Healthy accountability

Easy Reader - 10/2/20

Dear ER:

In late 2018 or early 2019, the Beach Cities Health District entered into discussions with the City of Redondo Beach regarding BCHD’s massive Healthy Living Campus. How do we know they had discussions? In July of 2020, BCHD finally released a letter to the Redondo Beach City Attorney dated February of 2019 documenting an alleged agreement with the City Attorney. Unfortunately, because the public and the Healthy Living Campus Community Working Group were excluded from the process, BCHD was free to make false statements about its over-development project without any public oversight.

BCHD represented to the City Attorney that their massive development unequivocally benefits Redondo Beach. BCHD’s Century City lawyer wrote, “Clearly, the Healthy Living Campus project will be of significant benefit to the residents of Redondo Beach …” That’s a very bold statement. The senior living facility projects 35 percent of its residents being from the Palos Verdes Peninsula, 30 percent from the rest of California (and even outside California), 11 percent from Torrance and only 5 percent from south Redondo.

BCHD must withdraw its false claim and stop operating in the shadows against the interests of the residents of Redondo Beach who bear 100 percent of the environmental and economic burdens of BCHD’s proposed over-development.

Mark Nelson

Redondo Beach 

Bounce the incumbents

Easy Reader, 9/24/20

Dear ER:

In 1955, taxpayers approved the South Bay Hospital District, to provide a hospital. The hospital failed, so the district renamed itself Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) and assumed an eternal bureaucratic life to do as it pleased. BCHD now wants to build a massive, for-profit luxury assisted living apartment complex (wealthy living campus) on public land, and charge rich seniors $12,000 per month rent. Elected BCHD directors have rubber stamped each stage of this highly inappropriate project, and cavalierly ignored massive public opposition. As you fill out your upcoming ballot, please remember to not vote for any incumbent BCHD director. Don’t rubber stamp the rubber stampers. 

Michael Martin

Redondo Beach

THE AUDACITY OF OVER-REACH…

On 9/3/2020 Tom Bakaly, CEO of Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) sent out a Questionnaire about a proposed/supposed Aquatic-Center that may/might be incorporated into Phase-2 of BCHD’s 2-Phased private-Healthy-Living-Campus (HLC) on land that is Publicly-Owned. BCHD has the Audacity-Of-Over-Reach (AOO) by insisting that the Beach-Cities of RB/HB/MB need a Privately-Owned and operated Senior-Residential-Living-Facility along with “other” buildings necessary for the health and betterment of US.

Folks, I have grown-up and lived in RB for the majority of my 67 years perfectly fine and healthy without ever partaking/participating in any BCHD services. I am quite sure that the majority of you folks can make the same claim. BCHD derives a significant portion of their funding for their ”services” from the property-taxes of the Beach Cities of RB/HB/MB exclusively.

BCHD is again pushing their (AOO) by asking “how often you would swim” at their Aquatic-Center on land that they do not own. Folks this is like asking what you would like to eat for dinner AT your neighbor’s house. Aquatic-Centers do not bring in enough revenue to pay for their operation. So, the residents of the Beach-Cities RB/HB/MB only, would be stuck with the Bill. Meaning your Property-Taxes would be raised or a “Special-Tax” would be accessed all for an Aquatic-Center on a Healthy-Living-Campus that you/your family along with mine will never use.

Laura D. Zahn

Redondo Beach