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Brad Waller Newsletter — June 15, 2026
📬 Brad Waller, District 1 Newsletter, June 15, 2026
Hey Redondo,
This Friday, June 19, the country marks Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when the last enslaved Americans in Texas finally learned they were free. It is a day about freedom, dignity, and how far we have come together, and tomorrow night the City Council will formally proclaim June 19 as Juneteenth in Redondo Beach. That same evening, the Council adopts the budget that funds our city for the year ahead, so tomorrow brings one of those meetings where a lot of what shapes the next twelve months gets decided in a single room.
Summer is fully underway, the library's reading program is up and running, and there is plenty to dig into. Below: the budget, our continued work on housing and homelessness, a major water project, a few smart upgrades for our police and our streets, and some good reasons to get out around town.
🕊️ Juneteenth in Redondo Beach
🔹 The Council is proclaiming June 19 as Juneteenth. On this Tuesday's agenda, the Mayor will issue a proclamation recognizing June 19, 2026 as Juneteenth in Redondo Beach. Juneteenth marks the end of slavery in the United States, and it has grown into a day of reflection, celebration, and community across the country.
→ 🎯 Why it matters here: A proclamation is more than a formality. It is our city saying, on the record, that this history belongs to all of us and that everyone deserves to feel they belong here. That is a value worth standing behind.
🔹 Our libraries already brought the celebration to City Hall. The Redondo Beach Public Library opened the season with a Summer Reading Program Kick-Off and Juneteenth Carnival, pairing the start of summer reading with music, activities, and a celebration of the day. It was a great reminder that our libraries do so much more than lend books.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday observed on Friday, June 19, so it is worth planning ahead for closures at many government offices heading into the weekend.
🚨 Public Safety: Smarter Tools for Our Officers and Our Streets
🔹 Keeping the technology behind public safety current. This Tuesday, the Council takes up a renewal of the City's computer-aided dispatch and police records management system through next June. This is the software that gets the right officers to the right call quickly and keeps our records organized and accurate behind the scenes.
→ 🎯 My take: I spent my career building software, so I know reliable systems are not a luxury, they are the backbone of good service. When the dispatch and records tools work well, every call for help goes a little smoother. This is exactly the kind of unglamorous investment I am glad to support.
🔹 Backing a state bill to make heavy vehicles pay for the damage they cause. The Council recently signed on in support of Senate Bill 922, which would let cities recover the street maintenance and repair costs caused by heavy, essential public service vehicles. Our streets take a real beating from the heaviest traffic, and the repairs come out of your tax dollars.
→ ⚡ Why this matters: I have been pushing hard to keep oversized and out-of-route trucks off our neighborhood streets, and this is the same fight from a different angle. If a vehicle is tearing up the road, the cost of fixing it should not fall entirely on Redondo residents.
🏠 Housing: Real Beds and Real Pathways
🔹 Keeping our emergency shelter open and growing. Two items on Tuesday's agenda keep Redondo's Pallet Shelter running and expanding: continued funding to operate the shelter through the fall, and an agreement with Los Angeles County to expand it and extend the partnership through June 2027. The shelter gives people experiencing homelessness a safe, stable place to begin getting back on their feet.
→ 🎯 My take: I believe homelessness work has to be practical and humane at the same time. A real bed, paired with services, is how people actually move forward. Keeping this shelter funded and growing is the steady follow-through that turns good intentions into results.
🔹 Bridge housing that crosses city lines. The Council is also set to approve leases for eighteen single-room-occupancy units to serve as bridge housing for people experiencing homelessness in both Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach over the next year. Homelessness does not stop at a city border, and neither should the solutions.
→ ⚡ Why this matters: Bridge housing is the step between the street and lasting stability. Partnering with Hermosa Beach lets two cities do more together than either could alone, and that kind of regional teamwork is how smaller cities punch above their weight.
🌿 Environment: Taking Care of the Water Around Us and Under Us
🔹 When a water main broke in District 1, crews moved fast. Last week a water main break hit parts of District 1, affecting service along stretches of Avenue C, Avenue D, and Prospect Avenue. Crews were on site quickly for the emergency shutdown and repair, and normal service was restored the same day. My thanks to the public works crews who handled it, and to neighbors for the patience while the work got done.
→ 💡 What this is a reminder of: The water and sewer lines under our streets are easy to forget until something goes wrong. Keeping them maintained is one of the least visible and most important jobs the City does.
