Pier Pressure in Surf City

Comment on Pier Pressure in Surf City - Story by Jaimee Lynn Fletcher August 16, 2009 OC Register.

There's a new twist. Surfers looking for legal restrictions. Do we really want more regulation?

Great article and informative. As a surfer, scuba diver, and occasional fisherman, I especially appreciated the inclusion of Marine Biologist Camm Swift's accurate information regarding the types of fish in each of the areas of the pier.

There is a danger with hooks in the water to surfers. I'm always concerned about some angry fool trying to hook me as I paddle out or take a wave next to the pier or accidentally getting caught in a line I can't see.

I understand Stephen Stemmers anger at being followed, and I believe the fisherman should be punished for his aggression. I also believe the 'aggro surf-local posers' should be punished for their aggression to other surfers as well.

The real problem is not regulation. The real problem is aggressive behavior and a lack of empathy by a very few individuals on both sides.

Black Balling the beach was the regulatory solution to inconsiderate surfers who refused to wear leashes and watch out for swimmers. So now plenty of 'choice' waves go unridden even if swimmers aren't in the water.

Do we really want regulation to be applied to fishing and the pier? Restricting the fisherman to the outer section won't solve the problem on those rare epic days when it's breaking way outside and the only path out is through the pier. Who's to say how long a line they fish with? It will be even more dangerous when they feed their line to the surf zone without being within eyesight of it. And regulation may just backfire: The regulation may just be 'no surfing' near the pier.

A better solution is to enforce the laws in effect regarding aggressive behavior and leave specific regulation regarding the pier and fishing alone.

Surf City needs to clean up it's Thinking

Sunday August 16, Orange County Register - Surf City seeks to clean up party image. According to the article the city council plans to clean up the party like image of Huntington Beach. They are going to slap heftier fines on downtown restaurants that violate their entertainment permits and make certain residential areas permit-parking only. It states several on the council members claim to have already calmed down the area.

I'd like to know what planet these council members are on. First of all it's not the restaurants as much as the bars (that serve food): Hurricane's is right up there with the Chop House in creating the problem.

Not only do the noise, the bottles, the nuisances still rage, the council invites them in by inviting in special events that attract that crowd. It's not about the residents, it's about the money, and when it's all added up its the same short term thinking the council has used so often: the costs far outweigh the benefits to the city and the residents.

Not only will the problems continue, but with the plans to add more buildings, higher buildings, and remove parks, they are just exacerbating the crowd effect. Like rats in a cage, there is a breaking point where violence becomes the norm versus the exception.

Vision is required to look beyond the short term myopic fix. Huntington Beach is in a unique position to put into effect a master plan that protects open space and creates a sustainable environment that will raise the profits of the business they want to attract to this town.

For this to happen though, the council members have to re-enter the atmosphere that is called Huntington Beach.

The Inevitable

The US auto industry tried to control the market. They interfered with public transportation initiatives (Los Angeles and urban rail). They sacrificed safety, innovation, quality, and customer service to increase profits (NTMVSA, 1966). They used the courtrooms to steal ideas and put innovative auto companies out of business (Preston Tucker & Robert Kearns).

These executives, lauded and compensated in the short run (100 years), destroyed their companies in the long run (present day). Toyota is number one and Hyundai / KIA is number four and moving on number three. GM is now second and Ford is fifth and both are losing ground. With the way they operated, this is their legacy and this result inevitable.

Drive Thru's and The End of the World

Will Drive-Thru’s be the end of the world? Well, maybe.

The City of Los Angeles voted to lift a ban on drive-thru this week. The ban was in place because of the congestion it caused on the streets. The vote to lift the ban was because drive-thru operations bring in lots of revenue and the city needs revenue.

Leadership is about guiding an organization to a better place. Unfortunately, throughout the world (and the United States) leadership is failing because they have become shortsighted and the new vote is just one example.

The real drive behind the original ban was to stop the growth of unhealthy fast-food restaurants in areas of LA. The bill only passed because of the argument about traffic congestion.

In lifting the ban, not only is leadership ignoring the health consequences (come on down, unhealthy fast food), intelligence consequences (new studies show smog reduces IQ in children), environmental consequences (smog, gas, CO2 levels), and the traffic consequences (accidents, death, time delays). And why, because the shine of money today carries more weight than the costs that come three months later.
Will this vote end the world? Not likely, but the path is leading down a dark road toward a cliff.

A real 4th of July

In 1864, you could shake the president's hand. Since 1964, the president has been behind Plexiglas: sometimes it's real Plexiglas, sometimes it's political Plexiglas, sometimes it's donor Plexiglas.

On this July 4th, a day of declared independence and revolution, think of the Internet and twitter as your opportunity to break through the Plexiglas. Think of the facts that are devoid of politics and being re-elected: health care issues which lead to debt issues, which lead to IRS issues, which lead to freedom issues.

Ask - no demand - that our leaders quit being politicians and do their job. If they don't, let them know they will be removed from office. The Internet, Facebook, twitter, etc. - they change everything. No longer do you need millions of dollars to be heard and our elected leaders are about to find out leadership no longer needs to be elected!!!!!!!! We can change the world - and we need to realize it is up to us - because our leaders are politicians first and leaders of the greatest democracy in the free world second.

Call for Revolution

Change, change, change. All the politicians talk about change. Talk, talk, talk. They only tweak here and nudge there.

We don't need change. We need a revolution!

The State of California is a consumer state: Consume electricity, consume water, consume gas, etc. Homes are built with twigs and stucco and poorly insulated.

I call for a revolution! California needs to be turned on its head and become a self-sustaining state. The following are just a few ideas that could be implemented immediately.

Homes should be built to not require any heat in the winter or cooling in the summer. Electrical outlets should be smart or at least have power on/off switches to cut the waste to plugged in electronics.

We need to change the mentality of consume to conserve. Our water, power, and open space infrastructures are heading for disaster within the next decade.

For example, in Huntington Beach, they are building up the downtown and planning how to build it even more. All their plans are built around more consumption, even as the city struggles to balance the books. Even as Pacific City languishes before their eyes and could even fall into bankruptcy, the city plans on creating more overhead and maintenance.

And what will more buildings bring?: more trash, more crime, more cost. The wind blows nearly everyday and could generate enough electricity to sustain the entire public system, yet the city puts its money into intersection cameras to generate revenue.

With more buildings, Huntington Beach will become just another city with very little that makes it unique or special. If they focused on more open space and connecting parks with paths filled with trees and life, they would indeed create something special. These parks could be designed with self-sustainment in mind and be used to create a revolution in the way all of the United States operates (or at least just the state).

I don’t usually buy fish in the market and I’m a HUGE fan of Commercial Fishing

As a diver, I hunt my own game when I want fish – spoils of the hunt and all that.

So why am I a huge fan of commercial fishing? Because commercial fishing will be extinct by 2048, unless we do something about the way we handle our environment.

In a report, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2006-11-02-overfishing-threat_x.htm , done by 14 ecologists and economists, analyzing fish populations for 4 years prior determined that by 2048 ninety percent of the fish and shellfish species that are hauled out of the ocean will be gone! Twenty-nine percent of the fish species have already collapsed (meaning no longer generating sustaining populations). The trend is clear and accelerating.

The plummet in fish populations isn’t just from commercial fishing, it’s from coastal area destruction, dredging of reefs and estuaries, and pollution. If the trend is going to be reversed, it will take cooperation from everyone.

I’m a fan of commercial fishing because I believe that 39 years is within their reality ‘vision’ and since they have the most to lose, might possibly fight the hardest to reverse the trend as soon as possible.