Letters to the Editor 7-3-25

Hyperbole politics

Dear ER:

Hermosa Beach Councilmember Raymond Jackson’s letter (“Cronyism politics,” ER Letters, June 26, 2025) criticizing the appointment of Interim City Manager Steve Napolitano contains the sort of inaccurate hyperbole Jackson has become well known for. The processes for appointing interim managers vary, according to situation and circumstance. Jackson wants people to believe that this was a situation without precedent, when he knows that isn’t true.  

Three members of the council acted decisively to place a well-known, highly respected individual into the position at short notice, on an interim basis. In doing so, they ensured the City has competent leadership in place while the search for a permanent City Manager is developed.

Two members of the council, Jackson and Michael Detoy, seem more concerned about political point scoring than anything else right now. Former City Manager Suja Lowenthal is gone, and she isn’t coming back, whatever Jackson and Detoy might wish for.

The early signs are that Napolitano is a breath of fresh air for our city. In his first few weeks, he’s been accessible to businesses and residents alike. He’s acting with common sense and good grace, despite the slurs from Jackson.

We’re lucky Napolitano agreed to take over the position on short notice. We would be even luckier if he agreed to take the job on a permanent basis. Jackson and Detoy would like to sabotage any hope of that, quite possibly because Napolitano’s future success would serve to highlight the failures of his predecessor and the councilmembers who backed her.

As for “a backroom buddy deal,” Jackson and Detoy should spend their time examining Lowenthal’s last gasp attempt to hire a highly-paid Deputy City Manager on May 7. That move was made without any consultation with the council, despite the fact Lowenthal knew she was facing a potential contract termination the very next day.

Jackson reportedly refuses to speak to two of his four colleagues on council. Together with his recent slurs against Napolitano, he exhibits precisely the kind of behavior that a previous council (which included Detoy) used as cause to deny then-councilmember Hany Fangary the position of Hermosa Beach Mayor Pro Mayor in 2020.  

Jackson’s petulance is designed to sow discord and create dysfunction within the city administration. If he doesn’t want to be part of this council, he should step down and let someone else do the job he was elected to do.

John Burry 

Hermosa Beach

Call it what it is

Dear ER:

I was stunned, and frankly outraged to learn former City Manager Suja Lowenthal hired a deputy city manager days before she walked out the door (“Cronyism politics,” ER Letters, June 26, 2025). Let’s call this what it is: a parting gift to a bureaucrat at taxpayer expense. This newly minted deputy city manager would have pocketed a jaw-dropping $177,086 a year, plus a $15,000 signing bonus, all orchestrated quietly and without council approval. It’s hard to imagine a more blatant example of backroom dealing.

Fortunately, the City Council saw through this and rightly eliminated the deputy city manager position at their last meeting, which was a responsible, cost-saving decision that puts residents first.

What’s even more galling is the deafening silence from Councilman Raymond Jackson. He’s been shouting from the rooftops about so-called “lack of transparency” regarding the hiring of Interim City Manager Steve Napolitano. Yet when it comes to a clear, behind-the-scenes maneuver by a departing city manager? Not a peep. If we’re going to demand accountability, let’s apply the same standards across the board, not just when it suits political agendas.

Mindy Minkus

Hermosa Beach

Don’t do anything at all

Dear ER:

Dear Ray Jackson c/o ER. If you can’t say something new, don’t say anything at all.

Anna Tattu

Hermosa Beach

No good deed goes unpunished

Dear ER:
We are longtime Hermosa Beach residents who worked hard to live in the Sand Section—a neighborhood we love for its walkability, sense of community, and the city’s commitment to sustainability. We were motivated to purchase electric vehicles because of the city’s strong incentives, including free parking and public charging.
Our family of four—two working parents and two college students—drives three electric vehicles and a work truck. We’ve also installed solar panels at home to support clean charging, and our EV charger is located inside our garage. One of our vehicles is always parked in the garage, and we do our best to be responsible with our space and impact.
But in return, the city has made it harder for us to live here. Not only was our guest parking pass taken away, but so was one of our residential permits. That means when one of our kids is charging their car in the garage, I have to pay the meter just to park in front of my own home. If we have maintenance workers, need to clean out the garage, or have visiting family, our only options are to feed the meter or park blocks away.
Meanwhile, homes along The Strand and on walk streets often have four or more parking spots—sometimes even two garages—and yet still receive three parking stickers and a guest hangtag. It’s deeply unfair and feels like a policy that punishes those of us who are doing our part to support the city’s environmental goals while simply trying to live and raise a family here.
We hope the city will take a closer look at how these parking permit policies are affecting real residents—especially those trying to live responsibly, sustainably, and with pride in Hermosa Beach.

Andrew and Victoria Igloi

Hermosa Beach

Partially sunny, mostly cloudy

Dear ER:

Asked ‘Sunny’ the chatty AI bot on the City of Hermosa’s website some simple questions and it just returned a bunch of useless sentences that sounded like an answer but really wasn’t (“Hermosa Beach website chatbot Sunny is not a hallucination,” ER June 26, 2025). Any human being could have answered immediately the simple question. Then it said to check the website. And then it said to call the City at 310-318-0239.

