Access to records from BCHD

It seems that Beach Cities Health District is selectively too small and too busy to adhere to the California Public Records Act these days. In early June, BCHD blindsided the public with its newest, final, tallest and biggest plan for their campus over-development (6-story "up-scale" apartments, 8-story 800+ car parking structure, 75-feet tall, 700,000+ square feet), while providing only minimal information. As a result, the only route to extract needed data from BCHD is to use state law. But BCHD is slow-rolling, providing the following "the District is a small public agency ... operating under emergency protocols due to the COVID -19 crisis."

BCHD isn't too small to do the projects that it "wants" to do though.  For instance, from March to June, BCHD prepared its tallest, largest assisted living over-development plan ever, while COVID was killing seniors at Kensington assisted living. Ironic isn't it, that a "small" public health agency was full-speed ahead in the real estate development business when it needed 100% laser-focus on public health? Ironic isn't it, that a "small" public health agency with a $15M a year budget that desperately wants to build senior assisted living didn't focus on the sick and dying in assisted living right in its bakckyard? Apparently no lessons to be learned there. BCHD isn't so small that it didn't budget $7.6M of our taxpayer-owner money toward campus over-development activities.  The only time BCHD is "small" is when it wants to plead poverty to avoid answering hard questions about its commercial real estate development activity. BCHD isn't so small that the CEO can't be paid over $300K. BCHD lost most of its moral authority when it alloted itself 3,987 days to plan and replan their over-development, and then dumped it's final over-development plan out on a Friday night at 605PM and approved it 3 business days later at their Board meeting, cutting off the public's right to read, analyze and comment on the plan. Opposition at the board meeting was overwhelming. Now BCHD is shirking its legal responsibility to conform with the Public Records Act. Just because BCHD will be approving its own environmental impact report doesn't mean that it can ignore state law, the public, and its taxpayer-owners. —Mark Nelson, Redondo Beach BCHD Community Working Group Volunteer

BCHD land development

I commend Paul Silva for calling out the deeper layers of economic privilege and gain through multiple generations (“Generational wealth and racism in Manhattan Beach,” The Beach Reporter, 8/6/20). It is akin to what we are dealing with now in Redondo Beach where the Beach Cities Health District has become a real estate investor in the “prime property” at 514 N. Prospect Ave.

No minority person, unless a celebrity, could afford the minimum $12,000/month to live on the so-called Healthy Living Campus, for which no needs assessment was undertaken.

According to local social service agencies, Redondo Beach has 50 assisted living facilities, all of which are drawing from the city’s network of emergency first responders who, we are told, give priority to assisted living residents. Redondo Beach is being robbed blind on this cost without any financial gain for the demands on its infrastructure.

Another lose-lose goes to Torrance residents who would be overshadowed on the east side of this six-story proposed complex. They could experience two hours less of sunshine each day and their neighborhood becoming a thoroughfare for traffic emptying onto Flagler Lane—the only point of exit. These neighborhoods, represented on Facebook as TRAO (Torrance Redondo Against Overdevelopment), have seen their properties devalued by $20,000 to $30,000 as realtors reveal the impending three years of construction.

The district’s predecessor, the South Bay Hospital District, was formed by a vote of the people and funded with bonds and property taxes to buy, build and maintain the campus. When the hospital failed, BCHD kept the assets and rebranded itself without another vote. Lawful or not, that was a clear act of privilege coupled with arrogance that continues today.

—Mary R. Ewell, Redondo Beach

Livewell Kids program effectiveness

Beach Reporter - 7/30/20

The news release referenced a report titled “Recent Trends in Childhood Obesity Prevalence in the Redondo Beach Unified School District: A Case Study.” This report was not written by the county but by a BCHD communications specialist, with contributions made by Dr. Paul Simon and Dr. Rashmi Shetgiri from LA County Public Health along with graduate student Christian Palacios, UCLA School of Public Health. Unfortunately, the extent of the professionals’ contributions to this report was not made clear in the document.

Second, the case study report “….was not a formal program evaluation” and “further research, with a more rigorous evaluation design is needed to confirm these findings.” The case study did not “validate” or evaluate the effectiveness of the LiveWell Kids program as claimed by BCHD because it lacked a rigorous evaluation design for the entire study period.

In sum, the “county report” referred to in the news release was written by BCHD, not the county. The claim of “program outcomes validated” is not substantiated because the evaluation design was not effectively rigorous. What are we to make of this? BCHD consistently blurs the line between accurate information designed to inform and marketing informercial designed to influence without concern for accuracy. Shame on them.

—Sheila Lamb, Redondo Beach