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Brad Waller Newsletter — May 31, 2026
📬 Brad Waller, District 1 Newsletter, June 1, 2026
Hello District 1,
Tomorrow is a Tuesday when Redondo will do two big things at once. June 2 is the statewide primary, and it is also a City Council night. Your ballot helps decide who carries the South Bay's voice to Sacramento and beyond, and a few hours later, the Council chamber takes up the budget and a round of appointments that shape the year ahead.
This is the last newsletter before the polls close, so the vote leads things off. After that: the City's continued crackdown on illegal smoke shops, what is on Tuesday's Council agenda, a set of butterfly walks worth a Saturday morning, a beloved bakery saying its goodbyes, and some well-earned congratulations across our schools.
🗳️ Tomorrow Is the Primary. This Is Your Last Call.
🔹 The June 2 primary is here, and your ballot still counts if you act now. If you have not turned yours in yet, you have until 8:00 p.m. tomorrow to drop it at an official drop box (Riviera Village or City Hall) or vote in person at any LA County vote center. The races further down the ballot decide more about your daily life than the headlines suggest, so please vote all the way to the bottom, not just the top.
→ 🎯 I want to flag one more time. I am supporting Scott Houston for State Assembly (AD66), the seat that touches our housing, water reliability, and wildfire decisions, and Jeff Prang for Los Angeles County Assessor. The Assessor's office seldom gets the spotlight, yet it shapes what homeowners, renters, and businesses pay across the county every single year. Experience and competence count in a job like that. In other races, I support Sion Roy for State Senate (SD24), Al Muratsuchi for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Ben Allen for California Insurance Commissioner.
→ ⚡ Why I keep pushing on this. Local control only works when the people who actually understand local issues are the ones casting ballots and holding office. Your vote is the most direct say you get all year. Make your plan, check your registration, and turn it in.
👉 Find your vote center or drop box
🚨 Public Safety: Cracking Down on Illegal Smoke Shops
🔹 The City is keeping the pressure on smoke shops that break the law. Redondo Beach is continuing a coordinated enforcement effort against shops selling illegal flavored tobacco, illicit cannabis products, and items marketed to minors. The campaign pairs RBPD and Code Enforcement with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, and the results so far are real. One shop has closed permanently, and another was hit with a 120-day license suspension, $100,000 in sanctions, and the seizure of its illegal inventory after a string of hearings and a court settlement.
→ 🎯 My take. This one is simple for me. The shops that play by the rules deserve a level field. Police Chief Steve Sprengel was blunt about the standard that shops profiting by selling illegal products, and to children, will answer for it, and I am glad the City is backing that up with action rather than warnings.
→ 📋 How you can help. If you suspect a shop near you is selling illegal products, report it to the Redondo Beach Police Department or Code Enforcement. Random inspections are continuing, and resident tips make them sharper.
👉 See the enforcement update (Instagram)
🏛️ City Council, Tuesday, June 2
🔹 The same night you vote, the Council takes up the budget and a round of appointments. Tuesday's meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, and three items stand out. The budget conversation continues with a presentation focused on City operations, the next layer in the season that decides how Redondo funds the year ahead. The Council also handles its annual appointments, including Mayor Pro Tem and the delegates and alternates who represent us on regional boards. Finally, there is a public hearing on the Street Landscaping and Lighting Assessment District.
→ 💡 Why the operations budget matters. Operations is the part of the budget you feel most directly, the staffing and services that keep the City running day to day. This is the layer where priorities either get funded or get pushed to next year, and it is worth watching closely.
→ 🎯 My take on the appointments. Regional delegate seats are easy to overlook, but they are how Redondo's voice shows up in the rooms where water, energy, and transportation decisions get made. I take those assignments seriously because showing up regionally is how a small city punches above its weight.
👉 View the City Council calendar
🌿 Environment: Butterfly Walks on the Bluffs
🔹 The El Segundo blue butterfly is back, and you can walk the bluffs to find it. The South Bay Parkland Conservancy is hosting free discovery walks on three Saturdays this month, June 6, June 13, and June 20, as the butterfly's host plant blooms a little early this year. Biologists Ann Dalkey and Mary Simun lead each one, talking through the habitat and the restoration work along the way, with a good chance of spotting the butterfly itself. Spots are limited and first-come, first-served.
→ 🌱 Where to meet. Gather on the sidewalk just north of Miramar Park, near Esplanade and Vista Del Mar. There is a parking lot north of the park, plus metered street parking, and the route stays on paved, accessible surfaces. Look for the butterfly costume, you will not miss it.
→ 🎯 Why this is my kind of event. The El Segundo blue nearly vanished, and it is here today because people chose to protect the coastal habitat it depends on. Small, local stewardship like this is exactly how we keep our bluffs and beaches worth showing off.
💼 Economic Development: A Sweet Goodbye in North Redondo
🔹 One of North Redondo's most original small businesses is closing its doors. Cake Buzz, the bakery known for its liqueur-infused cakes, has announced it will close for good on June 20. The North Redondo Beach Business Association is rallying neighbors to give the shop a proper send-off, from final orders to shared memories, over its last few weeks.
→ 🎯 My take. A business like this does not just sell cake. It shows up for birthdays, celebrations, and the everyday moments that make a neighborhood feel like home. If Cake Buzz has been part of one of yours, the next couple of weeks are the time to say thank you in person.
👉 Order from Cake Buzz on Instagram
🎓 Congratulations Across Our Schools
🔹 A week of recognition for the people who make our schools and city work. This past week brought a run of well-deserved celebrations, and I was glad to take part. The City and RBUSD honored a group of retirees, including two longtime Redondo Beach employees and more than twenty retiring RBUSD staff, for careers spent serving this community. I also represented the City at the RBUSD Students of the Year recognition.
→ 🎯 Why I make time for these. Retirements and student honors are bookends of the same story, the people who built our institutions and the young people getting ready to lead them next. We have remarkable students in this city, and we owe a real debt to the staff who spent decades getting them ready. Congratulations to every retiree and every honored student.
📅 Coming Up
🔹 Cruisin' the Lagoon, every Friday through September 11, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. The marina cruise-in rolls on all summer at the Redondo Beach Marina. All makes and models, no awards, no fuss, just good cars and good company by the water. Look for me and my yellow 1967 Chevelle or black 1966 Corvette convertible. Marina parking runs $2 per hour.
🥕 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 any other issue to the City? The Access Redondo app is still in the middle of a major rebuild, so for now, the fastest route is the City website, which works just as well from your phone. As someone who spent a career building apps and websites, I would rather the City take the time to relaunch this one properly than rush out something half-finished. The new version should be ready by late summer.
🏖️ Redondo Roundup
A week that ends with a decision in your hands. Tomorrow brings the June 2 primary and a Council meeting on the very same night, the City is staying on the smoke shops that put kids at risk, the bluffs are hosting butterfly walks all month, a North Redondo bakery is taking its final orders, and our schools sent off retirees and celebrated standout students. If you do one thing before the next newsletter lands, make it this: vote, and get your ballot in before the boxes lock at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow.
If anything in here sparked a question or something you want to share, hit reply. I read every message.
