Manhattan Beach: Who Pulled The Plug On Santa Golf Cart Parade?

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — When a seemingly simple and creative and fun idea to have a golf cart parade with Santa in Manhattan Beach collided with the city's advance knowledge of the parade, the Santa Golf Cart Parade was canceled. Depending on who you talk to and their perspective, you're sure to hear a few opinions on the matter, if not some disappointment and relief.

But indeed the Santa Golf Cart Parade organized by a Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Electric Vehicle enthusiast for the 26th Annual Holiday Open House as part of the weekend festivities was canceled—and with COVID-19 numbers rising, some might have heaved a sigh of relief.

Consider this: Downtown Manhattan Beach businesses, er, most all businesses, are struggling to keep revenue coming in due to COVID-19 restrictions and the public's hesitancy to go out and shop and dine. Sure, lots of folks do go out to shop and dine. But, the number of people Downtown Manhattan Beach would normally see for the holidays is down. Of course.

The much-loved Holiday Open House has long been one November Thursday evening of shopping, eating, finding Santa, listening to carolers, being outdoors in Downtown Manhattan Beach. The downtown area is blocked off to through traffic so you can wander the streets full of joy without having to watch for cars. There's typically a reindeer petting zoo and photos with Santa on his float. It's an exciting night, looked forward to well in advance. I mean, who wouldn't love seeing the flip switched to the lights on the Manhattan Beach Pier. It's a night of fabulous fanfare and fun for all ages!

So, to shift gears and deal with the challenges COVID-19 has presented, the Downtown Manhattan Beach Business + Professional Association, which coordinates and stages the annual holiday open house, the one night of hours of fun had to be canceled.

So, the organization got creative and offered a weekend Holiday Open House. And they tried to add in a fun, seemingly harmless golf cart parade, after the same MB resident had staged a successful and much-loved 1st Annual Halloween Golf Cart Parade in Manhattan Beach.

Who wouldn't introduce an apparently fun, creative way to celebrate the holidays with decorated golf carts and riders in costume? Folks might come out to watch the parade and join the downtown festivities for the COVID-19 Annual Holiday Open House.

Well, enter being able to cite the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and its COVID-19 protocols? Yup. [And we get it.] So, what's the back and forth? What's the background? What's behind the scenes? What's the back story on the cancelation?

"The City did not necessarily cancel the event, as it was never approved by the City," wrote City of Manhattan Beach Senior Management Analyst George Gabriel. "Once we learned of the details of the 'golf cart parade,' we informed the DBPA that it [the golf cart parade] did not comply with the County’s 'Vehicle Based Parade' protocol and discouraged it. Thereafter, the event organizers decided to cancel the 'golf cart parade.'”

Yes, a city has to do what a city has to do. Perhaps, with more lead team and consultations between the Downtown Manhattan Beach Business + Professional Association and the City of Manhattan Beach, more could have been done to resolve the issue, but realistically, probably not.

With COVID-19 cases on the increase, government officials are [and wisely so] attuned to the optics, the realities, the scope of what havoc the coronavirus could wreak on the beautiful town of Manhattan Beach.

A person who unknowingly has COVID-19 could be in the crowd watching the parade and transmit the virus. People could tightly gather as they watch the parade and not maintain at least six feet of social distancing from others who do not live in their household.

And, factually, the most important fact [or is it?] is that LA County does not allow open-air vehicle parades without a set of stringent restrictions and guidelines in place which, obviously, the mom who organized the parade and the downtown MB group could not meet.

So, what do we do? How do we help our businesses in Manhattan Beach survive the ongoing onslaught of COVID-19?

Is it true that when you are someone who doesn't wear a mask when around others you are contributing to the problem and the demise of our businesses? Or should the city have turned a blind eye?

Traffic impacts obviously could also be a consideration with a parade. And perhaps MBPD couldn't accommodate such a parade. Is Manhattan Beach a city where the squeaky wheel gets the grease? If someone complains, or the city receives several complaints, does that mean the wheels come off and "Stop" becomes the word to follow?

It's funny how and when protocols and standards are applied. When Manhattan Beach retail shops reopened in late May in time for Memorial Day weekend, City Council didn't really give them license to do so. It was all words and mumbo jumbo designed to be interpreted as the businesses wanted, which was to read it as a green light to reopen for Memorial Day weekend.

So, who polices that open interpretive policy that "allows" businesses to read into the words and policy and reopen for a big retail weekend? Not MBPD. I mean, why would they? Not their jurisdiction, and they take direction from city council. So, where was LA County? Hmm.

Dealing with COVID-19 is an ongoing battle of twists and turns and opinions and science and personal freedoms and government and working with government [as the Downtown Manhattan beach Business + Professional Association does because it is tied to the city as a Business Improvement District].

My only wish is that people remain free of COVID-19, find ways to be healthy physically, emotionally and spiritually, and that we somehow traverse this challenging landscape with logic, a compassion for others, including those we don't understand, and come out stronger than before.