Dear Residents,
My husband and I cherished raising our now adult children in Manhattan Beach and look forward to raising our grandchildren in the ‘Jewel of the Southbay.’ The charming city, built by so many of those before us, drew my husband and me, and I’m sure many of you, to MB. And we worked our tail off to afford to move here, probably like you too.
We invested our time in the MB family culture of Little League, Scouts, Junior Guards, the Hometown Fair, the AVP, and regularly eating on MB Blvd, our main street USA. When our kids were teens, they both were employed by downtown local business owners, a unique asset that MB residents hold so dear.
We never considered our beach city would be under threat of losing its small town, small government, rigorous schools, and safe living appeal.
But any resident who has lived in MB longer than 3 years will say that the city is drastically changing, and not for the better. When speaking to neighbors and other residents, the recurring theme is people think that the leaders, both on the School Board and on Council, are not listening to the concerns of the residents.
I agree and want to share my thoughts.
In my observation, our leaders have forgotten the basic principle that We The People tell the government what to do, not the other way around. In America, the government is beholden to the people and has no other source of power except from the people. But our leaders act more like dictators from another country where the government tells the people what their privileges are.
For example, when parents and residents object to the great immorality of the School Board taking advantage of the vulnerable minds of our children by teaching contested political and social ideas, they are regularly met with contempt by the Board Members. They are painted as hateful people.
In the Board’s effort to silence the speech of the outspoken and to send an intimidating message to others, the 4 Board Members and then President Jennifer Fenton (who is running for re-election) sent a Cease and Desist letter, issued by the Board’s attorney, to the homes of three residents. The Board had absolutely no interest in listening to the voice of the residents, and they wielded their power in an attempt to shut down freedom of speech.
Over at City Council, when 200+ residents recently attended a Council meeting to voice their opinions about the Fire Department/Council conflict, Mayor Steve Napolitano’s authoritative control over the residents demonstrated he has forgotten that he serves at the pleasure of We The People, that Council Chambers are actually the People’s Chambers and public comment time is the resident’s time.
Threatening to cut the number of residents who wanted to speak, cut public comment time from 3 min/pp to 2 min, and trying to control the speech of residents by telling them to not repeat what others have already stated is a demonstration of dictatorial arrogance that has no place in our government [see the full recording here].
As I listened to the public speeches, they were grounded in thoughtfulness and knowledge of the issue, and most residents made the reasonable request of the Council to reopen talks with the Fire Fighters. Mayor Napolitano and the 4 other Council Members may have ‘allowed’ people to speak, but they made up their minds well before the meeting that they had no intention of listening to anyone.
Before any input from the residents was presented, Council published its stance on the issue moments before the meeting began, not notifying residents attending the meeting. Had they shared their stance ahead of time, the residents would have participated in those discussions during their public comments. It is the right of every American to participate in the government decision-making process, especially those that affect them or their children. Council’s cheap trick snookered the residents out of this right and it sent a clear message that the voice of the residents was irrelevant.
Controlling the city and schools by controlling the voice of the people is a sign our leaders have lost their way and forgotten their role as public servants. It makes one wonder if they ever knew it?
Serving the people of Manhattan Beach should be the honor of one's life, and leaders should leave the city and schools in better shape than when they entered office. But just in the last few years, we have seen things change for the worse.
We are facing the monstrous construction of Highrose in one of the densest neighborhoods in our city and it will usher in low-income housing.
The impending Bruce’s Beach historical plaque omits the fact that Willa Bruce, a black woman, found freedom of opportunity in 1912 MB where she was denied that freedom elsewhere. The plaque language was written by Council, not professionals, and reads as race-baiting appeasement to a group of race-baiting elites in LA County and Sacramento rather than unambivalent respect for history.
The autonomy of our MBPD, MBFD, and MBUSD from LA County and the California State Board of Education is slowly eroding without a hard stance commitment by our leaders to protect our local entities from encroaching outside influence.
And our School Board Leaders are more focused on race, gender, and sex, than on teaching what it means to be an American.
Our government has no power without the consent of the governed, however, our leaders are growing beyond the consent of the governed. Leadership begins with the principle that the residents of MB are to be a dominant voice in our community. Leaders must work with the residents, not over us. To stand by our side. The resident’s hopes and goals for our city should also be the hopes and goals of our leaders.
And never should decisions on issues be decided based on the political ramifications. The decision should be based on whether it is good or bad for the residents, and if it is morally right. That basis alone should drive the decisions of our leaders.
We are at the moment of truth in MB. It’s time to clean out the big egos that shut down conversations. Clean out the back room deals and passing in the dark of night decisions that affect our residents, our children, and our city. With the elections coming up in November, we are on the cusp of new possibilities for MB.
The answer is simple: we need better leadership.
We need leaders who will rise to the occasion to bring MB back and make the city stronger and freer from the overreach by internal and outside forces. To see the things that are wrong in our city and schools, and fix them. To have faith in our residents, our abilities, and respect our right to make decisions with our leaders on issues that affect our lives.
All great change begins with a conversation among the citizens. It’s time to speak to our neighbors about principles and values and get across that American freedom and capacity for self-government is rare, as is our freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of enterprise.
It’s the American spirit combined with the will and moral courage that will stir in a resident(s) to lead and reverse the course of our city government and schools.
If that’s you, I will be proud to cast my vote for you and I will tell others to do also!
A Proud Citizen
There are 3 openings on the School Board and 2 on City Council.
School Board candidate information:
Call 1-800-815-2666 (option 4) M-F 8-5.
NOMINATION FILING PERIOD: JULY 18 through AUG. 12, 5:00 P.M.
Candidate information HERE.
City Council candidate information:
City Clerk’s office (310) 802-5056 M-Th 8-5, Fri 8-4.
NOMINATION FILING PERIOD: JULY 18 through AUG. 12, 5:00 P.M.
Email for more candidate information here: mbvote@manhattanbeach.gov
About MBStrong…
We are MB residents bringing common sense, not politics, to the conversation.
What say you, Manhattan Beach? MBStrong2021@gmail.com
Since our start a year and a half ago, we have remained true to our mission to serve our fellow residents by publishing a newsletter that brings information on issues critical to our MB community and let the voice of the residents be heard by publishing their letters and comments.
We started with 100 readers and now have grown to over 5,400 MB residents reading MBStrong’s newsletter. This is largely due to residents finding MBStrong a noncombative outlet to voice their opinion and make a difference in our community.