Have MB Residents lost all confidence in Mayor Stern's leadership after the lawlessness over the weekend?

Will City Council address the problem in tonight's meeting?

After the lack of ordinance enforcement and lawlessness that took place in Manhattan Beach last Sunday, all eyes are on Mayor Stern at tonight’s City Council meeting to see if and how she addresses the issue.

Tune in at 6:00 on Spectrum channel 8 or Frontier channel 35.

Or tune in via Zoom to watch AND make a 3-min public comment. Click here: Zoom link

Forward this email to your friends so they also can watch the MB City Council Meeting.

Recap of the weekend

An invitation to a mega-event called “Blacckkity Beach Festival” was issued over Social Media last Friday encouraging party-goers to bring their BBQs and BYOB to Bruce’s Beach Park in Manhattan Beach. View the open invitation to the public here: Bruce's Beach "Blacckkity" Invitation

Council Members have all stated in responses to letters from the residents that Friday was the first they had heard of this party planned at Bruce’s Beach.

Attendees came en masse with not just BBQs and booze, but they erected tents and canopies, blared music from speakers set on top of their cars, and some even brought their living room furniture of couches, loveseats, and futons.

Marijuana was smoked freely throughout the park, despite the fact we are a smoke-free city and have ordinances against smoking (anything) in public places.

The signs listing some of the rules of the park were ignored by the attendees. Was anyone cited?

A posted rule sign was moved out of the way to erect a tent in the early morning on Sunday.

A Sliders and Wings food truck parked on the perimeter of the park catered to the crowd that continued to grow throughout the day.

Simultaneous with the lawlessness taking place at Bruce’s Beach, a pack of bicyclists descended on the downtown area and harassed drivers, pedestrians, and stole alcohol and merchandise from little Vons located on MBB and Valley.

Deliberately blocking the intersections on Valley and Ardmore between 15th and Pacific, the bicyclists weaved in and out of traffic, circled the cars, and hurled profanity at anyone in earshot.

One person whose car was targeted by the bicyclists and had a bottle hurled at her posted her experience on Social Media:

The MBPD issued an MB Alert for residents to stay clear of the area.

How did lawlessness on Sunday take root?

The City Manager, Bruce Moe, is a key person in the chain of command. The Chief of Police reports to Bruce Moe, and Bruce Moe reports to the Mayor and City Council. Mr. Moe is expected to give a report at tonight’s CC meeting. But ultimately, the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the person at the top.

Over the past 24 hours, residents have written the Mayor and City Council with their questions about how a mega-event was allowed to take place in a neighborhood park where ordinances prohibit such gatherings? Did the Mayor address the event promoters when the invitation hit the internet on Friday? Were any measures taken to enforce our ordinances prior to and during the event?

Our Parks and Recreation permitting process has an objective to serve those who want to use our parks but first priority is to protect the neighborhoods and residents of MB. Larger parks like Polliwog and Live Oak are permitted for gatherings and birthday parties provided a permit is completed in advance and approved. Smaller parks nestled in residential communities are not permitted to hold such gatherings. Our permitting system is a good system and has served our city well.

It’s when people don’t follow the permitting rules AND the rules are not enforced that things become a problem for the city, as seen on Sunday. Lack of leadership by the Mayor with the lack of enforcement of the ordinances sent a message to the rule breakers that MB is a place to come and break laws.

It’s not dissimilar to LA District Attorney, George Gascon’s policy of not enforcing certain laws, the results which have been an increase in lawlessness. Mayor Stern has said on record that she sees no correlation between laws not being enforced by Gascon and the rise in laws being broken. Is Mayor Stern MB’s version of George Gascon?

The other four Council Members have formally voted a “no confidence” in Gascon’s lack of leadership to enforce the law. How will they square that position with what happened on Sunday?

To add insult to injury and on the heels of Sunday’s blatant disrespect for our laws, the Parks and Recreation Commission voted yesterday to recommend to City Council they make the change to allow permitting of events in our neighborhood parks, which includes Bruce’s Beach. As if tone-deaf to the 73 letters from residents opposing this idea, many from around the Bruce Beach neighborhood, and only 21 in favor of it, the Commission of 5 volunteers were in unanimous agreement in their recommendation.

When will City Council discuss this issue that impacts our city and residents? And will they make this permitting change or will they keep our neighborhood parks off-limits to permitted events and focus on enforcement?

Voice your opinion to City Council on any or all of the above here: City Council email link

Mayor Stern is up for re-election in November. If you are interested in running for City Council or know of someone who would like to serve our city for the next 4 years, please email MBStrong2021@gmail.com for more information.