Mailbag: Closure of Equestrian Center would be a big loss

I am sorry to learn about the problems at the fairgrounds (O.C. fairgrounds’ Equestrian Center could close in March if new operator can’t be found, Daily Pilot, Nov. 24), as years ago I used to spend time watching my mother ride her five-gaited horse, the Chief, which she kept stabled there. She won many show ribbons, from Indio to the Cow Palace, and I have lots of fond memories of watching her.

Riding horses and taking care of them is a wonderful and valuable experience for especially younger children, and losing a place where they can do that is a shame. I can understand in this time of inflation and uncertainty and the high cost of owning a horse that the fairgrounds would have a problem financially, however nothing ever stays the same and in another year the “worm will turn.”

John Kingsley
Playa del Coco, Costa Rica

Sewage spill raises questions about priorities

On Nov. 29, approximately 95,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled out along our coastline areas from Laguna Avenue to Blue Lagoon. With the area polluted by our very own human waste, I couldn’t help but think about our fragile ecosystem and what effect this will have, both short term and long term, for our aquatic life, not to mention the quality-of-life issues for the folks who live along the beach and the many businesses that rely on it. I can’t stop asking myself, how could we let this happen?

When Amplify Energy spilled thousands of gallons of oil in our ocean, killing land and marine life and closing businesses, we were all rightly outraged. What happens in our state and federal waters is out of our control. We rely on the good actors, or in Amplify’s case the bad actors, to maintain their infrastructure and to sound the alarms immediately in the event of a failure, in order to minimize the impact. But in this case, the spill of raw sewage now polluting our shores and water is our fault. We have no one to blame but ourselves. And it’s not the first time. As recently as November 2019, one million gallons of sewage spilled into the ocean near Aliso Beach. Some have suggested this November time frame has to do with the city’s strategy for managing runoff in the winter.

Recently, David Shissler, a civil engineer with many years of experience in building and maintaining sewer facilities and training employees, retired as the city’s director of the Water Quality Department. Under his management, the department was divided into two divisions, one handling sewers and the other handling storm water infrastructure. The city has since rolled these divisions into the Department of Public Works and Utilities. Instead of finding and hiring the top candidate to focus on our water quality, the city eliminated Shissler’s position. To me, this seems to indicate that water quality and public health and safety are less of a priority.

I would think bringing on an experienced engineer and ensuring we have the latest and greatest technology and infrastructure and staff would be among the city’s top priorities. Instead, we appear to have chosen a void in leadership by eliminating positions, all while having old and failing infrastructure. In a town where ocean water quality is a public priority, how should we interpret this coastal city eliminating the department with that sole responsibility?

Judie Mancuso

Laguna Beach

H.B. politics continue to vex readers

The writ of mandate filed against the Huntington Beach City Council’s Charter Changes to require voter identification for city elections, although rarely granted has an excellent chance of being granted.

A writ of mandate is a type of extraordinary writ in the U.S. and the state of California to command lower bodies including courts and administrative agencies to do or not to do certain things if granted by the court as an order.

At the present time there are 452 municipalities in California, from the largest, Los Angeles, to the smallest, Amador City, and one cannot expect each city, even a charter city, to develop and implement its own election regulations. That is why we have state legislators to write election requirements for the entire state. Mayor Tony Strickland, a former legislator, should be well aware of this and should be ashamed of himself for spending taxpayer funds on worthless, meaningless charter amendments, which are primarily meant to thwart the will of the people.

Richard C. Armendariz
Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach took another troubling step towards authoritarian rule Tuesday night with the installation of Gracey Van Der Mark and Pat Burns as mayor and mayor pro tem. As reported by Sara Caradine (“Huntington Beach’s first Latina mayor, Gracey Van Der Mark, sworn in after 4-3 vote,” Daily Pilot, Dec. 7), this “subverted established procedure.” The whole mayoralty of Tony Strickland and the performance of the council majority since taking seats on the dais has subverted established procedure. And this is only the first installment of a likely four-year reign of terror for a largely cowed community. This opening salvo of MAGA-style conservatism has been topped with ramming through three unneeded and irresponsible charter amendments to be placed on the March 2024 primary ballot. At a recent State of the City breakfast, Strickland claimed his primary devotion has been to public safety. It seems that the new devotion of the majority will result in the loss of public credibility. Ignoring rules, trampling norms, brushing aside official resolutions and acting with impunity defines the new “in your face” style of governing. Even if the minority members are reelected next November, it will not change the downward trajectory of representation in Surf City. The year 2026 cannot come soon enough for our beleaguered citizenry. Many in the community point to Huntington Beach becoming a political laughingstock outside our borders. Unfortunately, most of those stuck under this new authoritarian form of local government aren’t laughing.

Tim Geddes
Huntington Beach

On March 14, 2023, the Huntington Beach City Council voted 4-2-1 to end the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council’s 17-year role in providing invocations at its meetings. The majority members claimed that the invocations were too politicized, yet no specific cases were cited as explanation. Then-Mayor Tony Strickland said, “It’s very important that we have nonpolitical prayers and statements that include all faiths.”

It was highly hypocritical and offensive of Strickland and his majority to invite (for the second time in a year) controversial Senior Pastor Joe Pedick of Calvary Chapel of the Harbour to give an invocation at the Dec. 5 City Council meeting. In his weekly sermons he often encourages congregants to take questionable political actions. Pedick was a keynote speaker at a “Stop the Steal” rally in Huntington Beach in December 2020 (introduced by Alan Hostetter, who was sentenced on Dec. 7 to 11 years for spreading conspiracy theories and carrying a hatchet during the Jan. 6 Capitol attack!).

Anyone with an ounce of intelligence and perception (let alone character) understands that Pedick is no “average Joe” pastor. He is a divisive political operative and any appearance by him in a city-sponsored capacity, even if his remarks are not inflammatory in an invocation, will be considered polarizing and offensive by association. Already congregants of his have spread his poisonous propaganda at City Council meetings. Allowing Pedick to present at the invocation was an affront to the community.

Those who voted to replace community religious leaders from the Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council with this dangerous demagogue are hypocrites. Those who see nothing wrong with kowtowing to a representative of a divisive ideology, despite its obvious and serious political ramifications, are blind as well.

Carol Daus
Huntington Beach