Letters to the Editor

The Dark Side

Thanks for bringing so much light to the dark side of Long Beach politics. Someone needs to do it and, considering the lack of interest shown by the Press-Telegram and Grunion Gazette in reporting corrupt or questionable goings-on in our city government, you win the job by default.

As a life-long resident, I have seen many mayors, city councils and police chiefs come and go, but cannot recall anyone writing on city affairs who provided the level of insight into insider dealing in Long Beach that you do.

Not since the LA Times ran a series of articles back in the ‘70s on the corrupt relationship between our city government and the Press-Telegram has so much been revealed about the freedom from accountability enjoyed by city bureaucrats, politicians and police.

Regarding the upcoming election, I am now at a point where I will not vote for any candidate endorsed by the police and firefighter unions, knowing that to gain those endorsements the candidate must have already sold out to their influence. Same goes for endorsements by Mayor Garcia or any currently serving City Council members.

Top to bottom reform is called for, in my opinion. Waiting for the FBI to swoop in and investigate Long Beach corruption is a pipe dream, considering how that organization has lent itself to political manipulation at the highest levels of government.

Gary Hastings

Downing’s use of the term “dark money” with regard to pro-Doud campaign fund raising in the June 3rd edition of the Beachcomber, in an article entitled Petty Politics, Dark Money and Downright Deception, was both inappropriate and inaccurate. Unfortunately, the effect of misusing this negative term might be to cause readers to question the propriety of campaign fundraising that was done in the auditor’s behalf.

The term “dark money” in the public mind, carries with it the negative connotation of campaign contributions whose sources/amounts are secretive, not being publicly available. Yet, in Downing’s article he lists major contributors to Laura Doud’s campaign and the amounts given. It is interesting to note that Downing does not provide any information at all as to any campaign contributions made to the Miles campaign.

From now on, I and other readers of Downing’s muckraking articles will read his reports with a much more “skeptical eye.” Although I admire the hours and hours of hard work that he must expend in doing research, he should keep in mind that one of the most important qualities that a reporter must appear to possess is that of objectivity.

There is additional evidence of his subjectivity in other parts of his article. Earlier in the article, he states that a dark money outfit’s mailer told that “City Auditor Laura Doud was the queen of auditing in every respect known to man…” That mailer said no such thing. Later he characterized the mailer as a “deceptive political mailing.”

I must give Beachcomber editor and publisher Jay Beeler credit for being up front. On the very first page of the same June 3 edition, he said the Beachcomber “supports …Dan Miles in the race for city auditor.” That was obviously an editorial endorsement that did not pose as reportage. However, it might help to explain the series of articles published in his newspaper recently that have cast aspersions on the performance of Ms. Doud in office.

John Van Tress

[Editor Note: The referenced item was clearly labeled “Commentary” on the first line, meaning that it was not written as a news story by a reporter.]

When we began this campaign in March, we knew the fight we were up against. I am not a politician, had never run for office before and we launched our campaign less than three months before Election Day. The odds were not in our favor.

More than 72 hours after the close of the polls on Election Day, LA County is still counting the votes and continues to incrementally release the results. Despite the fact that thousands of votes remained uncounted as of Friday afternoon, it is clear that the math does not work in our favor.

While the result of the election was not what we hoped for, I am thankful to have had the opportunity to run for public office in Long Beach – the city where I have lived my entire life. I am humbled by and grateful to the thousands of voters who voted for change, supported our campaign and took the time to cast a vote in this election.

Unfortunately, low voter turnout means that the status quo prevailed once again. Change cannot come when so many of our neighbors choose to remain on the sidelines. The results may not have gone in our favor, but the fight for a better community is far from over.

As a resident and Long Beach taxpayer, I wish auditor Doud success in her new term. It is my hope that the issues that arose during the campaign remain a focus going forward. For example, bringing greater focus and transparency to how the city accounts for tax revenues, as well as specifically how the record revenue is spent should be a priority. Many states and cities already have transparency via the Open Checkbook including our neighbor, the City of Los Angeles.

On a personal level, I am grateful for the opportunity to show my children and granddaughter that you should do everything with honor and integrity, even when others do not. This has truly been a family affair and it has not been easy to watch my family absorb the outright lies and hallow patriotism that my competitor used to get herself four more years. I am so proud of my wife and daughters for joining me on the high road and sticking to our principles of transparency, integrity and accountability.

As is said: You can fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. The status quo may have prevailed – but be on notice, we the people of Long Beach are watching.