👉 See the original alert (Instagram)
🔹 A major water project is coming to Fulton Playfield. This Tuesday, the Council considers a $5.2 million contract for a multi-benefit infiltration project at Fulton Playfield. In plain English, the project captures and filters stormwater before it runs out to the ocean, which protects water quality at our beaches and puts that water to better use, all while improving the field itself.
→ 🎯 My take: This is the kind of project I love, because it does several good things at once. Cleaner water heading to the bay, smarter use of every drop, and a better community space. That is sustainability you can actually see and use.
💼 Economic Development: Setting the Budget and Growing City Revenue
🔹 Tuesday is budget night. After months of public hearings and review, the Council is set to adopt the budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, along with the five-year plan for capital projects. This is the document that turns our priorities into real funding, from public safety to parks to the streets you drive every day.
→ 🎯 My take: I have said all along that a strategic plan only means something when it shows up in the budget. Tuesday is where that translation happens. Budget season is also a public process, so if there is something you want the Council to hear before the vote, this is the moment to speak up.
🔹 New revenue from the Pier, the smart way. Also on Tuesday, the Council considers a revenue-sharing agreement to place wireless telecommunications infrastructure at the Redondo Beach Pier and International Boardwalk. It is a way to modernize connectivity at the waterfront while bringing new revenue into the City.
→ ⚡ Why this matters to me: Growing city revenue without adding to the burden on residents is one of my top priorities, and using technology to do it is right in my wheelhouse. Helping bring the South Bay Fiber Network to life is one of the projects I am proudest of, and this is the same idea: let smart infrastructure work for us.
🔹 A heads-up on city fees. Part of Tuesday's budget package includes updates to certain Community Development and Community Services fees. If you are planning a project or using a City service, it is worth knowing the fee schedule is being refreshed.
👉 View the full June 16 City Council agenda
🎓 Education: Summer Reading Is Open to Everyone
🔹 The library's Summer Reading Program is up and running. With the school year wrapping up, the Redondo Beach Public Library has launched its summer reading program for kids, teens, and adults alike. Signing up is free at either the Main Library or the North Branch, and reading all summer earns prizes along the way.
→ 🎯 Why I care about this one: Decades of my life have gone into PTA and our schools, so I have seen what the summer slide can do and how much a few good books can hold it back. This is one of the easiest, most joyful ways to keep kids learning through the summer, and it is just as open to the grown-ups in the house.
👉 Explore the Summer Reading Program
📅 Coming Up
🔹 Cruisin' the Lagoon, every Friday through September 11, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. The summer car cruise-in rolls on all season at the Redondo Beach Marina. All makes and models, no awards, no fuss, just great cars and good company by the water. If you have not made it out yet this summer, there are plenty of Fridays left. Marina parking runs $2 per hour.
🔹 El Segundo blue butterfly walk, Saturday, June 20. The South Bay Parkland Conservancy wraps up its season of free discovery walks on the bluffs near Miramar Park, with biologists guiding the route and a good chance of spotting the rare El Segundo blue. It is the final walk of the series, so this is the weekend for it. Spots are limited and first-come, first-served.
🥕 Weekly Markets
Farmers' Market by the Pier (Veterans Park), Thursdays, 8am to 1pm. 309 Esplanade.
Riviera Village Farmers Market, Sundays, 8:30am to 1pm. Triangle Lot, 1801 S. Elena Ave.
North Redondo Beach Farmers Market, Wednesdays, 2pm to 7pm. Green Lane at Artesia.
📱 Access Redondo
Need to report a pothole, a broken streetlight, or another issue to the City? The Access Redondo app is still in the middle of its rebuild, so for now the fastest route is the City website, which works just as well from your phone. As someone who has built apps and websites for a living, I would rather we relaunch this one right than rush something half-finished. The new version should be ready later this summer.
🏖️ Redondo Roundup
This week Redondo honors Juneteenth and the freedom it represents, sets the budget that will carry us through the year, keeps real housing solutions moving, takes care of the water around us, and sends our young readers into summer with a stack of books. To every dad, grandfather, and father figure out there, an early Happy Father's Day this Sunday. And to all of you, thank you for caring about this city enough to read to the end.
If anything in here sparked a question or something you want to share, hit reply. I read every message.