Just another thing to further distance Hermosa Beach City Hall and the bureaucrats from the city’s own businesses and residents. The real question is who sold this to the city and how much did it cost? 

Just more stuff, probably implemented by the Suja Lowenthal gang before she was canned, to further reduce the time her minions needed to interface with the businesses and the residents of the city.

‘Sunny’ the ChattyBot gets a grade of “F”.

And how much personal information is this AI thing able to swipe from the city’s records? It, or its company, probably has access to everything at City Hall that’s on computers. Your kids are going to have to live with all this invasive stuff that’s so quick-and-dirty being bought and implemented by politicians and bureaucrats.

Move around anywhere in Hermosa and your license plate is tracked, you’re video-taped, and it’s just a matter of time before tiny city drones will fly around your back yard and into your kitchen and who knows where else. Dumb, dumb, dumb! Why even have a city government? Those working there want no part of the businesses and residents anymore. They just want their direct-deposited pay.

Maggie D

Hermosa Beach

Website comment

Road to ruin

Dear ER:

For a variety of reasons, Redondo Beach is in the rear in terms of revenue generation relative to neighboring beach cities (“Unanimous Redondo Beach City council approves ‘25-’26 budget,” ER June 26, 2025). I can’t help but wonder had city council revitalized the Galleria and/or the pier when interest rates and costs were lower if that would have helped. It seems Manhattan Village, Metlox, Hermosa Pier and The Pointe are all cash cows for our neighbors.

Redondo Councilmember Paige Kaluderovic is bringing up some hard truths about Redondo’s budget. There is no such thing as free beach town charm. Redondo needs to have a realistic look at revenue minus expenses and make some tough choices. If the community truly wants to pay for less development through higher fees and taxes, great; otherwise, development may be needed to generate revenues. I am very comfortable with the current Redondo City Council, and I commend the Council and the Mayor for having this conversation and unanimously approving a budget.

Marie Puterbaugh

Redondo Beach

ERNews.com

Financial discipline

Dear ER:

It is distressing to note our representatives have adopted a “business as usual” attitude and passed the budget unanimously without making any serious efforts to balance the budget (“Unanimous Redondo Beach City council approves ‘25-’26 budget,” ER June 26, 2025). The article shows every council member’s (and mayor’s) wish list. The discipline to live within your means goes out the window as soon as they sign the blank check. That is what our representatives in Washington, D.C. have been doing for years. Take a look at how much deficit they have been piling up without any reasonable and actionable solution.

Some of the costs projected for the whopping $94 million capital improvement projects are astronomical. How many bids does the city get for these projects? It seems there is no transparency or accountability for the CIPs.

Trimming trees, painting new signs and logos, keeping the harbor master, new radios for the fire department, are all fine projects but we cannot afford them until we have money to pay for them, at least not this year.

Hiring new people in the face of the looming deficits is totally irresponsible. It is nice to have all the positions listed in the article when you have the money to pay for them. Confidence and optimism cannot be measured in dollars but the compensation of the ones hired for the new positions does. What results do we expect from the new staff members? If they are not achieved, it will be too late to terminate them.

The taxpayers should demand a balanced budget and hold the council members responsible for spending more than the revenues. They should not be allowed to spend money they don’t have. Wishful thinking does not bring revenues.  

Vijay Jeste  

Redondo Beach

Book of Dietz review 

Dear ER:

On behalf of the Dietz family, I would like to thank Easy Reader and writer Mark McDermott for the beautiful and heartfelt article about Pat Dietz (“The Book of Dietz: Memories of the late great,” ER June 26, 2025). Pat had a special gift for cultivating friendships and that came through loud and clear. We would also like to credit the talented photographer and lifelong friend Ricky Lesser for the stunning front page picture of Pat. He gifted this and other band photos to our family after the last Dietz Brothers Concerts in the Park show. They have even more meaning to us now.

John and Susan Dietz

Redondo Beach

Dear ER:

Thank you for the well written obituary (“The Book of Dietz: Memories of the late great,” ER June 26, 2025). Pat was my brother-in-law. I’ll miss the life before he passed and will do what is required of us with that remainder of time.

Robin Lancaster

ERNews.com

Dear ER:

I’m so glad you wrote this (“The Book of Dietz: Memories of the late great,” ER June 26, 2025).. Just beautiful. So nice to visit with Pat in this way. We sure miss him.

Christen Sussin

ERNews.com

Dear ER:

What a beautiful and heartfelt story, Mark (“The Book of Dietz: Memories of the late great,” ER June 26, 2025).. A real gem, just like Pat Dietz. Thank you. Xo

Renee Safier

ERNews.com

Dear ER:

Great story about a great friend and great human being (“The Book of Dietz: Memories of the late great,” ER June 26, 2025).. Thank you Mark McDermott. Beautifully written.

Bill Humphrey

ERNews.com