📬 Councilmember Ray Jackson | Hermosa Beach | May 18, 2026

Dear Hermosa Beach,

There is something about a Coastal Commission hearing room that feels different when the three people at the podium are teenagers. Wednesday in San Pedro, that is exactly what happened: three young South Bay ocean advocates, Joe Holscher, Arshayan Desai, and Teal Greene, stepped up to address the California Coastal Commission with the kind of clarity, preparation, and conviction the room does not always get from people three times their age.

That was day one of a busy week that also delivered a 5-0 vote on a balanced FY27 budget, a hard-fought 3-2 decision on the Hermosa Beach dog park, the allcove Beach Cities youth mental health groundbreaking on Saturday, and a Sunday afternoon block party in South Hermosa that felt like a preview of what our small-business neighborhoods can be in the slower months.

Here is the week in brief.

🚨 Public Safety

🔹 Hermosa Beach signs on to AB 1942: e-bike registration and license plates. On Tuesday, Council voted 4-1 to direct staff to return with a letter of support for AB 1942, a state bill that would require DMV registration and license plates for Class II and Class III e-bikes. The bill is a direct response to the same dynamic that drove last week's update on the Surron case in Lake Forest: high-speed devices, no real registration framework, and consequences that are now reaching kids, parents, and pedestrians across California.

→ 🎯 My take: I voted yes. Registration alone will not solve youth e-mobility safety, but it gives law enforcement, parents, and insurance carriers something to work with that simply does not exist today. Pair this with parental responsibility, real licensing rules tied to vehicle class, and street design that physically separates fast devices from people walking and biking, and we start to build the system this technology has outpaced.

👉 Review the May 12 Council meeting recap

🌊 Environment & Protecting Our Coast

🔹 Coastal Commission convenes in San Pedro: youth voices lead the docket. The California Coastal Commission held its May meeting just down the coast at the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor Hotel in San Pedro, with the agenda opening Wednesday morning, May 13. The geographic proximity mattered, and so did the substance. Three South Bay students, working through Surfers Who Serve and the Blue Goa Initiative, gave testimony on coastal access and marine ecosystem protection that drew real recognition from the Commission.

→ 💡 Why it matters: Coastal stewardship has always depended on the next generation believing it is theirs to defend. Wednesday's testimony was a working answer to whether that handoff is happening. The next generation is showing up, prepared, and unafraid to speak in rooms most adults find intimidating.

👉 View the May Coastal Commission agenda

🔹 National Park Service LA Coastal Area Special Resource Study: a no vote with a reason. Also on Tuesday, Council voted 3-2 to approve city participation in the National Park Service's Los Angeles Coastal Area Special Resource Study, which will evaluate portions of the LA County coastline for potential inclusion in the National Park System. I voted no alongside Councilmember Saemann.

→ 🎯 My stance: This was not a vote against federal coastal stewardship, which I support. It was a vote that flagged real concerns about layering another federal land-management framework on top of the California Coastal Act, our local coastal program, and the agencies and partnerships we already have in place. Hermosa Beach has fought hard, for fifty years, to make sure decisions about our shoreline get made closer to home, not farther from it. Staff will return with draft comments for Council review before submission, and I will keep pushing for clarity on what this study would actually mean for local control.

🔹 All in for Ben Allen, Insurance Commissioner. State Senator Ben Allen has been a steady partner to the Beach Cities on coastal access, the California Coastal Act, and the climate and insurance pressures bearing down on every beach community in the state. His approach is one I respect: improve the process where it needs improving, do not throw the framework out altogether. I am proud to support Ben for Insurance Commissioner.

👉 Learn more about the Ben Allen for Insurance Commissioner campaign

💰 Budget & Finance

🔹 FY27 Budget: balanced, with no staff cuts. On Tuesday, Council voted 5-0 to receive and file the FY 2026-2027 Department Budget Presentations, and staff confirmed the proposed FY27 budget is balanced. The balance was achieved through department consolidation, selective hiring freezes on non-essential positions, and operational efficiencies, not staff reductions.

