Mike Cook, Redondo Beach I.T., wi-fi projects proliferate

Redondo Beach Information Technology Director Mike Cook, pictured at a former colleague's wedding. Photo courtesy Mike Cook

by Garth Meyer

Mike Cook, Redondo Beach I.T. director, gave a report during city strategic planning last week.

Wi-Fi was put into the community building at Wilderness Park, he said.

“We’ve replaced every printer in the city, every copier, every iPad,” Cook added. 

He was hired for the city’s head I.T. job in May 2023 after the retirement of Chris Benson, a 42-year Redondo Beach veteran.

“We are 95% done replacing every computer in the city,” Cook said.

The less-than-a thousand square foot room at city hall that contains servers is 1/3-full.

“We have replaced virtual servers (hardware),” he said. 

The Ipads he referenced were mainly for the Police Department.

 “Police officers, nowadays, they’re walking computers,” Cook said.

His seven-person department also refreshed all iPhones and iPads for the Redondo Beach Fire Department.

“We are in the process of doing this for Public Works,” Cook said.

Funding for all of this work comes from the city’s I.T. Equipment Replacing program ($247,000 in the fiscal 2024/25 city budget).  

Originally from Torrance, Cook moved to Cambria, Calif., where, as a junior high kid, he started a business building computers for private entities and community departments.

He went to Cal-Poly for Computer Science, got interested in information security and worked for the university after graduation. He then followed his boss to San Jose State, where he served as director of cybersecurity for 36,000 students. 

He later got an MBA with an I.T. concentration through CSU-Dominguez Hills.

After working as the I.T. director for the San Jose Water District, Cook saw the opening in Redondo Beach.

“The big thing right now is, we just went live with firewalls a few days ago,” he reported to Easy Reader Monday, about further I.T. projects in Redondo. 

The project at Wilderness Park put Wi-Fi just in the building, not outside.

“So you could use that community center for more than four brick walls and a roof,” Cook said. 

A large “idea board” was installed at the Redondo Beach Historical Museum.

Seaside Lagoon got its own Wi-Fi, as well as for the Pier and International Boardwalk.

“The waterfront had very, very poor cellular service,” said Cook. 

To set it up, the city contracted with Kajeet, Inc., for the six-month project, completed in May. To do it, they placed white antenna boxes on poles.

“They kind of treated our waterfront like an outdoor venue,” Cook said.

Next up is installing wi-fi at the homeless pallet shelter, to be done before the end of the year. 

His predecessor carried the city from typewriters and mainframes to now.

How does Cook compare his Redondo Beach city work to other parts of his career?

“I find it to be much more personal,” he said. ER

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