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Ray Jackson Newsletter — May 10, 2026
📬 Councilmember Ray Jackson | Hermosa Beach | May 11, 2026
Dear Hermosa Beach,
Tomorrow night, Council picks up a six-item agenda that touches almost everything residents tell me they care about: how we pay for next fiscal year, where our dogs can legally run, what pickleball costs to play, who is responsible when an e-bike rider hurts somebody, what late-night nightlife looks like under tighter ID enforcement, and whether commercial encroachment on our sidewalks finally gets a price tag. None of these items is tucked away in the consent calendar, and each one will move on resident input. Here is the clear read on Tuesday's agenda, plus a recap of last week's safety data, what to expect at the Coastal Commission's three days in San Pedro, a few community moments, and one note I felt I needed to make this week beyond the city limits.
🏛️ Tuesday's Council Agenda: What to Watch
🔹 The big one: the Budget Deficit Discussion. Council will work through the city's projected shortfall, with potential service cuts, fee adjustments, staffing decisions, and new revenue conversations all on the table. This is where priorities for next fiscal year stop being theoretical and start becoming line items.
→ 🎯 My stance: I am not walking into Tuesday looking for the easy out. I want a clear-eyed conversation about what we owe residents, what we cannot afford to walk away from, and where new revenue makes sense versus where it pushes costs onto the people who can least carry them. Tomorrow night is where that conversation begins in earnest.
🔹 Dog Park location debate: Valley Park East or the Greenbelt. Council will weigh which site makes the most sense for a permanent dog park after years of residents asking for one.
→ 💡 Why this matters: The location call is not just about dogs. It is about how we balance recreation, neighborhood quality of life, parking, and noise across two very different parts of town. If you live near either site, Tuesday is your night to be in the room.
🔹 Pickleball fees. Council is debating membership and reservation fee increases at the Clark Field courts.
→ 🎯 My take: Fees on a popular city amenity are always a balancing act. They have to cover real operating costs without pricing residents out of a sport that has done a lot for community connection in this town. I will be listening hard to how staff frames the numbers and how players in the room respond.
🔹 E-Bike Registration. Council picks up the safety, accountability, and state legislation conversation that has been building for weeks across Southern California, including the conversations this newsletter has covered around youth e-motorcycle policy.
→ ⚡ Why this is on the agenda now: Rules, infrastructure, and enforcement have not kept pace with the technology. A registration framework, paired with the right state legislation, is one of the most concrete tools a small coastal city has to bring order to a fast-moving problem. Tuesday will tell us whether Hermosa is ready to take that step.
🔹 Alcohol ID Enforcement. Council will discuss nightlife, fake IDs, and public safety in the downtown corridor.
→ 💡 What is at stake: Hermosa's downtown has always lived at the intersection of hospitality and public safety. Smart ID enforcement protects responsible operators, protects underage residents, and protects the rest of the block from spillover problems. The framework matters as much as the headline.
🔹 Public Space Fees. Commercial encroachment and sidewalk-use fees are back on the agenda after several years.
→ 🎯 My stance: Our sidewalks are public infrastructure. When businesses use them for outdoor seating, retail displays, or other commercial purposes, a reasonable fee structure is not anti-business. It is good city accounting. The real question is what reasonable looks like, and I want to hear from the merchants who will be paying it.
👉 View Tuesday's agenda and submit an eComment
🚨 Public Safety
🔹 HBPD's Weekly Crime Report: April 26 through May 2. The latest weekly report from our police department logged 43 arrests and infractions, 21 crime incidents, and 461 calls for service. The mix included three burglaries, two DUIs, several traffic and vehicle-tampering reports, and a steady weekly rhythm of citation and warning activity.
→ 🎯 My take: This is what taxpayer dollars look like at work, every day, on our streets. The kind of transparency I have pushed for matters more, not less, as we head into Tuesday's budget conversation. You cannot make smart decisions about public safety staffing and resources without an honest look at the demand on the system. HBPD is giving us that look.
