Letters to the Editor 5-23-24
Next, the crows
Dear ER:
I am disgusted and appalled by the decision of the City of Redondo Beach to smoke out the gophers along the North Redondo Beach Bikeway path. The gophers existed on public property and were doing absolutely no harm to the grassy areas on either side of the path. Dogs enjoyed watching the gophers and there are at least two, beautiful gray herons that use the area for hunting grounds. Not only was this decision inhumane, but it was unnecessary. What will the City decide to eradicate next? Squirrels? Skunks? Crows? We need to learn to coexist with the creatures that are trying to survive in this overdeveloped habitat we call home. I ran along the path this morning and did not see one gopher. I did however see the gray heron. I’m afraid the heron will not find what they’re looking for.
Ann Grennan
Redondo Beach
Tennis courts, anyone
Dear ER:
I read with interest the estimated costs for a pool repair/replacement, downtown wider sidewalks, parking garage, etc. How about a small investment ($200,000) in properly fixing the Live Oak Tennis Courts. They have cracks, ridges, and dead spots. They are hardly suitable for an upscale community like Manhattan Beach. The every three year resurfacing attempts are a waste of money. New racks reappear within a month. It’s the sand subsurface. Pour a base of cement. Hire a tennis court specialist.
Marty Friedman
Manhattan Beach
Easy e-bike fix
Dear ER:
It is absurd for a chief of police to suggest the only solution to e-bikes and the mayhem being caused by them and their thug riders is for their parents to change. We don’t say that when somebody commits a murder or a rape. And we don’t expect our police to sit around and do too little when somebody is using a new technology to destroy our quality of life.
The solutions are right at hand. Treat these motorized passenger vehicles the way we’ve always treated motorized passenger vehicles. Require they be registered with the city. And have a very prominent license plate on both the front and the back. And that the driver carry the registration with them. And proof of insurance. If they don’t have it, the bike gets impounded until they do. A second offense, big fine. Third offense, registration taken away. We can use all the money from the registrations and the fines and put up cameras at the big intersections solely to monitor e-bikes. Pay somebody specifically to field all the phone calls from folks who have been harassed or cut off in traffic, and to be the official to call the parents about it. We would also ban all e-bikes from The Strand up to Manhattan Avenue. So the cops can actually patrol in an effective way, rather than giving us the excuse that the bikers always escape down the alleyways and they can’t be chased. The bad seed kids causing the mayhem will get the message. “Uh oh, they’ll figure out who I am. My parents will find out, and I’ll lose the bike.” They will stop. It’s called deterrence, and it is the best police tactic there is.
The beach, The Strand and the ocean behind are the greatest shared common spaces we have in the South Bay. This e-bike mayhem is ruining it. This isn’t like a kid throwing a water balloon. Sooner or later, someone is going to die. Our city officials and our police need to treat this like the priority that it is. Or the citizens need to replace them.
Christopher O’Brien
Manhattan Beach