Nehrenheim, Loewenstein served with subpoena during council meeting
A young man in a hooded sweatshirt approached city council row late in the fifth hour of the Feb. 7 meeting, pulling two documents out of a FedEx envelope. He set one in front of Councilman Nils Nehrenlheim and the other in front of Councilman Todd Loewestein.
The documents were subpoenas directing the two councilmembers to produce documents related to a breach of contract suit against the city filed by Redondo Beach Waterfront, LLC.
The council asked the young man to retreat, go to the podium and identify himself. He did, saying he was a process server.
“I think it’s an attempt to intimidate and embarrass us, and it failed at both,” Loewenstein said later. “It’s par for the course for the company involved. Being subpoenaed in the course of doing city business. I’m pretty sure (the residents) are not happy about that.”
Redondo Beach Waterfront is an affiliate of CenterCal, the property development company once slated to build a $400 million revamp of part of the Redondo waterfront.
Police use two new tools at Super Bowl 10k/5k
Redondo Beach Police used two tools at the 2023 Super Bowl Sunday race for the first time — e-bikes for patrol and a “sky tower.” The department’s two e-bikes were ridden by its school resource officers, who use them at local schools.
“The e-bikes were so effective we want to add two more next year,” said Police Chief Joe Hoffman. “For getting in and out of places that you can’t with a (patrol car) or motorcycle.”
The department has been seeking grant money to add two e-bikes to its existing pair.
The sky tower is a $250,000 moveable riser — with tinted windows and air conditioning — paid for by a Department of Homeland Security grant to be shared by South Bay police departments. The camera-mounted device was set up near the 10k/5k start/finish, with one officer inside.
Construction underway on Friendship Campus
The Friendship Foundation received final approval Feb. 10 from the California Division of the State Architect to start construction on the new Friendship Campus, at the former Franklin Elementary School site.
Operations began Monday for earthwork, utility preparation and groundwork on the 64,000 square foot facility. The general contractor is Project Delivery Group, with offices in California, Florida, Oregon and the Bahamas.
“The construction landscape continues to be challenging and we’re grateful to Project Delivery Group for their flexibility and creativity in working with us to maximize our budget for this innovative build,” said Yossi Mintz, Friendship Foundation founder and Friendship Campus executive director. “We want to work with companies who truly understand how special this Campus will be for diverse students to find a lifelong passion and purpose.”
The $55 million Friendship Campus, The Greenberg Family/Skechers Center, is expected to be finished in 2025.
Ballots arrive for March 7 election
Ballots have arrived in the mail for the March 7 municipal election in Redondo Beach.
Included are five ballot measures, two city council races, two school board seats, a city treasurer race and one for city clerk.
For District Three city council, Candace Nafissi runs against Paige Kaluderovic. In District Five, Scott Behrendt runs unopposed. At Redondo Unified School District, two of the at-large seats are up for election; that of David Witkin, who finishes his second and final term, and the seat of Raymur Flinn, who runs for re-election to a second term. Jerome Chang and Byung Cho are also candidates.
For city treasurer, Matt Kilroy runs against Eugene Solomon.
Longtime City Clerk Eleanor Manzano runs unopposed for her position (without term limits).
Ballot measures before voters include a decision whether to change to ranked-choice voting – a system to avoid run-offs in close elections. Another measure is to assess a tax on the upcoming two marijuana stores in town; another regards public contracting and purchases; and another would remove gendered-language from the city charter, originally written in 1949.
Ballots must be postmarked by March 7 to be counted. ER
