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Top Stories on This Webpage: Starting July 16, 2006:
HB bar plan a threat to public safety - This letter represents a plea that the Hermosa Beach Planning Commission and City Council exercise whatever influence they have to deny a permit for a 15,000-square-foot restaurant/bar at the Hermosa Pavilion. I currently own a business in Hermosa -- after 33 years in law enforcement for Los Angeles County. There was a time when I didn't think any city could have too many bars. What has happened to our little community shows me I was wrong. The proposed monster bar at the Pavilion is not planned to meet the needs of the Hermosa drinkers. If every resident drank, we'd still have plenty of bars. It's an effort to draw drinkers and their wallets from out of the area. Make no mistake, that effort will be successful. As a former gang investigator, I found that every unsavory element imaginable between here and Riverside would find his way to the 91 freeway and drive toward the sun. That would drop them right here, about six blocks north of the proposed mega-bar.
Letters - Audit ‘em - I read with great interest last week’s letter “Drink to me thine eyes.” I am in complete agreement with the writer’s scathing disapproval of what is happening in Hermosa Beach’s downtown bar district. As a Hermosa Beach home owner, I am disgusted and appalled at what our fair city has become. All of our cops are down in the bar area. You never see police around the rest of the city Thursday thru Sunday nights. I hope my house isn’t being robbed because there would not be any police watching out for me. They are all downtown stopping the fights, urinating, underage drinking, and doing their own share of checking out the chicks and admiring groupies. It is pathetic. Recent figures show that residential burglaries in Hermosa rose in 2004 from 137 in 2004 to 187 in 2005. That is a whopping 36 percent. It is no wonder, as our cops are all downtown where the fights and scenery are.
Letters - HB lane changes will benefit bars - "Where but in Hermosa Beach would upper Pier Avenue, the central access to its downtown bars, be reduced to one lane each way to allow for still more alcohol dispensing businesses on widened public sidewalks, while causing bar patrons in their cars, cabs and limos to use residential side streets as the alternate access to that bar district?" That's quoted from a letter to the Daily Breeze 10 years past when Hermosa's City Council took the first legal step toward a single-laned Pier Avenue. The single lane is to promote more alcohol-dispensing establishments along upper Pier Avenue. Tiny Hermosa Beach is alcohol-, cab- and parking-saturated at night and needs not one more alcohol outlet of any kind to swagger or stagger past. City residents have been impacted and damaged enough by incredibly dumb council approvals regarding alcohol. Have they nor the council no limit?
Letters - Drink to me with thine ayes - The downtown drinking district continues to generate numerous quality of life issues and a negative image for our community. Destruction is not limited to vandalism spilling into our neighborhoods. On May 25, 2006 during a candidates’ forum a resident spoke of violence (drunken brawl) that occurred in front of their home. The victim’s scream awakened residents in the early morning hours, as the assault was in process. I was especially distressing to witness because the victim was a woman. The atmosphere of public intoxication, which is encouraged pay no dividends. How unfortunate, families and children who desire to visit the beautiful beachfront and pier have to pass a throng of bars. Hermosa’s permissive drinking policies in the downtown bar district is having a debilitating effect on our community. The erosion of public safety touches the lives of every resident and property owner.
Letters - A tire iron to Hermosa’s downtown - O
ver the last several years the residents of Hermosa Beach who live west of Monterey Blvd. have had to survive beer bottles in their yards, public urination, and the destruction of private property. Last Saturday night at 3 a.m., my car and a neighbor’s car suffered the blows of a tire iron, resulting in broken windows and body damage. A few months ago the church on the corner of 16th Street & Manhattan Ave. had a brick thrown through a very expensive 80-year-old stained glass window. These are not isolated incidents. The list of vandalism, thefts, battery, loud and disorderly behavior, and DUI driving resulting in hit and run accidents is long and must be addressed and remedied. I am aware that with budget cuts and the magnitude of this problem the HBPD is already overtaxed with respect to available resources but a solution must be found. Last Friday night cost me $841 and I stayed home. Can anything be done?
Hermosa Beach man 36, is killed in late night traffic crash -
A 36-year-old Hermosa man was killed when the 'pickup truck he was driving went out of control on Sepulveda Boulevard and smashed into a metal wall outside Hotel Hermosa shortly before 1 a.m. last Wednesday, police said. Only minutes before, the man had plowed into parked cars on two Hermosa streets, police said. He then drove the 2001 Toyota Tundra into Manhattan and was making his way south on Sepulveda where he struck some concrete trashcans on the northwest corner of the intersection with Artesia Boulevard, police said. The pickup also struck the concrete median and knocked over a traffic light pole. The vehicle skidded sideways across part of the intersection, flipped over and went the rest of the way upside down, a passing motorist told police.
The saddest rule of government -
One of the maxims told to me about government when I was first elected to office was a simple, sad, and frustrating one: “You don’t get a crosswalk until a kid gets killed.” The accident that occurred on PCH two weeks ago, killing a teenage boy trying to cross the street, was tragic not just because it was likely preventable. It is tragic because the need for a signaled crosswalk at that intersection has been known for years.
1. Photos of Pedestrians Using The PCH and 16th St. Crosswalk
2. Photos of Pedestrians Using The PCH and 16th St. Crosswalk
3. Photos of Pedestrians Using The PCH and 16th St. Crosswalk
Teen was fun-loving, precocious, adventurous -
A 15-year-old Hermosan who was struck and killed in an intersection last week was a sweet-natured, precocious, adventurous young man who loved surfing and rock climbing, family members said. Ian Wright “was walking at nine months, and rock climbing at nine months and one day,” his mother Ellen Wright said. The teenager also was a “voracious reader” who loved history and mythology, and fantasy offerings such as “The Lord of the Rings.” Wright was crossing the six-lane highway going from east to west, within the painted crosswalk, and had cleared all but the final lane when he was struck by a southbound 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer driven by a 25-year-old West Covina woman, police said.
Police claims nixed, Edison hammered by the HB City Council -
The Hermosa Beach City Council on Tuesday rejected two administrative claims against the Hermosa Beach Police Department, including one by a man who claimed he was forced from a wheelchair and suffered a concussion and injuries to his neck and arms when he was “violently” arrested. The council also sharply criticized cost increases and engineering delays in a proposed project to bury overhead utility lines, at the expense of property owners, in an area of town spreading northeast from Ralph’s Shopping Center.
Court win could mean millions for taxpayers -
Hermosa businessman Roger Bacon has prevailed in a class-action lawsuit that could force Los Angeles County to repay $125 million to thousands of property owners who were shortchanged on tax refunds. Bacon’s victory came Feb. 8 when Superior Court Judge Peter D. Lichtman ruled that the county illegally failed to pay a full 9 percent interest, as state law required, with numerous property tax refunds paid out after April 6, 1995. The judge also agreed with Bacon and co-plaintiff Reynolds Metals Company that the county failed to compute refund interest beginning with the earliest installment of a property owner’s tax payments in a given year, also required by law.
Hermosans
might balk at beautification costs -
With a
potential milestone vote looming for property owners, one
Hermosa official was quietly predicting that rising costs might
doom further efforts to beautify the city by tearing down
overhead utility lines and burying them underground. About 15
property owners gathered Monday to make it clear they will vote
“no” on March 14 when they are asked whether they want to pay
for an “undergrounding” project in their large utility district,
roughly bounded by Pacific Coast Highway to the west, Aviation
Boulevard to the south, Prospect Avenue to the east and 16th
Street to the north.
