Mailbag: A cherished protector of Laguna’s coastline

Re “Former Laguna Beach city manager Ken Frank dies at 82,” May 8.

Over the course of the last few years, Laguna has lost several luminaries including Andy Macdonald, ex-school board member El Hathaway, Arnold and Bonnie Hano, former Mayor Elizabeth Pearson, Anneliese, Pam Goldstein, Roger Kempler, and now longtime city manager Ken Frank.

I first worked with Ken back in 1985, when I was retained by the Orange County Board of Supervisors and four beach cities to coordinate public opposition to offshore oil drilling. Ken and then-mayor Bob Gentry personally recruited 22 GOP mayors to publicly oppose the Reagan administration’s plan (which these local “electeds” did).

If think it’s safe to say that if it hadn’t been for Ken and Bob, Laguna’s coastline would be dotted with oil rigs today. RIP Ken.

Denny Freidenrich
Laguna Beach

Redefining civic value

Re “City of the Arts? Costa Mesa called out for not having official arts budget,” May 7

Sara Cardine’s article highlights a larger issue facing cities nationwide: many are still using an older framework for measuring public value.

Costa Mesa officials pointed to the arts’ economic contribution, tourism impact and city identity. Those arguments still matter. But increasingly, public investment decisions are also being shaped by outcomes tied to community well-being, workforce readiness, social connection, public health and civic vitality.

That shift changes the conversation.

The good news is that newer evaluation models now make it possible to measure many of those broader community impacts with far greater precision than in the past.

The question is no longer whether the arts generate economic value. It is whether cities are prepared to define and measure their full civic value in modern terms.

For a city that brands itself as the “City of the Arts,” Costa Mesa has an opportunity to lead that evolution rather than react to it.

Angela Meleca
Columbus, Ohio

Setting boundaries

Re “Newport-Mesa Unified bans e-bikes at K-8 schools but lets high schoolers keep riding,” April 23

Are Newport Beach parents failing their children? At the recent NMUSD meeting, board members representing at least three Newport Beach districts described parents as unable to set boundaries for their children, instead requesting the school board enact monolithic policies to set boundaries for the children of all NMUSD families.

Their reasoning defines government overreach, and suggests Newport Beach parents are failing in their role as parents. Board members recounted numerous exchanges with parents who lamented that their children were suffering peer pressure for not having an e-bike, and that the parents were unable to resist this pressure themselves and, against their better judgment, felt the need to purchase an e-bike for their child.

The parent’s solution? Request that the NMUSD ban all e-bikes so that the parents wouldn’t have to be the “bad guy.” Peer pressure has always existed and always will within K-12 population. It is likely that all parents have experienced these pressures in their own early life. Yet, rather than seizing the opportunity to teach their children about peer pressure and set boundaries that align with their parental philosophy, the parents are abdicating a vital role of parenting. Instead, they are forcing monolithic public policy on all parents, regardless of differing levels of child maturity, ability, and parental philosophies.

Perhaps there are Newport Beach parents that do not need government to raise their children, and who value the ability to set their own boundaries and disdain undue government intrusion. If these parents do exist, their voices are not reaching the school board members. If parents do not want to be tarred with this reputation, they should reach out to the trustees to voice their values. The trustees rightfully represent their constituents and will be influenced by what they hear.

Andrew Barnes
Costa Mesa

Cutting funds for kids

Once again, cronyism and non-transparency are in the spotlight involving Huntington Beach’s City Council. At their last public meeting, the City Council voted, after little discussion, to cut funds for the popular All for Kids program that serves the working class Oak View neighborhood and Robyne’s Nest that supports homeless and at-risk kids.

The funds instead will be given to a fledgling nonprofit that provides salt-water fishing trips for veterans. To make matters worse, City Council member Andrew Gruel is the executive director of this Temecula-based veterans’ group, Save the Brave.

Many attending the meeting were shocked to hear Councilmember Pat Burns, a former mayor, accusing the All for Kids program of fraud without backup information. Based on their vote, Save the Brave, which has never received a city grant and doesn’t have a track record in Huntington Beach, is getting more grant funds from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development than any other community nonprofit.

What’s infuriating is that the gift to this new outside group takes away money from proven local charities that help kids living in Huntington Beach. Cronyism in this city council is rampant, and now it’s just out in the open, and it isn’t pretty!

This decision proves once again that the Huntington Beach City Council cannot be trusted. The new slate of candidates — Taryn Palumbo, Erin Spivey, Ben Davis and Brenda Glim — are desperately needed to restore trust in the institution and repair the image of Huntington Beach. In November, vote for their slate!

Paula Lazicki
Huntington Beach