→ ⚡ Why this matters: Balancing a budget in a small coastal city without cutting people is not a small thing. It means our public-facing services, the police officers, parks staff, planners, and Public Works crews residents interact with every week, are protected for the year ahead, even while we tighten where we can on the back end. That is responsible governance done right.

→ 📊 What to watch for: The continued Fee Study Update will return to a public hearing on Tuesday, June 9, covering 19 fees previously pulled for further review and one additional update related to Coastal Approval In-Concept fees. Residents who want to weigh in on city fees, that is the meeting.

👉 View the May 12 Council meeting recap and budget materials

🔹 Budget season transparency, plain English. Public safety is one of the most visible places residents see their tax dollars at work, and the monthly activity report from our PD and Fire partners is one of the better ways to keep the conversation about staffing, demand, and resources grounded in actual numbers. As FY27 deliberations continue this spring, every department's data is part of the conversation. The more residents engage with the real numbers, the better the final decisions get.

🏛️ At City Hall: The Dog Park Decision

🔹 Tuesday's 3-2 vote, where I landed, and why. Council voted 3-2 on Tuesday to greenlight a feasibility study with Valley Park East as the primary site for a fenced off-leash dog park and the Greenbelt as a secondary option, with possible ballot-measure language for the Greenbelt location. Mayor Detoy and I voted no. I then proposed studying an alternative location, the underutilized area behind the restroom facility at South Park, as a substitute. That motion did not receive a second.

→ 🎯 My stance, stated clearly: I have supported Bark for a Park from day one. Carla and the entire volunteer team have done exactly the kind of constructive, solutions-oriented community work that elected officials want to see, and they deserve real credit for raising $80,000, securing a $250,000 matching grant, and gathering over 1,400 signatures. My disagreement is not with their goal. It is with the proposed Valley Park location, in a 1.4-square-mile city with less green space per resident than most neighboring communities. South Park has the infrastructure already in place: parking, ADA-accessible restrooms, water access, shade, and an underutilized buffer area behind the restroom facility that could work with far less construction, less cost, and less impact on space that kids and families currently use every day.

→ 💡 What I worry about: A divisive ballot measure that pits neighbor against neighbor in a small coastal city is the last thing any of us should want. South Park is not a perfect solution, but it is a practical compromise that respects the neighborhoods, the fiscal realities, and the existing park uses we already have. The conversation continues from here, and I will keep advocating for the option I believe gives Hermosa the fewest regrets.

👉 Read the Easy Reader coverage of the dog park vote

🔹 Mental Health Awareness Month, recognized at the dais. Council formally recognized May as Mental Health Awareness Month on Tuesday. That recognition lined up with two events on the same week that put real action behind the words: Friday's youth-led mental health night at Indivisible Arts, and Saturday morning's allcove Beach Cities groundbreaking just over our city line in Redondo Beach (see the next section).

🩺 Youth Mental Health: A Big Week, Locally

🔹 allcove Beach Cities breaks ground. Saturday morning, the Beach Cities Health District broke ground on the permanent 9,500-square-foot allcove Beach Cities building on the BCHD campus in Redondo Beach. Funded by a $6.3 million grant from the California Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, plus federal dollars secured by Congressman Ted Lieu and a three-year operating commitment from LA County Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Janice Hahn, this is one of the most important youth mental health investments our region will see this decade.

→ ⚡ Why it matters for Hermosa: allcove is a "one-stop shop" for young people ages 12 to 25, offering free mental health, substance use, family support, and supported education and employment services, in a setting designed by young people for young people. Since opening in a temporary location at BCHD in November 2022, allcove has logged more than 5,000 visits and served more than 500 young people and their families. The permanent building takes a proven model and scales it for our entire community.

→ 🎯 My take: Youth mental health is not soft policy. It is core public safety, core public health, and core community resilience. When teenagers in our cities have a place to go that says "how can we help" before it asks for an insurance card, we are doing right by them. Saturday's groundbreaking was a real one.

👉 Learn more about allcove Beach Cities

🔹 Indivisible Arts: a Friday-night reminder that art and mental health belong together. Friday's youth mental health event at Indivisible Arts brought local artists, families, and young people into the same room around an issue that matters more every year. Indivisible Arts has been doing this work in Hermosa for a long time, with the kind of grassroots, youth-centered programming that complements what allcove offers regionally. Good night, good cause, and a great lead-in to Saturday's groundbreaking.

