City Council candidate John Gran might be in trouble with his campaign manager.
Gran has been hitting the streets of Redondo Beach’s District 4, the northside area that includes much of the Artesia Boulevard corridor, including the South Bay Galleria, for weeks now, knocking on doors and leaving informational material on his run for City Council.
But on a day he set out to cover a few blocks of Vanderbilt Lane, he hit a roadblock — he couldn’t help but pause to discuss his answers to policy questions at length.
It seems to be a subset of Gran’s customer service strategy, which he employs running his citywide window cleaning business: He tends to focus, drilling into an issue until he’s reached an end.
Applying that focus to North Redondo would be a welcome change, Gran feels.
“There’s not a lot of attention up here,” Gran said. “Police and fire are here, but it feels like people aren’t being taken care of.”
He points out the lack of residential street parking as an example — many of North Redondo’s residential areas have narrow, one-way streets. On Thursdays and Fridays, parking restrictions for street sweeping exacerbate the problem.
Many of the residents of the area have bent his ear about parking, he said, among other smaller, quality-of-life issues. That, he says, is his area: the day-to-day details.
“Did you know that Santa doesn’t go by on Condon?” he asked, referring to the popular annual Santa Sleigh Ride tradition, sponsored by Redondo Beach Police, which takes Santa Claus up and down Redondo neighborhoods. “The big issues are sexy, but the little stuff is what matters to people.”
Revitalization of waterfront, the Galleria and Artesia areas is clearly what he means by “big issues,” though he doesn’t shy away from discussing those.
“The waterfront needs to start generating more cash,” Gran said. “The Galleria is not; it’s underperforming. It could be so much more.”
He believes that the as-yet-unfinished proposed revitalization by Forest City, the Galleria’s parent company, has strong elements to it, but doesn’t need to be thrown under the bus. And until North Redondo begins generating revenue like it once did, Gran wants money to begin flowing to the neighborhoods north of 190th Street.
“I’m about tilting city resources here,” he said, gesturing to the north, toward Artesia Boulevard. “Now, with the City Manager and the task group [dedicated to revitalizing Artesia], I’m really excited about that. It’s about North Redondo, it’s about the Artesia Corridor, the Galleria. It’s about bringing them together.”
When residents answer their doors, Gran is quick to point out three things: his service as a City Budget and Finance Commissioner; his presidency over the North Redondo Beach Business Association; and his work as Treasurer for the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce.
That last part has been a sticking point for critics. The Chamber has been under fire by critics in recent months both for its share of hotel-driven Transit Occupancy Tax and its Political Action Committee.
“In District 4, the Chamber is great; when you’re a Chamber member, you’re a small business that’s trying to grow,” Gran said, noting he’s been a member for seven years. “It has helped me meet more people and do better for my business.”
The larger arguments against the Chamber and its PAC, he said, are all well and good, but they’re political, based on disagreements between opposing sides — typically, those who either oppose or support waterfront redevelopment.
“I don’t have all of the answers, but I’m willing to take ideas,” Gran said. “I’m ready to fight for these folks, and for success.”
