The LB Post just can't
get it together when it comes to reporting on East Long Beach
In July, when the Long Beach Post wrote about the new CSULB
off-site parking at the Los Altos Gateway Center's (Lowes/Kmart center) the
publication misidentified the center as
the Los Altos Center and stated that the center's Kmart had closed. We cut them slack since
they were under new owners. ( Click on Correcting the LB Post)
But now, new ownership is no longer a valid excuse.
An October 15, 2018 LB Post article about Long Beach being a
bike friendly city was nothing more than a thinly veiled attack on East Long
Beach and our council representatives.
Addison it appears did no
research into his piece as he takes quotes out of context to attack the popular
Supernaw. Then again, if he did do
research, the article is purposely fake because the truth does not support
his writing.
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| Traffic Engineer Widstrand |
First, Addison writes about the
repaving of Atherton at the Traffic Circle over the summer. The plans for the repaving of the street had
been long done by time the work began. After the road was removed and was torn
up and ready to be repaved and stripped, the Long Beach Traffic Engineer Eric
Widstrand's department came up with new plans and money to implement them.
Councilman Supernaw explained the Atherton Street story at his monthly community
meeting in August 2018. The Traffic
Department presented its new Atherton street plan-as the street was being torn up. The new plan
was to remove a traffic lane on Atherton to put in diagonal parking for CSULB
students all the way down Atherton and add a bollard bike lane. Supernaw informed them that at the late stage of work,
the community had not been given notice or had input into the new plan and that
the Traffic Department would have to hold a community meeting to get input from
the residents. The Traffic Department refused to hold a meeting and continued
to press Supernaw. Supernaw told them to
hold a meeting.
However, that was not the end of
the Atherton matter. Somehow various social media posts started showing up
bashing Supernaw from the biking community.
When Fourth District neighborhood leaders contacted Supernaw wondering
what was going on, Supernaw had no idea how the Long Beach biking community was
informed about an internal City Hall matter
between the Traffic Department and the 4th District Council Office, especially
since 4th District residents had been denied a community meeting by the Traffic
Department and had no input.
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| Councilman Supernaw |
Supernaw told his August community meeting audience that he was also concerned about equity of spending the added new money in Los Altos for this "new" Traffic Department Plan
when the already planned and approved bike boulevard along 15th Street in the
West Fourth District was under funded and not what the residents who wanted the
upgraded bike boulevard were promised.
Now months later and the LB Post version
of the truth appears.
Mr. Addison's narrow LB Post version of the real story about
a Councilman truly representing his whole district is this:
"Supernaw
rejected a road diet on Atherton which he called “an 11th hour proposal” that
“grossly favored one neighborhood over another … An elaborate
treatment of Atherton would simply be salt in the wound.”
That misrepresentation however is
just part one. Addison has more "Long
Beach recognized as one of the nation’s most bike-friendly cities" news.
In the same paragraph, Addison
adds an out of context quote from a Long Beach Business Journal (Sept 25-Oct 8)
feature about business in the 4th District. Addison writes:
"To
add on top of it, Supernaw is fighting for car-centric businesses, telling the
Long Beach Business Journal last month, “We had heard this is a bicycle-friendly
city. Well, evidently the private sector didn’t get the memo, because all these
[new establishments in my district] are drive-throughs, and they are packed all
the time"
The LBBJ published the entire
Supernaw interview in its signature Q and A style in its Talking Business with the City Council feature. The section that Addison hacks from was
asking the Councilman about plans to attract business the district. Supernaw, a business consultant by trade
reports that the private sector research and investment is the driving force
behind the multimillion dollar developments in the 4th District especially in the
Traffic Circle retail areas.
Supernaw noted in the interview,
as he has at his community meetings, that all the Traffic Circle free market private
investments built so far, banks, drug stores and restaurants-all have
determined that drive-through service is needed. Supernaw's point he has made
often in community meetings is that while downtown planners during the Land Use Element insisted that the car-oriented business model
is dead, all of the private sector money in the Traffic Circle is investing in
drive-through service.
In addition Addison writes "To add
on top of it, Supernaw is fighting for car-centric businesses".
What the LBBJ interview actually
quotes Supernaw saying is:
"It’s not that we’re going
out and attracting these [businesses]; it’s just that the free market is
bringing them in. We want to support these businesses that come in."
Reading the entire LBBJ quotes from that part of the interview and you
can see how Addison gets it so wrong:
LBBJ: What sorts of businesses do you feel your district has a need
for? Do you have a plan to attract such businesses?
Supernaw: The private sector
does a pretty good job of research, and the investment dollars seem to be
there. The circle area traditionally was service sector, with restaurants and
whatnot. That went away for a little while and now it is coming back very
strong. . .
The fact that there are so many drive-throughs is so unique. We had
heard this is a bicycle-friendly city. Well, evidently the private sector
didn’t get the memo, because all these establishments are drive-throughs, and
they are packed all the time.
It’s not that we’re going out and attracting these [businesses]; it’s
just that the free market is bringing them in. We want to support these
businesses that come in. Also, banking is a real big one. We have that both in
Los Altos and the circle area now. I am fortunate enough to have two branches
of F&M Bank in my district, on the Anaheim corridor and in Los Altos. They
do a great job. It just kind of sets the tone that this is a viable banking
area.
For more information click on
Finally,
as Addison might put it "To
add on top of it" , that same day October 15th Addison writes about a new restaurant
going in on PCH just blocks away from the Traffic Circle and all the car centric
development Addison blames on Supernaw.
In
this LB Post article Addison gleefully makes note in the title of the article about the restaurant
he is looking forward to opening as "Long Beach’s first vegan fast food drive-thru":
Screen shot of Vegan drive-thru story from Long Beach Post
So
why does Addison and the LB Post appear to dislike East Long Beach so much?
Perhaps Mr. Addison's writings on how East Long Beach opposed the International
Airport and the Land Use Element are a clue?
At least Mr. Addison will like our East Long Beach free
market private investment vegan restaurant drive-thru even though it is only for cars and not bikes.
For more information click on