Suspected meth lab is raided on PCH -
Hazmat-suited authorities on Tuesday swooped down on a purple, 1920’s-era house in the 1800 block of Pacific Coast Highway and carried away chemicals allegedly used to cook methamphetamine. About 250 empty 10 ounce cans of butane were found in the home’s outdoor trash cans, indicating that that amount of the highly flammable substance had been processed inside the house over about a week. Authorities also recovered about tow pounds of marijuana and found a room in the house “dedicated to growing weed,” Hermosa Beach Police Detective Sgt. Steve Endom said. Complete story with picture, just below.
HB will accept applicants while mulling decision - Hermosa Beach City Council members are split on whether to call a special election or appoint someone to fill the council seat left vacant when Howard Fishman declined to take office after the November election. But after a deadlocked 2-2 vote on the vacancy Tuesday, the panel voted 3-1 to call for applications from those interested in an appointment, in anticipation of revisiting the issue at the Jan. 10 meeting. Sam Edgerton cast the dissenting vote in the call for applicants. The council seat became open when Fishman bowed out because his wife was diagnosed with a serious health condition.
CONSIDERATION OF APPOINTMENT OR SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL THE ANTICIPATED VACANCY ON THE CITY COUNCIL. Memorandum from City Clerk Elaine Doerfling dated December 1, 2005.
Agenda for Hermosa Beach City Council Meeting of December 13, 2005
Firefighter accuses Hermosa Beach officials of slander -
City department veteran cites an "unjust" internal investigation and verbal abuse in allegations that officials libeled him and violated his rights. A veteran Hermosa Beach firefighter has filed a claim against the city alleging that his supervisors and other city officials libeled and slandered him and violated his rights as a peace officer. In his claim filed Oct. 25, Daryl Lee Powers, a fire engineer and arson investigator, said Capt. Michael Garofano on Feb. 12 challenged him to a physical fight, used abusive language and physically threatened Powers while on duty at the fire station.
Hermosa Beach Arrests hit an all-time high - The year 2004 saw a record number of arrests in Hermosa -- 1,388 -- topping the old record of 1,315 set the year before. Those high-water marks go back at least to 1991.
HBPD 2004 Crime Statistics - Show what crime categories have increased from 1998 thru 2004.
The Daily Breeze – July 21, 2006
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Letters to the Editor |
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HB to decide eatery's closure time Next week, the Hermosa Beach City Council will decide whether Mediterraneo restaurant is to close at 2 a.m., the hour the owner would like, or midnight, the hour the Planning Commission gave him. It will be a tough decision for council members. Most of the other restaurants on Pier Plaza enjoy the 2 p.m. closure time. If the public upholds the Planning Commission's midnight time, it would be a turning point in Hermosa. An old precedent will have been broken, and a new one set. The hearing will be held 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall. The public can attend and speak to the item. -- JIM LISSNER Hermosa Beach |
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The Daily Breeze – July 16, 2006
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Sunday Letters to the Editor |
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HB bar plan a threat to public safety This letter represents a plea that the Hermosa Beach Planning Commission and City Council exercise whatever influence they have to deny a permit for a 15,000-square-foot restaurant/bar at the Hermosa Pavilion. I currently own a business in Hermosa -- after 33 years in law enforcement for Los Angeles County. There was a time when I didn't think any city could have too many bars. What has happened to our little community shows me I was wrong. The proposed monster bar at the Pavilion is not planned to meet the needs of the Hermosa drinkers. If every resident drank, we'd still have plenty of bars. It's an effort to draw drinkers and their wallets from out of the area. Make no mistake, that effort will be successful. As a former gang investigator, I found that every unsavory element imaginable between here and Riverside would find his way to the 91 freeway and drive toward the sun. That would drop them right here, about six blocks north of the proposed mega-bar. This proposal represents a huge public safety issue ripe for a citizen's backlash. Weekend policing/patrols and 911 response times are already seriously compromised by the Pier Plaza bar scene, even when things are going smoothly. Between 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m., I have to assume the majority of drivers here in Hermosa are drunk and trying to find their way out of town. This bar is being planned and bankrolled by a truly interesting character, and local officials know it. He has relied on brinkmanship and foot dragging on other issues with the Pavilion, and the notion of a real, viable, restaurant is laughable. If the restaurant doesn't make him money -- which it won't -- he'll have a bigger bar. If he has entertainment, he can charge a cover, which is cash and under the radar as to reportable revenue. In terms of planning, let's make some plans for our kids and their kids. This is not Moreno Valley. The folks who can afford to live here are bright, successful and obviously did something right with their lives, or have a trust fund. Please don't allow our elected officials to turn their backs on these people and pander to the developer and an army of horny twenty-somethings who will descend on our community. They will not be driving down here for dinner. -- RICHARD HALLIBURTON Hermosa Beach |
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The Easy Reader – June 29, 2006
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Hermosa Beach – Letters to the Editor
Audit ‘em
Dear ER:
I read with great interest last week’s letter “Drink to me thine eyes.” I am in complete agreement with the writer’s scathing disapproval of what is happening in Hermosa Beach’s downtown bar district. As a Hermosa Beach home owner, I am disgusted and appalled at what our fair city has become.
All of our cops are down in the bar area. You never see police around the rest of the city Thursday thru Sunday nights. I hope my house isn’t being robbed because there would not be any police watching out for me. They are all downtown stopping the fights, urinating, underage drinking, and doing their own share of checking out the chicks and admiring groupies. It is pathetic. Recent figures show that residential burglaries in Hermosa rose in 2004 from 137 in 2004 to 187 in 2005. That is a whopping 36 percent. It is no wonder, as our cops are all downtown where the fights and scenery are.
I heard recently that one homeowner who lives up the street from the pier awakened at midnight to strange noises outside his house and after looking out his window, discovered a young couple exploring their carnal knowledge on his front yard. He turned the sprinklers on and that ended it. He didn’t even report it to the cops. How much of this sort of thing isn’t even added to the list of published statistics?
If I want to go downtown in my own city for a dinner on Friday night after working hard all week, I would have to wait in line behind a screaming bunch of tiny-bobs and gang bangers who live everywhere but here to get into a restaurant where the decibel level approaches the level of a jack hammer. And then when I did get out of there with my lady without being thrown up on, leered at, and commented about, I could go home to my peaceful neighborhood…maybe.
Do I have to go to a neighboring city to eat on weekends? Have we ever asked the ABC Board to audit those Pier bars to see if they are even paying their fair shared of city taxes?
Anonymous Hermosa Beach
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The Daily Breeze – June 25, 2006
Sunday Letters to the Editor
HB lane changes will benefit bars
"Where but in Hermosa Beach would upper Pier Avenue, the central access to its downtown bars, be reduced to one lane each way to allow for still more alcohol dispensing businesses on widened public sidewalks, while causing bar patrons in their cars, cabs and limos to use residential side streets as the alternate access to that bar district?"
That's quoted from a letter to the Daily Breeze 10 years past when Hermosa's City Council took the first legal step toward a single-laned Pier Avenue.
