McKenzie wants District Four to share Redondo’s benefits, as well as burdens
by Garth Meyer
Tonya McKenzie is the sole candidate sharing the October 19 Redondo Beach special election ballot for the recall measure against District Four incumbent Zein Obagi, Jr.
If Obagi is recalled, McKenzie will assume his council seat.
McKenzie is a nine-year District Four resident, business owner, Chamber of Commerce board member, appointee to the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, and married mother of four.
Also on the special election ballot is Measure E, a city-wide measure, which if approved, would allow three marijuana stores to open in the city. The city council unanimously opposes Measure E. In August, the council lifted its ban against retail cannabis by passing an ordinance that would allow two shops in the city.
“I have not taken a particular stance on Measure E because I don’t trust what is going on in the city,” McKenzie said. “I feel like something is going to happen after this election. Something is going on that I’m not privy to.”
She noted that City Councilmen Nils Nehrenheim and Todd Loewenstein accepted campaign contributions from Elliott Lewis, whose company Catalyst Cannabis Co., based in Long Beach, underwrote the Measure E initiative, and also contributed approximately $300,000 to the Obagi recall effort.
“There is still no clarity on Nils and Todd inviting Elliot (Lewis, and Catalyst) to Redondo, and they took money from them,” she said.
(Nehrenheim has said it was well before Lewis’ cannabis initiative, and that he has long been a supporter of legalizing retail marijuana in Redondo Beach. Loewenstein has said he was not aware of who Lewis was at the time he accepted the money and later donated it to a non-profit.
“When things hit the fan, I don’t want to be associated with either side (of Measure E),” McKenzie said.
She also has concerns about how city revenue from marijuana sales would be spent.
“There’s going to be shops in District Four, because they dump everything they don’t want in North Redondo. We damn sure need to know we have support. The city’s ordinance (on retail cannabis) does not make that clear. I’m told that ‘you have to trust the council how to spend the money,’ and I don’t.”
She said if cannabis stores open in District Four, and she is on city council, she would designate a certain percentage of the tax revenue to stay in the district.
“I’m just fighting for equity at this point. We’re not even asking for the majority, though we bring in the majority of the tax revenue,” McKenzie said.
She said she has not received campaign contributions from Catalyst Cannabis owner Lewis.
“Not one dime,” she said. “He’s going after Obagi. I signed the recall before I even met him. I didn’t like Zein long before I knew who Elliot was.”
Lewis appeared on her “Sand and Shores” podcast in January, during which he announced the recall effort.
“I get my guests from recommendations,” McKenzie said.
Lewis and Catalyst have printed and distributed flyers supporting her candidacy.
“He hasn’t asked me about it,” she said. “If he’s using me to get rid of Zein, I’m all for it.”
“Eventually, the way (Obagi) p—sses people off, people with money would have done this,” she said.
“He needs to apologize. ‘My bad.’ He’s lying to the residents. He is not obligated to put all that housing in North Redondo,” said McKenzie, noting that AES owner Leo Pustilnikov has proposed housing at the AES site. “Stop saying it’s the state’s fault.”
“Twice as many people signed the petition as voted for him to get in office,” she said.
In addition to the housing issue, she faults Obagi for “an inability to listen and advocate,” his support for Districts One and Two interests over District Four; the mayor pro-tem vote, which bypassed Council Member Laura Emdee in favor of Nehrenheim; and his budget votes.
“The people in District Four don’t want it to look abandoned. We have a whole business district that is underdeveloped. And he wants to put in a bunch of stop signs? Have you seen Artesia?”
She also cites the cost of the Oct. 19 special election, and the fact that Obagi first recused himself from the matter, then voted for it.
“The issue is the issue,” she said. “The issue is housing. The whole truth is Leo (Pustilnikov) opened up AES as an option a long time ago. The issue isn’t the money (that Catalyst spent on the recall).”
McKenzie contends that Pustilnikov’s proposal to build 2,320 or more housing units at the power plant site is a response to Redondo city leaders talking about the property becoming solely a park.
“Leo is flexing his muscles because it’s his piece of property,” she said. “I think it’s good that he exposed (certain city leaders) by proposing what he proposed.”
In response to Pustilnikov’s proposal, she said, “Most businesspeople start high and then negotiate. I think that’s a lot (of units). A lot of congestion. But I think he’s being a shrewd businessman.”
In September, local Facebook pages published documents that showed that McKenzie and her husband owe $63,000 in back taxes.
Obagi said he was not responsible for the IRS liens being publicized.
But during a council discussion two weeks ago about city council salaries, Obagi quipped that he hoped if McKenzie is elected, she will use the council salary to pay her IRS lien.
“He’s childish,” said McKenzie. “He’s childish. He’s childish, period. He has very low situational awareness and emotional intelligence. That’s how we got in this situation.”
McKenzie declined to say if she has a payment agreement with the IRS to repay the back taxes.
“I think it’s racist to ask me about my finances when we don’t talk about his,” she said. ER