Bicycles on sidewalks
My wife and I love Seal Beach! We live in Old Town and walk almost everywhere.
We love walking down Ocean Boulevard to the pier and back to Second Street where we live.
However, it seems in the last six months or so we have been inundated with bicycles using the sidewalks as their thruway.
We, as pedestrians, have to stop and step aside while a bicycle or two or three hogs the walkway.
Please don’t misunderstand me. We have bicycles and use them frequently. However, not on the sidewalks.
According to the Department of Motor Vehicles, a bicycle is a vehicle and is required to follow those rules.
We don’t see automobiles driving down the sidewalks and we should not allow bicycles.
Their place, like all other vehicles, is on the street—not on the walkways.
David A. McClure
Seal Beach
About the money
I am responding to the “Opinion” section (“In defense of vacation rentals,” the Sun, Sept. 20) wherein Seal Beach resident, Betty Hutchens, offers her opinions and insights.
Al least Betty admits that, “It’s all about the money.” Most people wouldn’t be this honest. Ah, yes . . . money the motivator!
We live next to a vacation rental and I must say that it is a living nightmare.
Our basic complaint is that the “vacation rental disrespectors” (hereafter referred to as VRD’s) pay little or no attention to noise ordinances.
Our homes are six feet apart and, especially at night, you can hear a pin drop a block away, to say nothing about music, voices, and reveling. (There are a few other bothersome noises that I won’t mention here.)
Our only very uncomfortable options are to attempt to reason with the VRD’s, which we have found to be very dangerous due to their alcohol and/or drug use, or to call the police, which turns the living nightmare into a living hell with sedated zombies involved.
I would like to suggest that Betty becomes a sort of “sheriff” that we can call when the VDR’s act up.
She can make her phone number public so we can call her at 11 p.m., midnight, 1 a.m, 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. when the VDR’s act up. I wonder how many early morning phone calls she will respond to before she changes her mind?
Dennis and Nancy Tripp
Seal Beach
Kudos to Seal Beach Lifeguards
Seal Beach lifeguards recently received the following letter, which Chief Joe Bailey included in his latest report to the city manager.
My name is Suzie Borger and I was treated for a stingray sting on Wednesday, Sept. 12.
I was born and raised in Oceanside and have been in or around the ocean my entire life. I live in Portland Oregon now and was visiting family/friends.
My friends that live in Long Beach had no idea that Seal Beach was referred to as Stingray Bay, or that we were hanging out in the “hot zone.”
So of course I felt like an idiot when I got stung and the one of the two steps I took not doing the shuffle ended up with a sting.
This is the second time in my life I have been stung, so I knew what I was in for.
I just wanted to really thank a couple of your lifeguards. The gentleman that picked us up on the beach, sadly I did not get his name (I was in pain) but I do remember him eating lentils as he walked by to ask me how I was doing.
AJ was my guy. He stayed with me the whole time and kept the hot water coming as needed. He made us laugh, he was super-supportive, calm, educational, and kept a super positive attitude. You are lucky to have him.
AJ might remember my two girlfriends and I. We all had tattoos and no filters on our mouths. I consider myself lucky…the last time this happened, I was on crutches for almost two weeks and couldn’t work.
I think that was due large in part to the fact there were no lifeguards where I was and my foot didn’t see that hot water for almost three hours. Talk about pain. AJ had those buckets ready. I had to take five days of work off, get a tetanus shot, take antibiotics, and some painkillers. Funny thing is, I am kind of a celebrity up here because it’s Oregon and you never see this.
If you could let the guys know how much we appreciated their help, it would be amazing. And thanks for taking the time to read this. Have a great day.
Suzie Borger
Oregon
Martial Law in Rossmoor
The Sun’s latest report by Charles M. Kelly stated that the Orange County Grand Jury is calling for “the end of special districts, including unincorporated communities.”
This repudiates the cornerstone of American democracy as stated in the Declaration of Independence that “ … Governments … instituted among Men, deriv[e] their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed … ”
RCSD’s Sept. 14 meeting was volatile again urging institution of latent powers. Why are we talking of expanding an adequate service, especially when the cost is going to increase? Rossmoor residents are generally satisfied with Orange County Sheriff patrol and response time.
Is this another attempt to acquire tax dollars for RCSD and state coffers? And surprise, surprise, RCSD general manager suggests a conflict-of-interest arrangement whereby he would also serve as outside contractor for policing services. I am grateful that a vigilant resident was present to challenge this.
The Constitution of the United States is in peril in Washington D.C. If people can’t even address their elected board members in small communities like Rossmoor, the American system of government is truly under attack.
I understand the need to make public addresses brief, but let’s face it, few Rossmoor residents attend these meetings and fewer speak. Judiciously extending public address time a minute or two is the way an honest, courteous board respects its constituents.
And seriously, having a sherriff’s deputy attend meetings of a dozen people?
Who feels unsafe and why? It is by consent of citizens that we are governed by our elected officials, it is not by martial law.
Diane Rush
Rossmoor
Congratulations to Honored Citizens
Congratulations to Los Alamitos Honored Citizens, Diana and Randy Hill.
Coach John Barnes introduced them at a beautiful reception at the Los Alamitos Museum.
They were his football booster presidents, and both of their sons played football for Coach Barnes.
They continue to give back to the District and the community in amazing ways, well beyond their tenure as parents of Los Alamitos Unified School District students!
We are fortunate to have Diana on the Los Alamitos Unified School District Board of Education and Randy as the Los Alamitos Education Foundation president.
Please help us celebrate the completion of the newly modernization Los Alamitos High School gymnasium.
The ribbon cutting ceremony will be held on Oct. 2, between the JV and Varsity Girls Volleyball matches, at approximately 5 p.m.
Our Los Alamitos High School Varsity Football Coach, John Barnes, has 298 wins! Very shortly, we will be celebrating his 300th win, which is an amazing accomplishment and makes him number one in Orange County.
We will celebrate his 300th victory after the game, which we hope is Thursday, Oct. 4, at Vets Stadium. Congratulations, Diana and Randy Hill and Coach John Barnes.
Sherry Kropp, Ed.D., Superintendent
Los Alamitos Unified
School District
Shut down vacation rentals
Too many sleepless nights due to the parties at the vacation/party rental house. You need to put a stop to all this NOW Councilwoman Ellery Deaton. It’s a joke that Planning Commission is to regulate the CUPs on these rentals.
They have approved every single one so far, even those that don’t have enough parking. Shut it down now please!
Marc Loopesko
Seal Beach
A real pain
I have a house in Lake Tahoe and the vacation rentals are a real pain. I agree with the comments expressed by Tom Blackman in (the Thursday, Sept. 6 Sun). We should end this while we still have it under control.
John Griffith
Seal Beach
Poll Results: Does Seal Beach need more regulation of vacation rentals?
Yes—61.5 percent
No—30.8 percent
Undecided—7.7 percent
The opinions expressed in Letters to the Editor are not necessarily those of the Sun. The Sun welcomes Letters to the Editor. Letters should be 300 words maximum. Letters should be e-mailed, signed by the author and include the author’s address and phone number (the latter two are for verification, not publication). The Sun reserves the right to accept, edit, or reject letters for any reason. Unless otherwise indicated, all letters sent to the Sun are understood to be intended for publication. E-mail letters to: dennis@sunnews.org.
