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Brad Waller Newsletter — September 7, 2026
📬 Brad Waller, District 1 Newsletter, September 7, 2026
Happy Labor Day, Redondo,
Holidays like today are built on a simple idea: work deserves recognition. Fitting, then, that tomorrow night's Council meeting is practically a ceremony of gratitude, with a Key to the City for Fire Chief Pat Butler and the oath of office for incoming Chief Brian Regan, plus a room full of new commissioners raising their right hands. Add in Thursday's Round Table at South Bay Adult School, which served up everything from El Niño tracking to bond construction updates, and the City Clerk posting the full homework packet for Measure ART ahead of the November ballot, and this was a busy week for a short one. One more thing: your trash cans get the day off today. Details on all of it below.
🗑️ Holiday Service Note: Your Cans Get a Holiday Too
🔹 No trash collection or street sweeping today, Monday, September 7. Street sweeping resumes Tuesday, September 8, and trash collection runs one day late for the rest of the week, so a normal Monday pickup lands on Tuesday, and so on down the line. Set a reminder now, and future you will be grateful when the rest of the block is dragging bins out on the wrong morning.
👉 See the holiday collection schedule
🚒 Tomorrow Night at Council: Two Fire Chiefs and a Room Full of Oaths
🔹 A changing of the guard at Redondo Beach Fire (D.1 and D.2). The Mayor will present the Key to the City to Fire Chief Pat Butler in recognition of his four years of service, and new Fire Chief Brian Regan will take the Oath of Office with a badge presentation. Leadership in our public safety departments shapes everything from response times to the Measure FP facility rebuilds, so this transition matters to every household in the city. Chief Butler, thank you. Chief Regan, welcome, and let's get to work.
🔹 Our newest commissioners make it official (D.3). City Clerk Eleanor Manzano will administer the Oath of Office to the board members and commissioners appointed on September 1. These are neighbors volunteering real hours to shape city decisions, and I hope the Chambers are full of applause for them.
🔹 A stronger regional housing tool (H.6). The consent calendar includes a letter of support encouraging the Governor to sign Senate Bill 799, which would broaden the South Bay Regional Housing Trust's powers and update its board structure.
→ 💡 What this means: Housing challenges do not stop at the city line, and neither should the solutions. A stronger regional trust gives South Bay cities a better shared vehicle for affordable housing work, and I support sharpening that tool.
🔹 Cutting red tape for local business (N.3). The Council will discuss updates to the municipal code to streamline business permitting requirements and the land use regulations that go with them.
→ 🎯 My take: Growing city revenue through economic development is at the top of my priority list, and the cheapest economic development program ever invented is a faster, clearer permit. Every week an owner spends waiting on paperwork is a week they are not hiring, serving customers, or paying rent with confidence. I will be pushing for a process that is simpler for applicants and smarter for staff.
🔹 Quick hits worth knowing. The hedge-related ordinances return for formal introduction and first reading (H.7), the lease for the Alternate Crisis Response Team's office space with Beach Cities Health District would extend to March 31, 2027 (H.4), and discussion items include a city facility naming policy (N.1) and potential salary adjustments for the City Clerk, City Treasurer, Mayor, and Council positions ahead of the March 2027 election (N.2). You can participate in person, by Zoom, through eComment, or by email.
👉 View the September 8 meeting details
🗣️ Round Table Recap: Storm Tracking, School Bonds, and Safety Facilities
🔹 Thursday morning covered a lot of ground before most of us finished our coffee. I spent Thursday morning with the Redondo Beach Round Table at South Bay Adult School, where KTLA meteorologist Vera Jimenez opened with an update on El Niño tracking, RBUSD Superintendent Dr. Nicole Wesley and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Nick Stephany briefed us on Bond Measure S, and Luke Smude gave an update on the City's Measure FP public safety facilities bond.
→ 📊 By the numbers: Measure S is the $278 million facilities bond RBUSD voters approved in November 2024, and Measure FP is the City's $93 million bond funding the rebuild of police headquarters and the reconstruction of our fire stations. Two big voter commitments, two progress reports in one morning. That is exactly the kind of follow-through reporting that keeps public trust earned rather than assumed.
→ 🎯 My take: I spent the early part of my career working on infrared sensing technology for aerospace, so a briefing on satellite storm tracking is my idea of a good morning. The practical takeaway is simpler: an El Niño pattern rewards the people who prepare in September, not the ones who scramble in January. Clear your drains and gutters early, and make sure the City can actually reach you when weather turns.
🔹 Two minutes now, real peace of mind later. Alert SouthBay is the regional emergency notification system for our area, and the premise is blunt: if they cannot reach you, they cannot alert you. If you have never registered, or your phone number has changed, today is a fine day to fix that.
👉 See my Round Table post (Instagram)
👉 Read RBUSD's Measure S updates
🗳️ Measure ART Is Headed for Your November Ballot
🔹 The homework packet is officially posted. On November 3, 2026, Redondo Beach voters will decide Measure ART, which would amend the General Plan and zoning code to support more commercial activity in specific areas, including new floor area ratio caps, height limits, and rooftop dining along Artesia and Aviation Boulevards, changes for industrial properties north of Manhattan Beach Boulevard and certain commercial parcels along Pacific Coast Highway, and reduced allowed housing density on some residential and mixed-use properties. The City Clerk has now posted the full ballot text, the City Attorney's impartial analysis, and the submitted arguments and rebuttals.
→ 🎯 My take: You will not find me telling you how to vote in this newsletter. You will find me telling you where the source documents live, because a measure that touches both our commercial corridors and our housing capacity deserves your firsthand reading, not a secondhand summary from social media. Read the impartial analysis, read both arguments, and make the call yourself. While you are at it, take thirty seconds to confirm your voter registration is current.
👉 View Measure ART election resources
👉 Check your voter registration
📅 Coming Up
🔹 A quarter century since 9/11. The City will host a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of September 11 on Friday, September 11, at 8:46 a.m. in front of the Council Chambers at City Hall. Community members are invited to honor the lives lost and the heroes who responded that day. Twenty-five years on, showing up is still the point.
👉 Read the ceremony announcement
🔹 Cruzin' the Lagoon takes its final lap. The classic cars roll into the Redondo Beach Marina one last time this season on Friday, September 11, from 3:00 to 6:00 PM. If you have been meaning to go all summer, this is the week that "meaning to" runs out.
🔹 Commission week continues at City Hall. The Public Amenities Commission meets Wednesday, September 9, at 6:30 PM, and the Budget and Finance Commission meets Thursday, September 10, at 6:30 PM. Looking ahead, the Harbor Commission meets Monday, September 14, at 6:30 PM, and the City Council returns Tuesday, September 15. These rooms are where the details get decided, and you are always welcome in them.
👉 View the commission calendar
🥕 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
Do you have a problem or need to report an issue to the city? Use the Access Redondo App. City crews get today off, but the app never takes a holiday, and every report you file becomes a data point that helps the City fix problems where they cluster.
👉 Download the Access Redondo app
🏘️ Redondo Roundup
A new fire chief taking the oath, neighbors stepping into commission service, a ballot measure with its homework finally posted, and a rainy season we can quite literally see coming from orbit. My ask this week is a small one: set an alarm for Friday. At 8:46 a.m. we will gather at City Hall, twenty-five years later, and remember together.
Questions, ideas, or corrections: hit reply. I read every message. Enjoy the holiday, Redondo.
