Letters to the Editor 10-23-25
‘Realistic’ foot dragging
Dear ER:
“It faulted the city for failing to identify locations for a sufficient number of “realistic” new housing units to satisfy the city’s RHNA allotment” (“AES ruling against Redondo may open door to Builder’s Remedy developments statewide” Oct. 16, 2025). Amen to this. Foot dragging against any development has created a city of dead retail zones like the Galleria, Artesia Blvd, and a host of vacancies along Sepulveda Boulevard. Rents are skyrocketing, people can’t afford to rent due to the constrained apartment supply…yet commercial properties sit vacant. The solution is clear: rezone for housing element overlays and encourage density in under used commercial only spaces like the Galleria. Bring foot traffic, walkability, and modern urban planning to Redondo. New construction brings badly needed tax revenues and commercial activity to help subsidize all those Prop 13 capped tax bases
Weir
ERnews comment
San Pedro ‘utopia’
Dear ER:
San Pedro probably has added 50% more housing units to the town in recent years (“AES ruling against Redondo may open door to Builder’s Remedy developments statewide” Oct. 16, 2025). We have so many giant new condo developments throughout this area that it has gotten ridiculous. It has not led to a decrease in prices, and in fact has led to an increase in prices.
The solutions put out by politicians are failures. All they’ve done for San Pedro is make it more dense, add more traffic, and made driving, bicycling and walking a miserable experience, and much more dangerous for everyone. Emergency vehicles can’t get in and out, but it’s the utopia Newsom and his cronies want. The only way to fix this is to stop voting for people like Newsom and the current legislature.
Richard Wagoner
San Pedro
Suspected
Dear ER:
Last week’s Easy Reader News letter to the editor “Should’a known” (Oct. 16, 2025) and reporter Garth Meyer’s article (“AES ruling against Redondo may open door to Builder’s Remedy developments statewide” Oct. 16, 2025) revealed what many already suspected: Redondo Beach’s long-questioned Housing Element has now been judicially exposed for what it is — a plan more theoretical than real. Once again, following the Rumsfeld framework, there are known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Known Knowns: The Facts Everyone Pretends Not to Know: The appellate court didn’t need to “decertify” Redondo Beach’s Housing Element to expose its flaws. It found the plan noncompliant with state law, citing overlay zones that promised housing only on paper. Known Unknowns: The Art of Saying Nothing with Confidence: After the ruling, staff told the Planning Commission that the court “did not make a specific ruling on the Housing Element,” that the City’s position is it “remains certified,” and that commissioners were advised not to discuss the decision while the City “evaluates next steps.” In the aftermath of the appellate court hearing, transparency becomes choreography — and choreography isn’t governance. Unknown Unknowns — The Fallout Still Unfolding: How many Builder’s Remedy projects will now re-emerge? How many cities will take Redondo’s path — mistaking certification for compliance and litigation for leadership? Redondo Beach didn’t just fail to plan — it planned to fail, then certified the wreckage.
Pat Healy
Redondo Beach
Own it
Dear ER:
Redondo Beach Mayor Jim Light and the late, former Mayor Bill Brand own this (“AES ruling against Redondo may open door to Builder’s Remedy developments statewide,” ER October 16, 2025). As usual, Light points his lying finger at others. What’s so ironic about this whole mess, is that it’s the liberal Democrat politicians in Sacramento whom Light, Brand and their supporters vote for in every election are forcing this Marxist garbage down their throats.
Gart Williams
ERNews comment
Unintended fiscal consequences
Dear ER:
While I appreciate Assemblymember Muratsuchi’s recent visit with him, we did not talk about how housing mandates impact the character of a city (“SB legislators talk A.I, e-bikes, housing,” ER October 16, 2025). Of private land under Redondo’s jurisdiction, 85% is zoned for housing. Only 15% is zoned for commercial and industrial use. We average $7.60 more city revenue per square foot for commercial than for residential. And if you apply the cost of city services, housing becomes a net loss.
