Video: Manhattan Beach Quarreling Continues

Leaders of the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association turned their attention once again to their local adversaries, the Manhattan Beach Community Group, blasting them from the podium for more than a quarter of an hour at last night’s meeting.

MBNA President Alan Ditchek seized on several issues, but seemed particularly irked by what he called “political plagiarism.” He said MBCG President Ira Zalcman took credit for achievements Ditchek himself scored at MBCG before the group split – specifically, getting local students into area schools.

He also bashed Zalcman for his harsh criticism of city authorities, who Zalcman said have been touting neighborhood division as the reason for stalling on solutions to community problems like traffic safety. Ditchek praised those officials for their efforts.

MBNA Vice President Al Smaldone also took to the podium – and eventually spoke directly to Sheepshead Bites’ camera – to invite MBCG leaders to discuss ways to move the community forward.

This latest round of heated rhetoric comes on the heels of an MBCG meeting wherein Vice President Bunny Fleischer expressed the group’s support of its leader, and Zalcman blew off some steam at the other group and local politicians for reopening old wounds. Division between the two groups had settled somewhat over the past two years until the MBNA president spoke out against the MBCG for not attending a traffic meeting, a decision mired by confusion over whether they were actually invited.