by Garth Meyer
Tonya McKenzie, a nine-year Redondo Beach resident, and Redondo Chamber boardmember, is the sole challenger in the Oct. 19 recall election against District 4 Councilman Zein Obagi, Jr.
If residents vote to recall him, McKenzie will assume his council seat.
She said she was encouraged to run by former councilman John Gran, who lost his seat to Obagi in 2021.
“The district needs someone to go toe-to-toe to fight for North Redondo and help unite the city,” McKenzie said. “If I complain about something, I’m also willing to work to be part of the solution.”
She, husband Ray and their four children moved to Redondo from the Bay Area when he was recruited by the cybersecurity firm Telesign.
McKenzie then founded Sand & Shores Public Relations, continuing similar work she did in Oakley and Brentwood, California.
She graduated from Cal-State Northridge with a degree in sociology. As a senior, she served as a senator in student government when the commuter university was deciding how to spend federal disaster relief money, following the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
Referendum efforts failed twice, before finally passing.
“I learned from helping to put together that referendum,” said McKenzie. “How to be an active listener and re-tool it to get people to support it was a big lesson for me.”
The vote resulted in the elimination of the Cal-State Northridge football team.
“It was about what the people wanted, not what we wanted,” said McKenzie.
Soon after college, McKenzie’s mother died, and she took on responsibility for raising her two younger sisters, ages 5 and 7.
She worked for a P.R. firm – O.N.E. Color Communications in Alameda and later the YMCA Mt. Diablo Region as associate executive director for four years.
“In order to provide services for people you have to look for their pain point,” she said.
McKenzie also worked as a (medical) aesthetician at Diamond Hills Sports Club and Spa in Oakley for three years and was on the board of the Oakley Chamber of Commerce for seven years, four as director.
McKenzie’s children are 21, 14 and 12-year-old twins.
As a child herself, at age five, she saw her mother get shot. McKenzie later wrote letters and sent videos to the Department of Corrections to block parole for the convicted shooter.
“When you understand the system you are a part of, it can work for you,” she said. “Here in Redondo, it’s the same thing. It’s the system.”
A particular goal of hers if she ends up on the council relates to housing.
McKenzie gives qualified support for AES-site owner Leo Pustilnikov’s plan for extensive residential development.
This ties into how to address what the state wants.
“I would like to see the 1,534 (state-mandated, Regional Housing Needs Assessment) housing units divided equitably across the city, with some at the AES site,” she said. “I would like to see more unity in our leadership. How North Redondo has become the stepchild of the city I don’t know. Aesthetically, I want Artesia (Boulevard) to look good… To find ways to galvanize a holistic view of the city…”
She made a comparison to another commercial district in town.
“When you go to Riviera Village, it feels different,” McKenzie said. “Most people come into the city through Artesia. It should receive the same level of care as the rest of the city.”
McKenzie proposed a farmers market in North Redondo to “bring people out to commune.”
She described the Wednesday, October 19 date for the recall election as “an act of voter suppression.”
“This is unprecedented. I haven’t been able to find anywhere where there was an election on a Wednesday.”
McKenzie attributes it to a desire to confuse voters, and reduce turnout.
“This is our opportunity to let the rest of the city know that we do pay attention,” she said.
The recall, which included a signature gathering effort by Elliot Lewis, CEO of Catalyst Cannabis Co. in Long Beach, has been described by Obagi supporters as out-of-town special interests meddling in Redondo Beach.
McKenzie disputes that assertion, saying that District Four residents want a more suitable listener.
“The way Zein has acted with his constituents, eventually this would have happened.” she said. “I just believe Redondo Beach would be a better place by embracing the whole city versus parceling it out.” ER
