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Ray Jackson Newsletter — August 24, 2026
📬 Councilmember Ray Jackson | Hermosa Beach | August 24, 2026
Hello, Hermosa Beach,
Somewhere between the Kirkland jeans and the paper towels on a Costco run last week, I spotted Hermosa Brewing Company's Hazy IPA sitting right there on the shelf, and I will admit to a full-blown proud hometown moment in the middle of the aisle. A few days later, Hi-Fi Espresso marked nine years of pouring great coffee downtown, and the weekend brought another fantastic evening in support of our newly accredited Hermosa Beach Museum. We are a small city that keeps outperforming its size.
This week, the pride turns practical. Council meets tomorrow night with two public hearings that deserve your voice, playground construction begins today at three of our parks, and election mail will be heading toward your mailbox before long. Here is what you need to know.
🚨 Public Safety
🔹 Two fresh crime dashboards, zero mystery. This past week, the Hermosa Beach Police Department published its weekly crime updates covering the weeks of August 2 and August 9. These summaries are posted on the City website, emailed to Public Safety eNotification subscribers, and shared on the department's social channels.
→ ⚡ Why it matters: I would much rather you get your picture of crime in this town from data than from rumor. Informed neighbors make safer blocks, and a department that publishes its numbers every week is a department earning your trust. Take two minutes, scan the dashboard, and know what is actually happening in your neighborhood.
👉 View the latest weekly crime update
🌊 Environment & Protecting Our Coast
🔹 The knocking at our coastal door never stops. Earlier this month, your California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to reject DCOR's proposal to conduct hydraulic fracturing in the waters off our coast. At the same time, the federal government's unusual out-of-cycle review of California's coastal management authority continues, a process that could weaken oversight the state has exercised for more than fifty years under the Coastal Zone Management Act. The written comment period for that federal review closed this Saturday, August 22, and my sincere thanks go to every resident who took the time to submit one.
→ 🎯 My take: Big money special interests will keep testing our coastal defenses, which is why I shared my gratitude this week for Laura Garber and Easy Reader News for keeping this community informed and engaged on coastal issues. An informed public is the strongest lock on that door, and from my seat on the Commission, I can tell you your attention genuinely moves outcomes. Stay engaged.
💰 Budget & Finance
🔹 How your city buys things is on tomorrow's agenda. At tomorrow's City Council meeting, Tuesday, August 25 at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers, we will hold a public hearing on an ordinance updating the purchasing policies and procedures in Sections 3.12 and 3.14 of the Municipal Code.
→ 💡 Plain English: Purchasing rules decide how quickly staff can buy goods and services, what competition is required, and what oversight applies to your tax dollars. It is the plumbing of city government, and plumbing determines whether things flow.
→ 🎯 My take: I first ran for this seat promising to help find the choke points that slow our small city down, and procurement is exactly the kind of unglamorous machinery I had in mind. I will be looking for two things tomorrow night: efficiency and accountability. We should have both.
👉 Read the public hearing notice
🏠 Housing
🔹 Short-term rental rules return to the dais. Also tomorrow night, at 6:30 PM, Council holds a public hearing on proposed updates to the City's short-term vacation rental program, along with an ordinance amending Title 3, Revenue and Finance, and Title 17, Zoning, of the Municipal Code. This follows the City's launch earlier this summer of a registration and tax portal requiring STVR operators to register their properties, obtain a business license, and pay Transient Occupancy Tax owed since May 2022.
→ ⚡ Why this matters: Few issues sit closer to the intersection of neighborhood character, property rights, court rulings, and city revenue. The rules we set here will shape what living on a residential block in Hermosa feels like for years.
→ 🎯 My take: My goal is a program that protects the quiet enjoyment of our neighborhoods, follows the law as the courts have interpreted it, and ensures visitors contribute their fair share to the city they are enjoying. Whatever your view, tomorrow night is the moment to put it on the record. I want to hear it.
👉 Read the STVR hearing notice
👉 View City Council agendas and meeting information
💼 Economic Development
🔹 Nine years of Hi-Fi Espresso. Happy anniversary to the entire Hi-Fi team, who have spent nearly a decade serving up great coffee, good vibes, and genuine community in Hermosa Beach. Thank you for investing in our city and helping make this town such a special place.
