Letters to the Editor

Editor:

On July 14, the Seal Beach City Council had a water and sewer rate hearing. The council voted 3-1 to continue the hearing on Aug. 11 at Councilman Ben Wong’s request. The dissenting vote was cast by Councilman Nathan Steele.

Thank you to GRF Board and six Mutuals for standing up for shareholders with protest letters as allowed by Proposition 218. Interim Executive Director Dave Potter carried the letters to the city clerk. Thanks to other Mutuals that also sent letters.

Leisure World’s fixed water costswillincreasefrom$3,673.58 per month to $21,239.12 by 2030. The increased volumetric rates are not included. Other Mutual boards did not submit protest letters and need to reconsider and submit one for their shareholders before Aug. 11. Mutual 17 are owners and not shareholders.

Each of the 126 owners can submit one letter per unit to the city clerk. Interim Executive Director Dave Potter has sample letters.

Funds generated by water and sewer rates are supposed to be used only for delivery of services and not general fund operations.

However, many city departments have allocations from water and sewer revenue partly paying for salaries, benefits, retirement. A portion of council member salaries are from water and sewer revenues.

Rates cannot be increased if a majority of affected property owners submit protest letters. But there is another way to stop these tremendous increases. We need three council members to vote “no.” Write to nsteele@sealbeachca.gov and bwong@sealbeachca.gov and urge them to vote no.

Hope K. Horning Mutual 2

Editor:

Do you sometimes feel like the world is spinning out of control? There is one thing that has stood the test of time, and that is the Bible. If you’ve never opened a Bible or just not as familiar with it as you’d like to be, if it’s that one thing you haven’t checked off your bucket list, Exploring the Bible through Multimedia is a class that will be starting soon on Tuesday afternoons. We will be reading directly from the Bible, viewing animated and dramatized video and using individual creativity to reinforce and retain lifechanging biblical truths.

If interested, text “I’m interested” to 714-296-7545, and we’ll get started exploring the Bible together!

Karen Oja Mutual 9 Editor:

Living in Southern California it is puzzling as to why we must waste millions of gallons of water on grass. The proposed rate increase on water should be a wake-up call to replace the lawns with native plants.

The lawns are used for dog toilets and not much else. I hope this proposed water rate increase will be a wake up call to replace grass with native plants.

Paul Polinski Mutual 10 Editor:

Thank you for the brilliant decision to suspend political letters. There is no need to promote or instigate more anger, division and mean-spiritedness.

Bob Kraus Mutual 14 Editor:

I learn of climate change threatening evermore severe fires and floods from news sources. I learn of our cities sinking, of the polar ice caps melting, of the ocean waters warming and expanding, of the rising ocean elevations and the adverse effects upon our coastal communities. And I read of our inaction or inability to counter these prospective disasters.

I’m left wondering if the broad distribution of the melting ice will change the earth’s center of gravity and cause a change in its tilt to the sun, and I wonder how that will affect the earth’s surface conditions. Although unlikely, what if all these massive events lead to a change in the earth’s orbit gravity influences?

What would that do to birthday celebrations?

Gee whiz, I was just beginning to reconcile the increasing cost of groceries.

Stan Verdi Mutual 2 Editor:

Who is responsible for all the dead shrubbery along the North Gate Road and along the Leisure World property that runs adjacent to the 405 Freeway?

On July 5 at 7 p.m., my home, that was completely closed, filled with the smell of smoke. Outside I could see the smoke rolling along the greenbelt.

I knew a fire was close by and hoped that a Leisure World unit was not burning.

Multiple fire trucks rushed down Del Monte to a brush fire alongside the freeway and firefighters were able to stop the forward progress of the fire within 45 minutes.

We on the northside of Leisure World have dead brush that is very close to our homes.

What can be done to clean up this fire hazard?

Gerri Wright Mutual 11