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Ray Jackson Newsletter — August 17, 2026
📬 Councilmember Ray Jackson | Hermosa Beach | August 17, 2026
Good morning, Hermosa Beach,
Fifty years after Californians decided their shoreline belongs to everyone, the question of who gets to protect it is suddenly live again.
On Monday, August 10, I joined Coastal Commission colleagues, officials from every level of government, nonprofit leaders, and hundreds of community members in Santa Monica for a public hearing on the federal evaluation of California's coastal management program. Days later, at the Commission's August meeting, we voted unanimously to reject a proposal to frack off our coast. Back home, downtown merchants turned three days of the Summer Sidewalk Sale into a shop-local celebration, and our little museum earned a very big national distinction.
Here is what you need to know.
🌊 Environment & Protecting Our Coast
🔹 A unanimous no to offshore fracking. At the Coastal Commission's August meeting, we voted unanimously to reject DCOR's proposal to conduct hydraulic fracturing in the waters off our coast. I appreciate that DCOR engaged with our questions throughout the process, and I am even more grateful to the many members of the public who took the time to make their voices heard, hearing after hearing.
→ 🎯 My take: When the stakes involve our ocean, our beaches, and every community that depends on them, public engagement is not a box to check. It is the reason outcomes like this one are possible. Decisions about the coast are stronger when Californians show up for them, and this month, you did.
🔹 Your coast, your comment: the deadline is this Saturday. The federal government is evaluating California's coastal management program under the Coastal Zone Management Act, an unprecedented move that could weaken state oversight of offshore drilling, desalination, rocket launches, and other major coastal projects. At the public hearing in Santa Monica on Monday, August 10, hundreds of Californians packed the room to say, plainly, hands off our coast. I was proud to stand with them.
→ ⚡ Why this matters: That federal authority is the legal backbone of California's ability to manage its own 1,100-mile shoreline. Lose it, and decisions about what happens off our beaches start getting made a long way from the people who live here.
→ 📣 How to weigh in: You do not need to attend a hearing to be heard. NOAA is accepting written comments through 11:59 PM this Saturday, August 22. Email czma.california-evaluation@noaa.gov and include "Comments on Performance Evaluation of the California Coastal Management Program" in the subject line.
💼 Economic Development
🔹 Sidewalk Sale weekend delivered for downtown. From Friday, August 14 through Sunday, August 16, downtown merchants rolled out promotions, in-store activities, and live music for the Summer Sidewalk Sale, and the blocks were buzzing all three days. Thank you to every business owner who put in the extra hours and every resident who chose to spend those dollars right here at home.
→ 💡 Why it matters: Every purchase made on our own blocks supports a neighbor's payroll and the sales tax revenue that funds city services. A strong downtown is not a luxury for a city our size. It is part of the budget.
🔹 Something fresh is spinning in Hermosa. Earlier this month I stopped into Kasai Records, our new listening bar, and found vinyl played live, great food, and a genuinely cool vibe. New concepts like this keep our business districts interesting, and interesting districts keep customers coming back.
→ 🎯 My take: The best economic development strategy I know is simple: when someone takes a risk on Hermosa Beach, go be a customer. Give the new spots on your block a first visit and a fair shot.
🏖️ Around Town
🔹 Our museum just joined rare company. The Hermosa Beach Museum is now accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, a distinction earned by roughly 1,100 museums nationwide and just 79 in all of California. Accreditation recognizes rigorous national standards for collections care, governance, education, and operations. Bravo to the Hermosa Beach Historical Society and everyone who made it happen.
→ 🎯 My take: For a city of 1.4 square miles to meet the same bar as the nation's flagship institutions says everything about the volunteers and professionals who preserve our story. We punch above our weight again, and I could not be prouder.
👉 Read the accreditation announcement
🔹 Remembering Abu and George. This week I found myself looking through old photos and thinking about two friends we lost, Abu and George. Anyone who ever planned a two-minute errand at Pet Mart learned quickly that Abu had other ideas: a doughnut appeared, food got ordered, and an hour vanished into conversation you did not know you needed. George paired a lifetime of stories with common sense and a great sense of humor, and there was always something to learn from him. They treated every customer like a friend, they believed in this community, and they believed in me from the very beginning. Deeply missed, never forgotten.
🗳️ A Note on November
🔹 Grateful for Senator Ben Allen's endorsement. On Sunday I was honored to earn the endorsement of State Senator Ben Allen, a dedicated public servant and a genuine partner for Hermosa Beach. His visits with our students helped inspire the launch of his high school internship program, which is creating new opportunities for young people to learn and serve. His friendship with this community means a great deal to me, and his support means even more.
📅 Dates & Community Events
🔹 Saturday, August 22, 11:59 PM: Deadline for written comments to NOAA on the federal evaluation of California's coastal management program. Details in the Environment section above.
🔹 Tuesday, August 25, 6:00 PM: Regular City Council meeting, Council Chambers, 1315 Valley Drive. Agendas post at least 72 hours in advance.
🔹 Saturday, September 5: First Saturday cleanup at the Hermosa Beach Veterans Memorial.
🔹 Thursday, September 10 to Sunday, September 13: The Wedbush Hermosa Beach Open brings championship beach volleyball back to the Pier. Free admission all four days.
👉 View City Council agendas and meeting information
👉 View the City calendar of events
📱 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
This week showed both scales of the work: a statewide fight over who protects the coast, and a downtown weekend where neighbors protected something smaller but just as vital, the businesses that make this town feel like ours. The week ahead offers two easy ways to stay in it. Send NOAA a comment by Saturday night from your own kitchen table, and scan the Council agenda before we return to the dais on August 25. If anything in this edition raises a question, send it my way.
Hearing from you is the best part of this job.
