by Laura Garber
The Leadership Hermosa Beach Class of 2026 met with Hermosa elected officials, business owners and other community leaders during their inaugural gathering on Saturday September 14, at the Hermosa Kiwanis Club. The rotating meet-and-greet was titled “Cafe Hermosa.”
Jani Lange, a Hermosa Beach born and raised resident, and former Parks and Recreation Commissioner, spoke about Hermosa’s cultural history. “I like to distinguish the cultures between the ocean, sand, The Strand, and the Pier,” he said. He then recounted stories of Hermosa’s greatest surfers, volleyball athletes, skaters, and musicians.
Last year’s Leadership class built and stocked 12 “Little Libraries” around Hermosa Beach to boost literacy, and create conversation among neighbors.
This year’s class will select a project at its next meeting.
“I wouldn’t mind putting better bleachers at Clark Field,” new class member Peter Cannon said.
The 16-year Hermosa resident said he joined because he felt it was time “to step up and give back to the community and to take on some responsibility.”
Not all of the new members are Hermosa residents.
“Even though I don’t live here, I spend a lot of my time here. I’ve been in groups where it was about all of Los Angeles. I’d rather be a big fish in a small pond, where I know I’m making an impact,” Emily Rosener said.
She proposed an “Emergency Preparedness Day.”
“It’s not sexy but what if an earthquake happens? Or a fire? It’s hard to find the time to look into these things, but if there was a date designated for it, residents could get the information they need, and buy an emergency kit,” she said.
Rosener said she was pleased Leadership Hermosa isn’t ego-focused. “The leadership style is very collaborative. It really comes down to what’s best for the community, though it may not be what you think is best, or what’s on your personal agenda,” she said.
Cannon said he learned at the meeting from Lange, “When abbreviating Hermosa Beach the ‘B’ is lowercase (Hb), which distinguishes it from Huntington Beach, which capitalizes both letters.”
The program was started by former Mayor Art Yoon in 2003 to “foster a life-long love for our city by educating existing and potential leaders within the City of Hermosa Beach,” according to its website.
For more about Leadership Hermosa visit LeadershipHermosa.org. ER
