by Garth Meyer
Harbor Commissioner Jim Light was appointed the new mayor of Redondo Beach Tuesday night, Feb. 20, to serve out the remaining 13 months of the late Bill Brand’s final term.
The city council voted 3-2 to make the choice after extensive public input, including many endorsements of Light and a suggestion that Brand himself named Light on his deathbed as who he wanted to succeed him.
Light first said this in public comment to the council and Councilman Nils Nehrenheim said so as well.
“I know what he wanted because I was there and I asked him,” Nehrenheim said to a hushed council chambers Tuesday night. “On Friday morning (Feb. 9) at 9:30 I asked Mayor Brand and he pointed to Jim.”
Brand died that same evening.
Councilman Scott Behrendt, an attorney, noted that, “I wish he had said it to me. He didn’t, so I am precluded from considering that.”
He voted against a motion from Nehrenheim to appoint Light. Councilmember Paige Kaluderovic, also a “no” vote, made an earlier motion to give residents a week to submit (applications), then the council would interview candidates and resume the discussion March 5.
“I think we need to take the time and do our jobs properly,” she said.
The council had 30 days to appoint a new mayor. That in itself was up for some debate Tuesday as City Attorney Mike Webb surmised that the city charter does not specify when that 30 days begins. Webb advised the council, to be legally safe, if it was ever challenged, to deem Feb. 9 the starting point.
Behrendt made a motion to appoint Chadwick Castle as mayor, the current chair of the city’s budget and finance commission, whom Councilman Zein Obagi, Jr., also spoke of highly.
Bob Pinzler was another name that came up as a potential top choice. The former city councilmember called in earlier in public comment, nominating Light.
The council asked Light, 64, to return to the podium for questions, and Obagi asked him what he thought his role would be – would he potentially veto this council?
Light said he was not looking to do that, but if the council “suddenly did a 180 and voted to put 2,700 condos on the AES site” he might have to go against them.
Mayor Pro-Tem Todd Loewenstein asked Light if he understood that, “you are the mayor for the entire city, not just the waterfront.”
Light said yes. After Nehrenheim’s motion, Loewenstein called for the vote.
Following the “yes” from Nehrenheim, Kaluderovic’s “no,” and Obagi’s “yes,” it was Behrendt’s turn.
A pause, he said nothing for a few moments, then, “I do believe we need a unifier,” and that, “I can’t consider what was or wasn’t said by Bill,” he said.
Behrendt added that he wanted to see Light continue his work “outside this building, on the front lines fighting for Redondo Beach.”
He voted no.
Tied 2–2, Loewenstein would settle the matter.
“I was hoping we’d have some unity on the council… I will vote ‘yea’ on Mr. Light,” Loewenstein said. “He’s our new mayor.”
City Attorney Webb then asked Light if he would like to be sworn in then, or next week.
Light, who fought emotions throughout the meeting, said he was not prepared to, but since the crowd was encouraging it, he agreed.
He stepped toward council row and held up his right hand for City Clerk Eleanor Manzano and repeated the oath of office, his face contorting and his voice breaking to get through it. Earlier, Light described Brand as his “best friend.”
Others who had come to the podium Tuesday to ask to be considered for the mayor’s seat included Jeff Ginsburg, former District 1 city councilman, Chadwick Castle, Julie Young, an alternate on the city Charter Review Committee, Joan Irvine, founder of “Keep the Esplanade Beautiful”, and Julian Peters, a 27-year District Five resident who said, “I’d like to be the Bill Brand for Artesia Boulevard.”
Those endorsing Light included fellow Harbor Commissioner Roger Carlson, South Bay Parkland Conservancy boardmember Jim Montgomery, who said, “It’s what Bill wants, and it’s hard to say no to Bill”; Craig Cadwallader of the Surfrider Foundation, Mark Hansen of the King Harbor Amenities Working Group, and several other residents.
Councilman Obagi, Jr., said Brand had not expressed a wish to him for anyone in particular to finish his term, “but I don’t doubt that he said it,” Obagi said. “It seemed like Bill was going to beat this.”
In Obagi’s questioning of Light, he asked about what he described as the biggest decision facing the city.
“My preference for the C-Line is Hawthorne Boulevard, if we have to have it at all,” Light said.
Obagi asked if Light would refrain from endorsing anyone for mayor in next year’s election. Light said yes, and that, “I am not going to run for mayor or city council.”
Loewenstein reiterated the question and Light assured him he would not run for mayor.
“There’s nobody who knows more about policy in this town than you,” Loewenstein said to Light. “Experience is important here.”
Nehrenheim asked if Light’s focus would be to go out to the larger agencies and advocate for the city. Light said yes.
In Councilmember Kaluderovic’s comments, she said, “This is a very big decision for our city, it not being an election, but the five of us, and this being the first time we’ve discussed it… We should be taking the time to get proper community feedback and interview candidates…”
City Treasurer Eugene Solomon, speaking for himself, said, “This is your decision, but it’s not about what you want… Don’t pick somebody because you don’t want them to tell you ‘no.’”
The last time Redondo Beach appointed a mayor was 1950, when Charles H. Wortham resigned and the council chose a 1940s Redondo mayor named Clyde Marsh to serve out the term.
Light worked closely with Brand for more than 20 years on the cause to shutdown the AES power plant and reign in development on the waterfront. A member of the general plan advisory committee since 2017 – until it closed its work last month – the current president of South Bay Parkland Conservancy, Light is a retired aerospace engineer and 13-year Air Force veteran originally from rural Pennsylvania. He has lived in Redondo Beach since 1989.
Light will vacate his role with the Harbor Commission since he is now mayor.
Once he was sworn in Tuesday, the council went to a 10-minute break before he took his seat at the center of the council, the blue and white electronic placard now switched from “Brand: Mayor” to “Light: Mayor.”
“Do we have an agenda for him?” Obagi said. ER
