Beware the Politicians Who Created a Mess…
Support the Others, Who Are Repairing the Damage
From Decades of Cronyism and Overdevelopment
Three years ago this week the California Coastal Commission, in an 8-2 decision, approved your Ballot Measure C without ANY modifications. This was a first in California Coastal Commission history, for a resident-written ballot measure amending a local coastal zoning plan. Measure C was written by residents to ensure that the public property that is your Pier and Harbor will not be turned into a giant shopping mall.
It was also a clear rebuke to the private developers pushing the shopping mall project, CenterCal Properties and Westport Capital, who sued the city claiming Measure C was illegal. Driven only by greed, CenterCal and Westport were once again proven dead wrong.
Despite that victory, Redondo Beach remains at a standstill for any revitalization in the harbor, thanks to City Council members Laura Emdee and Christian Horvath.
Here’s why: when CenterCal and Westport Capital were lobbying then-Mayor Aspel (who lost re-election shortly thereafter) and Horvath and Emdee, Aspel found an unknown, rubber-stamp candidate to fill a third, “conveniently vacated”, council seat. With his appointed councilperson in place, Aspel, Emdee and Horvath were able tie up the city with a council majority vote ramming through a binding lease agreement mere weeks before the 2017 election in which the voters rejected the whole project.
Binding the city, in the moments before the vote, was a clear attempt to render the vote of the residents null and void. It didn’t work, and it has damaged Redondo Beach.
To date, the litigation created by this, Aspel’s last-ditch effort to saddle Redondo Beach residents with a mall the size of 5 Walmarts in our harbor, has cost the city an estimated $20 Million dollars, and created at least 5 separate lawsuits.
The good news is that, with your support, the city has won several court rulings in these lawsuits and is now able to initiate long overdue work on the harbor. Visitors can now see how major renovations to the parking structure are being completed.
Additionally, the city is once again in negotiations with existing leaseholders. The Harbor Commission is also working on the new amenities master plan, with updates out to bid. That work can begin once CenterCal and Westport are finally kicked to the curb and swept out from Redondo Beach for good.
Thankfully, in just the past few months, with a new resident-centered majority on the City Council, great things are taking place. The most obvious can be seen with additional funds allocated to improve storefronts along the Artesia business corridor, continuing a program first initiated by District 1 Council Member Nils Nehrenheim and District 2 Council Member Todd Loewenstein.
With a new council majority that gets things done, we can finally move on and let compromised and irrelevant council members Laura Emdee and Christian Horvath fade away into obscurity. Redondo Beach is through with councilmembers like them who work on behalf of real-estate developers against the residents.
We can now repair the damage done to Redondo Beach by CenterCal and Westport Capital and their elected lackeys Aspel, Emdee and Horvath.
Redondo Beach is a great city to live in so let’s make it better by Revitalizing Not Supersizing it!
We are getting closer to our goal but ROW still needs your help to defend Redondo Beach residents from unscrupulous developers and crony corruption, and to help build the future you voted for at the ballot box, so please donate Here.