Helen Sanders facility
On Dec. 18, I attended the groundbreaking for the Helen Sanders Cat Facility at the Seal Beach Animal Care Center, named in honor and memory of a tireless advocate and caregiver for the homeless cats of the Seal Beach area.
Despite the rain it was a fun event, with many of Helen’s friends and members of her family in attendance. This building is long-awaited and desperately needed but costly, too, and the SBACC needs the help of its members, friends and the Seal Beach community to raise funds.
There are many wonderful opportunities to participate in this endeavor from naming a room to having a tile made as a memorial to a loved one. Please visit the website, www.sbacc.org or e-mail Dee Carey at contact@sbacc.org for ideas on how you can support and be part of this effort to provide a more comfortable environment for Seal Beach cats until they find forever, adoptive homes.
Deborah Felin
Seal Beach
Other people’s money
What a generous community that we live in—when it comes to other peoples money and property. It was suggested last week that the DWP property owners donate their $5 million property to the city of Seal Beach and take the tax
write-off and to ask to have a street named after them for their generosity. (“Owners should give the DWP land to the people,” Letters to the Editor Sun Newspapers, Thursday, Jan. 13.)
Let’s disregard that retrospectively the city had at least a couple opportunities to buy this property for collectively less than they’ve spent on legal bills and lost revenue. Let’s also [continue] to disregard that the property owners have capitulated on almost every demand that the city has presented to them in the form of roadblocks to the development of this land. Let’s disregard that as residents, we all have the right to develop about 80 percent of our land, with 20 percent open space, while the partners who own the property are proposing to use only 30 percent of their land, with 70 percent open space.
No, I think that Ms. Penny Peniocord is on to something. I say let’s all open our hearts and our wallets and do the right thing for the city. Once again, I will be at the foot of the Pier on Saturday morning from 9-10 a.m. to collect property trust deeds and money so that the city can use the proceeds to buy the DWP property and put an end to this whole development thingy once and for all. I’ll be sure to lobby for the street signs on behalf of your generosity. Maybe even a plaque. Life is short. Who’s with me?
Earick Ward
Seal Beach Resident
City auditor follow-up
As reported in the Sun on Thursday, Jan. 6, Seal Beach’s finances were recently audited by the same firm, Mayer Hoffman McCann, which was used by the city of Bell. The State Controller’s office has concluded that the firm’s work for Bell was no more than a “rubber-stamp.”
A few days before departing for his new job in Manhattan Beach, our former city manager told the Sun that he was “satisfied with the product,” and that “we’re in a multi-year contract with MHM.” He went on to tell the Sun that “a contract was a serious matter,” leaving readers with the impression that the city has an on-going contractual obligation to MHM.
However, a review of the city’s contract, which I obtained from the city clerk, indicates otherwise. The contract was signed in April 2008 and covered the audits performed for fiscal years 2007-08, 2008-09, and 2009-10. The last of these three audits was presented to the council on Dec. 13. The contract does provide for an optional two-year extension. However, the city clerk has no record of any extension being granted. Additionally, the contract clearly states that “The city retains the right to cancel this agreement without cause” or penalty.
While I share the belief of our former city manager that “our finances are in good order,” I strongly feel that due diligence demands that the contract with MHM not be extended. We should follow the lead of officials at Cal/PERS and Riverside who are not giving any more work to MHM.
If you agree, I would recommend that you let your councilman know. In order to get a new auditor for the next annual audit scheduled for the fall, the council must direct city staff to go out to bid as soon as possible. Three years of rubber-stamping is enough.
Dr. Robert Goldberg
Seal Beach
