Mayor targets light rail, Galleria, harbor in State of the City

by Garth Meyer

“It is hard to fill his giant flip-flops,” said Redondo Beach Mayor Jim Light, in his State of the City address May 9 at Sonesta Hotel, the appointed mayor paying tribute to the late Bill Brand. 

Light presented a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award for the former mayor, accepted by Brand’s sister, Sallie Cintron. 

The “State of the City” included the announcement of a letter from President Biden commending Brand, and a speech Congressman Ted Lieu gave at the U.S. Capitol, recalling Brand’s contributions to Redondo Beach.

In Light’s talk, he noted the Redondo Beach Police Department is back to being fully staffed, the fire department has two new engine trucks, and homelessness is down 60% from 2020.

“We are approaching Functional Zero – people exiting homelessness faster than entering it in the city,” he said.

Other items the new mayor highlighted were that the city is in “active discussions with anchor tenants” for a waterfront education building at the site of the former Joe’s Crab Shack, and a boat ramp design contract is being sought. A boat ramp is slated to be built in 2028, near Seaside Lagoon. 

“In one year, I’ve never seen so much move so quickly,” Light said of the city’s waterfront amenities plan.

Sallie Cintron, sister of the late Bill Brand, accepts his Lifetime Achievement Award from Mayor Jim Light. Photo by Garth Meyer

The mayor also talked about the proposed Grubhaus project on Artesia Boulevard, with its 12 different kitchens, last Wednesday’s Friendship Campus topping-off ceremony, and in King Harbor, dredging work underway, and coming breakwall repair. 

He gave updates on the “safing” (safe mode process) of the decommissioned AES power plant, and said his focus for his remaining nine months in office is to “fight for the C-Line,” (light rail extension option for Hawthorne Boulevard), “get South Bay Social District moving (on the site of the South Bay Galleria),” and revitalizing the harbor.

Light said when he was appointed in February he would not run for election next March.

The “State of the City,” an annual Chamber of Commerce event, also included video addresses from local State Senator Ben Allen and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell. ER