The single lane is to promote more alcohol-dispensing establishments along upper Pier Avenue. Tiny Hermosa Beach is alcohol-, cab- and parking-saturated at night and needs not one more alcohol outlet of any kind to swagger or stagger past. City residents have been impacted and damaged enough by incredibly dumb council approvals regarding alcohol. Have they nor the council no limit?
Most disingenuous was the council's June 13 attempt at deception in bragging that $4 million will be spent repairing Hermosa's neglected residential streets. In fact, more than half of that is for this single lane paving and expansion of the alcohol district onto widened upper Pier Avenue fancy sidewalks, and at no cost to the commercial property owners to benefit there. Less than half will go for any residential street repair in the other 96 percent of the city, and that after virtually nothing was spent this current year.
The city's public safety costs of nil-city-revenue producing alcohol businesses are drinking the city treasury dry, so why does the Hermosa's council desire more alcohol-dispensing businesses anywhere in city?
-- HOWARD LONGACRE
The Easy Reader – June 8, 2006
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Hermosa Beach – Letters to the Editor
Drink to me with thine ayes
Dear ER:
The downtown drinking district continues to generate numerous quality of life issues and a negative image for our community. Destruction is not limited to vandalism spilling into our neighborhoods.
On May 25, 2006 during a candidates’ forum a resident spoke of violence (drunken brawl) that occurred in front of their home. The victim’s scream awakened residents in the early morning hours, as the assault was in process. I was especially distressing to witness because the victim was a woman.
The atmosphere of public intoxication, which is encouraged pay no dividends.
How unfortunate, families and children who desire to visit the beautiful beachfront and pier have to pass a throng of bars.
Hermosa’s permissive drinking policies in the downtown bar district is having a debilitating effect on our community. The erosion of public safety touches the lives of every resident and property owner.
Remedial action in the bar district is essential and will require significant policy changes. The answer is not to saddle residents with more costs to support a highly undesirable section of town.
Name withheld by request Hermosa Beach
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The Easy Reader – May 25, 2006
A tire iron to Hermosa’s
downtown
Dear ER:
Over the last several years the residents of Hermosa Beach who live west of
Monterey Blvd. have had to survive beer bottles in their yards, public
urination, and the destruction of private property. Last Saturday night at 3
a.m., my car and a neighbor’s car suffered the blows of a tire iron, resulting
in broken windows and body damage. A few months ago the church on the corner of
16th Street & Manhattan Ave. had a brick thrown through a very expensive
80-year-old stained glass window. These are not isolated incidents. The list of
vandalism, thefts, battery, loud and disorderly behavior, and DUI driving
resulting in hit and run accidents is long and must be addressed and remedied. I
am aware that with budget cuts and the magnitude of this problem the HBPD is
already overtaxed with respect to available resources but a solution must be
found. Last Friday night cost me $841 and I stayed home. Can anything be done?
Rick Koenig
Hermosa Beach
The Easy Reader – April 27, 2006
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Hermosa Beach News Man is killed in late night traffic crash
by Robb Fulcher
A 36-year-old Hermosa man was killed when the 'pickup truck he was driving went out of control on Sepulveda Boulevard and smashed into a metal wall outside Hotel Hermosa shortly before 1 a.m. last Wednesday, police said.
Only minutes before, the man had plowed into parked cars on two Hermosa streets, police said. He then drove the 2001 Toyota Tundra into Manhattan and was making his way south on Sepulveda where he struck some concrete trashcans on the northwest corner of the intersection with Artesia Boulevard, police said.
The pickup also struck the concrete median and knocked over a traffic light pole. The vehicle skidded sideways across part of the intersection, flipped over and went the rest of the way upside down, a passing motorist told police.
The pickup struck the wall and came to a stop upside down. The driver, who was alone in the vehicle, was taken to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center where he died from his injuries about 6:15 a.m., Manhattan Beach Police Sgt. Bryan Klatt said.
The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office identified the man as Lance Juracka.
Hermosa police first began getting calls when the pickup hit a parked vehicle near 16th Street and Hermosa Avenue, Sgt. Tom Thompson said. As police rushed to find the motorist they got further calls saying the pickup had bashed into a parked car at about 22nd Street and Manhattan Avenue. A witness to the second crash said the parked car was pushed 50 feet down the roadway.
"All three crashes happened within six minutes of each other," Thompson said.
"We were getting calls left and right." Some of the initial callers reported that the pickup was heading south, unintentionally throwing off police a little. Just the same, officers arrived at Artesia and Sepulveda/Pacific Coast Highway about the time the pickup got there, Thompson said. Long streaks of paint were seen at two of the crash sites, and police said the pickup appeared to be equipped for painting jobs. ER |
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The Easy Reader – March 30, 2006
On Local GovernmentThe saddest rule of governmentby Bob Pinzler
One of the maxims told to
me about government when I was first elected to office was a simple, sad,
and frustrating one: “You don’t get a crosswalk until a kid gets killed.” |
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1. Photos of Pedestrians Using The PCH and 16th St. Crosswalk
2. Photos of Pedestrians Using The PCH and 16th St. Crosswalk
3. Photos of Pedestrians Using The PCH and 16th St. Crosswalk
The Easy Reader – March 23, 2006
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Hermosa Beach News Teen was fun-loving, precocious, adventurous
by Robb Fulcher
A 15-year-old Hermosan who
was struck and killed in an intersection last week was a sweet-natured,
precocious, adventurous young man who loved surfing and rock climbing,
family members said. |
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The Easy Reader – March 2, 2006
Police claims nixed, Edison hammered by the HB City Council
By Robb Fulcher
The Hermosa Beach City Council on Tuesday rejected two administrative claims against the Hermosa Beach Police Department, including one by a man who claimed he was forced from a wheelchair and suffered a concussion and injuries to his neck and arms when he was “violently” arrested.
The council also sharply criticized cost increases and engineering delays in a proposed project to bury overhead utility lines, at the expense of property owners, in an area of town spreading northeast from Ralph’s Shopping Center.
The administrative claim by David A. Nichols, described as a paraplegic with limited use of his hands, alleges that he was forced out of his wheelchair when he was arrested August 21, 2005.
An attorney retained by Nichols was not immediately available for comment. A police report states that Nichols was arrested about 11:30 a.m. for allegedly striking a HBPD officer who was trying to persuade Nichols to clean up after his dog.
The incident began when an employee of a downtown hotel flagged down the officer after failing to persuade Nichols to pick up dog feces, the report stated. Nichols tried to wheel away from the officer who blocked his path and then was struck, the report stated.
In the other claim Donald Morgan of Lomita alleged that the Hermosa Beach police falsely arrested him August 26, 2005 and seized tools belonging to him, costing him a job.
With the rejection of the claims by the City Council, the two men can file civil lawsuits against the city if they choose.
The Easy Reader – February 16, 2006
Arrest brings
lawsuit -
A civil rights lawsuit has been
filed by three local residents who were arrested by Hermosa police on
misdemeanor charges in 2004 and later exonerated in a Superior Court trial. The
federal lawsuit claims that Hermosa officers roughed up Robert Nolan of Hermosa
and Joel Silva of Lawndale and made false statements in police reports after
Nolan, Silva and Michelle Myers of Hermosa were arrested for allegedly blocking
a police cruiser as it made its way across the Pier Plaza pedestrian promenade.
