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Brad Waller Newsletter — June 28, 2026
📬 Brad Waller, District 1 Newsletter, June 29, 2026
Happy Monday to you, District 1,
Being your councilmember means time in the council chambers and time out in the community, and both are a real privilege. This past week brought plenty of the second kind. I shared a potluck table at the Alta Vista Community Garden, cheered on the paddlers at a Pride paddle out in King Harbor, visited a few amateur radio Field Day sites, and admired the classic cars lined up at the Marina on Friday.
The days ahead are just as full. America marks its 250th birthday this Saturday, a veterans tribute closes tomorrow, and two summer festivals are nearly here. Below, you will find how to honor a veteran before the deadline, safer school crossings on the way for the fall, a thriving community garden, and the dates worth saving for July.
🇺🇸 America's 250th Birthday
🔹 Honor a loved one who served, but the window closes tomorrow. As the country gets ready to mark its 250th birthday on the Fourth of July, Rep. Ted Lieu's office is collecting photos and short tributes to veterans from across our congressional district, which includes Redondo Beach. The veteran can be living or no longer with us, and the tributes may be shared on Rep. Lieu's pages on July 4. Submissions are due Tuesday, June 30, at 5:00 p.m.
→ 🎯 Why I am sharing this: A quarter of a millennium is a milestone most of us will see only once, and there is no better way to mark it than by honoring the people who served to make it possible. If someone in your family wore the uniform, this is a small, meaningful way to put their name forward. Questions about uploading can go to Janet Turner at Lieu.Staff@mail.house.gov.
🔹 Then find a spot by the water for the Fourth. The City's annual Independence Day fireworks return to King Harbor on Saturday, July 4, with the show starting at 9:00 p.m. Public viewing is open at Seaside Lagoon, so bring a blanket and a couple of chairs and settle in early for a good seat. With the nation's 250th in the air, this year's show should feel especially worth showing up for.
👉 See the Fourth of July fireworks details
🚨 Public Safety: Safer School Crossings and Readiness on the Air
🔹 Sorting out crossing guards before the new school year. Last week I sat down with folks from St. Lawrence Martyr School about crossing guards, and I want to clear up a misunderstanding first: the City has never barred a school from providing its own. I was not able to secure funding for a school crossing guard in this year's budget, so the school will need to arrange that coverage itself. The good news is that the options are real ones: the AAA School Safety Patrol staffed by their own students and parent volunteers, hiring a guard directly, or bringing in a third-party crossing guard company.
→ 🚸 What this means for families: No child should lose a safe way to cross on the walk to school. Every intersection that lost a guard will get improved traffic calming measures in place before classes start in the fall, so the corner stays safer either way. If your school is weighing its options, the City's program page is the place to start.
👉 Read the Crossing Guard Program Update
🔹 Our amateur radio operators put their emergency skills to the test. This past weekend was national ARRL Field Day, and I stopped by three local club sites, including the Hughes Amateur Radio Club at Hopkins Wilderness Park right here in Redondo, plus clubs in Torrance and Palos Verdes. Field Day is a yearly drill where operators set up temporary stations and practice communicating on portable, off-grid power, exactly the kind of readiness we would lean on if a disaster ever knocked out phones and the internet.
→ 📡 The hands-on part: The engineer in me couldn't resist getting on the air to make a few contacts, and it was a thrill to hear voices from miles away on equipment that needs no cell tower to work. My thanks to the volunteers at all three clubs for keeping this skill alive. On the day we actually need it, we will be very glad they did.
🌿 Environment: A Community Garden Worth Celebrating
🔹 A potluck that captured what makes Redondo work. This week brought a potluck at the Alta Vista Community Garden, and it was a genuine pleasure to meet Carl Leach, the garden's Build Manager, along with the gardeners and volunteers who created this space and keep it growing. Hearing their stories and seeing everything coming up in the beds was a good reminder that a garden grows more than vegetables.
→ 🌱 The real harvest: Places like this are neighbors choosing to build something together, and the payoff is fresh produce, new friendships, and a patch of the city that belongs to everyone who tends it. That is community at its best, and I am grateful to everyone who keeps it thriving.
☀️ Out and About This Week
🔹 Pride came to the water in King Harbor. I was honored to join the South Bay LGBTQ Center's Pride paddle out in King Harbor, alongside friends and colleagues from around the South Bay, for an afternoon of paddling, entertainment, and community. Events like this one are a reminder that Redondo Beach is at its strongest when everyone feels welcome, respected, and free to be themselves. My thanks to the Center, the volunteers, the performers, and the sponsors who made the day, and to Captain Jake at Redondo Beach Boat Rentals for the lift out on the harbor.
→ 🌈 A note on the timing: Pride Month wraps up this week, and it was a good one to close on the water with so many neighbors.
🔹 The Riviera Village Summer Festival filled the streets once more. The 48th annual festival took over the Village this past weekend with vendors, live music, food, and carnival rides, and Friday's Cruisin' the Lagoon brought the classic cars back to the Marina to kick things off. If you made it out, I hope you found something good. The Village is always at its best when it is this full of people, and the car cruise rolls on every Friday at the Marina through September.
🔹 A summer deal for our Jr. Lifeguard families. A quick shout-out for families with kids in the Junior Lifeguard program: Casa Playa in Riviera Village is offering a ten-dollar kids' meal, tax and tip included, to Jr. Lifeguards wearing their program sweatshirts this summer. It is a kind gesture from a local spot, and an easy, affordable bite after a morning at the beach.
📅 Coming Up
🔹 The South Bay Greek Festival returns July 10 to 12. One of the South Bay's most beloved summer traditions is back at St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church, 722 Knob Hill Avenue, with three days of homemade Greek food, live music, folk dancing, and family fun. Hours run Friday from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m., Saturday from noon to 10:00 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 9:00 p.m. Bring your appetite, and OPA.
👉 Plan your visit to the Greek Festival
🔹 A free ice cream social with the Woman's Club on July 13. The Woman's Club of Redondo Beach is hosting a free, family-friendly ice cream social on Monday, July 13, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at their historic clubhouse at 400 South Broadway. It is a simple, sweet way to spend a summer afternoon and to meet some of the neighbors who keep this century-old club going.
👉 Learn more about the Woman's Club
🥕 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
Got something to flag for the City, like a pothole or a streetlight that is out? Access Redondo, our reporting app, is mid-rebuild at the moment. Until its replacement is ready later this summer, you can file the same requests through the City website, which works just fine from a phone. We would rather take the time to do this relaunch properly than rush it.
🏖️ Redondo Roundup
So much of this week happened away from City Hall, in a community garden, out on the harbor, at a few amateur radio tents, and along a row of classic cars at the Marina, with safer school crossings on the way and the nation's 250th birthday now just days off. Two quick reminders before you go: there is still time to honor a veteran through Rep. Lieu's tribute, but that window closes tomorrow at 5:00 p.m., and on Saturday night the sky over King Harbor lights up for the Fourth. Find a good spot near the water and enjoy the show. However you celebrate, I hope your Fourth is a safe and happy one.
If anything in here sparked a question or something you want to share, hit reply. I read every message.