🔹 Yacht Rock Prom Night, for our schools. The recent Yacht Rock Prom Night fundraiser in support of the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation pulled the community together for a great cause and gave HBEF another strong showing in a year where school fundraising matters more than ever. Big thanks to everyone who turned out for the kids, the teachers, and our schools.

👉 Learn more about the Hermosa Beach Education Foundation

🌴 Around Town

🔹 Good Neighbor Block Party: a working example of what slower-season Hermosa could be. Sunday afternoon brought a block party on 2nd Street in South Hermosa, marking the grand opening of Good Neighbor Laundromat & Cafe and featuring Mickey's Deli, Yellow Jersey, Hermosa Smoke & Gift, Uncle Stavros, Proudly Serving, Bolt, and others. Live music, food, local businesses, and neighbors actually hanging out together. That is the energy our small-business corridors need year-round, not just in peak season.

→ 💡 An idea worth studying: What about a "2nd Sunday on 2nd" in the off-season for South Hermosa, with a version that could work for the North End or Upper Pier on different weekends? Modest, recurring, neighborhood-scaled events that support local businesses and give residents something fun to do during the slower months feel like a near no-brainer worth exploring. I will be raising this in the Entertainment Zone conversation that is already underway with staff.

👉 View the Good Neighbor Block Party page

🔹 Hermosa Valley flag football, in the books. The Hermosa Valley girls flag football team wrapped the season at 5-2 thanks to a great group of coaches, players, families, and school staff. Coaching youth sports here is one of the better ways I know to stay connected to what is actually happening in our schools and neighborhoods, and this group made every week worth it. Proud of every one of them.

🔹 Red Cross blood donation, Torrance Donor Center. A small thing every reader of this newsletter can do this month: donate blood. The Torrance American Red Cross Blood and Platelet Donation Center at 17512 Crenshaw Boulevard makes it easy, with early appointments and hours seven days a week (Monday through Wednesday 11:30 AM to 7:30 PM, Thursday 10 AM to 6 PM, Friday 7:30 AM to 3:30 PM, weekends 7 AM to 3 PM). One appointment, one hour, and the supply chain stays steady for patients who need it.

👉 Schedule a blood donation appointment

🇺🇸 Looking Ahead: Memorial Day, Monday, May 25

🔹 A week from today, Memorial Day. Memorial Day falls a week from today, and for those of us who served, it is the day of the year that means the most. Take a few minutes that morning to think about the people whose names are not on any list of guests at a barbecue, the families they left behind, and the responsibility we all carry to keep faith with that sacrifice. If you can, stop by the Hermosa Beach Veterans Memorial at the corner of 11th Street and Hermosa Avenue. The flag etiquette is simple: half-staff from sunrise to noon, then full-staff for the rest of the day. The National Moment of Remembrance is at 3:00 PM local time, anywhere you happen to be.

👉 Learn about the Hermosa Beach Veterans Memorial

📅 Upcoming

🔹 Monday, May 25: Memorial Day. City offices closed.

🔹 Tuesday, May 26, 6:00 PM: Regular City Council meeting at City Hall, 1315 Valley Drive. Agendas post at least 72 hours in advance.

🔹 Tuesday, June 9: Continued public hearing on the Fee Study Update, including the 19 fees pulled from the April 28 review plus the new Coastal Approval In-Concept fee.

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

👉 Follow @RayForHermosa on Instagram

A week like this one is a reminder that local government runs at a lot of different speeds at the same time. A Tuesday Council vote sets policy in motion for years. A Wednesday hearing room hands a generation its first real microphone. A Saturday groundbreaking signals what a region thinks is worth investing in. A Sunday block party shows what a neighborhood already knows how to do well, if we let it. The job is to show up for all of it, listen carefully, and keep working the seams between them. Thank you for reading.

As always, please reach out anytime with questions, concerns, or anything you think I should know.

Working together to build an ever better Hermosa Beach.

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