The FBI also opened an inquiry into allegations that police violated the civil
rights of the three.
Gym appeal -
Opponents are seeking to appeal a judge’s decision allowing construction of a
gymnasium building at Hermosa Valley School, a project for which ground was
formally broken late last month. A lawsuit by the opponents, including some
school neighbors, contended that the school board did not properly address
concerns about noise, traffic and parking near the campus on Valley Drive north
of Pier Avenue. The lawsuit also contended that the 2002 ballot measure for the
school bonds did not include the gym in a list of projects to be funded. Gym
opponents also said they would continue to challenge $1.5 in special state funds
the school board secured for the project last year.
School board vacancy - Hermosa
Beach City School Board members were leaning toward appointing a replacement for
board member Linda Wolin – rather than calling for a fresh election – after she
announced she will leave her post to move to the San Francisco area. Although
no formal vote was taken board members last Wednesday said they plan to seek
applicants for Wolin’s position, then choose among them, after she formally
resigns. Wolin has said she would resign about March, leaving about two years of
her term unfilled. Wolin announced last month that her husband Jon has accepted
a new position in Northern California. The family’s move also created a vacancy
on the Beach Cities Health District board, of which Jon Wolin was a member. The
Health District board also opted to appoint rather than elect a replacement, and
plans to consider applicants for Wolin’s position Feb. 22. The Health District
provides programs such as the Center for Health and Fitness, the AdventurePlex
health and fitness center for youth; emotional and logistical support to the
elderly; and mental and emotional health classes and seminars for the general
public. ER
Star search - Anyone interested in producing a public access TV show can call the Adelphia Communications cable company at 406-1960, ext. 1986 to enroll in free classes to learn the technical aspects of getting a program onto the air. Classes are upcoming and the sizes are limited. ER
The Easy Reader – February 16, 2006
by Robb Fulcher
Hermosa businessman Roger Bacon has prevailed in a class-action lawsuit that
could force Los Angeles County to repay $125 million to thousands of property
owners who were shortchanged on tax refunds. Bacon’s victory came Feb. 8 when
Superior Court Judge Peter D. Lichtman ruled that the county illegally failed to
pay a full 9 percent interest, as state law required, with numerous property tax
refunds paid out after April 6, 1995. The judge also agreed with Bacon and
co-plaintiff Reynolds Metals Company that the county failed to compute refund
interest beginning with the earliest installment of a property owner’s tax
payments in a given year, also required by law.
If the ruling stands, county officials will have to inform taxpayers that they
are owed additional refunds instead of waiting to see if taxpayers contact them,
said Bacon’s attorney, Robert Pool. As it stands Bacon, owner of Ralph’s
shopping center at Pacific Coast Highway and Aviation Boulevard, has been
awarded $1,193 in additional interest and Reynolds Metals was awarded just over
$44,000.
But Bacon said it’s not just the interest, it’s the principle. “Thousands of
people have been gypped out of money. Latinos, Blacks, Whites, Chinese,
whatever,” he said.
The stakes - Pool said he based
the $125 million estimate on the county’s assertions that it paid about $1.4
billion in property tax refunds from 1995 through part of 2000, when the county
had finally begun paying the legally required 9 percent with all, or almost all,
the refunds. Pool estimated the amount of refunds that were short the 9 percent
interest and estimated how much the county owed in additional refunds from the
installment issue.
Then he added 7 percent, which by law the county must pay in “prejudgment
damages.” Those damages cover the period from the county becoming aware of a
claim against it and a court judgment calling for the claim to be paid. For that
purpose, the judge ruled, Bacon’s lawsuit is considered a claim on behalf of all
taxpayers who are owed additional refunds.
If the county appeals the Superior Court ruling and loses, the clock would
continue ticking on the 7 percent prejudgment damages, making further delays
more costly for the county. “Rather than continuing the fight this battle,
which has been a lose-lose for the county, they should putt and get off the
green,” Pool said. Pool pointed out that he previously won $300,000 for
Lockheed-Martin in a lawsuit over the same tax-refund issues, and that victory
was upheld by an appeals court.
Remaining issues - County
officials were not immediately available to comment on a possible appeal in the
Bacon-Reynolds lawsuit. In addition, previous rulings in the lawsuit have not
resolved whether it will be extended to cover the class of all taxpayers who are
owed additional refunds. Pool said Judge Lichtman accepted a promise by the
county counsel to automatically include the broader class of taxpayers if Bacon
and Reynolds won their lawsuit. Pool wanted the class-action question settled
more definitively in Lichtman’s court and appealed that ruling.
Pool said the appeals court ruled that the counsel’s promise was not binding
without approval by county supervisors and, if Bacon and Reynolds were
successful, the class-action question would have to be hashed out again in
Lichtman’s court. Bacon filed the lawsuit six years ago after Pool approached
the businessman at a hearing where he was in the process of winning property-tax
refunds based on a misunderstanding of where his shopping center property ended
and the city’s property began.
Pool, who had already won in the Lockheed-Martin lawsuit, told Bacon that,
although he was getting his refunds, they might be a little short. Bacon’s
refund checks did not specify how much interest was being paid, but Pool
crunched the numbers through a “sophisticated spreadsheet” developed for the
Lockheed case and determined that the county had been paying the businessman 5.7
percent interest. ER
The Easy Reader – February 16, 2006
by Robb Fulcher
With a potential milestone vote looming for property owners, one Hermosa
official was quietly predicting that rising costs might doom further efforts to
beautify the city by tearing down overhead utility lines and burying them
underground. About 15 property owners gathered Monday to make it clear they
will vote “no” on March 14 when they are asked whether they want to pay for an
“undergrounding” project in their large utility district, roughly bounded by
Pacific Coast Highway to the west, Aviation Boulevard to the south, Prospect
Avenue to the east and 16th Street to the north.
The cost of the project for the Bonnie Brae District has more than doubled since
it was proposed six years ago and would now cost the average property owner
about $33,000, with at least one homeowner tapped for $59,000. If the total 216
property voters – both home and business owners – decide to form the assessment
district, they could pay the cost upfront or pay over 20 years with interest
hovering about 5 percent, and capped by law at 12 percent. Property owners
making less than $20,000 a year could carry the undergrounding debt as liens on
their homes, but city officials acknowledge few Hermosa property owners would
qualify for that option.
The niceties of utility undergrounding projects are mostly established by state
law, including “weighted vote” systems by which owners of larger properties get
a larger say in whether the project will occur. Homeowners gathering on Monday
used words like “obscene” and “outrageous” to describe the price of the proposed
project. And many said they fear prices could rise even more after a vote,
because the city has limited authority to oversee utility projects. “Some of us
longtime residents would have to sell,” said Jim Stronach, a retired U.S. Army
major who would be assessed $54,000 to bury utility lines outside his Campana
Street home of 23 years. “I’ve got no view,” he said. “What am I paying for?
Three power lines and three telephone lines.”
Stronach said money could be better spent fixing streets and sidewalks near his
home, which has 50 feet of frontage along Campana.
Roger Bacon, owner of the Ralph’s shopping center in the southwest corner of the
district, said he would be assessed more than a quarter million dollars. “I
could afford to pay it, but the way my leases are structured with my tenants
they would have to pay it,” Bacon said.
