Campus debate

Easy Reader - 7/23/20

Dear ER:

There are some facts that the Beach Cities Health District isn’t prone to disclosing (“Healthy Living Campus debate centers on costs versus benefits,” ER July 16, 2020). First, in saying 29 percent of Beach City Health District’s revenue comes from property taxes, CEO Bakaly doesn’t mention that 50 percent of those property taxes are paid out to the top 10 highest paid executives at BCHD. That cannot be what voters imagined when they approved South Bay Hospital and the property tax rate in 1956. Second, Youssef Assoc., BCHDs expert seismic consultants, reported that no seismic retrofit is required, and that even if Redondo Beach adopted the strongest seismic ordinance in use anywhere, the South Bay Hospital building could remain in use until 2040. Last, BCHD paid $2 million to Blue Zones for advice. Part of Blue Zones advice, which BCHD chooses to ignore, is to reduce Chronic stress, what Blue Zones calls “the silent killer.” BCHD’s surrounding neighborhoods have been subject to chronic stress from the medical campus since 1960, and Bakaly is trying to increase the chronic stress level further with demolition, construction, and 50 to 100 years of  more operation. No matter what good intentions BCHD has, it’s already dumped 60 years of economic and environmental injustice on surrounding neighborhoods and intends to dump on us for 100 years more.

Mark Nelson