Dear Editor,
I live in Seal Beach near the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base. As I write, jets roar over my neighborhood—some directly above my house—on their way to and from the three-day Huntington Beach Pacific Airshow. My dogs cower underneath furniture; some neighbors resort to tranquilizing their frightened pets.
In the past, I’ve weathered the disruption without complaint because so many people enjoy the air show. This year, however, the Huntington Beach city attorney and the new MAGA council majority have thoroughly politicized what simply should be a fun family event.
Final straw: The air show’s opening day featured none other than a flyover by the Trump plane.
I am forever surprised by what is “legal.” Not all Huntington Beach residents support Trump, but they all helped pay for his free campaign stunt.
Due to a head-scratching and secretive lawsuit settlement, Huntington Beach taxpayers are providing more than $5 million for what was previously self-supporting entertainment. (The organizer alleged the city, despite having little choice, maliciously shut down the 2021 air show after an oil spill catastrophe.)
What’s more, the private company running the air show gets to charge an entrance fee for swaths of a public beach. That seemingly underappreciated privilege should not have become a Trump whistle stop.
But this disrespect doesn’t just concern Huntington Beach. Seal Beach and Los Alamitos residents should not be compelled to endure the noise and safety risks imposed on us to prop up a highly politicized, for-profit spectacle.
Susan Christian Goulding
Seal Beach
Photo courtesy of Michael Goulding
