engineered by Jackson in his avalanche of letters is ended, along with the Lowenthal and Jackson’s Dream of a new, $150 million City Hall. Lowenthal and Jackson are everything that Hermosa is not. Please follow Lowenthal and resign Councilman Jackson. You will not be missed.

Anthony Fitzgerald

Hermosa Beach