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Page 2 September 13, 2018 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Community Briefs
Margaritas and Mistletoe with
Santa at the Aloft Hotel
Tuesday, September 18th // 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
475 Pacific Coast Highway, El Segundo, CA 90245
Bring the kids for an early chat with
the real Santa!! Expect carols sung by the
fire, goats dressed up like reindeer, an
appearance from Santa! ... and plenty of
merriment for everyone to enjoy! Please
RSVP at: http://bit.ly/AloftSanta
PAID EDITORIAL
Letters
Auditions for Youth Drama Program
Fall Musical The Wedding Singer
Charging For Trash Pickup?
Will the current trash pickup company be
charging higher prices or cutting back on
their services, if not why the request for bids?
Just because most other cities charge for this
service is not a valid excuse for El Segundo
to do so! Moreover, just because the state created
Prop 218 years ago is not a valid excuse
for El Segundo council members to use it to
generate revenue. The trash fee has already
been authorized and unless 50%+1 “No”
votes are returned it will go into effect. This
is disingenuous, underhanded, and dishonest!
Can our council members guarantee that
every residential property owner will actually
receive these “ballots” and be able to respond
before the deadline? What about residents who
are renting houses, what is their input if the
owners don’t respond and then simply pass
on the cost to their tenants, how is that fair?
All residents should have the opportunity to
vote Yes or No on any proposed increase in
taxes and/or fees. The council tried to charge
for trash pickup in the past and it didn’t work
so why do we have to go through this again.
Will they continue to try this every year or
so until it finally works for them? This is
just plain wrong and is not how we expect
our elected officials to act! We elected you
to represent us, not to enact policies that are
detrimental to us.
– Kathy Benudiz •
The City of El Segundo Recreation & Parks
Department is excited to announce its fall
Musical Drama Production of The Wedding
Singer. Rehearsals will take place Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays from 6 to 8:30 p.m.,
with auditions scheduled on Monday, Sept. 17
at the Recreation Park Clubhouse Auditorium
(300 E. Pine Ave.) from 6 to 8:30 p.m. for ages
12 through 18. Performances will take place on
Dec. 8, 9, 14, 15, and 16. Program registration
fee is $250 residents/$312 for non-residents.
Much more than a class, the El Segundo
Recreation and Parks Department Drama
Program provides the opportunity for local
youth to get involved in the performing arts.
Participants begin with auditions and then learn
performing and technical theater skills during
ongoing rehearsals that include acting, singing,
dancing, costumes, stage make-up and more.
All levels are welcome, including those with
no prior performing experience. Family support
with costumes, production volunteering,
etc. may be requested.
For more information please contact the Recreation
& Parks Department at (310) 524-2362.
– Source: El Segundo Recreation and Parks
Online Bikes and
E-Scooter Survey
The City of El Segundo, the South Bay
Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG)
and neighboring cities are working to develop
rules and regulations regarding shared
mobility programs. A program of this nature
would potentially provide a fleet of bicycles,
electric bicycles, and/or electric scooters to
the community as a local transportation option
for short business and personal trips.
Bike share programs first emerged in 2010
and are now found in nearly every major
American city. These programs started with
technology where bicycles had to be checked
out and returned to a docking station. That
technology has since evolved with many
bike share programs offering bicycles via
smartphone apps that can be self-locked,
eliminating the need to return to a specific
docking location and providing more flexibility
across the system. In late 2017, electric
scooters emerged as a new form of shared
mobility equipment, where users can start
and end a scooter ride through a smart-phone
app. These scooters also have a self-locking
technology that allows them to be checked
out and parked at a wide range of locations.
Your participation in this survey will allow
regional planners and City officials to evaluate
how shared active transportation programs
could be implemented to provide additional
transportation choices while addressing safety,
economics and other areas of concern to
the South Bay community. The responses
you provide will help to assess the value of
these programs and develop best practices
to address the development of any potential
program regulations. This survey follows
up with some more detailed questions on a
previous survey the City released in July. Go
to https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.
aspx?id=UvUNYP1iNkGTb9RlCoDGhG
au_SC4jD9BlQ5e2JhmPkhUODlTUDU2R-
09BUTUxUjZBTDQxV0c5TTlDQi4u
– Source: City of El Segundo
El Segundo Preparedness Fair
Today, Sept. 13, from 3 to 7 p.m. during
the weekly Farmers Market, celebrate
National Preparedness Month by coming
to the El Segundo Preparedness Fair. The
event will feature an earthquake simulator,
emergency response vehicles, preparedness
demonstration, face-painting, animals and
much more to provide family fun while
also teaching citizens how to be ready if
and when a disaster occurs. Main Street and
Holly Avenue.
– Source: City of El Segundo •
“If a natural disaster strikes your community,
reach out to your friends, neighbors, and
complete strangers. Lend a helping hand.”
– Marsha Blackburn
Op-Ed
An Opinion from City Council
Member Chris Pimentel
Hippocrates codified the rules of medicine in
the 4 th century BC and his first rule is: “First,
Do No Harm” – the caution to not let our zeal
to fix a patient lead to greater harm. This
City Council has looked for a dangerous illness
of under-21-year old’s having parties in
El Segundo and finding virtually nothing ( 9
parties per year), is prescribing a “cure” that
is beset with side effects. The prescribed cure,
a “Social Host Ordinance,” attacks our Common
Law norms, insults the prerogatives of
parents to raise their children as they see fit,
and compels our police to insert themselves
into our houses as the judge and jury. Certainly,
this is not a task that any officer would relish.
