📬 Councilmember Ray Jackson | Hermosa Beach | April 20, 2026

Dear Hermosa Beach neighbors,

A lot landed this past week. Council approved the Nike After Dark Tour 5-0 for October. A Santa Barbara judge held the line on Sable. The Coastal Commission wrapped three days of work inland in Gonzales. Closer to home, Kelly Courts reopened, the 14th Street restrooms came back online, and a Hermosa chef took home Easy Reader's Best of the Beach. Here is what you need to know.

🌊 Environment & Protecting Our Coast

🔹 Coastal Commission: three days in Gonzales, now in the books. Wednesday through Friday, the Commission convened at the Dennis and Janice Caprara Community Center in Gonzales, with Commissioner and County Supervisor Chris Lopez hosting us in the heart of the Salinas Valley. The agenda worked through the full range of coastal protection, public access, and growth-balance questions the Commission exists to answer, with strong participation from the Gonzales Youth Council at the venue they helped design and build.

→ 🎯 My take: Holding meetings inland reminds us that coastal stewardship is not a boardwalk town's private business. It belongs to every Californian with a stake in what happens at the water's edge. Watching young people from Gonzales walk us through a facility they helped build was a lesson Hermosa could learn from, and a reminder of why youth leadership matters in the work ahead.

→ ⚡ Next stop: The Commission reconvenes May 13 through 15 in San Pedro. Plenty of coastal issues with direct implications for the South Bay will be on that agenda, and I will report back.

👉 View the Coastal Commission meeting schedule

🔹 Sable Offshore: the court held the line. On Friday, Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Donna Geck rejected Sable's request to lift the preliminary injunction against restarting its pipeline system. The ruling went further than a procedural hold: it is the first time a court has determined that the federal Defense Production Act order does not relieve Sable of its obligations under California law. A contempt hearing is now set for May 22, because Sable has continued moving oil in apparent defiance of the injunction.

→ 🎯 My take: This was the right outcome. The principle that our shoreline belongs to the public was settled at the ballot box in 1972, and no emergency order rewrites that. As a Coastal Commissioner, I will stay on this one through May 22 and beyond.

👉 Read the court ruling coverage

🔹 Culture Club South Bay wins a Whale Tail Grant. Congratulations to Ally Hales and her team at Culture Club South Bay, recipients of a Whale Tail Grant from the California Coastal Commission. The grant funds youth access, coastal education, and belonging at the beach for our young people. Every time someone buys a Whale Tail license plate, they are funding exactly this kind of work.

→ 💡 Why it matters: Coastal access is not abstract. It is a kid in a wetsuit on a Saturday morning learning that the ocean belongs to them too. I am proud to see Culture Club recognized with this support.

🔹 Earth Day is Wednesday. April 22 marks Earth Day, and in Hermosa that is more than a calendar note. A healthy coast, clean air, and a livable city are the daily work of this office. Take the day to thank the neighbors who show up on cleanup Saturdays, the volunteers who staff our parks, and the Public Works crews who keep Hermosa moving. 🌎

🏛️ At City Hall

🔹 Nike After Dark Tour LA: approved 5-0. On Tuesday, April 14, Council voted unanimously to approve the Nike After Dark Tour LA 2026, a 13.1-mile women's half marathon scheduled for Saturday, October 24. Nike has committed roughly $80,000 in fees to the city, a $50,000 community impact contribution, 100 race bibs for Hermosa Beach residents, 30 bibs each for Mira Costa and Redondo Union high schools, and a $50,000 sports equipment donation to the schools.

→ 🎯 My take: This was a chance for Hermosa Beach to compete on a global stage, and that is how I voted. Nike is positioning this as the only North American stop on its international women's running series, and I wanted our city showing up in the story. Now comes the harder work of making sure the October event delivers for residents, businesses, and public safety at the level our community expects.

👉 Read the full decision (Easy Reader)

🔹 Coming up: April 28 Budget Study Session. Next Tuesday, Council convenes for a combined Budget Study Session and Regular Session starting at 5:00 PM. The Budget Study Session is where the numbers shaping next fiscal year's priorities get their first full public airing. Pier repairs, public works, safety staffing, parks, all of it lives in these conversations.

