Downtown has bigger problems on its hands...

Downtown has bigger problems on its hands

I have found yet one more reason why Huntington Beach won’t be a

world-class city anytime soon. Have you ever walked down Main Street

in the morning to see the incredible amount of trash and cigarette

butts everywhere? How about the sight and smell of dried vomit and

urine from the previous evening’s activities? I would like to think

that a steam cleaning crew would take care of this, but I have never

seen one and the problem is getting worse. Fancy resort hotels may

keep popping up and the Strand may bring in some more folks, but

until Huntington Beach takes care of it’s very famous “frontyard,”

I’ll take my retail dollars elsewhere where I don’t have to be

nauseated as I spend them.

KEN RAMSEY

Huntington Beach

Closing street would draw families, business

What seems to be the most obvious solution is stymied by fear in

our city and its leaders. Your editorial concerning Main Street is

right on. Main Street Huntington Beach is the worst at its current

state serving only a small group of users mainly hot rods,

motorcycles and lifted SUVs.

Has the city not looked at the successes of and lessons learned by

other city municipalities like Santa Monica? Case in point, closing

Main Street would draw more families to the Downtown plus bring more

upscale shopping and eating establishments. When going out my wife

and family are left with little choice from the downtown area where

we reside within walking distance.

Bring a child stroller to wander and enjoy the scenery? Forget it.

Maneuver the limited sidewalk space, lack of access and crowd? No

way. I don’t have anything against a younger crowd, which is one of

the reasons we chose to move here; however, people with families tend

to have a more discretionary income and are able to spend it on food

and shopping where a younger group does not. There is room for both,

but if you want my money to be spent downtown give me and my family a

experience other than fighting the masses on the all ready crowded

sidewalk and pleasurable dinning without being overrun with excessive

street noise and music from passing cars.

Otherwise, I am sure Taco Bell is exactly the type of upscale and

locally owned restaurant our City Council members enjoy. Bon

appetite.

WOLFGANG MEYERS

Huntington Beach

Fine article in the Independent on making Main Street a walking

street. Many cities have done that and it is essential that

Huntington Beach does that now with the influx of tourists,

especially for safety. Main Street is blocked with people just

cruising and often dangerous. We have been Huntington Beach residents

for 30 years and encourage the City Council and traffic control to

act on this immediately.

JEAN M. CASEY

Huntington Beach

I would like to put in my two cents on having Downtown shut off to

traffic. If the local merchants are concerned about loosing business,

I would actually think the opposite effect would happen from closing

off Main Street to Orange Avenue. Currently, the traffic is monster

trucks, hot rods, customs cars, etc. that “cruise” up and down Main

Street. They most certainly are not shopping.

If Main Street was cut off from traffic, people would be forced to

walk more, therefore on their stroll to and from their cars they are

more or less forced to pass many more store fronts.(Now we all know

that store fronts that catch our eye, especially us women. We want to

check out just one more thing, and before you know it, one more

purchase/impulse buy naturally happens.) If I was a Downtown

merchant, I would be all for it -- shut down Main Street, bring on

the shoppers, get rid of the “looky-loos” and nuisance of dealing

with loud hot rods, and the like. At least do it in the summertime

(from May to October). I am all for the trial period.

STEPHANIE KOZOWYK

Huntington Beach

Thanks for the Bolsa Chica vote, Harman

On behalf of the Bolsa Chica mesa, wetlands and lowlands I want to

thank Assemblyman Tom Harman for his vote on the California budget.

Proposition 50, which passed in the last election, specifically

mentioned money was to go to purchase the Bolsa Chica. Harman, by his

vote, secured the $200 million that could will buy the mesa and all

of Bolsa Chica including the historical ORA 83, which is on the mesa

and known as the cogstone site. It was slated to be built on. Orange

County is now the second most populated county in the state and more

populated than 20 states. We have to have Bolsa Chica saved as a

bio-diversity park for generations to come. Thanks Harman for doing

the best thing for your constituents and the Bolsa Chica.

EILEEN MURPHY

Huntington Beach

Harman does not deserve our praise

I almost became nauseous reading the article by Tim Geddes,

“Harman has done his office justice,” on Aug 7.

First, Tom Harman is one of the organizers of the Bolsa Chica

groupies. Second, Proposition 50 money was voted in by California

voters for clean water preservation not to purchase land for a very

minor group Harman and his Bolsa Chica groupies want for bird

watching and to keep the owner from developing as desired.

Third, Harman refused to sign the budget as he “would not use his

vote to approve a budget that was not in favor to the people”; yet

when Davis offered a bribe, yes a $200-million dollar bribe, Harman

did not hesitate to accept, “at the expense of the people” because it

suited his private interest and those of his Bolsa Chica groupies. In

view of Harman’s reason for selling his vote to Davis I hardly think

the fawning and gushing praise heaped on Harman by Geddes is in

order.

This is a prime example on how Davis and his cronies juggle bond

money voted in by the naive voters. Harman’s votes should be subject

of close scrutiny from this day forward.

BOB POLKOW

Huntington Beach

It’s time for the people to decide on districts

Congratulations to Scott Baugh, Joe and all the others who helped

get the Fair [District Initiative] petitions signed and to those who

had the foresight to sign them. Whether or not one agrees with the

idea, or likes the individuals involved, grass-roots volunteers and

some paid signature gatherers legally completed the exercise of the

initiative process. Thank you to the council for not appealing the

judge’s ruling. It’s time to move forward and let the people decide.

Even though I was aware of the opposing views in town, personally

I thought the idea was so good that I helped gather signatures, and

spoke in favor of the favorable aspects about it during the

Huntington Beach City Council race in the fall of 2002. Not wanting

to be contentious, in an even-handed manner, I explained the ideas

that it truly will bring government closer to the people, stream-line

our bloated government in the face of looming budget deficits,

cutting expenses (by reducing to five council members), make it

easier to hold council members accountable, break-up any

special-interests strangle-hold, and more fairly represent the people

of Huntington Beach.