Despite statistics that show people younger
than 20 drink 30% less than when I was 20,
that they drink a further 20% less than that over
the next decade, despite our police encounter
rate of roughly 1 alcohol -infused underage
gathering every 6 weeks - we’ve decided that
now is the time to create our own Star Chamber
at the stroke of an officer’s pen. We will
reward these positive trends in behavior and
parenting with punishment.
It is illegal to provide a minor with alcohol.
Further, anyone that does is civilly liable for
anything stupid that the minor does. We, as
a state, take among the hardest lines in the
country on underage consumption. Our penalties
are misdemeanors that escalate rapidly.
The civil liability is the furthest reaching in
the country. The Social Host Ordinance is
not about the merits of kids drinking. The
Ordinance is about the City creating an ability
to peer into our homes, pass summary
civil judgement, and fine us at rates of up to
10% of the average American’s salary. This
is precisely that sort of administrative abuse
that James Madison penned the 5th and 6th
Amendments to protect us from.
Is your 20-year-old back from Afghanistan
and having a beer on the porch with his friends
while you are at dinner? You’d better hope not,
that’s Strike 1. If he does it again within 12
months, while you go out to dinner, then the fines
accumulate. . . rapidly. Is this an absurd notion?
No, government uses for laws often outlive their
intended purpose Your Social Security number
wasn’t allowed to be used for identification and
your gas taxes are supposed to be used to fix
roads. Ask Chevron how it feels to be sued
under the Alien Tort Claims Statute of 1789;
I’m guessing local water pollution in Ecuador
was not what the author of that dandy law had
in mind during the Washington administration.
Finally, I would caution that in addition to
the SHO being unnecessary, redundant to state
law, injurious to standards of criminal law, and
intrusive to our homes, it is a bad use of our
police. I’ve knocked on thousands of doors, had
as many conversations, and receive hundreds of
emails. Not once has anyone asked me to stop
a set of underage drinking parties. I’ve been
asked to pass the Ordinance, but never with a
single occurrence of a party cited. Conversely,
I cannot finish a french fry without learning
where cars speed, where we need a stop sign,
and where a scooter is being driven.
If the people want the City to help them parent,
then I’m sure the council will comply. But turning
our back on the faith in parents that built
our community and the basic freedoms that
built our country doesn’t feel like El Segundo. •
Calendar of Events
Deadline for Calendar items is the prior
Thursday by noon. Calendar items are $1
per word. Email listings to marketing@
heraldpublications.com. We accept Visa and
MasterCard.
THURSDAY, SEP. 13
• El Segundo Certified Farmer’s Market, 3:00
PM. – 7:00 PM., located on Main Street,
Downtown El Segundo.
• CSS Back to School Night, 5:00 PM. –
7:15 PM., Center Street School, 700 Center
Street, Call: 310-615-2676.
• Bay Cities Coin Club, 6:00 PM., everyone
welcome, We have show and tell,
auctions and raffles, El Segundo Public
Library, 111 W. Mariposa Ave. Contact:
baycitiescc@gmail.com.
• RSS Back to School Night, 5:00 PM. –
7:15 PM., Richmond Street School, 615
Richmond Street, Call: 310-606-6831.
• Eagles’ Nest PTO Meeting, 6:15 PM., 641
Sheldon Street, Call: 310-615-2650.
FRIDAY, SEP. 14
• Bingo, 1:00 PM. - 3:00 PM., 50 Plus, $3.00
minimum, Senior Club of El Segundo, 339
Sheldon St., Call Diane: 310-640-9577.
SATURDAY, SEP. 15
• Saturday Night Dance, 7:00 PM. – 9:45
PM., Cost: $3.00 Per Person, Adults of all
Ages Welcome, Senior Club of El Segundo,
339 Sheldon St., Call: 310-524-2705.
• Concerts in the Library: The Velvet Frogs
Barbershop Quartet, 2:00 PM. – 4:00 PM.,
free, El Segundo Public Library, 111. W.
Mariposa Ave., Call: 310-524-2722.
• The El Segundo Auxiliary of Children’s
Hospital Los Angeles will host the 14th
Annual Wine Festival and Silent Auction
to benefit the Children’s Hospital of Los
Angeles, 5:00 PM. - 7:30 PM. at the International
Garden Center, 155 N Pacific
Coast Hwy, El Segundo. Guests will stroll
through the gardens tasting beer and wine,
enjoying entertainment and light refreshments
while bidding on some wonderful
auction items. $50 Donation. To purchase
tickets please go to the website: elsegundoauxiliarychla.
org. For further information
call 310-640-2822.
SUNDAY, SEP. 16
• Bridge & Pinochle Groups, 11:30 AM. –
3:45 PM, Senior Club of El Segundo, 339
Sheldon St., Call Pam at: 310-318-2856.
MONDAY, SEP. 17
• Canasta Group, 12:00 PM. – 3:00 PM., 50
Plus, Free, Senior Club of El Segundo, 339
Sheldon St., Call Pam at: 310-318-2856.
See Calendar of Events, page 4