Newsletter

Happy first full week of fall, Redondo, Put a few thousand mayors, councilmembers, and city staff in one Anaheim convention center, and what do you get? My week, as it turns out. The League of California Cities Annual Conference filled last week with sessions on e-bike safety, artificial intelligence, coastal erosion, and ethics law, plus…

Hello Redondo, To those observing Yom Kippur today, I wish you an easy and meaningful fast. G’mar chatimah tovah. Three hundred thousand cubic yards of sand. That is the headline number in Los Angeles County’s plan for the stretch of beach between our Pier and the Topaz Jetty, and this week’s edition digs into what…

Good morning, Redondo, Friday at 8:46 a.m., twenty-five years after the first plane struck the World Trade Center, neighbors stood together in front of the Council Chambers and let the morning go quiet. A quarter century is long enough for a whole generation to grow up, and not nearly long enough to forget. Thank you…

Happy Labor Day, Redondo, Holidays like today are built on a simple idea: work deserves recognition. Fitting, then, that tomorrow night’s Council meeting is practically a ceremony of gratitude, with a Key to the City for Fire Chief Pat Butler and the oath of office for incoming Chief Brian Regan, plus a room full of…

Happy last Monday of August, Redondo, If you spend any time in neighborhood social media groups, you have probably seen a version of this claim recently: “The City is ignoring the truck traffic on Palos Verdes Boulevard.” It is not true, and I do not expect you to take my word for it. I was…

Happy Monday, Redondo, What do a playground full of first-day jitters, four Olympic water polo teams, and an owl named Al have in common? They all crossed my path on the same Wednesday, and that one day says more about this town than any speech I could give. This week’s newsletter also brings some genuinely…

Good morning, Redondo, It all started with an empty SodaStream canister. I’ll explain. South Bay Hardware had SodaStream refills in stock this weekend, so I headed over to pick one up. By the time the errand was done, I was hungry enough to keep going down Artesia Boulevard for lunch at The Empanada Shop, one…

Hello, Redondo, When I first moved to Redondo Beach 40 years ago, my first apartment was just a few blocks from the old library at Veterans Park. I read newspapers there, checked out books, and even cast a few votes inside those walls over the years. So when the ribbon fell on the restored Redondo…

Good afternoon, Redondo, If you have passed a school corner recently and wondered why the pavement is suddenly wearing school colors, you are not alone. The questions and comments on my recent posts made it clear that these new intersection features deserve a proper, easy-to-understand explanation, so that is exactly how we will start this…

Happy Monday, Redondo, Nineteen minutes. That is Metro’s estimate for a train ride from our end of the South Bay to LAX, no transfers required, once the K Line Extension to Torrance is built, and the City posted a detailed update on the project this past week. The physicist in me loves a good number,…

Good afternoon, Redondo, Every blood donation has the potential to save lives, and on Wednesday I got to watch that truth play out one donor at a time at the Redondo Beach Police Department Blood Drive. It was inspiring to see so many people step up to help neighbors they may never meet, and it…

Hello, neighbors, Some weeks this job keeps me close to home, and some weeks it sends me out to learn from other cities. This past weekend was the second kind. I was in Coronado for the Independent Cities Association Summer Seminar, trading ideas with local leaders from across the region on housing, public safety, technology,…