Opposition research

Dear ER:

There is no question that BCHD has made millions in profits through their initiatives (On Local Government: Health District 3.0 a no go,” ER Feb. 6, 2020). Now they are attempting to use these profits to build complex developments so they can make more money. One would find an amazement of projects that money is easily spent on. I have volunteered many hard years to mobilize the public to provide input on environmental causes such as bike paths, only to find BCHD’s paid staff lobbying their conflicting positions.

Dean Francois

Redondo Beach

Show us the money

Dear ER:

Vijay Jeste implies that there is a need for assisted living facilities by referencing statistics from the California Department of Aging, which shows an increase in the California senior population by 2030 (ER Letters, Feb. 6, 2019). These statistics are based on probabilities and are used for state and local government planning purposes only. Health marketing organizations such as BCHD, who have a vested interest in promoting assisted living facility development, use these statistics to convince the public that a growing senior population will need their facilities. To assume that a growing senior population will require more assisted living facilities, let alone high end facilities, is a speculative marketing strategy, not a fact.

Jeste states that the new BCHD “senior housing will generate revenues that will benefit Beach Cities residents.” There has been no data presented to the public that indicates the amount of revenue BCHD expects to receive from these facilities or when those revenues will be available.  Until BCHD releases its detailed financial plans, any suggestion that there will be revenues available for the benefit of Beach Cities residents is pure speculation and marketing.

Sheila W. Lamb

Redondo Beach

Strategic stats

Dear ER:

In justifying construction of the Beach Cities Health District’s Healthy Living Campus, Vijay Jeste cites the statistic that there will be “twice as many Californians 80 and older in 2033 and 3 times as many in 2043 as now” (ER Letters, Feb. 6, 2019). The question that has gone unanswered so far is: ”Who pays for the proposed 430 assisted living and memory care units?” Jeste further contends. “There is nothing wrong with opening these facilities to outsiders as they would be contributing to the revenues generated by senior housing.” He omits mention of the fact that the proposed “Living Campus” is being built on the backs of its Torrance neighbors. Traffic in and out is planned to move through the Flagler Lane “alley” behind the Hospital, strapping those Torrance neighborhoods with traffic congestion. The additional 60 foot high wall, added to the present one, totals 95 feet. Neighbors will lose two hours of sunlight each day, and lower their property values.

Towers Elementary School students and faculty downwind of the site will suffer particulate pollution, excessive noise and chaos over the 15 years of building. Students from neighboring elementary and middle school will also be sacrificed — all for an elite, aging population?

It behooves residents of Redondo Beach and Torrance to take a proactive position to protect our youth and advocate for social and environmental justice.

Mary R.Ewell,

Redondo Beach