Category: Letters To The Editor

Says article on AB 166 should have mentioned slip fee increases To the Editor: I was really concerned over the lack of information in the article on the governor’s signing of Assemblyman Ted Lieu’s bill on derelict boats in the October 15th issue of The Argonaut. Absolutely no mention was given by the author of the out-of-control slip fee increases that have recently been levied on our boaters and that Mr. Lieu has referred to as a “local issue.” This is the most significant underlying reason as to why our boats are being abandoned. For the marina operators and county officials to ask the state for relief after raising the fees almost ten times the consumer price index would be laughable if it wasn’t so revolting. How can Lieu assert that these absurd increases are not his concern and that there is no relationship with the abandonment of boats? There would absolutely be no question that if our legislators passed a bill on raising car registration fees by $1,000, the abandonment of older cars would be an epidemic. This bill will only help a significant few of our boaters looking to get out of the marina and the large monthly fees. More space will be made available for new boats. Another important piece missing in this article is the idea of an affordable, do-it-yourself boatyard. The prices in the...

Remembers her 7th-grade teacher Roy Hefner To the Editor: I have often thought of Roy Hefner in the 33 years since I was a seventh-grader at Orville Wright Junior High. To this day I repeat what he made us all shout out in the consumer education unit of his social studies class: “Read the Contract!” and “I Am The King!” or “I am the Queen!” (meaning that one should not be bullied into hard-sell transactions, but always demand one’s consumer rights.) I will also always remember Mr. Hefner as a prankster, and frequently we, his students, were mobilized as the engine of his practical jokes. One day we were dispatched to the typing class next door to sing “I’m A Little Teapot,” whereupon Mr. Wachtfogel (the typing teacher) retaliated a few minutes later by marching his class in to regale us with “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” Mr. Hefner also escorted us to the far end of the P.E. field once for no other purpose than to wave at his house and his wife. He frequently included absurd joke answers in his oral quizzes, which he delivered with the enthusiasm of a vaudevillian. But one day our class decided we were going to prank Mr. Hefner, so during recess we created a plan. Since we had a quiz after recess, and we knew that Mr. Hefner always began a quiz by...

Applauds skate park but still wants dog beach To the Editor: I’m writing this letter to The Argonaut while the opening ceremonies of the long-awaited skate park are going on down on Venice Beach. This is a big day for Venice, and I should be elated for the skateboarders… and I am. But I’m wondering why city and county government officials have spent $2.4 million on a skate park and we still don’t have a dog beach in Los Angeles, which costs little to nothing. Freeplay, Dog Beach Now and millions of Angelinos have been lobbying for a dog beach since 1996. We’re told there can’t be a dog beach on the sand because of liability. What can create more liability than a skate park? With all due respect, there are close to one million dogs in Los Angeles. Their guardians are taxpayers, one of the largest groups. What ever happened to serving your constituents? How can $2.4 million be spent on a skate park when guardians and their dogs in Los Angeles still do not have a dog beach, even though there are at least 60 existing dog beaches up and down the coast of California? Politics is full of hypocrisy and feel-good moments, and this is certainly one of them. Daryl Barnett, Founder of Freeplay, Venice Thanks person who returned purse lost near Costco To the Editor:...

Reminds county that we are all stakeholders To the Editor: It certainly would help all concerned if Don Knabe, our representative on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors for the 4th District had his facts straight about Marina del Rey. In the September 3rd Argonaut he stated that Marina del Rey was owned by the county, which is wrong. Marina del Rey is a publicly owned asset that was created as a small craft harbor recreation area in the 1960s through a taxpayer base paid off in 1993. We are all stakeholders in Marina del Rey as community members and taxpayers of Los Angeles County. Now is the perfect time to plan the future of Marina del Rey, the perfect opportunity to update or to work on the Local Coastal Program and start afresh with Marina del Rey public community support and awareness. Long term leases (for land and water parcels) will expire in the next ten to 14 years and revert back to full public property. We cannot let the Department of Beaches and Harbors (DBH) and the L.A. Board of Supervisors continue to rubber stamp the development projects proposed for Marina del Rey. (19 are currently proposed.) The DBH has bundled some properties together such as the Woodfin Hotel/Timeshares (which is not permitted on public land) and the Neptune Apartments. Another is the senior retirement hotel (Oxford...