Dear Editor,
Both Los Alamitos and Seal Beach prepared Housing Element Updates that propose rezoning commercial and retail uses to accommodate new higher density houses or hotels.
Los Alamitos’ August 2023 Staff Report recommended the City Council follow Seal Beach’s lead and overrule the Airport Land Use Commission because that is what other cities did.
Seal Beach’s August 29, 2022 Staff Report informed its City Council that three other cities overruled ALUC relating to John Wayne Airport, a commercial airport, and Staff was recommending the Seal Beach City Council did the same so “the city could move closer to certification of its Housing Element”.
ALUC identified 4 Seal Beach housing sites for safety concerns: Old Ranch Town Center – The Shops at Rossmoor – Old Ranch Country Club – Portions of Leisure World.
What both Seal Beach and Los Alamitos’ City Staff and consultants neglected to include in their reports to Council Members were Studies conducted by The National Commission on Military Aviation Safety (non-combat mishaps) which documents Military Aviation Loses for 2013-2020).
Report available: https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/2020/ncmas_final_report_20201201.pdf
The National Commission asked thousands of pilots and maintainers “what do you think will cause the next aviation mishap?”. Certain answers were consistent regardless of Service, rank or airframe: insufficient flight hours, decreasing proficiency levels, inadequate training programs, excessive administrative duties, inconsistent funding, risky maintenance practices, and a relentless operations tempo.”
The National Commission Study concludes that more than 6000 U.S. non-combat military aviation mishaps occurred between 2013 and 2018. These mishaps occurred during training or routine operations. They claimed the lives of 197 service members and civilians, and cost the nation more than $9.41 billion in damages including 157 destroyed aircraft.
The Joint Force Training Base in Los Alamitos is a military training base. Not a commercial airport.
According to the National Commission, safety statistics differ substantially between commercial and military bases. Those difference were NOT identified by City Staff in Los Alamitos and Seal Beach before recommending elected officials overrule ALUC, and the California Department of Transportation Division of Aeronautics.
ALUC has separate and distinct Land Use Plans for commercial as opposed to military airports. The fact that “other cities Overruled ALUC” with regard to a commercial airport should be unpersuasive to a decision about the Joint Force Military Training Base.
The decision by Hibard and Murphy in Los Alamitos to “not to override” the Airport Land Use Commission was a decision to protect the public. Pure and Simple. They understood that a military training base is far more likely than a commercial airport to result in an accident. They did their homework.
Residents of Seal Beach, Rossmoor and Los Alamitos should demand that Seal Beach and Los Alamitos Elected Officials also do some homework too. Remind your elected officials that STATE LAW requires them to put YOUR public safety as a priority over building houses. There are other sites suitable for housing.
I cannot imagine the guilt I would feel because I voted to build a high rise hotel, senior housing, and high density condominiums, knowing three agencies (National Commission on Military Aviation Safety, the Airport Land Use Commission of Orange County, and the California Department of Transportation Division of Aeronautics) issued SAFETY warnings against such action?
Carol Churchill
Los Alamitos
Council can hold Closed Session meetings
Dear Editor,
THANK YOU for a very informative, but there is possibly “some missing puzzles” in your article entitled, ‘Cypress Council Votes in Secret to Potentially Settle CVRA Lawsuit”. I did some research on the laws that pertain to public meetings; and you are probably familiar with the Open Meeting Law or also known as the Ralph M. “BROWN ACT” that regulates meetings. The Brown Act was enacted in 1953 and is part of the California Government Code § 54950 et seq. 1.The Brown Act allows” closed session” meetings. It stipulates that an agenda is posted and shall include a description of the item/s to be discussed in the closed session. In order to hold a “closed session”, there are specific and certain items that can be discussed. Listed below are those items – and of course, having a conference with legal counsel regarding existing or anticipated litigation ((§ 54956.9) is one. It is obvious that the closed session would be for review of the legal report/matters, discussion, plan of action and ultimately a vote to properly address the item. Also documentation relative to the report should be available. So my conclusion is that our Cypress City Council met with the City Attorney to resolve a possible lawsuit; which is what our city leaders were elected to do. So what’s the secret ?
License or permit determination (§ 54956.7)
Conference with real property negotiators (§ 54956.8)
Conference with legal counsel regarding existing or anticipated litigation (§ 54956.9)
Liability claims (§ 54956.95)
Threat to public services or facilities (§ 54957(a))
Public employee appointment, employment, performance evaluation, discipline, dismissal or release (§ 54957(b))
Conference with labor negotiators (§ 54957.6)
Case review or planning (§ 54957.8)
Report involving trade secret or hearings (§ 54956.87, California Health and Safety code §§1461,32106 and 32155; or California Government Code §§ 37606 and 37624.3)
Charge or complaint involving information protected by federal law (§ 54956.86).
Eve Wheeler
Cypress
Editor’s Note: The ENE only reported the facts presented to us by the plaintiff’s attorney in the case. Citizens have a right to know what their duly elected reps are up to.
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