About Town Redondo: Keller gets Key to City, Skate park construction, Harbor Saturday
Steven Keller receives Key to the City
Retiring Redondo Unified School District Superintendent Steven Keller received the Key to the City from Mayor Pro-tem Nils Nehrenheim during Tuesday night’s city council meeting.
Keller has served 16 years as the superintendent, the longest of any superintendent since 1963.
He began at a time when the RBUSD had 8,200 students and finished with 9,500.
“Since you started, our property taxes have more than doubled,” said City Manager Mike Witzansky. “The schools and the success of the schools are the largest driver of that property tax growth. There’s no question about it.”
City council members Todd Loewenstein and Laura Emdee were on the school board when Keller was hired.
Emdee remembered early on talking to Keller about losing kids to Mira Costa, saying, ‘Let’s just make Redondo schools better.’
“That’s what we’re going to do,” she recalled Keller responding.
Keller accepted the Key to the City with a few comments, noting a penchant for brevity.
“Your children attend the finest school district in the South Bay, and that’s the Redondo Unified School District,” he said.
Motel converted for homeless to open in May
Project Homekey’s conversion of the former Pacific Coast Inn to housing for homeless people is expected to be completed by May, according to an update by City Manager Mike Witzansky at Tuesday’s city council meeting.
The project has been delayed by permitting and other issues, he said.City councilman Nils Nehrenheim requested a discussion about rules of operation (among them, the smoking policy, and outdoor lighting) to be held in February.
The now-closed Pacific Coast Inn is located on Pacific Coast Highway near the Knob Hill intersection.
Project Homekey is a public-private partnership, which buys old motels and converts them into “Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH),” a step above transitional housing, and homeless shelters. Tenants who are approved to live at a PSH site pay 30 percent of their income as rent, whether from a job or other benefits.
Skate park construction to begin next week
Construction on the two,long-awaited city skateboard parks is set to begin this month.
The smaller Perry Park facility is scheduled for mid-December, and the larger park at Pad 10 on the Pier will start days later.
Contractors Spohn Construction reported to the city council Tuesday that their target for Perry Park is Dec. 15-17. For the eight-week project at Pad 10, Spohn aims to start Dec. 19. A buggy system will be used to haul concrete from the Pier parking garage to Pad 10.
“With any luck, we’ll have this done by March orApril of next year,” said District One Councilman Todd Loewenstein, whose district includes King Harbor. District One City Councilman Nils Nehrenheim noted that some skateboarders use Riviera Village where they are not supposed to be.
“We are very much looking forward to getting this going A-S-A-P, the sooner the better,” he said.
Boat parade tops three Saturday harbor events
The 30th Christmas-lights boat parade, hosted by the King Harbor Yacht Club, is Saturday, Dec. 10, at 5:30 p.m., the finale of three events that day in the harbor. This year’s boat parade theme is “Share Your Imagination,” honoring teachers.
Earlier on Saturday, the city’s annual holiday season Pier concert runs from 2 p..m – 4 p.m. An informal “Holiday Paddle” for stand-up paddleboarders will be held from noon ‘til 3 p.m. the start will be at hand launch next to the Sportfishing Pier.