All politics is local
Dear ER:
Hermosa Beach Worse Than The Taliban?
There has been discussion about a recent Hermosa Beach City Council meeting where [Council candidate] Elka Worner, on the eve of 9/11, suggested that Hermosa Beach’s government is worse than the Taliban. Worner saw fit to compare access to City officials and the City Manager to a terrorist organization that played a significant role in 9/11 and was responsible for the deaths of thousands of American service members, including several of my friends and colleagues.
Hermosa Beach worse than the Taliban? Having deployed to Afghanistan and witnessed the Taliban’s tyranny firsthand, I find this comparison both reprehensible and absurd. Every American should feel the same. Worner was not just a resident commenting on an agenda item; she spoke as a city council candidate, a former Easy Reader reporter, a FOX News journalist, and a producer for Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo. She had the right to express her views, just as Councilmembers had the right to respond.
Respectfully challenging opposing views is vital to a healthy democracy and promotes a well-informed community. Disagreement should not be labeled as a “vicious attack.”
I stand by my statements challenging her views and remain dedicated to representing Hermosa Beach with honesty, integrity, and commitment.
Ray Jackson
City Council
Hermosa Beach
E-bike escapeway
Dear ER:
Last week, Hermosa City officials, with the help of their $80,000 a year publicist, staged a photo op of the shovel digging to signal the start of construction of a decomposed granite handicapped pathway on a 400 yard section of the Hermosa Greenbelt. This photo op highlights the fact that our incumbent city council told taxpayers this project would cost $200,000 and would be fully funded by state, county and federal grant funds. Since zero grants were found, the project should have been tabled. Instead, [incumbent Council candidate] Mike Detoy and fellow councilmembers moved forward on spending over $1 million dollars to move this forward. Tip of the hat for wasting precious dollars that could have fixed streets like Bonnie Brae, 13th, 14th, and many others. Detoy and his colleagues have created an “attractive nuisance” for e-bikers that will cause damage and divots to the new pathway (more maintenance) and have created a defense for e-bikers when you spend police resources chasing them and ticketing them out of the Greenbelt. We have an e-bike problem now and this is how you solve it? Thank you for creating a $1 million dollar granite walkway/bikeway for e-bike fun and a city maintenance item.
Michael Keegan
City Council candidate
Hermosa Beach
Community first
Dear ER:
As a coalition of women leaders in the Hermosa community, we have unanimously decided to endorse Mike Detoy and Jani Lange for the two open Hermosa Beach City Council seats. Our endorsement is based on their extensive experience, strong character, and demonstrated commitment to our community. Both candidates have shown a deep understanding of Hermosa Beach’s unique challenges and opportunities, and we are confident in their ability to make informed decisions that will benefit all residents.
As women in leadership roles, we are strong advocates for increased female representation in local government. However, we firmly believe that qualifications and alignment with community values should be the primary factors in choosing our leaders and thus we are not endorsing any women for City Council. Our decision underscores an important point: we should elect officials based on their merits, experience, and ability to represent our community’s best interests, rather than solely on demographic factors. Detoy and Lange have consistently shown their commitment to preserving the character of Hermosa Beach while promoting responsible growth and addressing key issues such as environmental sustainability, public safety, and economic development.
Jessica Accamando, former Chamber President/CEO; Stacey Armato, former Hermosa Mayor; Katrina Bacallao; Claudia Berman; Maggie Bove LaMonica, Hermosa School Board; Mary Campbell, former Hermosa Mayor; Barbara Ellman, City Commissioner; Ann Gotthoffer; Cammie Herbert; Traci Horowitz, City Commissioner; Lana Imbagliazzo, Kim Koffler; Samantha Kuhr; Sheryl Main, Community Police Advisory Board; Lauren Pizer Mains, City Commissioner; Belinda Oakes, HBEF President; Tara McNamara; Carol Reznichek, Former Hermosa School Board; Morgan Sliff; Ashley Tull; Beth Rohrer; Katie Vernon.
Tail wagging the dog
Dear ER:
Hermosa Beach city employees work for the people of Hermosa Beach, it’s not the other way around. The City Council should be the voice of the people. The political establishment has been in overdrive to support their candidates (Michael Detoy and Jani Lange) because they want increased taxes to fund their overspending and their new $125 million Civic Facilities Project. During the pandemic, the Hermosa Beach City Council made incredibly bad, draconian decisions, crushing our personal rights and freedoms. Hermosa businesses lost significant revenue, and many had to shut down permanently. To add salt to the wound, they closed our parks, beaches, playgrounds, barricaded The Strand, and hired an outside company with our taxpayer money to bully and fine us. Does this deserve a reward or promotion to a seat on the Hermosa Beach City Council? Mark my words residents of Hermosa Beach, this will happen again. Think carefully, who do you want making decisions that will affect your rights and your freedoms. Hermosa Beach City Council needs new and fresh ideas, and deserves a candidate of the people, not the establishment. My campaign is holding a forum at Hennessey’s HB Thursday Oct. 24, at 6:30 p.m.
