BCHD board election

10-22-20 - Beach Reporter

In the Beach Cities Health District election, it’s disappointing to see little emphasis placed on the proposed massive construction development of the campus. Suggested questions went unanswered during the candidates’ forum, even a lack of answers from the two challengers.

Neighbors are outraged with the three incumbents supporting the proposed $500 million Prospect Ave. construction project. It’s partially funded by investors. When investors get their return, there isn’t much left for the taxpayer. Meanwhile, the project can be scrapped, and funding can be obtained for only $70 million to retrofit existing buildings.

The two challengers in this campaign must step up and tell us what they're going to do to change the course of this project. Will they support remodeling existing buildings? If they don’t have more to say, they will not get the support they need to win an election.

—Dean Francois, Hermosa Beach

Beach Cities Health District candidates

10/22/20, Beach Reporter

The recent BCHD candidate debate gave residents a clear view of the similarities and differences between the candidates. All candidates agree that the district is an asset to the community. All candidates support its wide ranging volunteer program, and the programs and services donated to school districts.

The new candidates Karen Komatinsky and Martha Koo differentiate themselves from the others by offering a fresh perspective on BCHD’s future potential. They believe the district has not done an adequate job in reaching out to the communities it serves and would like to see robust efforts towards community engagement. In addition, both expressed commitment to ensuring the prudent use of our tax dollars, greater scrutiny on how money is spent, detailed evaluation of programs and services to show cost effectiveness and clear health impact to the community.

In terms of the Healthy Living Campus, they echo residents’ concern about whether a brick-and-mortar campus is appropriate for the community at this time. This fresh perspective is how I would like to see BCHD proceed into the future. In light of this, I give my full support to Karen Komatinsky and Martha Koo.

—Sheila W. Lamb, Redondo Beach

Candidates for BCHD board

10-22-20, Beach Reporter

Bring balance to the Beach Cities Health District Board of directors — vote for Karen Komatinsky and Dr. Martha Koo.

For far too long we have had a BCHD board that is out of touch with the needs of the community and we saw this clearly in the candidate forum last week. One incumbent has served 25 years and doesn’t even know if the 40 programs they pay for are even cost-effective. Another claims the immune systems of volunteers is improved with these programs without any proof. The third claims vast business experience but hasn’t been effective in getting cost control mechanisms in place or even a line-item budget.

It’s time for change and to bring back balance to BCHD — Vote for Komatinsky and Koo.

—Wayne Craig, Redondo Beach