City to send free bus to Metro meeting on light rail expansion
The City of Redondo Beach will fund a free bus Thursday, Jan. 22, from the Redondo Beach Transit Center – by South Bay Galleria – to a Metro board meeting at which representatives are expected to choose which route a South Bay light rail extension will go.
The bus leaves at 7:20 a.m. for Los Angeles.
The Metro board will first decide whether to certify the final Environmental Impact Report for the proposed K-line extension, which focuses on two main routes; one down a railroad right-of-way between neighborhoods in North Redondo and Lawndale, and another on raised tracks down the median of Hawthorne Blvd.
Metro has named their preferred option as a hybrid version (both underground and above-ground stretches) on the railroad right-of-way (ROW). Metro has the option to deny both routes, and to choose “no-build,” shelving the project. Another option is high-frequency buses.
“It’s going to be interesting, it’s gametime Jan. 22,” said Zein Obagi, Jr., Redondo Beach city councilman, who opposes the ROW option, through his district.
At a meeting in May 2024, the 14-member Metro board voted to delay choosing a route, pending more information. Boardmember James Butts, mayor of Inglewood, and County Supervisor Holly Mitchell led the way, calling for Metro to come back with a funding plan, a more detailed environmental impact analysis for the two potential routes, and to engage more effectively with South Bay residents.
“This will be a very sincere expansion of looking at these two alternatives,” Butts told the assembled May 2024 crowd, which consisted of a busload each of Redondo and Lawndale residents, and fewer on a bus from Torrance.
Metro headquarters is located at 1 Gateway Plaza in downtown L.A. The Jan. 22 board meeting begins at 10 a.m.
City adds to Witzansky salary increase on 3-2 vote
The Redondo Beach city council has added $5,000 to the previously approved $10,000 salary increase for City Manager Mike Witzansky.
A Jan. 7 motion by Councilman Zein Obagi Jr., to add to the raise was supported by Councilmembers Scott Behrendt and Chadwick Castle. Paige Kaluderovic and Brad Waller opposed it.
Kaluderovic and Waller praised Witzansky’s work but felt it was the wrong time for a further bump, due to the state of the city budget, which taps $3.5 million in reserves for the current fiscal year.
Witzansky received $15,000 raises in the two previous years.
For his part, the city manager said the success attributed to him is due to city staff.
Witzansky had his annual review with the council in November and December, then a final session Jan. 6.
“It was so nitpicky, I think it was demoralizing,” Obagi, Jr., said. “Scott (Behrendt) and I wanted to encourage and affirm him. He’s got five bosses, so someone will say ‘I didn’t get an update quick enough,’ but even if they voted no (on the extra $5,000), they support him.”
With the increases, Witzansky’s salary is now $310,000.
“My ‘no’ vote was not a reflection of his value or performance,” Kaluderovic said. “It was based on fiscal responsibility. At a time when the city is using reserve funds, the proposed percentage increase exceeded what we are able to offer other essential employees.
“I believe it is a matter of principle that our highest-paid employee should not receive a larger percentage increase than the rest of our workforce.”
“We’re producing way more. We’re doing way more than when I first got elected,” Obagi, Jr., said of Witzansky and his staff. Obagi, Jr., joined the council in 2021, seven months before Witzansky was appointed to the top job. He has worked for the City of Redondo Beach for 20 years.
“I fully support extending (Witzansky’s) contract for another three years,” Kaluderovic said. “He is an exceptional city manager and a significant asset to the city.”
Councilman Waller stated his full support too.
“Given the fiscal challenges Redondo Beach is facing and the pay adjustments we’re providing to our employees,” he said, “I believed that the already approved salary increase was more consistent with what we are offering our staff across the city.” ER