Brian Sheil
Hermosa Beach City Council Candidate for
Hermosa Beach
A numbers candidate
Dear ER:
I am Dave Pedersen and I am running for Hermosa Beach City Treasurer. I appreciate the consideration of Hermosa voters as they cast their ballots. I have served Hermosa as a three-term Planning Commissioner as well as in many other community roles and look forward to serving in this new role. I am the only candidate who works full-time as a financial planner and investment advisor. A significant part of my work is understanding financial and capital markets and how they fit into the needs of clients, which is what the City Treasurer does in implementing Hermosa’s Investment Policy. My perspective will provide tangible investment performance over time for the benefit of our residents.
As a UCLA Anderson MBA and USC undergrad, I have the education as well as industry credentials to serve Hermosa Beach at the highest level. I also believe that serving in any elected or appointed city position means staying visible and accessible. It means being connected to our City Staff, and elected and appointed officials, as well as our community members. I’ve worked very hard to build and maintain relationships throughout Hermosa, even when we don’t agree on specific issues.
I have the support of many in our community (including South Bay Boardriders President Tom Horton, Annie Seawright, Councilmember Mike Detoy, former Chamber President Jessie Accamando, former Mayor Stacey Armato, and former Mayor George Schmeltzer. I respectfully ask for your vote by November 5.
David Pedersen
Hermosa Beach
Keep Redondo safe
Dear ER:
As a proud resident of Redondo Beach, I urge our community to support Measure FP and Measure S in the upcoming election. We chose to make Redondo our home, in part because of the exceptional local services and schools that keep our city safe and thriving. However, we face a critical challenge: our police and fire facilities are outdated and inadequate for our growing population, which has nearly doubled since their construction. Our police department has expanded from fewer than 50 to over 230 personnel, yet our facilities struggle to accommodate this growth. Similarly, our fire stations cannot properly house all of our multimillion-dollar fire trucks, leaving them vulnerable to the harsh coastal environment. It’s clear we need more than just updates; we require entirely new facilities that meet the demands of our community. The cost is under $18 per $100,000 of assessed property value. Factual information about the bond can be found on the city website: Redondo.org.
On November 5, let’s invest in what makes Redondo a wonderful place to live and raise our families. Please join me and vote yes on Measure FP and Measure S.
Paige Kaluderovic
Redondo Beach
[Kaluderovic is a Redondo Councilmember]
Trifacta trouble
Dear ER:
The politically cunning Suzanne Hadley, book banner and COVID denier, is back again. Having foisted on us the worst trifecta ever of School Board candidates in 2022 without vetting them, Hadley now is sending out mailers for the Manhattan Beach Council candidate trifecta of Joe Franklin, Steve Charelian, and Joe Marcy. Manhattan Beach has terrific police and fire departments and a very low crime rate, yet these three are running on “public safety” platforms calling for increased spending to fight crime. Franklin voted in lock step with then Councilmember Hadley for two solid years on City Council, and 57-year-old Charelian asks for our vote when he only registered to vote for the first time on August 2nd, nine days after he filed to run for office. These are easily searchable facts that should cause concern for any Manhattan Beach voter. We have important issues facing our city council over the next four years, including the redevelopment of Parking Lot #3, replacement of Begg Pool, and funding infrastructure improvements to streets and water systems. Hadley opposes local control of funding necessary for these projects, and continues to oppose funding for our schools. There are good people running for City Council. I urge you to think of them individually and reject Hadley’s slate.
Allen Kirschenbaum
Manhattan Beach
Dear ER:
Leadership witness
| I strongly support Nina Tarnay for Manhattan Beach City Council. As a board member of the West Basin Municipal Water District, I’ve had the privilege of working with Nina for 10 years in her role as Executive Administrator of the West Basin Water Association (WBWA), an organization charged with preserving and protecting our region’s local groundwater supplies whose members include the City of Manhattan Beach. With a membership of public agencies and private entities each having groundwater pumping rights, I have seen Nina’s leadership firsthand as the WBWA navigates local water supply issues critical to our cities and major industries. She understands the water and infrastructure challenges facing Manhattan Beach, as well as protecting our environment and the Santa Monica Bay that is vital to the city’s economy for residents and visitors alike. Tarnay is highly respected for her professional and volunteer service in Manhattan Beach and surrounding communities. I am confident she will ensure effective decision making on the City Council while also bringing a regional perspective to the dais that is critical as our South Bay communities face a myriad of collective challenges. I ask that you vote for Nina Tarnay for Manhattan Beach City Council. |
Scott Houston
Director, West Basin Municipal Water District
El Segundo
Course adjustment
Dear ER:
I am writing to correct the inaccuracies and misinformation contained in Suzanne Hadley’s recent public statements. First, MBUSD does not have shrinking enrollment. After a pandemic-era decline, the district’s enrollment has remained constant at 5,900 students the past four school years (including the current year). Second, there’s no data to support her claim that “local families are increasingly choosing private schools.” In fact, substantial evidence indicates the opposite is true. Third, let’s not conflate the passage of Measure MB in March with Measure RLS. Measure MB’s $225/home parcel tax can only be spent on teacher salaries; its successful passage enabled the district to rehire 20 teachers who were laid off due state budget constraints. Measure RLS funds, if passed, can only be spent to repair, maintain, and upgrade our aging school facilities. Those are the facts.
