Seal Beach needs Long Beach bus service
It is not clear to me what transpired at the May 8 meeting at the Seal Beach Community Center, but the reaction by Mr. Laurence Jackson, president and CEO of Long Beach Transit, to terminate all bus service to Seal Beach effective Aug. 26, will adversely impact many people in our community who utilize the existing bus service.
My son, who is handicapped, uses this bus to get to his doctor when I am not available to take him. He has friends who also use this bus for doctor and family visits. I request that the city manager take steps to prevent the loss of this existing Long Beach Transit service to those I know and probably many others.
Jack Dampman
Seal Beach
Small group of activists get the grease
Hooray!
I am so glad to hear that our representative, Gordon Shanks, is alive and still actively serving our community. I was quite concerned, as he has never responded to any of my communication to him regarding questions or input into activities happening in our community.
I mistakenly thought that he represented the “Hill Area,” but I have come to realize that he only represents a small group of vocal activists, and his own self-interest.
He does not appear to be interested in hearing and/or discussing the opinions of others.
The reason that I am writing to the Sun is to express my disgust in the treatment accorded to the representatives of the Long Beach Transit District who came to our city with a proposal for improving the bus system in our small town.
If you didn’t like the proposal that was expressed, that is your right.
However, to be behaving in an offensive, aggressive, and derogatory manner is inexcusable. We are supposed to be adults.
The behavior of this small group of self-serving activists is not a true representation of the feelings of the residents of our city.
Our family has lived in the hill area for 41 years.
Our home backs up to Seal Beach Boulevard and we have heard the traffic pattern change over the years.
The traffic noise is at times annoying and there is no apparent remedy to this situation.
However, it must be noted that compared to cars and motorcycles, there is very little noise from the buses that transit this thoroughfare, as the change in operation fuel (natural gas) and new improvements in the propulsion systems have made buses fairly quiet, and an efficient means of connecting our small city with our neighboring communities.
It will be interesting to see how the change in diminished bus service will affect the community and, more importantly, the businesses that derive income (and pay taxes) as a result of easy visitor access to the city of Seal Beach.
Sharon Hamil
Seal Beach
Knee-jerk reaction
I was at and spoke at the (May 8) meeting. In my opinion, the letter from Long Beach Transit’s CEO, Mr. Jackson (who I don’t believe was at the meeting) is an overreaction. (“Long Beach Transit irked by ‘colorful comments,’” Letters to the Editor, Thursday, May 17, Sun Newspapers.)
While there were some upset residents who were not reticent to express their feelings, this was to be expected.
However, I do not recall hearing any comments that I would characterize as “colorful.”
None of the comments were profane or threatening, and the meeting was conducted in an orderly fashion. Most certainly, this term would not apply to the comments made by Councilman Shanks.
The subsequent knee-jerk reaction of Mr. Jackson to end both of the existing bus lines into Seal Beach is not only inappropriate, but also not consistent with the community sentiment expressed at the meeting.
The meeting only dealt with the re-routing of the #131 to make up for the loss of the Passport bus service into Los Alamitos Bay.
When I spoke, I made the point that keeping the remaining #171 line into Seal Beach was very important so that workers without cars could reach our Main Street and Old Town areas.
My comments were well-received by the audience, and the LBT staff confirmed that there would be no changes to the #171.
Thus, Mr. Jackson’s conclusion that Long Beach Transit’s “customers are not welcome” in Seal Beach is simply not correct.
I hope that after further consideration, he will recognize that dropping the #171 line will only hurt these same customers.
Robert Goldberg
Seal Beach
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