Beachcombing

The election is just a few weeks away and I want to encourage your vote for Suzie Price as mayor. She is running against Rex Richardson for the post.

We have a political machine in Long Beach – also known as the “union mafia” – that fixes election outcomes by pouring huge donations toward candidates who are pro union. This, in turn, has resulted in excessive city employee (read that “union member”) salaries while our infrastructure and resident services suffer.

The most recent campaign finance filing report shows that $332,500 has been put into a Political Action Committee by several unions intent on influencing the Nov. 8 election. This is in addition to $446,998 spent on the Primary Election to support Richardson and four council candidates.

With Richardson as mayor we can expect much of the same. He’ll also continue in the footsteps of Robert Garcia by appointing lapdog commission members who will vote as they are told by the mayor. This has not served us well when it comes to the Citizen Police Complaint Commission, which has failed miserably in its mission. It has not served us well with a few other commissions populated with unqualified, do-as-you-are-told members.

As a handsomely paid lobbyist for Crown Castle, Councilman Richardson voted to approve a 10-year license deal between his company and the city to install micro-cell telecommunications stations within Long Beach. Crown Castle then agreed to pay the city half of what other cities usually receive for similar contracts with telecommunications companies.

An ethical person would have recused themselves from that vote. He did not, which speaks volumes about his ethics. He’s pulled a similar pay-for-play, quid pro quo stunt with Waste Management Inc.

In stark contrast, Suzie Price listens to her constituents. She does her homework and researches the topic to be knowledgeable and strategic in her decisions.

Suzie Price does not take bribes from developers and is not part of the graft that is common within some members of the City Council.

Please vote for a more intelligent, honest and ethical person – Suzie Price – in the Nov. 8 election.

If you are buying things from Staples, you may want to price shop against Amazon. I just bought 250 6x9 white catalog envelopes from Amazon for $30.86, including tax, for sending out our contest prizes. Staples was asking $77.99, PLUS tax. Also, the Amazon envelopes have a security printing inside and include a peel ‘n’ stick flap while the Staples envelopes have a cheaper gummed flap.

This sort of rip-off pricing by Staples has been evident to me over the past two years so I strongly advise you to avoid those crooks by shopping elsewhere.

How men and women record things in their diaries...

Wife’s Diary: Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird.

We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn’t flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn’t say much. I asked him what was wrong; He said, “Nothing.” I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn’t upset, that it had nothing to do with me and not to worry about it.

On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly and kept driving. I can’t explain his behavior. I don’t know why he didn’t say, “I love you, too.” When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent.

Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep; I cried. I don’t know what to do. I’m almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster!

Husband’s Diary: A two-foot putt. Who the hell misses a two-foot putt?

publisher@beachcomber.news