Fourteenth Street homeowner Mordy Benjamin, a retired contract manager for
Hughes Aircraft, has been lobbying neighbors to vote against the project. He is
not counting on “no” votes from everyone. “I’ve heard several yeses and several
maybes. It’s disconcerting,” he said.
Benjamin said his $34,000 assessment would total $65,700 if he paid it off over
20 years with payments of $183 a month. If the interest rate rose to 10 percent
it would cost him a total of $107,000 with $298-a-month payments over 20 years,
he said.
Benjamin supported the initial petition among property owners that called for
the March 14 vote, but that was before Southern California Edison’s estimate of
an average assessment rose from $12,000 to $33,000.
City Manager Steve Burrell said it’s up to property owners to decide yea or nay
on undergrounding. He said he sympathizes with longtime homeowners of limited
means who would find the assessment difficult to bear, and with property owners
who have voted against the assessments only to find them imposed upon them by
their neighbors.
City officials noted that property owners receive unequal benefits from the
undergrounding. Some views are greatly enhanced by removing overhead power
lines, others are not. Officials try to mitigate the view discrepancies with
smaller assessments for property owners who get less benefit. One city official
whose in-box is heavy with matters pertaining to the current undergrounding
issue said of the Bonnie Brae vote, “It could be the end of undergrounding.”
Early last year city council members fumed at what they called slow progress by
Southern California Edison on another, much smaller undergrounding project
covering 40 parcels in the area of Beach Drive between 21st and 24th streets.
Councilman JR Reviczky contended Edison was deliberately slowing the project,
“waiting for construction prices to come down again so they can do the work in
their timeframe instead of our timeframe.”
In neighboring Manhattan Beach, soaring prices have led to intense opposition to
undergrounding, and some property owners have filed a lawsuit over the methods
of determining the individual assessments. ER
KCBS-TV – February 8, 2006
Former Teacher Acquitted Of Sexual Assault Charge
(CBS)
TORRANCE,
Calif. A Torrance Superior Court jury acquitted a former Catholic
school teacher Wednesday of sexually assaulting another educator in Hermosa
Beach.
Aran Delaney’s first trial ended in October 2004 after the jury deadlocked on
three counts of sexual assault. The present jury acquitted 29-year-old Delaney
of one count of penetration by a foreign object, deadlocked 11 to one on a rape
count and 10-2 on a sodomy charge, both in favor of acquittal.
Torrance Superior Court Judge William Hollingsworth declared a mistrial and
ordered the attorneys and Delaney back to court March 9 to discuss the future of
the case.
Delaney was a fourth-grade teacher at American Martyrs Catholic Church in
Manhattan Beach in late June 2003, when the alleged attack occurred. The alleged
victim, then 33, taught at another South Bay school.
The alleged victim testified that she met Delaney at the North End Bar and
Grill, where they left feeling intoxicated. She testified that Delaney sexually
assaulted her on a walk-street near the bar.
Delaney said the sex was consensual and denied sodomizing her.
Delaney’s parents were sentenced to 16 months in pirson in December 2004 for
trying to dissuade the alleged victim from testifying against their son. The
pair pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, witness intimidation, trying to
bribe a witness and threatening a witness, according to the District Attorney’s
Office.
The Easy Reader – December 22, 2005
Suspected meth lab is raided on PCH
About 250 empty 10 ounce cans of butane were found in the home’s outdoor trash cans.
By Rob Fulcher
Hazmat-suited authorities on Tuesday swooped down on a purple, 1920’s-era house in the 1800 block of Pacific Coast Highway and carried away chemicals allegedly used to cook methamphetamine.
Authorities also recovered about tow pounds of marijuana and found a room in the house “dedicated to growing weed,” Hermosa Beach Police Detective Sgt. Steve Endom said.
The purple house with green trim near 18th Street was searched after its two residents were pulled over in a vehicle nearby about 3 a.m., police said. The officer who stopped the vehicle found evidence of possession of marijuana for sale, Endom said.
Men from the California Department of Justice and LAPD strapped oxygen tanks onto their backs over full-length white protective suits, and strode past a front porch trellis in to the chemical-infested home.
Down below on the sidewalk detectives described the lab as a smaller, typically Hermosa-sized one. Still, Endom said, based on the amount of chemicals, a lab that large is found in Hermosa only about once a year.
“It’s an unusual occurrence for us,” he said. The lab was not in use at the time and no meth was recovered, police said.
The pot room also appeared to be between crops, police said. Only a few live plants were found, Endom said, along with pots, lighting and irrigation equipment used to grow plants without soil.
One wall of the pot room, covered with a huge poster of the late reggae star and marijuana exponent Bob Marley, was visible through the home’s front picture window.
As Marley smiled down onto the street below, a plastic Target store bag sat just outside the front door containing low-quality “shake” pot that apparently had been discarded by the growers, police said.
About 250 empty 10 ounce cans of butane were found in the home’s outdoor trash cans, indicating that that amount of the highly flammable substance had been processed inside the house over about a week, Endom said.
As authorities continue to investigate, a young woman paused on her way to visit a friend living next door to the purple house. “What happened?” she asked a detective. “They had a meth lab,” the detective answered.
“Shut up!” the woman blurted.
She had come to retrieve a dress from her friend’s home but was not allowed to cross the yellow crime-scene tape. Instead a burly detective went up the driveway and returned carrying a dress on a hanger in one hand and a pink Victoria’s Secret bag in the other.
“Thank you so much,” the woman said, then cast another look at the purple house and expressed concern for her friend, the neighbor.
“This is very scary, I want her to come stay with me,” the woman said.
The two people who were arrested, a 29-year old man and 28-year-old woman, did not own the home, police said. Both were booked into the Hermosa Beach Jail, he on suspicion of possessing pot for sale and she on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance and possessing pot for sale, police said. ER
The Beach Reporter – December 22, 2005
Hermosa Beach - Crime Watch
VANDALISM. A car parked in the 1300 block of Bayview Drive was reportedly burglarized Nov. 17 around 3 a.m. The victim, who reported the incident Dec. 12, said that he heard a loud noise outside the front of his apartment building. He then called 9-1-1 and assumed the police were handling a disturbance call. The man returned to his car a few hours later and discovered a trash can on top of it. He talked with one of his neighbors who said that she heard the noise as well and when she went outside to see about it she saw another neighbor. She said that he was drunk and has consistently harassed her, but that she did not see him throw the trash can.
CREDIT CARD FRAUD. An unknown person reportedly used a bank credit card belonging to a woman living in the 600 block of Fourth Street to make fraudulent transactions between Nov. 23 and Dec. 11. The victim checked her bank account online and discovered numerous unauthorized charges, the first one at a Shell gas station for $75. She learned that other charges had been made at gas stations in California, Texas and Arizona and the last purchase in Pomona. The total amount of unauthorized charges total $1,510.
ATTEMPTED ROBBERY. Two men reportedly tried to rob another man in the 3300 block of The Strand Dec. 7 at 9:45 p.m. The victim was walking on The Strand during his evening exercise when he noticed two subjects in hooded sweatshirts walking toward him from the opposite direction. The victim made eye contact with one of the suspects as they passed and he then forgot about them. Shortly after, the two men grabbed the victim from behind and he turned around and saw the two subjects. The suspect whom he gave eye contact to said, “Give me your money.” The man then pointed a black revolver into the victim’s abdomen at point blank range. The victim said he did not have any money and the suspect added, “Give me your wallet, give me your watch.” The suspect then began to search the victim’s waistband for valuables. The victim, afraid for his safety, handed the suspects over an inexpensive watch to the robbers. The suspect examined it and handed it back over. The suspects then fled the scene.
