Letters to the Editor: Thursday, June 22, 2017

Controversy at City Hall?

Another City of Seal Beach department head is surrounded in controversy.

Finance Director Vikki Beatley’s partner has made a public records request that is quite troubling.

She asked for all correspondence between Robert Goldberg, each City Council member and Planning Commissioner for the last two years.

Councilmember Ellery Deaton maintains “Beatley didn’t do it.”  Factually, she’s correct. But, it’s not a leap in logic for me to see Beatley’s direct involvement.

So now we have a high-ranking City employee involved in snooping on a private citizen.

And not just any private citizen.

Robert Goldberg is a retired physician, and former planning commissioner who thankfully, has been a city watchdog for some years.

We have all reaped the rewards of his efforts. Recently he caught a $4.8 million dollar budget error (within 48 hours) that neither the Finance Director Beatley or City Manager Ingram noticed.

He called attention to the inadequacy of city pumps that led to widespread flooding.

When City Manager Ingram took an Alaskan vacation with a highly paid consultant she and the council hired, Robert noted the consultant’s bills were routinely just below the amount requiring council approval.

He’s respectfully pointed out error after error made at City Hall.

So, I think City officials want him silenced. They want to “dig up dirt.” They want to know what every council person, (likely the two new ones) are discussing with him.

It is chilling and despicable to me that a Seal Beach official would attempt to intimidate and silence a resident.

And worse, that Councilmember Deaton would brush it off with her weak, disingenuous, form-over-substance response that “Beatley didn’t do it.”

What message does this send to other concerned Seal Beach residents? If you get involved, the city government will come after you?

Bottom line, Beatley is another rogue employee under the watch of our City Manager Ingram, (who’s far too long been protected by Council members Deaton, Massa-Levitt and Varipapa.)

How many out-of-control city staff members will it take to see the problem is with leadership?

A Police Chief on paid leave, Director Basham on paid leave …

Seal Beach clearly deserves much better than this City Manager, (hired and controlled by Deaton) this witch-hunting Finance Director, and the three council members who allow this to occur.

Wendi Rothman DeBie

Seal Beach

Parking ticket compassion

I would like to thank the Seal Beach parking ticket administration for canceling our parking ticket.

My fiancée’s dad had just passed away, and we were headed to the mortuary to see him one last time and make arrangements.

We went to the River’s End Café for a late breakfast before leaving. It slipped our mind to pay the meter until it was too late. We sent in our ticket with an explanation and a receipt from the mortuary. We were very happy to see that the ticket was retracted. Thank you for having the heart to understand our circumstances.

Mark Rafferty and
Natasha Rendon

Seal Beach

Appreciate LA Fitness

As a longtime resident of Rossmoor (27 years) I’m glad to see a first class fitness club coming to our community.

There are some valid concerns about the project but also a lot of misinformation being spread.

When I first moved here in 1979 the space in question was occupied by Family Fitness and the Super Saver Cinema.

People forget how run down both of these establishments were and the kind of patrons the cinema attracted.

This is very unlikely to be the case with this clean modern facility that is promoting healthy living.

For a fitness program to be effective for members it must also be convenient.

My family is a member of 24h Fitness on Katella which is a 10 min drive but we would switch to Rossmoor in a heartbeat.

Over 10,000 people reside in Rossmoor and for many a membership at LA Fitness could be the start to a healthier lifestyle … something we all need.

Hartmut Schroeder

Rossmoor