📬 Brad Waller, District 1 Newsletter, July 6, 2026

Good afternoon, Redondo,

America turned 250 on Saturday, and Redondo Beach celebrated the way we do best: together, outside, and by the water.

My Independence Day started at the annual Riviera Village 5K and Kids Dash, and the night ended with fireworks over the Pier. In between came plenty of what makes this town special. Below you will find a look back at the holiday weekend, new rules that make it easier to be heard at City Council meetings, a Riviera Village studio worth celebrating, and free Shakespeare coming to two of our parks.

🎇 A Fourth for the History Books

🔹 The Riviera Village 5K and Kids Dash kicked off the big day. Starting Independence Day with this annual race is one of Redondo Beach's great traditions, and it was wonderful to see so many runners, walkers, families, and young racers filling the streets before the day's festivities began. The Kids Dash always brings plenty of smiles, and the energy from the community makes this event special year after year.

→ 🙏 My thanks: To Village Runner Promotions and Events, the volunteers, the sponsors, the public safety personnel, and everyone who participated in making another successful Fourth of July celebration.
👉 See my 5K highlights (Instagram)

🔹 Then the fireworks capped the country's 250th birthday. Saturday night's show over the Pier drew crowds to the water for a night 250 years in the making, and the evening went off with the street closures and traffic plan doing their job. My thanks to the public safety and city crews who spent their holiday making sure the rest of us could enjoy ours.

🔹 Cruzin' the Lagoon keeps building momentum. Friday afternoon I brought my 1966 Corvette out to Cruzin' the Lagoon, and the turnout was incredible, with more classic cars than I have seen there in quite a while. It is exciting to see more owners bringing out their amazing vehicles and more people coming to enjoy them. Thanks to everyone who makes this such a fun community tradition. The cruise-in continues every Friday at the Redondo Beach Marina, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m., through September 11, and I am already looking forward to the next one.
👉 See the Corvette at the Marina (Instagram)

🏛️ Tuesday Council Preview: Measure FP, the General Plan, and Herondo Park

🔹 Tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m., the Council has several major items on the agenda that will shape public safety facilities, long-term planning, and public spaces in Redondo Beach. Here’s what I’m watching:

→ 🚓 Police and Fire User Fees: The Council will hold a public hearing on proposed updates to user fees for the Police and Fire Departments. These are the fees charged for certain services, permits, inspections, or department-related costs. The goal is to make sure the City’s fee schedule is current and better reflects the cost of providing specific service.

→ 🚒 Measure FP Public Safety Facilities: This is a big step forward for Measure FP. The Council will consider Phase 1 agreements with Swinerton Builders for progressive design-build services for Fire Stations 1 and 2, not to exceed $1,664,815, and the Police Facilities subproject, not to exceed $1,906,592. This phase moves the new public safety facilities from concept into detailed design, planning, cost validation, and project development before final construction decisions are made. Voters approved Measure FP to replace aging police and fire facilities, and this is one of the most important implementation steps so far.

→ 🏙️ General Plan Update: The Council will continue work on the City’s General Plan update, including how the latest Housing Element update should be included in the Article XXVII traffic analysis. Council will also give direction on the scope of land use and zoning changes that could be considered for administrative approval by August 4, along with a potential ballot measure for the November 2026 general election. This is where housing law, traffic analysis, local zoning, and voter approval requirements all intersect, so I’ll be watching this one closely.

→ 🌿 Herondo Open Space Park Naming: The Council will discuss the naming of the open space park area at Herondo Street and Catalina Avenue. This is a smaller item compared with Measure FP and the General Plan, but names matter. They help define how people understand, use, and connect with public spaces.

As always, residents can attend in person, watch online, or submit comments to make sure your voice is part of the discussion.
👉 View the agenda

🏛️ Your Three Minutes: New Rules for Council Meetings

🔹 We have new Public Participation Guidelines and Rules of Conduct, plus a new start time. Closed session now begins at 4:00 p.m., and regular meetings still start at 6:00 p.m. The new guidelines lay out, in plain terms, how you can participate and what keeps our meetings orderly and productive.

→ 💡 How you can be heard: You can participate in person, by Zoom, by eComment, or by email, on both agenda and non-agenda items. For non-agenda comment, each speaker gets three minutes, may speak once, and the total period is capped at 30 minutes. For agenda items, the Mayor invites comment at the appropriate time, comments must relate directly to that item, and each speaker gets three minutes per item. The Mayor alternates between in-person and Zoom speakers, with submitted speaker cards called first. One Brown Act note: the Council generally cannot deliberate or act on non-agenda comments, though we can make a referral to staff.

→ 🎯 My take: Your three minutes at the podium matter, and so does everyone else's. The rules ask speakers to stay on topic, address the Council rather than the audience, and keep the meeting orderly, with silent support welcome instead of clapping or booing: raise and wave both hands in favor, or show a thumbs down. Our community values transparency and direct communication, and clear ground rules, applied evenly, are how every resident gets a fair shot at being heard.
👉 Find Council agendas and participation info

💼 Economic Development: A Riviera Village Studio Levels Up

🔹 RockIt Body Pilates celebrated a major milestone last Monday. The Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce organized a ribbon cutting on June 29 to launch the studio's makeover, headlined by new, patented RockIt Reformers designed by owner and long-time instructor Kaci Bacher. One standout feature is a jump board, and new Jump Start classes launch today, July 6, pairing 15 minutes of jump board cardio with 35 minutes of all-level Pilates for a full-body workout.

