Beachcombing

Just when you thought our city government couldn’t go any lower, they come up with a scheme to change council districts and prevent all the current 5th district candidates from being eligible.

How do they do this? The redistricting commissioners get their “expertise” from a paid consultant hired by the city manager. The city manager is hired by the mayor and City Council. So, if the consultant and city manager want to keep their jobs, they’d best abide by the wishes of their elected bosses.

Welcome to the City of Long Beach, where the words “honesty” and “integrity” are seldom uttered at City Hall.

 

Last issue we polled readers on how well the Long Beach Public Works Department is doing their job vis-a-vis fixing street potholes. Responses thus far are: Excellent 0%, Good 10%, Average 10%, Poor 40% and Failure 40%.

Those aren’t good numbers for city employees who make more than $200,000 annually.

Look on page 7 in this issue for the first installment of “Streets of Shame.” This is your opportunity to let the city know where they’ve been doing a poor job on your street or sidewalk.

 

The year 2020 will live in infamy due to the pandemic and 2021 hasn’t proved much better. We’ve lost three family members within the past 12 months and certainly hope that trend is over.

In June we had a celebration of life for my sister, Joyce, 83, in Chicopee, Mass, who died in a nursing home following an aneurism suffered several years prior. In October sister-in-law Nola Beeler, 75, of Anacortes, Wash. passed after battling Parkinson’s for 21 years. One week after we said our good-byes to her, my sister Margaret’s husband, Ed Bryner, 79, passed following a heart attack and was remembered at a memorial function this past Monday in Waynesboro, Penna.

Life is short; plan on it.

 

I mentioned before in this column that we are switching the printer of our newspaper next year, since our current web printer is getting out of the business. So, after several years of keeping our advertising rates the same, higher production and paper costs dictate that the Beachcomber’s advertising rates will increase in 2022. Businesses can lock in our 2021 rates and save up to 20% by signing an ad agreement before December 15, 2021.

Current, ongoing print and online advertisers will not have their ad rates change in 2022. Call (562) 597-8000 for details.

 

Oops. Due to a production error, an un-edited version of our story on demolishing City Hall appeared in our Nov. 5 print editions.

The correct, edited version appears online at www.beachcomber.news. Our apologies for this mistake.

 

Tis that time of year to remind readers to thank their newspaper carrier for a job well done by sending them a holiday card and token of your appreciation.

Simply address your card to Beachcomber Carrier, PO Box 15679, Long Beach, CA 90815-0679 and we’ll link your address to the proper carrier.

If enclosing a check, leave the “to” field open and we’ll write in the name before forwarding.

Thank you in advance for making your carrier’s holiday a little more merry.

publisher@beachcomber.news

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