Letters to the Editor 8-17-17
Checkbook kindness
Dear ER:
Imagine my shock and dismay last Friday after dropping off my weekly deposit at Citibank on Pier Plaza in Hermosa Beach and then enjoying a lunch at The Gum Tree, only to return to my office and realize I had lost my checkbook somewhere along the way. Someone found it and was kind enough to turn it into the Hermosa Beach Police Department. The police went to the trouble of looking up my email address and notifying me they had the intact checkbook. A great Thank You to the woman who found my checkbook. Your honesty is much appreciated! I hope that this letter will inspire others to acts of kindness. Doing “the right thing” and being helpful contribute so much to making the South Bay such a great place.
David Britton
Redondo Beach,CA
Alt-straw
Dear ER:
Another great article from reporter Ryan McDonald (“Sip on this: oceans group rallies bars to skip the straws,” ER August 10, 2017). Changing our behavior is the right answer. If you want a straw for your drink, use a paper straw that will degrade or a metal straw you can reuse. There are alternatives to the wasteful “single-use” habit. Unless we change our behavior and end the waste stream of plastic trash we will continue to waste millions of dollars on cleanup and disposal, not to mention continuing the harmful impacts to our health and our environment.
Public ·
Jose Bacallao
Hermosa Beach
Health straw
Dear ER:
As much as I hate plastic and anything that goes into the ocean, I would never rely on restaurants or bars to properly wash their glasses (“Sip on this: oceans group rallies bars to skip the straws,” ER August 10, 2017). That’s why I always ask for a straw. And, honestly, as long as we have people that are slobs and don’t care how they treat our land, we will always have problems with all the garbage that comes into play when we get rain, and the crap that then flows into the ocean. Try going to any beach, where there is public parking. On a Monday morning, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Doing away with every straw in the state wouldn’t make one bit of difference when you see all the trash that people leave at our beaches. If you want to see this, you better get there before 6 a.m. because the county doesn’t want us to see that this is happening. So they are working by 5 a.m. to clean it all up. I see it all the time on my bike rides. It is truly It looks like 100 garbage cans just blew up.
Christine Riley Gaian
Facebook comment
Aloha straw
Dear ER:
We first noticed the anti-straw push in Hawaii a number of years ago (“Sip on this: oceans group rallies bars to skip the straws,” ER August 10, 2017). What about paper straws or bringing your own strong, hard plastic that you keep and use? It may sound silly right now but when we talked about bringing your own bags to the market like people in Europe had done for years it took a while to catch on.
Kathie Frazier
Facebook comment
Scouts’ message
Dear ER:
Great recap of the Manhattan Beach City Council meeting (“New Roundhouse Aquarium, Scout House designs approved,” ER August 10, 2017). We really appreciate the strong support we received from the Manhattan Beach City Council, and the great job the Easy Reader did to amplify the conversation beyond the walls of City Hall and those in attendance. Such an important service to our community.
Julie Justus McGinity
Board member
Friends of the Senior & Scout Community Center
Polly’s portrait
Dear ER:
I have memorialized Polly’s in several watercolor paintings. It’s Sad that instead of maintaining what we have we chose to tear them down (“Redondo Beach Sportfishing pier to be replaced,” ER August 10, 2017).
Gene McCarthy
Facebook comment
Woodie remembered
Dear ER:
On a recent trip to Cedar Grove in Kings Canyon I was speaking with a park ranger and inquired about Bob Woodie (“Body of local hiker missing since October found in Sierra Nevadas,” ER July 27, 2014). He told me that he had just recently been found. I thought of him on a day hike with my boys to Mist Falls. I can only hope to share the same type of beautiful relationship and love of the wilderness with my boys as he did with his sons. Rest in Paradise, Woodie.
Marlene Robinson Hefling
Facebook comment
Equal headlines
Dear ER:
In the future, I would love to see news coverage identify the winners of men’s and women’s races in the headline, for example, “Bullock and Cummings Repeat as Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim Champions.” (“Bullock repeats as Dwight Crum Pier-to-Pier Swim champion,” ER August 10, 2017
Mallory Renae
Facebook comment
Sketchpulveda
Dear ER:
I believe the urgent care development is further complicated by the proposed nearly one-half mile of buildings Sketchers is planning on Sepulveda Boulevard (“Moratorium declared on medical offices on Sepulveda,” ER August 10, 2017).
Stewart Fournier
Manhattan Beach
Secret spot no more
Dear ER:
While the article only infers the suspect broke into cars using poorly hidden spare keys, let’s be perfectly honest: anyone who leaves their car key on their rear tire (or inside the gas cap door) deserves to have their valuables stolen (“Thief broke into cars while surfers were in the ocean,” ER August 10, 2017). This was a “secret spot” in the 1970s, which is a really long time ago. Buy a suit with a key pocket, or a lock box to attach to your car, or hide your key away from your car.
Robert Dougherty
Facebook comment
Work opportunity
Dear ER:
The developer is to be commended for accommodating some of the concerns of residents (“South Bay Galleria’s mixed-use plans include hotel residential and office construction,” ER August 10, 2017). However, the right choice for Redondo is the lower density alternative with professional offices. But the residential component of that alternative should be zeroed out. We don’t need more high density housing. According to the data presented to the General Plan Advisory Committee (GPAC), Redondo has a terrible jobs to workforce ratio. There are virtually no professional jobs for our very professional workforce. So over 90 percent of our our working residents (almost half our population) leave Redondo for work. Currently, only about 2,500 people live and work in Redondo. Over 23,000 people drive into Redondo to fill the retail and restaurant jobs in the city. Adding 300 more residential units just adds to that mass exodus each morning. And the city loses money on residential. Opting for the professional office space instead of the residential units means we have highly paid workforce spending their money at the Galleria and along the Artesia corridor every weekday, year round. Increased expenditures at local retail and restaurants would increase city revenues. There are very few projects that could make a dent in our workforce/jobs disparity. We should not squander this one.
Jim Light
Redondo Beach