My youngest will be graduating from MCHS in June and, thus, our family (like Hadley’s) will no longer have a child in the district. Yet I support RLS because high-quality public schools are an asset to the community and, selfishly, boost our property values. Homeowners know homes require constant repairs, maintenance, and improvement. The same is true with the district’s facilities. Measure RLS is a timely investment in MB’s school facilities. My kids (and Suzanne’s) benefitted from the investment that the previous generation made into our schools. Now it’s our turn to pay it forward (without raising our tax bills) for the next generation of MB students!
Bruce Greenberg
MBUSD Trustee
Manhattan Beach
Healthy schools
Dear ER:
Yes on RLS
As a former Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board Member, I’m urging Manhattan residents to vote Yes on ballot measure RLS. Our award-winning schools continue to do more with less, but there are issues that can no longer be deferred—issues which directly affect the health, safety, and quality of education facilities for our children. RLS does this without increasing taxes. One pressing need is to replace aging and leaking roofs. These roofs are a safety hazard and their deterioration puts our students’ learning environments at risk. Outdated plumbing must also be upgraded to ensure students have access to safe, clean drinking water, while aging sewer and gas lines should be replaced to prevent potential hazards.
Modern education requires up-to-date classrooms and labs, especially in subjects like science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). RLS will help repair deteriorating electrical systems and install features like safety doors, fireproofing, additional smoke detectors and alarms. Finally, this measure includes the removal of dangerous materials like asbestos and lead paint where encountered, which are critical to ensuring the long-term health of students and staff.
Voting Yes on RLS means investing in the future of our community by ensuring that our schools are safe, modern, and equipped to support quality education. Please join me in supporting this important initiative.
Sally Peel
Manhattan Beach
Healthy and happy
Dear ER:
Our household is a Yes on Measure BC. We are so fortunate to have Beach Cities Health District, a nationally recognized Wellness Health resource, in our community. BCHD was there during COVID with coveted tests and resources to help those who fell ill. BCHD has no cost and low cost resources for every age. BCHD is an amazing resource for folks wishing to age in place with their Fitness Facility and outreach programs. They provide exercise, gardens and wellness programs for the younger kids and allcove for the older kids. When families need help finding a place for aging parents, BCHD has real answers. How lucky our community doesn’t have to call some soulless toll-free number for help. Is this worth $3 per $100,000 assessed home value? That’s only $30 on a home assessed at a million dollars. Wonderful no cost and low cost wellness resources and hardly a dime out of my pocket? That’s an easy Yes on Measure BC.
Mickey Johnson
Redondo Beach
Fiscal health questioned
Dear ER:
Beach Cities Health District Board of Directors wants Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach taxpayers to say yes to a $30 million dollar bond measure on November 5. They reason that without this infusion, their health programs risk reduction or elimination. So much just doesn’t add up with this measure. Demolishing the 514 Prospect building due to seismic concerns makes little sense when it actually meets seismic standards for existing buildings and a demo would be purely voluntary. Currently the gym is there and it’s where many of their fitness classes take place. 514 is also where Silverado is located. Where is the talk of what will be done with those residents if this building is demolished, or where the torn down gym will go? The Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce recently announced their new digs at 514. Where is their fear that the building is any more doomed than any other building the same age? Yet this measure frames the need to demolish it as dire. Is it irresponsible to be renting this suite to the Chamber of Commerce? What seems irresponsible is BCHD use of taxpayer money, and then asking for more in the form of this measure, with weak justification and no solid plans other than piecemeal building notions that likely portend even more bonds going forward.
All homeowners are supporters of BCHD. BCHD receives $5 million a year from our property taxes, half of which goes toward executive pay. It’s indisputable that BCHD provides great programs, from Zumba in the Park to Dementia care support groups. What’s in question is the logic of what they want to do and whether their plans make fiscal sense. So far on paper and in theory they do not. We taxpayers should vote no on Measure BC.
Lara Duke
Redondo Beach
