Page 2 November 21, 2019 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Calendar of Events
Deadline for Calendar items is the prior
Thursday by noon. Calendar items are $1
per word up to 25 words. Email listings to
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Visa and MasterCard.
• Bring new toys and non-perishable food
items to the El Segundo Fire Dept. Station
No. 1, located at 314 Main Street. Show
some love and help someone less fortunate
this holiday season.
THURSDAY, NOV. 21
• 11th Annual Ed! Ladies Night Out, 6:30
PM. – 10:00 PM., Automobile Driving
Museum, 610 Lairport Street, For more
info: esedf.org.
• Family Story Time, 6:00 PM. -7:00 PM., El
Segundo Public Library, 111 W. Mariposa
Ave., Call: 310-524-2726.
• El Segundo Certified Farmer’s Market, 3:00
PM. – 7:00 PM., located on Main Street,
Downtown El Segundo.
FRIDAY, NOV. 22
• Bingo, 1:00 PM. - 3:00 PM., 50 Plus, $3.00
minimum, Senior Club of El Segundo, 339
Sheldon Street
SATURDAY, NOV. 23
• Saturday Night Dance, 7:00 PM. – 9:45
PM., Cost: $5.00 Per Person, Adults
of all Ages Welcome, Senior Club of
El Segundo, 339 Sheldon St., Call: 310-
524-2705.
SUNDAY, NOV. 24
• Bridge & Pinochle Groups, 11:30 AM. –
3:45 PM, Senior Club of El Segundo, 339
Sheldon St., Call Pam at: 310-318-2856.
MONDAY, NOV. 25
• Thanksgiving Break: NO SCHOOL for
ESUSD Students
• Canasta Group, 11:30 AM. – 3:00 PM.,
50 Plus, Free, Senior Club of El
Segundo, 339 Sheldon St., Call Pam at: 310-
318-2856.
• Genealogy Club, 11:00 AM. – 12:00 PM.,
El Segundo Public Library, 111 W. Mariposa
Ave., Call: 310-524-2728.
TUESDAY, NOV. 26
• Thanksgiving Break: NO SCHOOL for
ESUSD Students
• Pinochle, 11:30 AM. – 3:30 PM., Senior
Club of El Segundo, 339 Sheldon St., Call
Pam at: 310-318-2856.
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 27
• Thanksgiving Break: NO SCHOOL for
ESUSD Students
• Bowling, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM, 50 Plus,
Senior Club of El Segundo, Gable House
Bowl, 22501 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance,
Cost: $8.50 for 3 games, Call Joyce at:
310-322-7621.
THURSDAY, NOV. 28
• HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
• Thanksgiving Break: NO SCHOOL for
ESUSD Students
• El Segundo Public Library and City Hall
Closed – due to the Holiday
• El Segundo Certified Farmer’s Market, 3:00
PM. – 7:00 PM., located on Main Street,
Downtown El Segundo.
UPCOMING EVENTS: DEC 6TH AND 7TH
• Friends of the El Segundo Public
Library Book Sale, 10:00 AM. – 4:30
PM., Books for sale including children’s,
young adult’s, holiday, fiction, nonfiction,
cooking, CDs, DVDs. Very low
prices! Priced to move! El Segundo
Public Library, 111 W Mariposa Ave, Call:
310-524-2728. •
Spark of Love Campaign:
11-18-19 to 12-17-19
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Letters
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We Print
Top Golf Petition
In 2013, our city council began a deal
with Top Golf. In 2017, they voted to end
the deal rather than renegotiate because
they discovered that Top Golf gave us a
raw deal compared to Burlingame, CA.
The residents don’t want Top Golf in our
community and do not accept the argument
that The Lakes facility costs the city money.
The Lakes is part of our Parks and Recreation
and is supposed to be subsidized
by the city as a service to the community.
It is not a profit center. I was unaware that
there was a petition campaign to overturn
the city council’s new deal with Top Golf.
I would like to personally thank all involved
including those from out of town who will
be negatively impacted by the Top Golf
development, but don’t have a vote — only
the opportunity to help us avoid this folly
by circulating petitions. I would also like
to thank Ryan Baldino for his letter to the
editor and Ron Swanson for his over-thetop
full page ad alerting us that there was a
petition campaign and that we need to sign
the petition. Lastly, I urge the city council
put this on the March ballot whether or not
the signatures are received in time. Delaying
the vote just means more city money
will have been spent before we throw Top
Golf out again.
– Kip Haggerty
The Lakes was created while I served
as Chairman of the Recreation and Parks
Commission. I would like to remind everyone
of the following: 1) The original
Lakes Charter was not a park but a revenue
generating enterprise. The Recreation and
Parks Department has never considered
the Lakes a park or lists it as a park on its
website. 2) The three commercial recreation
proposals we received at inception, which
purported to generate “big revenue” for a
“modest” investment of $800K, all lacked
credibility and scant backup data on the
proposed revenue. 3) The Commission and
Council decided not to put the City at risk
for the investment and chose to contract for
a Lakes facility operator. In retrospect, wrong
decision. The City did not have the domain
knowledge to manage this kind of enterprise.
4) The City’s management of the Lakes
required a “loan” from the City of $5M,
which has never been paid back. 5) The Lakes
has operated at a loss its entire existence.
This is an expensive perk used by only
15% of our residents. The remaining users
are out of town people looking for a free
ride. 6) The Lakes is expensive which the
City can ill afford especially in the coming
years. 7) Top Golf will generate a significant
amount of revenue for the City while addressing
the concerns of earlier renditions.
We don’t want our kids and grandkids to
have to pay for this perk for mostly outside
people for decades.
– Dick Croxall
As a long-time resident of this great city
and seeing a number of issues that have
caused controversy here in Mayberry (who
can forget the fever pitch discourse over the
removal of the trees on Main St.!), what’s
been going on with The Lakes and Top Golf
is certainly one of those issues. Truth be
told, I don’t have a dog in this fight. I’ve
enjoyed playing golf (badly) at The Lakes
and can understand why some people don’t
want it to change. I’ve been approached to
sign a petition about it and the people were
respectful when I politely declined. And I
understand the passionate letter outlining
why Top Golf should come to El Segundo.
Although I never heard that it was going to
become a strip club (thankfully).
While Mr. Swanson’s letter was a well
thought out, he stands to make a great deal
of money by providing services to the construction
of Top Golf. I don’t think there’s
anything wrong (or illegal) with that. And
I would hope that those in a more official
position with the city council and commissions
also won’t profit personally from this
arrangement with Top Golf. But it would
have been appropriate for him to disclose his
financial ties to this process, as full transparency
is always the better way to approach
such serious matters.
– Steve McCroskey •