Dan Miles

The Big Bang

Dear John. It’s not you, it’s me.

I love birds and want to protect them, especially the babies that can’t fly and depend on their parents to feed them. Great blue herons, snowy egrets, black crowned night herons and even a great egret are all raising their young on Oil Dock Road and the black crowned night herons are doing the same down by the Long Beach Yacht Club.

You love a good party and know how to throw one. The bigger the better, with food, music and most of all fireworks, the centerpiece of the Boathouse’s annual Big Bang on the Bay. The thing is that when your fireworks explode, the birds in the marina are so terrified that they panic and fly away, leaving their nests and babies. Some don’t make it back that night or at all.

Dogs and even people, especially veterans, also get traumatized. The exploded fireworks fall into the bay, polluting it with toxic chemicals and trash. John, I know I’m not the first one to tell you this.

So, if you really love me, you will dump the fireworks and put on a drone light show instead. But if fireworks are more important to you than birds, fish, swimmers and our love, then I can’t stick around for Big Bang 2022. It’s over between us.

Anna Christensen

Give This a Look

How about using logic, research, what’s worked and hasn’t, real world applications and then work on the problems that are foremost in the face of most people in our republic.

For instance, if guns are the killing element that needs to be regulated why are more gun related occurrences happening than in the past? People are what is changing and their attitudes toward themselves and others. You can’t change that by regulating guns. People have changed with the overwhelming crush of leftist, socialist or Marxist ideology that has swept this country and the world for decades and is now destroying not only the United States but also the rest of us while those who are infesting with its dogma slither along in their increasing downward spiral.

When children are killing other children whether with fists, knives, hammers, automobiles, guns or whatever else they can lay their hands on to destroy another human being there is far more at play than gun regulation. Schooling is utmost on the minds of many after the major awakening to “wokeness” parents received as they watched on Zoom what their children were being taught by those who somehow got teaching degrees from places that were supposed to have taught them how to help children grow into educated, informed and ready for life individuals and not comic book ideas of life that fade under the strong light of reality.

Critical race theory gender preference at the age of five, places like California with one of the highest per student expenditures in the nation while having the lowest graduation rates and lowest per grade aptitude in the nation and public unions running the curriculum into the ground for their own political and economic gain, which is merely a short list of dubious work being done to our youth by public educational institutions. Some actually think it more important to teach gender preference and its history to five year old’s while they can’t even teach them actual and researched history to improve their performance and chances in their lives to grow into and become a part of this history.

And how about throwing money at homelessness that doesn’t solve anything and just makes people who pay for housing them wonder why in the world they worked all their lives only to give their earnings to those who don’t care enough to even try or who never wanted anything more than what they could steal or be given while being a worthless hunk of skin.

Harsh you say? Yes, there are those who need a hand up but there are many who either don’t want it or have addictions that make anything else impossible. One way to curb much of this is to have a census that would reflect the type and substance of each person who is homeless and then we, as a society of caring life supporting peoples could help them with the proper help, whether education, hospitalization, drug addiction intervention and on down the line for the essentials for each that can right their ship for the good of them and society as a whole. Or we can throw money at the problem and try and walk away from the failing reality of that choice while patting ourselves on the back.

How about questioning how Chuck Schumer can stand in front of the Supreme Court and yell that the Justices need to change their minds on decisions he doesn’t agree with and then insight violence on those on the court who disagree with him. He isn’t arrested but is cheered for his “Freedom of Speech.” If that isn’t screaming fire in a crowded theater, I don’t know what is!

Then, don’t even mention the individual who went all the way to Justice Cavanaugh’s home to kill him. Too bad Chuck’s mother didn’t agree with his stance on abortion. Frankly, how can anyone rail at the killing of 19 children and two teachers and demand the abortion of those who have yet no voice at all? Who’s pulling the trigger here folks? I find the logic these people profess to be blind and bizarre at best.

This is my opinion but they are held by many hundreds of millions of people considered by the leftist Democrats who profess trying to save democracy as they push all our voices out of the way for their own greed for power and economic gain. And now, everything the Democrats have done since Joe Biden took office has been designed to destroy our nation of democratic principles and high moral integrity for their own selfish interests. “Follow the money” as they say in every law enforcement story ever written. This especially applies to climate change and the number of leftist cronies and corporations making off with literally trillions of dollars from our taxes and many of them are involved in China and with other enemies of our country.

Vance Frederick