The Hermosa Beach City Council on Tuesday identified community policing, downtown revitalization and the 8th Street sidewalk as among the highest priorities for the city in the next six to nine months.
Tuesday’s meeting followed up on the council’s June 6 strategic plan workshop in which the council identified 25 action items to further the city’s five main goals: commitment to a safe community; a financially sound government; high performance with first-class services; sustainable living conditions, and enhanced economic development through revitalized downtown and entry corridors.
With consultant Lyle Sumek participating via Skype, Mayor Caroline Petty initially expressed hesitation about creating a “pecking order” that would make items at the bottom of the list seem less important. City Manager Tom Bakaly reassured her that all action items are priorities, but said those identified as a top priority would be treated with more urgency.
The action items were categorized as “policy,” meaning each requires a policy-related decision or major funding decision by council, or as “management,” meaning the council has already set overall direction but may require further attention.
From the list of “targets for action” to support the city’s policy goals, the council identified and voted for the following as top priorities: community policing, which includes initiating foot patrol, hosting a police open house and creating a police community advisory board this fall; long-term financial plans and debt policies; street program funding for catch-up and ongoing maintenance; downtown revitalization strategy; PCH/Aviation Avenue mobility and improvement project; and hotel development.
The following were identified as “high priorities”: homeless strategy and action plan, compensation policy and labor contracts, a comprehensive city facilities plan, south park phase 2, before/after school program and policy direction for water.
Among the 15 identified “management” goals, the council voted to prioritize finding a temporary location for the fire/police tower, which is at risk for collapsing and is slated for demolition, as well as developing the 8th Street sidewalk, drawing up a blueprint for a low carbon future in the city’s general plan and rolling out municipal carbon neutral plan.
The following was identified as a “high” management priority: public safety service and staffing study; priority-based budgeting; library planning; community theater development; and trans-pacific fiber optic cable.
At Mayor Caroline Petty’s request, the council will meet for its closed session at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 25, followed by a regular council meeting at 7 p.m. ER