→ 💡 Why it matters: A small business reaching year nine is not luck. It is a thousand early mornings and a community that shows up. The best anniversary gift you can give them costs about the price of a latte.
🔹 A hometown pour goes big. Hermosa Brewing Company's Hazy IPA is now on the shelves at Costco, which means shoppers far beyond our 1.4 square miles are getting a taste of Hermosa Beach. This local crew has put in years of great work, and watching a homegrown business grow, thrive, and represent our city beyond its borders never gets old. Congratulations, and cheers.
🔹 Something fresh on the dining scene. I also made a stop at Tiki Kai this week: great food, great drinks, and one seriously cool vibe. Our restaurant scene stays interesting because owners keep taking creative swings, and we get to enjoy the results.
🛝 In Our Parks
🔹 New playgrounds are coming, and construction starts today. R.E. Schultz Construction, a contractor for the City, begins the CIP 504 Playground Equipment Replacement Project today, Monday, August 24, at Valley Park, Seaview Parkette, and South Park. Work runs weekdays from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM through September 25.
→ 💡 What to expect: The playground area at Valley Park is closed while the basketball courts and field stay open. Seaview Parkette is closed entirely. At South Park, the affected playground area, including the geometric climbing tree, is closed while the rest of the park remains open. Watch for temporary no-parking signs and expect some equipment noise.
→ 🎯 My take: As a dad who logged plenty of hours at this town's playgrounds when my boys were small, I consider this money well spent. A few weeks of fencing and noise is a fair trade for safe, modern play equipment that will serve Hermosa kids for a generation.
👉 View the playground project page
🏖️ Around Town
🔹 An evening for our Museum. This weekend brought another great event for an even greater cause, supporting the Hermosa Beach Museum. It came at a fitting moment: the Museum recently earned accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums, a distinction held by only about 1,100 museums nationwide and just 79 in California.
→ ⚡ Why it matters: History is infrastructure too. A nationally accredited museum in a city our size says something about who we are, and the volunteers and donors who make it possible deserve our gratitude. If you have not visited lately, make the trip.
👉 Read the Museum's accreditation announcement
🗳️ Be Election Ready
🔹 Watch your mailbox. With the Tuesday, November 3 General Election approaching, official election information will begin arriving by mail in the weeks ahead. Now is the perfect time to confirm your voter registration is current, especially if you have moved or changed your name since you last voted.
→ 💡 Plain English: Make a plan to vote. Check your registration, watch for county mailings, and give yourself time to read up on what will be on your ballot. The decisions made closest to home are the ones you will feel most, and they are made by the people who show up.
👉 Check your voter registration status
📅 Dates & Community Events
🔹 Monday, August 24: Playground replacement construction begins at Valley Park, Seaview Parkette, and South Park. Weekdays, 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM, through September 25.
🔹 Tuesday, August 25, 6:00 PM: Regular City Council meeting, Council Chambers, 1315 Valley Drive, including public hearings on purchasing policies at 6:00 PM and STVR program updates at 6:30 PM.
🔹 Saturday, August 29, 9:00 AM: AAU High School Boys Beach Volleyball League on the sand.
🔹 Saturday, September 5: First Saturday cleanup at the Hermosa Beach Veterans Memorial.
🔹 Wednesday, September 9: California Coastal Commission meeting, Adorni Center, Eureka. Agendas and livestream links post in advance.
🔹 Thursday, September 10 to Sunday, September 13: The 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 the Go Hermosa app
For community updates and commentary between editions, you can follow me on Instagram.
👉 Follow @RayForHermosa on Instagram
For some weeks, this newsletter asks you to enjoy something. This week it asks you to weigh in on something. Two public hearings in one night is a rare concentration of decisions, and the testimony we hear tomorrow will be fresher and more useful than any complaint that arrives after the vote. If a question comes up as you read the notices, send it my way; walking neighbors through the why of city decisions is a part of this job I never tire of. I hope to see a full house in Council Chambers tomorrow night.