The Beach Reporter - December 1-15, 2005
Hermosa Beach - Crime Watch
CHURCH WINDOWS. Two church widows were reportedly smashed between Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. and Dec. 4 at 9 a.m. One of the windows was stained glass while the other was made out of glass that was amber in color for a total value of $800. A cinder block and a red brick that were used to break the windows were found inside the church.
BATTERY. A man was reportedly assaulted by a group of men near Hermosa Avenue and 14th Street Nov. 27 at 1:45 a.m. The victim was kicked out of a nearby bar and was very upset about it. He walked around to “cool down” when he heard someone yelling at him. He was still mad so he yelled back. He then saw the main suspect running rapidly toward him who then started punching him in the face with his fists. The victim dropped to the ground and covered his head. The suspect was with five other men, and the victim wasn’t sure exactly who was hitting and kicking him.
ROBBERY / STABBING. A man was reportedly stabbed and robbed of his wallet in the 1000 block of Bayview Drive Oct. 15 between 3:30 and 3:43 a.m. The man was walking to his car parked in the 500 block of Eighth Street after going to the bars on the pier plaza. The car was parked near an apartment complex he visited earlier that day. Two men wearing dark clothing approached the man and demanded his wallet. The men then grabbed the man and tried to wrestle his wallet away but the victim fought back by grabbing it by both hands. One of the suspects hit the man who felt a pain in his lower abdomen and realized he had been stabbed. The man let go of the wallet, and the two men removed an unknown amount of cash and possibly some credit cards and dropped the wallet. The man told police that he did not see the men get into a car. He was apparently in shock when he talked to police and was transported to a nearby hospital by paramedics.
The Daily Breeze – December 15, 2005
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HB will accept applicants while mulling decision
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Council is deadlocked on election versus appointment for seat, but a final ruling is expected Jan. 10.
Hermosa Beach City Council members are split on whether to call a special election or appoint someone to fill the council seat left vacant when Howard Fishman declined to take office after the November election. But after a deadlocked 2-2 vote on the vacancy Tuesday, the panel voted 3-1 to call for applications from those interested in an appointment, in anticipation of revisiting the issue at the Jan. 10 meeting. Sam Edgerton cast the dissenting vote in the call for applicants. The council seat became open when Fishman bowed out because his wife was diagnosed with a serious health condition. Councilmen Michael Keegan and J.R. Reviczky said they support an election while Edgerton and Mayor Peter Tucker said they would be willing to appoint Jeff Duclos, who polled fourth in the Nov. 8 election behind Reviczky. Edgerton said he believes voters had their say in the election. "We had an election and the people spoke," he said. He said he would rather pave worn-out city streets than spend $40,000 on an election. Reviczky said he is concerned about an appointment because the new council person would serve a full four-year term. "We bear responsibility for that appointment for the next four years," he said. "I struggle with that." Reviczky pointed out that appointments have been made by the Hermosa Beach City Council only twice in the city's history. The first was in 1958, when the council appointed someone to serve out the last three months of a four-year term, and the second was in 1960, when the appointee served on the council for three years. "The only way to know for sure what the people want is to have an election," Reviczky said. Some residents who spoke Tuesday night said they detected a political agenda in the council members' positions. Edgerton endorsed Duclos in November and Keegan said he supported the fifth-place vote-getter, Patrick "Kit" Bobko, because Bobko had favored Keegan's proposal for citywide free wireless Internet. Edgerton said he had no such agenda. "I would've made the same suggestion even if the fourth-place vote-getter was my political pain-in-the-neck," Edgerton said. Reviczky also weighed in, saying he wouldn't agree to an appointment even if Bobko had ended up in fourth place. Residents who spoke were as divided as the council. Duclos won the fourth place convincingly against Bobko, who was 400 votes behind him, resident Dency Nelson pointed out. "We had a good election and we were fortunate to have a good turnout," he said. Appointing Duclos would be the logical step, Nelson said. But resident Steve Francis said the decision requires more thought because it is a four-year appointment. "Voters in November voted three people in," he said. "We have no way of standing here and predicting who would've gotten elected (if Fishman weren't a candidate). I know there's a cost involved in special elections. But democracy is not cheap." Applications for the City Council appointment are available in City Hall. The deadline to submit completed forms is Jan. 3. The City Council is expected to make a final decision Jan. 10. |
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The Daily Breeze – December 13, 2005
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Hermosa City Council to deal with open seat
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Because a winner in the last election declined to serve, members must set an election or appoint someone.
The Hermosa Beach City Council tonight will discuss how to replace Howard Fishman, the councilman-elect who declined to take office after winning the election because of his wife's illness. The four-member council may be divided over whether to appoint someone to serve the four-year term or to call for a special election. If the City Council decides to make an appointment, the person selected could be sworn in as a council member and seated immediately, according to City Clerk Elaine Doerfling's staff report. But scheduling and conducting the special election might be a costly and complicated affair, the report says. A special election, which can either be held in April or June, will cost about $43,000. Another option, according to Doerfling's report, is an election using mail-in ballots, which also would cost about $43,000. The City Council has until Jan. 13 to decide. City Attorney Michael Jenkins said that even if council members deadlock on the issue, they must pick one of the options before the deadline either during a scheduled council meeting or a special session. Mayor Pete Tucker said he does not believe a decision will be reached tonight. He said he has many unanswered questions himself. "I haven't decided how to vote on this," he said Monday. "I'm concerned about the money an election would cost. But if that's the way we have to go, that's the way we have to go." Nevertheless, Tucker added that he would not support a mail-in ballot option to elect a council member. Councilman Sam Edgerton has said that he would support appointing Jeff Duclos, who polled fourth in a field of 10 candidates seeking three seats, 200 votes behind Councilman J.R. Reviczky. Edgerton said a special election would be an unnecessary expense for the city. But Councilman Michael Keegan said he believes in residents' right to elect their political representatives. It would cost money, but it would be the right thing to do, he said. Reviczky, like Tucker, said he is still undecided and wants to discuss special election "cost breakdowns" during tonight's meeting. Fishman, who lost the election two years ago by seven votes, won convincingly this year. But he announced his decision not to take office before his scheduled swearing-in, saying his wife was diagnosed with a serious health condition. |
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The Daily Breeze – December 10, 2005
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Firefighter accuses Hermosa Beach officials of slander |
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City department veteran cites an "unjust" internal investigation and verbal abuse in allegations that officials libeled him and violated his rights.