Each nine-year RHNA (Regional Housing Needs Assessment) cycle erodes our commercial space to increase housing. That means our revenue base is eroding with each cycle. But it is actually exacerbated beyond that. Online sales tax is distributed based on brick and mortar commercial space. So as we convert commercial into residential we lose online sales tax as well. And to add fuel to the fire, the other mandates beyond RHNA incentivize commercial property owners to sit on their property until they get a developer who wants to build housing. We’ve already seen one property owner pull a project in process for commercial development and resubmit as high density housing.
Redondo has already spent over $2.6M on our housing element and on housing mandate related lawsuits, and we allocated millions more in our last budget. With a $3.5 million General Fund deficit, these housing mandates threaten cities with abundant housing into fiscal insolvency.
Redondo is ranked in the top 5% in housing density across the state. We have 85% of our land dedicated to housing already, most of it multi family housing. About half our units are rental. And 11% of our housing is below the 80% market rate Federal standard. We are the only Beach City with a Housing Authority and Section 8 voucher program. We are subsidizing housing for about 500 residents including veterans. We are the only Beach City with pallet shelters and permanent supportive housing.
How bad would it look if a city like Redondo — a model of housing density, diversity and homeless programs — would slip into insolvency, directly driven by the impacts of the state housing mandates?
Meanwhile the cities and Counties of the legislators leading this glut of mandates create loopholes to save their own wealthy constituents. This is just wrong.
Jim Light
Mayor
Redondo Beach
Go electric
Dear ER:
Railroad traffic along the North Redondo Beach right of way is one or two trains a day. With the proposed Metro C Line project, two more tracks will be laid down, destroying large heritage trees, removing green space, and destroying a tiny neighborhood. This is not a compromise for the over 1,100 families who are adjacent to this project. And yes, these are families who likely depend on mass transit, and are simply asking for the project to be moved over three blocks to Hawthorne Boulevard, rather than cut through their disadvantaged neighborhood. The electric buses have always been in the mix, but Metro likely ignored them because they aren’t as flashy. Now, many environmental groups are criticizing Metro for not increasing their electric buses. These buses would keep Metro from spending our tax money on expensive rail projects, and secure clean mass transit, without decimating neighborhoods. Have some compassion
Erica Cambridge
ERNews comment
Locals impact, worldwide
Dear ER:
I am so glad Easy Reader featured a former local attorney (“Law Nerd: former Deputy DA livestreams pop culture trials,” ER October 9, 2025). Emily D Baker grew up in Manhattan Beach, attended Mira Costa HS, UMass and Southwest Law School. It is great to hear of the locals who have made an impact worldwide, as some have and some continue to do.
Charles Didinger
Hermosa Beach
EDB priority
Dear ER:
I love watching (and listening to) EDB! If I’m tuned into another legal livestream and realize EDB is on, I immediately hit pause like, “Sorry, other lawyer person, priorities!” Her analysis is sharp, her reactions are gold, and that perfect mix of real talk and humor? Unmatched. Law Nerds unite!
WA Wong
Deflection
Dear ER:
On Saturday, I attended Redondo Beach District 3 Councilwoman Paige Kaluderovic’s virtual community meeting. A 30-plus year resident raised a long-standing concern about excessive noise and safety along Prospect Avenue and its impact on the quality of life for hundreds of residents. Rather than address the issue directly, Kaluderovic deflected responsibility, suggesting that I, a Public Works and Sustainability Commissioner, should have handled it.
While I understand Councilwoman Kaluderovic is relatively new to her role, it’s important to clarify that City Commissions are advisory bodies. They do not set or enforce policy. According to the City Charter, decisions on commission recommendations require a majority vote from the City Council to move forward.
Shifting blame to a single commissioner for an issue squarely within the Council’s jurisdiction is both inappropriate and misleading, especially when the Councilwoman herself has not responded to repeated resident complaints. As an elected official, she has both the authority and the resources to act. During her campaign, she assured residents she would address this very issue — a promise that, to date, remains unfulfilled.
Her unwillingness to lead on this issue is the reason noise violations along Prospect and Paulina avenues persist. We urge her to stop deflecting and start problem-solving for the Beryl heights residents.
Candace Allen Nafissi, MPA
Public Works Commissioner
Redondo Beach