→ 🎯 Why this one made me smile: A local owner inventing her own patented equipment and reinvesting in her studio at 1718 S. Catalina Avenue is exactly the entrepreneurial spirit that keeps the Village thriving. Congratulations to Kaci and the whole RockIt Body team, and thank you to the local businesses that contributed gift bags and giveaways for the celebration.
👉 Learn more at RockIt Body Pilates

🎭 Free Shakespeare in the Park Returns

🔹 Macbeth comes to two Redondo Beach parks, July 24 and 25. Mark your calendars, pack a blanket or low-back chair, and gather your family and friends for two unforgettable evenings of free Shakespeare in the Park. Shakespeare by the Sea returns with Macbeth, a timeless story of ambition, power, and the consequences of losing sight of integrity. Whether you are a longtime Shakespeare fan or experiencing it for the first time, this is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy professional live theater under the stars in two of Redondo Beach's beautiful parks.

→ 📅 The details: Friday, July 24, at 7:00 p.m. at Veterans Park, 309 Esplanade, where the Veterans Park performance only includes a Pre-Show Cocktail Hour on the West Lawn beginning at 5:30 p.m. Then Saturday, July 25, at 7:00 p.m. at Dominguez Park, 200 Flagler Lane, where you can stay after the show for Shakespeare by the Sea's traditional candlelight closing ceremony celebrating the cast, crew, volunteers, and another successful season of free theater in Redondo Beach.

→ 🧺 Make it a picnic: Enhance your Shakespeare experience by preordering a Bard's Bites picnic from Made by Meg at Veterans Park or Mychal's Café at Dominguez Park. Meals include reserved seating and a $20 to $25 donation to Shakespeare by the Sea, and every purchase also supports local businesses, with Mychal's Café helping advance its mission of providing meaningful job training and employment opportunities for students and adults with developmental disabilities. Just plan ahead: preordered picnic meals must be reserved at least 72 hours before each performance.

Admission is free, donations are encouraged, and these performances have quickly become one of Redondo Beach's favorite new summer traditions. I hope you will join us for one, or better yet, both, performances and enjoy an evening of theater, great food, and community under the stars.
👉 See performance details
👉 Preorder a Bard's Bites picnic

📅 Coming Up

🔹 The South Bay Greek Festival is this weekend, July 10 to 12. Three days of Greek cooking, music, and dancing take over St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church at 722 Knob Hill Avenue. Doors open Friday at 5:00 p.m. and at noon on Saturday and Sunday, running until 10:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 9:00 p.m. Sunday. Come hungry, leave dancing.
👉 Plan your visit to the Greek Festival

🔹 Ice cream with the Woman's Club next Monday, July 13. The Woman's Club of Redondo Beach opens its historic home at 400 South Broadway from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. for a free afternoon of scoops and good company, and a chance to get to know the members who have kept this club going strong for more than a century.
👉 Learn more about the Woman's Club

🔹 Live music on the Pier, every Thursday and Saturday. The Summer of Music concert series is underway at Fisherman's Wharf on the west end of the Pier, with free shows from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. through August 29. Tribute bands take Thursdays and local acts take Saturdays, so grab dinner from one of the Pier restaurants, bring a low-back chair, and make an evening of it.
👉 See the Summer of Music schedule

🥕 Weekly Markets

Farmers' Market by the Pier (Veterans Park), Thursdays, 8am to 1pm. 309 Esplanade.
👉 Read more

Riviera Village Farmers Market, Sundays, 8:30am to 1pm. Triangle Lot, 1801 S. Elena Ave.
👉 Read more

North Redondo Beach Farmers Market, Wednesdays, 2pm to 7pm. Green Lane at Artesia.
👉 Read more

📱 Access Redondo

Spotted a pothole, graffiti, or a broken streetlight? The rebuild of the Access Redondo app remains underway, with the new version on track for later this summer. In the meantime, the City website takes the same reports and works great from a phone, and a careful relaunch beats a rushed one every time.
👉 Report an issue to the City

🏖️ Redondo Roundup

A milestone Fourth celebrated together by the water, clearer ground rules for making your voice count at City Hall, a Village studio betting big on itself, and free Shakespeare headed to two of our parks. July is off to a strong start, and the calendar ahead is full of good reasons to get out: Greek dancing this weekend, ice cream with the Woman's Club, classic cars every Friday, live music on the Pier twice a week, and Macbeth under the stars. I hope to see you at some of them.

If anything in here sparked a question or something you want to share, hit reply. I read every message.

"I believe progress isn't one headline — it's how we treat each other at games, how we welcome visitors to our beach, and how we keep showing up for small, unglamorous work. Thanks for doing that work with me. 🤝"

Brad Waller
City Council Member, Redondo Beach
brad.waller@redondo.org