Posts by Kevin Cody
Letters to the Editor 10-3-24
Fire department rescue Dear ER: In April 12, 2024, Citygate Fire & EMS delivered a “Deployment and Organizational Analysis” of the Redondo Beach Fire Department to the City Council. Taxpayers funded this top down, inside-out evaluation of our fire department in response to resident calls to preserve local control over RBFD. In a 125-page report…
Read MoreLetters to the Editor 9-26-24
Fuel on Measure Dear ER: Redondo Councilmembers Zein Obagi and Todd Loewenstein are deliberately minimizing the average yearly property tax lien assessment on my home for the unknown cost of two new fire stations and a new police facility. Getting re-elected in March 2025 has entered their head space and they want voters to pass…
Read MoreHermosa Beach 9-11 Wreath Laying Ceremony
photos by Kevin Cody
Read MoreLetters to the Editor: HB press policy, bonds away
Personal politics Dear ER: At a recent City Council meeting, Councilmembers Raymond Jackson’s and Justin Massey’s behavior took a regrettable turn during a debate over the City Communications Plan, a policy that aims to streamline how Hermosa Beach handles media relations. Their critique wasn’t just directed at the policy itself but devolved into personal attacks…
Read MoreElection 2024: Measure HB sales tax increase divides current, former leaders
by Kevin Cody Current and past political leaders are taking opposing positions on Measure HB, on the November 5 ballot. The measure would add a 3/4% local sales tax to the current 9.5% sales tax. In February, the City Council voted, four to one, to ask voter approval of a 3/4% Transaction and Use Tax…
Read MoreElection 2024: Bond promises Hermosa Valley School science labs, athletic facilities, safety
by Kevin Cody Measure HV, the $28.7 million Hermosa Beach school bond on the November 5 ballot, was foremost among the subjects school leaders wanted to talk about to parents gathered in the bowl at Hermosa Vista School’s Back To School night last Thursday, August 5. But they couldn’t because political campaigning on school campuses…
Read MoreHermosa Open volleyball tournament an old-school Olympian effort
by Kevin Cody One month after returning home to Hermosa Beach from the Paris Olympics, beach volleyball Olympians Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng, and Chase Budinger, and Miles Evans, brought home first place honors from the Hermosa Beach Open. It wasn’t the AVP Hermosa Open. It was an old-school Hermosa Open with fans cheering courtside,…
Read MoreLetters to the Editor 9-12-24
Champagne harbor Dear ER: Tear down an existing revenue generating business for a non revenue generating, $25 million dollar boondoggle that no one in Redondo wants (“Redondo Beach boat launch could mean teardown of restaurant,” ER September 5, 2024). That makes no sense. As a Redondo Beach homeowner and taxpayer, I don’t want a dime…
Read MoreHermosa Beach second short term rental (STVR) fine waived, enforcement ongoing
by Kevin Cody Hermosa Beach will continue to enforce its ban on Short Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs) in the residential coastal zone despite agreeing to refund $8,000 in fines to two property owners cited for violating the ban, city officials said this week. The refunds followed appeals of the citations upheld by city administrative hearing…
Read MoreLetters to the Editor 9-5-24
Pool of trouble Dear ER: Public-private partnerships are nothing new. Usually, this is because the private entity is so enormously wealthy (billions) that the risk to public funds, where taxpayers are the investors, is minimal given the potential return on investment. However, this is not the case with Manhattan Beach’s proposed, $40 million pool project,…
Read MoreHermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce President Michelle Crispin
Jeff Lingle’s utility box painting 14th & Hermosa Avenue
photo by Kevin Cody Jeff Lingle said he was going for a contemporary Gauguin affect in his painting on a utility box at 14th and Hermosa Avenue of a woman surfing. Gauguin was a late 19th-century French artist known for his Tahitian paintings. Lingle’s painting also complements the adjacent mural by John Van Hamersveld, which…
Read MoreLetters to the Editor 8-29-24
Outhouse insight Dear ER: Recently, Seaview Park (4,000 sq.ft), North of Hermosa View School, received a one stall bathroom with a separate steel structure topped with a solar panel array of 5 solar panels. This new installation was part of a larger remodel of Clark Field, Fort Lots of Fun Park and South Park bathrooms.…
Read MoreLetters to the Editor 8-22-24
Problem trees Dear ER: When you go to a cemetery, you can always tell when there was a recent burial. About 6 feet of dirt is piled above the ground. That is what the southwest corner of 10th Street and Loma Avenue in Hermosa Beach looks like right now. This would not have happened if…
Read MoreEasy Reader 54th Anniversary Writing & Photography Contest
An annual reminder Amidst all the news industry changes since Easy Reader began publishing half a century ago, reporting remains a newspaper’s core responsibility. Taking photos and writing with the goal of informing residents is what motivated Easy Reader’s early, volunteer staff. Each year, as a reminder of the paper’s purpose, we invite readers to…
Read MoreLetters to the Editor 8-15-24
The less said, the better Dear ER: Hermosa Councilmember Massey advises council not to talk to the press is sage advice from our councilmember, who also happens to be an attorney, and perhaps a bit of a “pettifogger,” in my mind. He reminds the “plebes” there’s nothing to be gained by councilmembers speaking to the…
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