By Deepa Bharath A veteran Hermosa Beach firefighter has filed a claim against the city alleging that his supervisors and other city officials libeled and slandered him and violated his rights as a peace officer. In his claim filed Oct. 25, Daryl Lee Powers, a fire engineer and arson investigator, said Capt. Michael Garofano on Feb. 12 challenged him to a physical fight, used abusive language and physically threatened Powers while on duty at the fire station. The Hermosa Beach City Council denied Powers' $10,330 claim during its Nov. 17 meeting. Powers, who has worked at the department for about 10 years, also alleges that Garofano was acting on false information provided by another captain. He says the incident led to an "unjust" internal investigation against him, requiring him to spend hours answering questions on his days off and preparing for those interrogations and to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees. Fire Chief Russell Tingley refused to comment on the allegations because he said the city anticipates a lawsuit from Powers over the incident. "It's also a personnel issue," he said. "So, I cannot say anything about it." Neither Powers nor his attorney, Sylvia Kellison, returned calls this week. Powers sought damages to cover lost earnings and attorney fees. In documents attached to the claim obtained by the Daily Breeze, Powers details the Feb. 12 incident in the fire station's kitchen. He said Garofano became confrontational over a shift scheduling issue and, in the end, called him a "d---head." Following the incident, Garofano wrote a written reprimand addressed to Powers in which he accused Powers of being "insubordinate." "It is not your place to interrogate or deflect the nature of a conversation to a combative tone or use intimidating body language in the course of a professional conversation as you did this morning," Garofano wrote. "I fully expect in the future that you will not interrupt me when I'm speaking and that you will not cause me to raise my voice to speak over you." In March, the department appointed an independent investigator to look into the incident. The investigation ended in June and exonerated Powers. Also attached to Powers' claim is his confidential memorandum to the chief dated June 23, stating that he is "constantly being ostracized, ridiculed and embarrassed" by some of the supervisors. He also alleges that the supervisors in the department play favorites when it comes to promotions. The Hermosa Beach Police Department is facing several similar allegations from officers who claim their rights are being violated during internal investigations and that they are being targeted because they are not popular with senior managers in the department. |
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The Easy Reader – December 1, 2005
by Robb Fulcher
If
City Council members cannot decide how to replace Howard Fishman, who resigned
from the council citing a family illness, state law calls for a special election
so Hermosa voters can choose his replacement. Last week Fishman announced that
he would not take the council seat he won in the Nov. 8 election, leaving his
four-year term up for grabs.
The four remaining council members will meet Dec. 13 and discuss whether to hold
an election or appoint someone to replace Fishman. They could reach a decision
then, so the council can hardly be described as deadlocked at this point.
But those same four council members have found themselves in at least one major
2-2 deadlock before, and if they don’t make a decision by Jan. 12 they’ll find
themselves there again. In that case a 30-day window would close and California
Government Code section 36512 would call for an election to choose a replacement
for Fishman, City Attorney Michael Jenkins said. Under the law the four sitting
council members would be required to replace Fishman by a vote of the
electorate.
In interviews Councilman Sam Edgerton and Mayor Pete Tucker have stressed the
benefits of appointing a replacement for Fishman. Councilman Michael Keegan
stressed the benefits of having Hermosans elect a replacement, and Councilman JR
Reviczky said he wanted to consider the options. If potential swing vote
Reviczky sides with Keegan and the positions harden a deadlock would result,
amounting to a win for those who want a fresh election.
The lineups - It was Edgerton and
Tucker on one side and Keegan and Reviczky on the other in a recent, notable
council deadlock that occurred over a plan for free citywide wireless internet.
(Potential swing vote Art Yoon, who Fishman was set to replace on the council,
declined to vote on the Internet issue because he works as a telecommunications
executive.)
Edgerton and Tucker ran as allies in the 2003 election that swept Tucker into
office and returned Edgerton for a fourth term. In the campaign for this year’s
election Keegan praised Reviczky’s “steady leadership;” Keegan was returned for
a second term and Reviczky was returned for a fourth term.
Replacement options - Edgerton has
said the four sitting council members should replace Fishman by appointing Jeff
Duclos, who received the most votes among the losing council candidates on Nov.
8. “We have a fourth-place finisher who came in close to the pack of three
[winners],” Edgerton said.
Edgerton said a special election would cost $30,000 to $40,000, a cost the
public might not embrace.
City Clerk Elaine Doerfling said she was looking into the costs of holding a
“stand-alone” city election, or placing the matter on city ballots for the
statewide June primary election, or holding an election by mail.
“I hope we don’t engage in the usual politics and we just appoint the next guy
[in the Nov. 8 balloting] and get on with the business of the city,” Edgerton
said. In a 10-candidate field Duclos pulled down 1,804 votes or 13.3 percent.
During the race Edgerton contributed $250 to Duclos’ candidacy. Keegan, who
butted heads with Edgerton on the Internet issue, spoke with praise of Patrick
“Kit” Bobko, who supports Keegan’s Internet position. Bobko finished one
position behind Duclos with 1,367 votes or 10 percent.
Edgerton said he would have supported an appointment of the next runner-up
whether it was Duclos or another candidate. “I would have appointed the fourth
person even if it was Fred Huebscher,” he said, referring to a nemesis from a
previous council race.
Keegan described Bobko and Duclos as qualified candidates but said his opinion
is immaterial; it’s the voters who should decide among whoever would run. “I
will always defer to the people in choosing their leaders,” Keegan said.
He said that is especially important considering Fishman’s replacement will
serve a full term on the council and then enjoy the advantage of incumbency in
an election four years later. “My interest lies in letting the people decide
rather than appointing someone to a four-year term that can turn into multiple
terms,” he said.
Keegan said vacancies in the state Senate and Assembly and county board of
Supervisors are filled through elections, emphasizing the importance of voting
people into office. Keegan said a statewide election in June would draw a large
turnout, allowing a large number of Hermosans to choose their next council
member, and said the cost to the city would be about $5,000 to $10,000 for its
spot on the ballot.
Tucker said he was weighing the options of appointing versus electing Fishman’s
replacement, adding that an appointment would be quicker and would avoid
possible tie-vote stalemates on the council.
Drum roll…- Potential swing vote
Reviczky last week said he was keeping an open mind, adding, “The question boils
down to: do you appoint the next highest vote getter or hold an election.”
This week he speculated that on Dec. 13 he and his colleagues would agree to
seek applications from Hermosans who want to replace Fishman. Reviczky said he
would be eager to examine the credentials of any applicants and he suggested
that Duclos could apply and be passed over. “If you appoint, the idea is to
appoint the best person, not necessarily the next person,” Reviczky said. Based
on the council’s regular meeting schedule, the four sitting members would have
one meeting on Jan. 10 to choose the winning applicant or place the matter
before the electorate.
Reviczky said he also wanted to examine the costs of placing an election item on
the ballot. “I’ve heard estimates from $5,000 to $80,000,” he said. “I’d like
that narrowed down a little.” Reviczky said he did some research looking for
precedents and found one case in 1960 of the City Council appointing a member to
fill a term that was vacated eight months after it began. In that case the
council appointed K.R. “Pat” Anderson to replace Jim Karnes, who had resigned.
Measuring E - Gary Brutsch,
spokesman for the failed Measure E on the Nov. 8 city ballot, said he did not
know whether another attempt would be made to place the citizens-initiative
measure on a possible special election ballot. Brutsch said he thinks the
measure would be important to protect the beach and greenbelt from possible
future construction. ER
The Easy Reader – December 1, 2005
by Bob Pinzler
Finding a
replacement
The Hermosa Beach City Council must, within 30 days of the certification of the
last election, deal with the stunning and sad news that Howard Fishman will be
unable to take office because of the illness of his wife. It is stunning because
of its suddenness and sad because Howard would have made a fine councilman, with
his depth of government experience in the South Bay.
