Letters to the Editor 8-16-18

 

Too many cooks

Dear ER:

My wife and I were about to go to Hermosa Beach for vacation and while there, check out the new Patrick Malloys redesigned by British chef Gordon Ramsay (“Commission rejects Ramsay’s redesign of Patrick Molloy’s”). After reading about Hermosa’s certified politics to disapprove Malloys redesign, we decline to visit your city for our vacation. Sounds like you think you know more than Gordon Ramsay. As customers, we’re telling you and your cronies, Stay out of the kitchen.

Ray Robertson

Facebook comment

Swimmers know best

Dear ER:     
The argument by Section Chief Adam Uehara that swimming near piers and jetties is dangerous is a fraudulent argument(“The bodysurfers: the battle for north side of the Manhattan Beach pier,” ER Aug. 2, 2018). Almost 1,000 swimmers completed the Two Mile Pier to Pier Swim last Sunday during the International Surf Festival. They finished on the beach, through 5- to 6- foot swells on the north side of the pier. The poor management and supervision by the obstructionist managers of the L. A. County Ocean Lifeguard Service has not made the ocean safer. It has opened up L. A. County to liability by promoting surfboards in an area that has been reserved for swimmers and body surfers for decades. Officious bureaucrats are what cause taxpayer revolts and limit the money available to pay the wages of the very people we rely on for safety. Poor decisions being made by these supervisors are undermining the authority and respect for the rank and file lifesavers.

Name withheld by request

Quality act

Dear ER:

Compliments to the City of Hermosa Beach for the recent steam cleaning of the Hermosa Strand.

It is a definite improvement to be able to walk there without having to deal with urine, spit, and fecal residue, let alone he countless spillage. Please do it again, perhaps on a regular schedule? It is unfortunate that many dog owners deliberately take their pets to the openings in the Strand wall to relieve themselves on the sand there. Dog urine may contain listeria, which can be extremely dangerous to humans.

Eloise Butler

Hermosa Beach

C is certifiable

Dear ER:

Measure C is certified alright, as in insane. It’s the new legal framework for our the Redondo Beach Waterfront. Yet, according to City Attorney’s impartial analysis “there’s legal question as to whether some portions of the measure are ‘administrative actions’ that cannot be required by initiative, consequently, legal challenges may occur.” The ludicrous part of this desperate measure is that “only the voters can change the zoning amendments adopted.”  Well done California Coastal Commission for handcuffing us to a faultily written amendment and taking away rights to fair representation. Measure C was constructed to kill the Waterfront project. Mission accomplished, but I wouldn’t call it victorious. I’ll reserve my congratulations until the campaign promises are delivered. Councilman Todd Loewenstein promised the passage would “quickly revitalize and modernize the pier in a public-private partnership.” The Yes on C boasted of “countless options for responsible, prosperous revitalization without sacrificing our quality of life”. Let’s keep these folks accountable.       

Lisa Rodriguez

Redondo Beach

Self service

Dear ER:

Next Tuesday, August 21, the Manhattan Beach City Council will consider extending their elected terms by an additional year. One council member attempted to justify it by citing Senate Bill 415, which requires municipal elections be held concurrent with primary or general elections to improve voter turnout. Our city previously implemented SB 415 without increasing the terms and after substantial public outreach. Increasing the council terms is unnecessary, a conflict of interest, and contrary to the will of the voters who elected them to a fixed term. Their rationale for the proposed change is that there’s a long ballot and partisan bias in November general elections, as compared to primary elections. However, historically, primary elections have had far more candidates (longer ballot) and both elections contain partisan races. Neighboring Hermosa Beach changed their elections to the November general elections and, like Manhattan Beach in 2016, they didn’t increase their own terms to achieve this. If you feel that self-interest term extensions are unjustified and unacceptable, email the City Council at City Council@CityMB.info and/or speak at their meeting.

Wayne Powell

Manhattan Beach

Whose call

Dear ER,

Now certified by the California Coastal Commission, Measure C prohibits a road, prohibits parking structures, preserves Seaside Lagoon, preserves views, and institutes development standards of the boat launch. According to the Redondo Beach City Charter, city officials are suppose to be making those decisions for the City of Redondo Beach, not Political Action Committees and Special Interest Groups.

Pat Healy

Redondo Beach

School math

Dear ER:

From 1982 to 1993, Hermosa and North Redondo students could choose between Redondo Union and Mira Costa high schools. Since the 1993-94 school year, when the South Bay Union High School District merged with the Manhattan Beach City School Districts. 25 years later, in 2018, Redondo Union High has a whopping student body population of approximately 2,900 students. It is time that North Redondo Beach gets a new high school to relieve Redondo Union High, Mira Costa High, and Adams Middle Schools of overcrowding.

Alexandros Martinez

Redondo Beach

Parking deterrent

Dear ER:

Recently, the City of Rancho Palos Verdes formally moved to close public access to seven Conservancy land reserves, tear out the parking spaces at Del Cerro Park, and install parking meters along the southern end of Crenshaw Boulevard. The meters would charge $5 an hour for the privilege of parking in Rancho Palos Verdes. The city introduced a staff study at their July 31 city council meeting. Members of the Conservancy had sent the city letters pointing out how access, interpretation, recreation, and preservation are the Conservancy’s charter and supported by both public and private funding. The  city council took no action, putting off the issue until the next council meeting on August 14. This was done with no prior announcement or public comment period. The underlying reason is likely complaints from some residents that “outsiders” are parking at Del Cerro Park and at the Forrestal Reserve trailheads. I am speaking here as a person who has hiked and explored Palos Verdes for years. That led me to volunteer with the Conservancy’s Trail Watch program which helps educate the public, warn them of hazards, and report on vandalism and graffiti.

Timothy Fives

Palos Verdes

 

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