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Ray Jackson Newsletter — April 5, 2026
📬 Councilmember Ray Jackson | Hermosa Beach | April 6, 2026
Dear Hermosa Beach,
Friday night, hundreds of teenagers from across the L.A. basin descended on The Strand near 22nd Street after a viral Instagram post called for a "Beach Takeover" party in Hermosa. HBPD moved fast and dispersed the crowd by 8 PM. That is where I want to start this week, because it raises hard questions about how we manage public safety in the social media era, and our officers answered with the discipline this community has come to expect.
Today's update covers that incident, where things stand on the coast, a regional gathering with real long-term implications for Hermosa, and a few words on service. Here is what you need to know.
🚨 Public Safety
🔹 "Beach Takeover" on The Strand: HBPD answers the call. On Friday, April 3, hundreds of teens converged on the beach near 22nd Street after an Instagram post promoted a "Beach Takeover" party in Hermosa, part of a national social media trend that has been overwhelming coastal towns from Florida to California. The post called for kids from Torrance, Palos Verdes, Compton, Santa Monica, and across the South Bay to gather for music, drinks, football, and boxing. HBPD moved in with patrol vehicles and sirens, corralled the crowd off The Strand toward Noble Park, and had the gathering broken up by 8 PM. Residents were warned in advance through HBPD social media and Nextdoor to avoid the area.
→ 🎯 My take: This is the second large unauthorized gathering on our beach in a little over a week, after Senior Ditch Day on March 26 brought a different crowd of high schoolers to roughly the same spot. These are not isolated events. They are the new playbook, and small coastal cities are absorbing the risk. I want to publicly thank Chief LeBaron and every officer who worked Friday night. They kept things from escalating, which is exactly the standard our residents expect and exactly the kind of restraint that gets too little credit.
→ 💡 Where we go from here: I want to see Hermosa preparing for the next one of these, because there will be a next one. That includes coordination with neighboring departments, advance notice from social media monitoring, and clear public communication. I will report back as the conversation develops.
🌊 Environment & Protecting Our Coast
🔹 The Coastal Act, fifty years on. Half a century after California voters passed Proposition 20, the Coastal Act's legacy is everywhere you look on our shoreline. The trails not blocked. The wetlands not filled. The freeways and gated developments and industrial facilities that were never built where they should not have been built. Every open vista, every accessible beach, every functioning habitat is the product of policy choices made by people who refused to treat the coast as anyone's private asset.
→ 🎯 My take: It is easy to take a working coastline for granted. The reason ours still works is fifty years of stubborn enforcement of one principle: the California coast belongs to the public. I plan to keep that posture every time I sit on the Commission dais.
👉 Read the California Coastal Act
🔹 Coastal Commission meets in Gonzales, April 15 to 17. The Commission is taking its April meeting inland to Gonzales, in Monterey County, the home district of Commissioner and County Supervisor Chris Lopez. Holding a meeting away from the immediate coast is a deliberate choice. It recognizes that inland communities are part of how California stewards its coastal resources, and it makes the Commission's work more accessible to people who do not live on the shore but whose lives are still shaped by coastal policy. I am looking forward to it.
👉 View the Coastal Commission meeting calendar
🔹 Sable injunction hearing still on the calendar for April 17. The hearing on the Sable Offshore injunction in Santa Barbara County remains scheduled for Friday, April 17. I will report back after that hearing on what it means for our coast and for the legal fight ahead.
🤝 Regional Collaboration
🔹 SBCCOG General Assembly: 26 years of South Bay together. Last Monday I joined colleagues from across the region at the South Bay Cities Council of Governments General Assembly's 26th annual conference. The day brought together elected officials, residents, and policymakers around the issues that are actually moving our region. This year's focus was on how the South Bay is positioning itself as a hub for major sports, entertainment, and global events, and what that means for infrastructure, housing, and quality of life across our cities.
→ 💡 Why it matters for Hermosa: When the LA28 Olympics arrive, when the World Cup brings visitors to SoFi, when major venues across the South Bay are programming back-to-back weekends, every coastal city in our region feels it. Coordinating early, with our neighbors at the table, is how we make sure those moments lift Hermosa Beach instead of overwhelming it. Friday's Beach Takeover is a small reminder of what unprepared looks like.
🎖️ Honoring Service
🔹 Stephen C. Reich. Every time baseball season opens, I find myself thinking about the people whose stories never make the highlight reel. Stephen Reich was the winningest pitcher in West Point history and had a real shot at the big leagues. He chose a different path. He returned to the Army, became a helicopter pilot in the elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2005 at the age of 34. Service like that does not show up in box scores. It shows up in the way you choose to live the rest of your life.
🔹 The march continues. This week also marked the anniversary of one of the great American chapters of moral courage. The lesson I take from that history is the same one I try to bring to every meeting and every vote: change is built step by step and voice by voice. Lead with purpose. Serve with heart. Keep moving forward.
📅 Upcoming
🔹 Tuesday, April 14, 6:00 PM: Regular City Council meeting. The "After Dark Tour LA 2026" half marathon proposal returns for further deliberation. Public comment is welcome.
🔹 Wednesday, April 15 to Friday, April 17: California Coastal Commission meeting in Gonzales, Monterey County.
🔹 Friday, April 17: Court hearing on the Sable Offshore injunction in Santa Barbara County.
🔹 Wednesday, April 22: Earth Day. 🌎
🔹 Thursday, April 23: First meeting of the South Bay Regional Housing Trust. 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: Surfers Walk of Fame induction event at the Community Center. The Council vote two weeks ago to send the original pier deck plaques to the Parks and Recreation Commission for relocation makes this year's induction weekend feel especially worth showing up for.
👉 Surfers Walk of Fame Weekend details (Hermosa Beach Museum)
📱 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
A quieter week in the Council chambers does not mean a quiet week for the work. From a Friday night on The Strand to the long arc of the Coastal Act, the throughline this week was the same: small cities like ours absorb the consequences of decisions made well beyond our borders, and the only way to stay ahead of that is to show up everywhere it matters. That is the part of the job I take most seriously, and the part I am most grateful to do on your behalf.
Thank you for reading. As always, reach out anytime with questions, concerns, or information you believe I should know.