The Council is faced with two choices to fill the seat. They can appoint someone
to the position or call for a special election. There are arguments for both
sides, but these unusual circumstances clearly call for a new election.
Generally, when vacancies occur in elected bodies, the period of time to be
filled is limited. In this case, however, that period of time could be as much
as four years. That makes this situation unusual.
One might think that with the vote to fill the seat so recent, the fourth place
finisher in the contest to fill three seats, in this case Jeff Duclos, should be
awarded the seat. However, that assumes that, had Fishman not been on the
ballot, everyone would have voted the exact same way.
People vote in multiple candidate races in odd ways. Not everyone votes for the
full complement of possibilities. Some people vote for just one person. This is
known as “bullet voting.” In any case, without Fishman, the dynamic of the race
could have been completely altered. An alternative father down the list, with
views more like Fishman’s than Duclos’, might have prevailed.
So, having an election is, to me, the right way to go. However, there are
competing scenarios in this as well. In a city like Hermosa Beach, which
contracts with the County to run its elections, the cost of a special election
could be high. In addition, because of the timeframe required for getting
signatures to be on the ballot, printing election booklets with candidate
statements, etc., a minimum of three months would pass before an election could
occur anyway, taking us into March or April.
On June 6, 2006, California will conduct a primary election. For the city, this
should dramatically reduce the cost of running the election.
However, if they wish to run their own election, the city has the option to run
a mail-only ballot. In this case, there would be no costly and cumbersome
polling places. Every registered voter would receive a ballot, just like an
absentee would. The voter must sign the return envelope to prevent fraud.
This system has been used in many California localities and is in operation
throughout the state of Oregon. Without polling places there are no poll workers
to train, no equipment to deliver and recover and would provide a near immediate
result, since most of the ballots would be returned prior to Election Day. Under
the law, these ballots can be processed up to seven days prior, but not reported
until the close of balloting.
The city can decide whether the “close of polling” means that either all ballots
must be received by a certain time, or they can be postmarked by that time. The
latter would mean that some ballots would come in a few days after voting
closes.
An election to replace Fishman is preferable to appointing. Waiting until June
is preferable to running a special election, even if that means appointing
someone to fill the seat until then. But, if a special is necessary, making it
as voter-friendly as possible should be the way the city goes. ER
The Easy Reader – December 1, 2005
by Robb Fulcher
Volunteers have plucked bulk wrapping paper from a garbage dump and received at
least one police escort on Christmas Eve to bring thousands of toys to kids of
all ages throughout the South Bay. And they’re getting ready to do whatever it
takes all over again as the popular Beach Cities Toy Drive shakes the snow out
of its beard and awakens for another holiday season.
Volunteers announced that they have begun accepting donations of new, unwrapped
toys at the Hermosa firehouse on Pier Avenue at Valley Drive. In addition
volunteers were inviting all comers to the annual toy wrapping party 11 a.m.
Saturday, Dec. 17 at the Hermosa Beach Community Center gymnasium, Pier Avenue
and Pacific Coast Highway. It usually takes about three hours to wrap all those
presents.
Organizers were reminding wrapping-party volunteers to bring wrapping paper and
tape, especially needed this year since a 200-pound roll of paper “rescued” from
a garbage dump by Hermosan Phyllis Ramsey finally ran out last year.
Hermosa Councilman JR Reviczky is among those who have made Santa-like
deliveries on Christmas Eve of toys that are donated after the wrapping party.
One year he placed a man-sized stuffed polar bear on the passenger seat of his
car, buckled it in and began driving it down the 405 Freeway (not in the carpool
lane).
Other motorists honked and waved, and a California Highway Patrol officer gave
JR and the bear special attention. “He pulled up alongside of me and looked,
then he pulled ahead of me and turned on his lights and everything and gave me
an escort for about five miles,” Reviczky said.
The toy drive nets about 4,000 to 5,000 toys a year and works with organizations
such as Richstone Family Center and 1736 Family Crisis Center to get them to
kids of all ages by Dec. 25. For more information on the toy drive call 379-6267
or 372-4460. ER
The Easy Reader – December 1, 2005
Hermosa police were seeking witnesses after a man broke into a home in the 3500
block of Manhattan Avenue about 3:30 a.m. Oct. 29 and fled when a woman resident
screamed, and hit and scratched him.
Police urged anyone who might have seen the man flee to call Hermosa Beach
Police Detective Bob Higgins at 318-0341.
The man was described as 6 feet tall and athletic wearing a long-sleeved,
button-down shirt and possibly khaki pants.
He entered the home, possibly through an unlocked door, police said. The woman
was awakened by a sound, shouted, and confronted the man, who was wearing a
smooth, latex, skin-colored mask, in a hallway. The man grabbed her throat and
she fought back, police said.
Police are hoping witnesses might have seen the man running from the home. ER
The Easy Reader - February 3, 2005
by Robb Fulcher
The year 2004 saw a
record number of arrests in Hermosa -- 1,388 -- topping the old record of 1,315
set the year before. Those high-water marks go back at least to 1991, when the
Hermosa Beach Police Department began keeping detailed arrest records, Chief
Mike Lavin said.
The downtown area with its active and sometimes rowdy nightlife has contributed
to the increased arrests, Lavin said. “That is a reflection, I would have to
say, of the downtown. We have so much activity there,” he said.
In addition to those figures, which cover the arrests of adults, police also
made 20 arrests of juveniles last year, down from 28 the year before. Parking
citations soared from 46,800 in 2003 to 51,137 last year.
As usual, the most serious types of crime occurred seldomly. Reported sex crimes
dropped from 11 in 2003 to seven in 2004. Incidents of robbery by force or fear
rose from 13 to 20.
As in most years, no murders occurred in Hermosa in 2004. One murder occurred
the year before when a 25-year-old Hermosan was shot as he sat behind the wheel
of a car at Pacific Coast Highway and Pier Avenue. That crime, which occurred in
March 2003, remains unsolved.
The number of assaults rose barely in 2004, from 140 the previous year to 143.
Burglaries of buildings and cars dropped from 143 to 140. Theft, which covers
the grabbing of stray bicycles and the like, dropped from 388 to 359. Auto theft
decreased from 56 to 45.
DUI arrests dropped from 285 to 164, a decline for which officials could offer
no immediate explanation. In another possibly downtown-related development,
misdemeanor citations ballooned from 989 to 1,419. Disturbance calls to police
rose from 3,025 to 4,201.
Once again there were no fatal traffic accidents in Hermosa. ER
Hermosa Beach Crime Statistics - 1998 to 2004
Criminal Adult Total Calls Disturbance
Burglary Robbery Assaults DUI Citations Arrests For Service Calls
1998 -- 113 17 77 150 562 608 19,951 3,199
2004 -- 140 20 143 164 1,419 1,388 30,215 4,201
Crime Categories That Have Shown an Increase from 1998 thru 2004
Criminal Adult Total Calls Disturbance
Burglary Robbery Assaults DUI Citations Arrests For Service Calls
Up Up Up Up Up Up Up Up
23.9 % 17.6 % 85.7 % 9.3 % 152 % 128 % 51.4 % 31.3 %
Source: The Hermosa Beach Police Department Activity Reports
The Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association
City of HB Info HBNA Photo Gallery HB Crime Info HB Weblinks