→ ⚡ Why you should care: Residents who want to shape how Hermosa spends next year have their clearest window at Budget Study Sessions, not after the fact. If a specific line item matters to you, that is the meeting to weigh in.

👉 View the City Council agendas page

🏘️ Housing

🔹 South Bay Regional Housing Trust convenes this Thursday. The inaugural meeting of the Trust is Thursday, April 23. Council voted unanimously on March 10 to join this regional joint powers authority, which will let South Bay cities pool resources for affordable housing financing, revolving loans, and construction bridge funding.

→ 🎯 My take: Housing is a regional problem and a regional solution. Pooled capital gets projects moving faster than any one small city can go alone. I will track what comes out of the first meeting and report back next week.

👉 South Bay Cities Council of Governments

🏆 Local Wins

🔹 Kelly Courts reopen today. As of today, Monday, April 20, the refurbished Kelly Courts basketball courts are open for drop-in public use from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily. Hermosa Beach Youth Basketball contributed premium backboards, and staff delivered on a plan that paired full-height courts with youth-friendly lower hoops for our younger players.

→ 🎯 My take: Good parks are a public safety strategy, a youth development strategy, and a quality-of-life strategy all at once. I am glad to see these courts back in service on schedule.

👉 Parks and Recreation calendar

🔹 14th Street Restrooms: fully open. Public Works completed the 14th Street restrooms renovation on Tuesday, April 14, and the facility is open to the public. This was a quiet but meaningful project. Restrooms in working order matter to every resident, every visitor, and every family who spends a Saturday at the beach. Thank you to the Public Works team for delivering this one. It is the kind of behind-the-scenes work that rarely gets public credit and adds up to a city that actually works.

🔹 Chef Aaron Dubois: Easy Reader Best Chef. A big congratulations to Chef Aaron Dubois and the crew at Hermosa Brewing Company on taking home Easy Reader's Best of the Beach award for Best Chef. Local. Legit. That is exactly the kind of small-business excellence I want to see celebrated in our downtown food scene.

📅 Upcoming

🔹 Tuesday, April 21, 5:00 PM: Planning Commission meeting. Council Chambers, 1315 Valley Drive.

🔹 Wednesday, April 22: Earth Day. 🌎

🔹 Thursday, April 23: First meeting of the South Bay Regional Housing Trust. The same evening, the Hermosa Beach Museum kicks off Surfers Walk of Fame Weekend with a discussion and Q&A featuring 2026 inductee John Van Hamersveld, the artist behind the Endless Summer poster and Hermosa's own Great Wave mural.

🔹 Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26: Surfers Walk of Fame Weekend. This year's class honors surfers Laurie Wilson and Lonnie Argabright, surfer-shapers Tyler Hazikan and Pat Rawson, and surf artist John Van Hamersveld. Weekend events include the Community Center kickoff, Saturday's Pier Plaza induction ceremony and Spyder Surf Fest, and Sunday's surf contest.

👉 Surfers Walk of Fame details

🔹 Tuesday, April 28, 5:00 PM: City Council Budget Study Session and Regular Meeting. Council Chambers, 1315 Valley Drive.

🔹 Wednesday, May 13 through Friday, May 15: California Coastal Commission meeting in San Pedro.

📱 Stay Connected

If you have a service issue to report, the Go Hermosa! app is the most direct way to get it to the right department at City Hall.

👉 Submit a service request via Go Hermosa!

For community updates and commentary between editions, you can follow me on Instagram.

👉 Follow @RayForHermosa on Instagram

🫡 The Work Continues

There is something satisfying about a week when the moving pieces actually land. A Nike vote. A Sable ruling. Three days of coastal hearings inland. Fresh courts, fresh restrooms, and a Best of the Beach trophy in the hands of a Hermosa chef. I will keep watching what is still in motion, and I will report back as it lands.

Thank you for reading. As always, reach out anytime with questions, concerns, or information you believe I should know. Have a sunny day in our beautiful city.

Working together to build an ever better Hermosa Beach.

Ray Jackson
Councilmember, City of Hermosa Beach
rjackson@hermosabeach.gov