thumbs_up QUEEN MARY GETS ITS BEST NEWS SINCE IT GOT HERE–A PRESERVATION PLAN!
[ By Bill Cwiklo ]
In these austere times to talk about much more than a coat of paint on this red and black elephant is simply silly. When we can properly fund our police / fire, fix streets, trim trees and keep the ship that is Long Beach afloat … then and only then should we (the people of LB) spend a dime on this large British paperweight. / F. ACEVEDO

Better 43 years late than never. Our local leadership does come forth with some inspiring plans and promises. When it comes to engineering their fulfillment—well, just ask all their 100 newly hired police officers and all those hundreds of kids having a great time down at the spanking new Kroc center. / JOE WEINSTEIN

It’s about time. the management of our ship and the participation by it’s owners—we citizens—has over 40 year been just plain sad. It’s always been like buying the Taj Mahal and having Donald Trump run it. Hooray for great news. Come on Long Beach, get on board. / RUSS CUGNO

LEGISLATION BY LAKEWOOD HIGH STUDENTS PASSES ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE
By Dave Wielenga

I applaud teacher Wendy Salaya, Assemblymember Warren Furutani and all the students at Lakewood High in this Civics Class. Not only is this a great lesson in lobbying and government, but it is a very important issue. I am all for free speech, but I do not want my kids solicited and harassed right outside of their school. I don’t want peace protestors, Bible pushers or Fred Phelps’ group outside their school as they are trying to arrive or depart from school, even if I agree with what they stand for. This issue is about protecting our kids, not about Christians, pedophiles or school administrators “influencing” students. Congratulations to everyone involved and good luck in your journey. / SUSAN TANAKA

Sadly, we see the “children” used for issues that they should not be, such as taxes, proper school finance, teacher pay and benefits, on and on. Free speech is one of the foundations of our liberty. Furitani stepped on that with this law. So the issue is about every citizen of this country. I would hope that teacher Salaya teaches more about our Constitution and liberty than about what are unfortunate issues, but something allowed in a free society. It is one thing to say, “There ought to be a law” and go off to Sacramento, but this one takes some deeper thought. I don’t think Mr. Furutani did that, and went for the photo op with the kids. / PAUL

BLIGHT MAKES RIGHT: HOW-LOW-CAN-YOU-GO TIPS FOR GETTING WHAT YOU WANT
[ By Dwight “Blight” Masters ]

Raymond and Amy Lin, the owners of Taki-Sun and Seaport Marina Hotel, have spent over $4 million trying to get variances from zoning codes to turn their eyesore into a monolith. Imagine how nice the Seaport Marina Hotel could have looked if they had instead used that $4 million to beautify the property. The Lins knew what the zoning codes were prior to purchasing the property. However, it was people like Malmuth and Conley who convinced the Lins they had the stroke to get the zoning codes changed so they could ALL make a boatload of money. / MIKE RUEHLE

Zoning alone shouldn’t preclude this project. But, in my eyes, fulfillment of the necessary provisions to skirt the zoning falls well short of passing the laugh test. First, proper and adequate mitigation of the traffic and environmental impacts must be on-site (not some mitigation banking garbage). And this project must be able to stand on its own, without gifting of public funds (or whatever people are calling it these days). To date, I don’t believe the traffic concerns are addressed; The idea of simply “re-timing the lights” makes me giggle. Second, the developer cites some magical demand for urban living when, in fact, people aren’t crazy enough about it to utilize our existing supply, let alone the projects already approved (i.e. Shoreline Gateway). Third, LB has shown an inability to support high-end retail, even WITH “help” from the public coffers. / JOSH

A development like second+PCH can help make Long Beach a more urban city. A development that creates a unique place for people to live and shop and recreate. Somewhere that is more special than the typical car-oriented strip malls that are ubiquitous in Southern California, and will soon be a sad relic from a car dependent past. I fully support the second+PCH project as it was originally envisioned, in all its 12 floors glory. / BAKTAAH SORKHABI

The corner of 2nd and PCH is an eyesore, and I’m all for redeveloping it but only if we adhere to the current building codes that are in place and, I might add, in place for a reason. A 12-story building will begin a slippery slope where we start to look like Marina del Rey – a concrete jungle. Why not a four-story building? Why does it always have to be more? Where is the compromise from the developer and city hall? I just don’t get it. / ELIZABETH BORSTING