Health exam of the facts
Dear ER
As he has done for many months, Mark Nelson continues to mislead residents about the Beach Cities Health District’s (BCHD’s) proposed Healthy Living Campus Project (HLC) (“Healthy Living Campus needs health exam,” ER December 15, 2022). Nelson may have the best intentions, but in his most recent 600 word outburst he fails to even acknowledge BCHD’s enormous contributions to the health, and wellbeing of beach cities residents, past and present. Nor does he even hint that based on community feedback concerning the project the originally proposed 420 senior assisted living units was cut back to 217 units, and construction time was substantially reduced. Moreover, the HLC proposes to transform much of the existing 11-acre site from unsightly parking lots into accessible. and much needed open space. The District’s willingness to engage meaningfully with nearby residents doesn’t fit into Nelson’s view of HLC so he ignores it. That doesn’t mean residents should. The District has served the beach cities well since 1960. With the HLC project they will continue to do so.
George Schmeltzer
Hermosa Beach
South Hermosa blues
Dear ER:
We start at 3 a.m. We open our door at 10 a.m. We close at 5 p.m., but there’s always an hour at least to finish tidying up. So it’s more like 6 p.m. before we go home. That’s 15 hours a day. If we took advantage of outdoor dining we could finish wrecking the parking at the south end of Hermosa Avenue by serving people pie at tables in the gutter, with cars whizzing by at 40 mph. Our little world revolves around our Second Street surfers, Hermosa Ave. renters, Manhattan Ave. moms and dads. Few of the homes on The Strand are occupied, so there’s little to no trade from that part of the neighborhood. The walk street residents fill us with joy — the crazy kids, the disgruntled, the local houseless persons who rotate between Venice and San Pedro. But passing emergency ordinances to allow the continued use of outdoor dining areas blows our minds. The city council has to realize that no matter how hard they try, Hermosa will never fit into an outdoor patio lifestyle like Malibu, Laguna, Newport and Manhattan Beach. I think it’s lame to sit outdoors to enjoy a meal while some loud jerk blows past in his sports car, or motorcycle. Plus there’s the exhaust. It’s the little shops and restaurants, bistros, deli’s and bakery that make our town so charming. So why are they wrecking traffic flow with extra bike lanes and ridiculous outdoor dining areas? By the time Hermosa Avenue drivers reach Second Street, after being squeezed into a 10 mile an hour traffic jam, the foot goes down and folks barrel past our shops at 40-plus mph. The exhaust noise violation blinker sign the city put at the south entrance of Hermosa Avenue broke two months ago. It’s a bust. Just like what the city leaders are doing to us. No parking, we go bust. The city has become too constrained, with too many street signs, too many rules, and broken promises. The city passes these “emergency measures” without consulting residents, homeowners, business owners and long term renters.
Baker Dave
Hermosa Beach
Parking lot blues
Dear ER:
I am handicapped and must use a walker to get around. I parked my car today in the downtown Hermosa Beach parking structure, next to Pier Plaza. I parked on the second floor in a handicap spot. I went to the elevator to go down to the ground floor, and to my surprise, the elevator did not work. I was there several months ago and it didn’t work then either. I thought by now it would have been fixed. I had to wait for someone to carry my walker so I could use the stairs. The worst part was when I had to have someone carry my walker up the steps to get to my car. It is very difficult for me to go up stairs. I hope the elevator can be fixed ASAP. I don’t think it meets ADA requirements.
Bob Habel
Torrance
School district blues
Dear ER:
Jen Fenton has been re-elected to our school board along with newcomers Tina Shivpuri and Wysh Weinstein. What does the victory really mean for the new board and for the district? Typically, candidates run on a platform, and upon achieving victory, they hopefully deliver on their promises. But, in this election, not one of the winning candidates ran on the controversial EDSJI (equity, diversity, social justice and inclusion) race-based agenda. Forty percent of Manhattan Beach residents voted for “The Trifecta,” and did not support the winning candidates. There is simply no mandate from any of the school board candidates for the race agenda MBUSD has embraced. What message is this EDSJI ideology sending to our vulnerable kids? Are we teaching them unity? Are we teaching them our great nation is united by our common love of freedom for each and every one of us, and not based on skin color, ethnicity or race? “E Pluribus Unum” is our national motto– out of many, one. Yet, the EDSJI agenda does the exact opposite. It causes our kids to focus on their differences. Tragically, it fulfills George Orwells’s prophetic book, “Animal Farm:” “All the animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” We’re all down for diversity — diversity of skin color, ethnicity, race, differing backgrounds and — but can’t we also embrace differing opinions? Can we hit the reset button going forward? Will we seek common ground? We have a rare opportunity. Let’s embrace it rather than squander it.
Fred Taylor
Manhattan Beach
Holiday cheer
Dear ER
As a former, two-term Manhattan Beach Mayor, City Councilmember, and a longtime community volunteer, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to all public safety responders, health care workers, and volunteers serving our community. I know firsthand how they improve our residents’ quality of life and public safety, especially during the holidays. I encourage everyone to make a difference, and volunteer your time and resources to our many outstanding community organizations and our exemplary schools. Also, please patronize our local independent businesses, and restaurants, especially those that support our community organizations and schools. Here’s wishing you and your family a happy, healthy and safe holiday season and New Year!
Wayne Powell
Manhattan Beach
Sham lawsuit
Dear ER:
This was a concealed Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation lawsuit (SLAPP) filed to bankrupt us, and silence opposition to the CenterCal harbor mall in King Harbor (“State Supreme Court hears arguments on Brand, Nehrenheim legal fees,” ER Dec. 15, 2022). If the court confirmed the shills for this sham lawsuit (alleged plaintiffs Chris Voisey and Arnette Travis) had lied about who was paying for the lawsuit prior to trial the judge would have thrown the case out on those grounds it was an illegal SLAPP lawsuit. They wanted to bankrupt the opposition, and that is why before the trial over attorney fees began the shills attorney offered to settle if we paid them $500,000? Our response to that suggestion was they could “blank off” and pound sand. There was no need to even file a lawsuit because there is a free path — any person can file a complaint with the State Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC). In fact, the exact same bogus complaint was filed with the FPPC on Feb. 15, 2017 by Michael Cahalan. He announced it at a city council meeting. When reporters asked Cahalan how he wrote the rather large, detailed complaint, he didn’t answer. The FPPC dismissed the case and cleared us of any wrongdoing on April 4, 2021. FPPC complaints take a while to process as demonstrated in our case. That would explain why CenterCal used shills Voisey and Travis to file their lawsuit. As our attorneys clearly stated in court, this sham lawsuit was a weaponization of the Political Reform Act. Michael Cahalan was the partner of Rick Schmitz, and they shared a home in Redondo Beach. Schmitz was a paid consultant of Redondo Beach Waterfront (CenterCal properties). In preparation for the trial, we attempted, unsuccessfully, to subpoena Cahalan. We later learned he moved to Hawaii after we were contacted by CenterCal’s attorney Bradley Hertz, who stated he also was now acting as Cahalan’s attorney.
Wayne Craig
Redondo Beach