👉 Visit HBPD programs and safety tips
🌊 Environment & Protecting Our Coast
🔹 Coastal Commission convenes in San Pedro, Wednesday through Friday. Right after Tuesday's Council meeting, I head down the coast for the California Coastal Commission's May meeting at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel. The agenda runs three full days, with items touching coastal access, Los Angeles County beach projects, and the broader work of stewarding the shoreline at a moment when fifty years of the Coastal Act is being tested in real time.
→ ⚡ Why San Pedro matters: This meeting is in our backyard. For South Bay residents who care about coastal policy but rarely get the chance to attend in person, this is the month to do it. Cal-Span carries the livestream for anyone who would rather watch from home.
👉 View the May Coastal Commission agenda
🔹 Standing with State Senator Ben Allen for Insurance Commissioner. Senator Allen has been a steady ally for Hermosa Beach and the wider South Bay throughout his time in the State Senate. He understands our coastal challenges, he has consistently championed the California Coastal Act, and he has shown up on the climate, insurance, and risk conversations that define what coastal living looks like in 2026.
→ 🎯 Why this endorsement: California's next Insurance Commissioner will sit at the center of one of the hardest questions facing this state, namely how coastal communities stay insurable in an era of fire, flood, and rising risk. Ben Allen knows that question cold. I am all in for him.
👉 View the endorsement post (Instagram)
💼 Around Town
🔹 JPIA Elected Officials Conference: bringing the lessons home. Last week's California Joint Powers Insurance Authority Elected Officials Conference pulled local leaders from across the state together to sharpen governance, talk through risk management, and trade hard-won lessons on how cities like ours make smart, accountable decisions.
→ 💡 The takeaway for Hermosa: Smart policy is never an accident. It takes preparation, study, and a willingness to learn from cities that have already worked through what we are about to face. As we head into Tuesday's budget conversation, that posture is exactly what residents should expect from this dais. Big credit to the JPIA staff for putting the conference together.
🔹 Hermosa Beach Kiwanis Club: one hundred years of giving back. Our local Kiwanis Club just hit its centennial, marking a full century of supporting kids, families, and community programs right here in Hermosa.
→ 🎯 Worth saying out loud: Service organizations like Kiwanis are the quiet infrastructure of a city. They show up before the cameras and after the cameras, they raise money for things government cannot, and they pull in volunteers across generations. Congratulations to every Kiwanian, past and present, who built this hundred-year run.
🔹 Pretzel goes to Happy Pups. A quick small-business shout-out: our dog Pretzel got a fresh cleanup at Happy Pups and came home looking sharp.
→ 💡 Why I'm calling it out: Hermosa runs on its small businesses. Every time one of them takes good care of a customer, that customer becomes part of the story they tell about why this city is different. Worth supporting the ones who do it right.
🇺🇸 A Personal Note
This newsletter is normally about Hermosa Beach. This week I used my platform to weigh in on something larger. Voting rights, civil rights, and the long American tradition of organized economic pressure as a tool against injustice are not abstractions to me. As a first-generation American whose parents could not legally marry in sixteen states at the time of their union, I will not pretend they are. Hermosa Beach has long stood for equitable, inclusive, and dignified treatment of every person who lives, works, or visits here. That posture does not stop at our city limits, and neither will I.
👉 View the full post (Instagram)
📅 Upcoming
🔹 Tuesday, May 12, 6:00 PM: Regular City Council meeting at City Hall, 1315 Valley Drive. Six items on deck. Agendas post at least 72 hours in advance.
🔹 Wednesday, May 13 through Friday, May 15: California Coastal Commission convenes at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel in San Pedro. Three days of coastal policy in our backyard.
👉 View City Council agendas and meeting information
📱 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 commentary and updates between editions, you can follow me on Instagram.
👉 Follow @RayForHermosa on Instagram
Six items Tuesday night. Three days of coastal policy later in the week. One small-business shout-out, one centennial worth marking, one regional conference worth bringing home, and one moment to speak honestly about something bigger than the city's borders. None of this work makes a viral post. All of it makes Hermosa what it is. Thank you for paying attention, and as always, please reach out anytime with questions, concerns, or anything you think I should know.