It is not a panacea to solve all our problems, but the great thing

about democracy is we can change it and fix it, if we feel things

aren’t working out down the road.

DIANE LENNING

Huntington Beach

City should quit wasting our money

Let me get this straight. The city of Huntington Beach (at the

direction of the City Council), hired lawyers to file a suit in

Superior Court to fight the Fair initiative?

As the suit named the proponents of the Fair initiative and the

Huntington Beach City Clerk, the city had to hire outside lawyers to

defend City Clerk Connie Brockway.

Now that the city has lost this frivolous lawsuit, the city is

going to have to pay the attorney’s fee of the proponents of the Fair

initiative, because they won the lawsuit; the city’s attorney’s, who

filed the lawsuit; as well as the attorneys hired to defend the City

Clerk (who was being sued by the city).

It looks like the lawyers are getting rich and we taxpayers are

stuck with the tab.

Thank you, members of the City Council, for bringing another

embarrassing moment to the residents of Huntington Beach, not to

mention the expenditure of thousands of hard-earned tax dollars that

could have gone to needy programs or services.

When will this City Council stop filing suit against it’s own

residents , all to further it’s own political agenda?

JOE JEFFREY

Huntington Beach

Editor’s note: Joe Jeffrey sued the city last fall when the

council voted to delay the vote until March 2004. A Superior Court

judge ruled in favor of the city.

City needs to stop suing residents

Quit suing the residents. Another lawsuit, another loss for the

city. Between the Fair initiative and the Howard Jarvis lawsuit, the

city was 0-2 last week in court. Don’t you think it’s time our

council started listening to the people? When 22,000 people sign a

petition requesting to vote on an initiative, the City Council should

not interfere -- especially when it’s done just so they can protect

their own hides.

CHRIS PANKOW

Huntington Beach

City needs to pay back taxpayers

Finally the council made the right decision to pay back the

taxpayers. And that is after the council spent an additional chunk of

taxpayers money to appeal their original error.

The City Council should be grateful that there was an arbitrary

statute of limitations placed on retroactive payments for

malfeasance, or the amount owed to the taxpayers would have been far

greater that the estimated $10 million to $27 million.

Now the taxpayers concern has to be whether the City Council will

engage in additional poor public policy and float more bonds to pay

for its initial mistake. After all, who will be responsible for

paying back the bonds -- that’s right, the taxpayers. Sounds like a

vicious circle doesn’t it?

What to do? Well, the council could begin to seriously begin to

look at the “sweetheart” deals they have made with the various

employee organizations, and try to renegotiate the ongoing costs that

have the potential of bankrupting Huntington Beach.

Remember, it was this kind of inattention to the concerns of the

taxpayers that kindled what ultimately triggered Proposition 13.

The City Council needs to refocus on the needs of the taxpayers,

and not just look out for the over-inflated benefits provided to city

employees.

ED BUSH

Huntington Beach

I pay my taxes in full and on time, if not cheerfully, at least

knowing I have responsibly fulfilled my obligation as a citizen of

this great country. If I have endured a tax which is illegal, I

expect to have it refunded in full. The City Council did the right

thing by not filing an appeal which they probably would have lost

causing the city to incur an even larger tax.

CHLOE POLLOCK MIECZKOWSKI

Huntington Beach

El Toro would solve airport noise problem

Huntington Beach residents are alarmed over the marked increase in

the number of airplane flights over their city descending into Long

Beach Airport. Likewise, the number of flights over the Huntington

Beach Pier flying into John Wayne Airport have increased. Without the

previously-planned El Toro airport there is a shortfall in airport

capacity in the region. This means that all other airports will have

to absorb additional air traffic. While air traffic is down in the

nation, passenger levels have increased dramatically at Long Beach

Airport and are rising rapidly at John Wayne Airport.

Already we see the effects of not having a functioning airport at

El Toro. Planes coming in to Long Beach can fly over the empty El

Toro air space, over Costa Mesa, and low over Huntington Beach. If El

Toro were open, planes landing at Long Beach would have to fly mostly

over the ocean into Long Beach’s main runway.

In April, the City of Los Angeles sent a letter to the Department

of Transportation proposing that it transfer the El Toro facility

from the Navy Department and lease it to Los Angeles for operation as

a commercial airport. This would overrule Measure W, which is a local

land use zoning decision. This proposal can be found on Web site

www.awgpac.com.

Opening El Toro as a commercial airport would reduce the pressure

on Long Beach and John Wayne Airports to expand.

What can be done to alleviate this increasing noise of planes

flying low on their way to Long Beach Airport? The Huntington Beach

City Council could pass a resolution endorsing the proposal to

operate the El Toro Airport and then send this resolution to the

Department of Transportation and the Navy Department.

Another helpful move would be for Huntington Beach to join and

support the Orange County Regional Airport Authority, an agency

representing north Orange County cities in their fight to control

aircraft incursions over their cities. This joint powers agency has

more clout than each city trying to act on its own.

SHIRLEY CONGER

Corona del Mar

Question isn’t, Do we need the water?

On the Poseidon, it is not so much a question that we should have

it or maybe not have it. We better have it because California has an

insufficient supply of water. If we need verification, we need only

look to Mexico -- they have desalination plants for resort areas all

over Mexico, and they are successful. The big question that arises,

and it is legitimate, is that this water, this desalination water,

mixed with the chemically treated water in Irvine -- does it present

a problem? That is the question, it is not a question of we shouldn’t

have it, we should have it -- we better have it.

HENRY KRANSZ

Huntington Beach