I think it’s safe to say that the vast majority of San Pedrans support programs that help people with addiction, whether it’s alcohol or drugs.
I think it’s equally safe to say that the majority of San Pedrans, even those who don’t live in South Shores, oppose turning the former Little Sisters of the Poor elderly residential home into yet another recovery and rehabilitation facility.
And it’s not just a matter of location, although that is central to the argument against the Fred Brown proposal. Like many others (and I don’t live in South Shores), I’m angry that the takeover of the Little Sisters property happened without any public scrutiny, and I wonder—when is enough, enough?
San Pedro is saturated with recovery homes; the actual figures are staggering. According to a piece by local activist Gayle Fleury on the CityWatch website, there are already 36 Fred Brown Recovery Services homes in San Pedro and more than 100 so-called “six-pack homes.” These are in addition to three large rehabilitation centers.
With all that, Fred Brown says we’re still not meeting the need. Fine, but why San Pedro? How about going to Wilmington or Torrance?
We’re also losing a popular senior assisted living facility, which I think San Pedro could use a lot more of rather than another rehab center. The last I had heard, there was a waiting list to live there.
LA City Councilmember Tim McOsker, aware of the overwhelming opposition to this project and facing re-election, says he’s against it. Good idea, because I haven’t seen this amount of outrage over a purely local issue since Ponte Vista’s initial plans for 2,600 units in the early 2000s.
The irony, however, should Fred Brown prevail in taking over Little Sisters, is that many of those opposed to it will have only themselves to blame. In 2024, Proposition 1, a mental health facilities bond measure, narrowly passed, which is where the money for the Fred Brown grant comes from. This is what happens when the state gets its hands on your money.
BOOKS: HISTORY (PT. 1)
Part Four of my listing of books written about or by San Pedrans is History, but the list is so long that I’ve had to break it into two parts. This month, because Memorial Day is coming, it features books about World War II and one about the Korean War. Most of these books focus on battles or specific ships where San Pedro men were killed.
Voyage to Oblivion: A Sunken Ship, A Vanished Crew and the Final Mystery of Pearl Harbor by Stephen Harding.
The Unknown Battle of Midway by Alvin Kernan.
Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal by James D. Hornfischer.
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour by Hornfischer.
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Hornfischer, Doug Murray, and Steven Sanders.
Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR’s Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors by Hornfischer.
The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal by Robert D. Ballard.
A Blue Sea of Blood: Deciphering the Mysterious Fate of the USS Edsall by Donald M. Kehn Jr.
The Ship That Wouldn’t Die: The Saga of the USS Neosho, a World War II Story of Courage and Survival at Sea by Don Keith.
Pawns of War: The Loss of the USS Langley and the USS Pecos by Dwight R. Messimer.
The Last Days of the United States Asiatic Fleet: The Fates of the Ships and Those Aboard, December 8, 1941-February 5, 1942 by Greg H. Williams.
Ghosts of Sicily: The True Story of the Naval Intelligence Agents Who Courted the Mob to Fight Nazis in America and the Battlefields of Italy by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll, Jr. Third in the Ghosts series co-written by San Pedro’s Carroll.
Battling While Black: General Patton’s Heroic African American WWII Battalions by Peter J. Gravett. Retired San Pedro general’s second book.
The Last Stand of Fox Company: A True Story of U.S. Marines in Combat by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin. San Pedro native Roger Gonzales died at the battle of the Chosin Reservoir.
And any of the innumerable books available on Pearl Harbor, where 18 San Pedrans died on December 7, 1941. spt
San Pedro native Steve Marconi began writing about his hometown after graduating from high school in 1969. After a career as a sportswriter, he was a copy editor and columnist for the News-Pilot and Daily Breeze for 20 years before joining the L.A. Times. He has been writing monthly for San Pedro magazines since 2005, and in 2018 became a registered longshoreman. Marconi can be reached at spmarconi@yahoo.com.
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