I could write a lengthy essay about why I started this blog. But instead I will share the quote that got it off the ground. In last week's April 2008 "Beach," a magazine published by the Easy Reader, there was an article entitled "Banking on the Beach." The first lines in that article read, "Hermosans have long reconciled themselves to development rendering their post World War I and II downtown unrecognizable."
I thought, "how pathetic, that Hermosa Beach residents are so impotent that they hang their heads and just accept that their social betters and their elected officials push them aside, ignore their wishes, and plunder the town for their own profit." And then I thought that I should make an effort to stop this.
Last year, when the city council rubber stamped a bill allowing bars on Pier to double in size, the only thing that stopped it was the monumental effort of Jim Lissner, who spent over $10,000 out of his own pocket and took the issue straight to the voters. When given a direct voice, the voters spoke out and stopped this uncontrolled growth. But that's not usually how it works. Usually these bills and issues move through government unnoticed by the busy people who live here. And once the destructive consequenses are seen, it's too late. And one more part of what makes Hermosa a great place to live has been turned into yet another no-character profit center for a developer.
The purpose of this blog is to take these issues straight to the voters in the spirit of Jim Lissner's signature campaign. But rather than making a huge expensive last minute push to stop one piece off bad legislation, I hope to make the voter's wishes clear from day one.
