by Garth Meyer
The first Easy Reader/BeachLife/presented by South Bay Boardriders Redondo Beach candidates forum got underway at sunset Feb. 20 at the old library at Veterans Park, with a standing-room crowd.
Moderator Marcus “Goodie” Goodloe quizzed mayoral candidates last.
He began with a question about pickleball courts, then about the five candidates’ visions for the city and other matters.
Jeff Ginsburg talked about “working together with everyone.”
Georgette Gantner referred to her mother, who told her, “Always have something to look forward to.”
“We are a beach town,” City Councilman Nils Nehrenheim said. “Outdoor living… revitalize the harbor for coastal activity.”
“We’re beyond the period of 20 years of stagnation,” Mayor Jim Light said. “We’ve shown we can revitalize without selling out and supersizing.”
Goodloe queried the five candidates for a specific vision for the waterfront.
“I disagree with having just a park down there because we don’t have the money to support it,” said Joan Irvine.
“The vision is already in the works,” Light said, noting the Harbor Amenities Plan, boat ramp and Marine Mammal Care Center possibility at the site of the old Joe’s Crab Shack. He said he created a commercial plan for the harbor, to include a market hall and boutique hotel at the top of the Pier parking structure.
Nehrenheim spoke along a similar line.
“We have revitalizing happening; left, right and center. I made the motion to start the King Harbor Amenities Plan. I’m using Dana Point as a model,” he said, of how that city made an overall plan, then put it into action.
Gantner talked about how Redondo Beach has had “a lot of measures, lawsuits, payouts… Measure C is so restrictive, our tax base is one of the lowest.”
Goodloe asked a hypothetical question: if the next mayor had a deal on the table right now for 90% parkland at AES and a 10% strip of housing, would they take it?
Light said he would, if conditions were right. Irvine said she would not.
“More commercial is needed to pay for it,” she said.
Goodloe did not ask the others, switching to the subject of Seaside Lagoon, then the boat ramp.
“What recreational harbor does not have a boat ramp?” Nehrenheim said. “Our hands have been slapped by the Coastal Commission.”
All five candidates raised their hand in support of a boat ramp.
Retail cannabis? All raised their hand in support, except Gantner.
“Revenue, that’s great, but individually no, I don’t support it,” she said.
Goodloe asked the candidates if they had accepted any money from cannabis operators during the campaign. All but Irvine said they had not.
Goodloe asked if the candidates would fund annual increases for police & fire department employees.
Light said he was endorsed by the Redondo Beach Police Officers Association. Nehrenheim drew applause for saying he is not taking, nor seeking police or fire endorsements, wanting “independence.”
The next question was about Artesia Boulevard.
“With having mixed-use, you immediately create community,” Irvine said.
Nehrenheim said he wanted to bring Riviera Village to Artesia Boulevard.
Goodloe asked Light why he previously gave his word that he would not run for election.
“When I said it, I meant it,” he answered. “But you get into a situation, you learn what you didn’t know… I’ve been a force multiplier for the city.”
Light noted that city attorney Mike Webb, who has been on opposite sides of legal battles, asked him to run.
“There is a Spanish proverb. The only people who never changed their mind are idiots or they’re dead.” Light said.
Irvine criticized the process that led to Light’s appointment as mayor, after the death of Bill Brand a year ago.
“There was no process,” she said.
“It’s the same process,” Nehrenheim said of when the council had to replace Ginsburg, when he resigned a city council seat in 2016.
Goodloe then tilled some Doris Kearns Goodwin-high ground about empathy and leaders being a “molder of consensus.”
“Working with people and getting stuff done,” Ginsburg summed up, of his view.
Gantner said she wants more public art. Nehrenheim said he wants “Riviera Village’s success all over the city.”
“Restore Redondo Beach to the crown jewel of the South Bay as it once was,” Light said. ER
