The destruction of a happy place to live
First I would like to thank the Sun News for helping the “sun shine” in on Seal Beach Leisure World happenings with the guest column.
Next I would like to praise Mr. Mark Pogrebinsky who lives in LW and wrote the Guest Column in the February 1, 2018 issue. Mr. Pogrebinsky is a “hero” for all of the folks that live in wonderful Seal Beach Leisure World.
Mr. Pogrebinsky is the person who speaks up at the Golden Rain Foundation Board of Directors’ meetings regarding many, many items that are very costly to all of the Shareholder/members in Leisure World. Since the GRF BODs meetings are not televised, as the Seal Beach City Council meetings are, many residents that are “homebound” or working cannot attend and learn the FACTS. So that is why Mr. Pogrebinsky’s guest column was very insightful about what is really happening in the wondrous idea of Ross Cortese’s community.
In the guest column there is a mention of cost. Just to explain, I have lived in the wondrous Seal Beach Leisure World for 20 years. And I did not have any cost increases in my Golden Rain Foundation fees until four (4) years ago after the new Executive Director was hired. And since then the fees keep going up and up and up.
Thanks again for the guest column written by Mr. Mark Pogrebinsky and his excellent questions about the destruction of a happy healthy place to live in Seal Beach Leisure World. My hope is that everyone gets a copy and reads this very informative article.
Carol Franz, Ph.D
Leisure World
More about the Almond Avenue sound wall
On June 20, 2012, Mayor Mike Levitt, myself, city staff and the city freeway design consultant met in Sacramento with our State legislators, Caltans & OCTA managements to present two city freeway design proposals that would not require the Almond Avenue sound wall to be relocated. At that time, the primary issue identified by Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty was that he wanted to maintain a standard ten-foot shoulder rather than have the four-foot shoulder proposed by the city. City staff and its design consultant continued to work with Caltrans and OCTA staffs to find an acceptable design until the city received a June 25, 2013, letter from OCTA indicating based on discussions between Caltrans and OCTA, the sound wall would not need to be relocated if the Alternative 3 option (express toll lanes option) was chosen for the I-405 Improvement Project. Based on this letter, there was no longer a need for further discussions related to the relocation of the sound wall until April 2015 when OCTA and Caltrans reneged in the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) by calling for the Almond Avenue sound wall to be relocated for Alternative 3 (express toll lanes), their desired project. At a subsequent OCTA Board of Directors meeting, I indicated it was unethical to wait until the finish of the process to say the Almond Avenue sound wall would be relocated for the project. With no other choice, on July 16, 2015, the city filed a lawsuit in the Orange County Superior Court, which unfortunately now will be heard in a San Diego County Superior Court not easily available to Seal Beach residents and will probably receive little or no press coverage.
Since the lawsuit was filed in 2015, Caltrans has proposed design exceptions for the 55 Freeway Improvement Project to add a second HOV lane to both sides of the 55 Freeway. These design exceptions include reducing most lane widths from twelve-feet to eleven-feet and reducing the inside shoulder width from ten-feet to four-feet, which is exactly what Caltrans Director Dougherty has opposed for the I-405 Improvement Project. If these same design exceptions were applied to the I-405 Improvement Project, the Almond Avenue sound wall relocation would not be necessary. The Seal Beach lawsuit challenged the I-405 Final EIR regarding noise, air quality, quality of life issues, traffic impacts and the relocation of the Almond Avenue sound wall. Hopefully the court can address noise by requiring the use rubberized asphalt; and air quality and traffic impacts by requiring a complimentary freeway project in Los Angeles County; and the use of freeway design exceptions that will not require the relocation of the Almond Avenue sound wall.
It was very disheartening to read Council Member Ellery Deaton’s January 18, 2018, SUN article, where it was implied the City Council is just looking for a settlement to offset stress on the city’s infrastructure and budget. What happened to addressing noise, air quality, quality of life issues and the Almond Avenue sound wall? Is the City Council selling out for money? We did not get into this lawsuit for money, but for the issues addressed in the lawsuit. That objective has not changed one bit, and we want the city to proceed with the lawsuit.
Former Council Member and OCTA Board Member,
Gary Miller
Seal Beach
Reply to Republican Women’s column
I must reply to your “Guest Column” of 2/1/18 where the Rossmoor/Los Alamitos Republican Women call President Trump’s first year triumphant. No, the first year of Trump has been a warm-up act for the final stage of a coarser, more vulgar, dumbed-down United States.
Nancy Hathcock’s article states that Abraham Lincoln was the “only other President to have been so attacked by the media.” No, obviously, her selective memory has given Richard Nixon a pass.
I counted six references to God and her desire to see a deity bestow grace upon the most craven, seriously flawed person that one can possibly imagine. Trump has embraced hate, racism, bigotry, intolerance, lying, to say nothing of the continuous insults to every national group and religion in the world. Last time I checked, lying and adultery were major sins in Christianity and most other religions.
Finally, Hathcock said she was drinking a toast to the Trumps. I, too, am drinking a toast to Robert Mueller and his investigation of Trump. “It’s Mueller Time.”
James Shoemaker
Seal Beach
