Lunada Bay Surfers

It is a sad fact but true that some of our Southern California beaches have been taken over by hoodlums both local and otherwise (“They Make Unfriendly Waves for Outsiders, Metro, July 5). I grew up surfing Southern California beaches and have always considered them a national treasure.

It has become more evident to me in recent years that there is no other practical solution to the hoodlum problem than to have year-round supervision of our coastal recreation sites in order to protect the law-abiding beach users from the hoodlum element so evident on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. The beaches are one of the few remaining low-cost recreation sites in an ever more crowded Southern California. As our population continues to expand, the kind of Palos Verdes Peninsula hoodlum activity is going to expand along our coast unless an appropriate level of supervision is provided. The only viable alternative that I can see is to turn these beaches over to private companies that would charge an admission fee and provide the supervision necessary for safe conduct. The present situation, as your article so ably illustrates, is intolerable.

IVAN P. COLBURN

Pasadena