A Treehouse Divided Against Itself Can Not Stand.

In areas, Redondo Beach is overrun with near-sighted condo development. These towering strucco structures, built to last 20 or 30 years, reduce their neighbors'sunlight and seem to crop up at an unsustainable rate. Yet, when a small business wants to expand into the space a door over, they can face a staggering amount of paperwork, fees, and down time. Being shuffled back and forth from one government office to the next, can often be more laborious than knocking down the wall between the two spaces.  As I said in the Easy Reader's Meet the Redondo Mayoral Candidates; "you have to pull a permit even to build a treehouse."

Here's the article:

http://www.easyreadernews.com/64219/meet-the-redondo-mayoral-candidates/

I suppose money talks in these zoning matters; and seems, like many ordinances, to be selectively enforced. Remember 'the Heart of the City' deal that fell through? The people were rightly suspicious of such a large scale redevelopment. The arrogance alone of proclaiming one harbor section of Redondo as the 'Heart' of the City is enough to turn one's ear. What's Riviera Village then, the spleen? Artesia an artery? Wilderness Park a lung? Defense Row a pancreas? North Redondo chopped liver? The infrastructure was to be torn up and three thousand condo units were to be installed along Catalina Avenue. And they almost got away with it. The land grab might have silently passed in the night if it wasn't for the public being alerted to a planning commission report which claimed that traffic would decrease after the addition of three thousand condo units. Two of the three City Council members running for Mayor of Redondo Beach sat on that commission and had the audacity to issue that report. One of them, Matt Kilroy, is now unapologetically against Measure A; the measure to rezone and decommission the unneeded AES powerplant. And who was one of the entities behind this botched 'Heart of the City' land grab? None other that AES. Now I understand that Matt Kilroy stands for the people... the people of Delaware and their large uncaring corporations.

http://articles.latimes.com/2002/apr/29/local/me-heart29

Measure DD came out of this debacle and now we need to make the next step and get rid of the powerplant and especially AES. Time to pull back the curtain Redondo.

Hey AES thanks for the post card, but why did you bill us for the stamp?

Vote Coleman March 5th, 2013 

contact/volunteer/donate: ericjamescoleman@gmail.com

Special Thanks to William Watson for his drawing, Simone Stephens for her copy editing, Sky Coleman for imagination, and Quain for making sure this post is up to code. 

You Heard it Here First: Re-instate the Trolley System

Los Angeles once had an efficient mass transit system of trolley cars.  Then large corporations, with vested interests, bought it up to tear it up. That brings us to the present; clogged thoroughfares and frustrated motorists. 

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/la/historic/redcars/

The red cars could supplement our current bus system; which, for a big city, doesn't do enough and has a negative stigma associated with it. A bus system that runs ever hour is barely a bus system at all. If the bus breaks down say goodbye to your job. The key to our Red Cars is frequency, comfort, later runs, service peaking in the summer. These bike rack augmented open air trolley cars would be wheeled, not running on tracks, as earlier models did. Lines would connect the South Bay Galleria, North Redondo, The businesses along Artesia and Aviation, the Pier, Riviera Village, and Metro's the Green Line for starters. Eventually the line could be expanded to include the Dell Amo Mall as well as all the Beach Cities. This project would create jobs; everything from drivers to tour guides, and promote Redondo as a more attractive tour destination.  Hotels, restaurants, and other small businesses are sure to flourish as a result of the increase in foot traffic. The initial costs will pale in comparison to the added revenue over time. As I said in the debates; you have to spend money to make money. 

Read the Reviews:


http://www.easyreadernews.com/63878/debates-launch-the-redondo-beach-political-season/

http://tbrnews.com/news/redondo_beach/redondo-candidates-forum-focuses-on-police-power-plant-and-pier/article_526dfc6c-603d-11e2-a6e7-0019bb2963f4.html


When we revamp the Pier we need to put a system in place that brings people there. The last time we undertook such an effort was after the 1988 Great Redondo Pier Fire. A private investigator discovered that a water main had failed, the city knew about it, and the Pier was allowed to continue operations at the urging of local merchants. Faulty wiring caused an electric short that produced a spark. When the Fire Department arrived to hook up their hoses, they ascertained the water main had the pressure of a squirt gun. Such a trickle could hardly contain the blaze. Simply put, we weren't ready.

The logic behind the Street Festival Freeze is similar; things could potentially get out of hand due to lack of preparedness. However, I have faith in the residents of Redondo to behave responsibly, letting them take pride in their community. No new street festivals can even be proposed in the City of Redondo Beach while this freeze is in effect. Supposedly there's not enough money for public safety. Law enforcement's budget has been stretched thin. I assure you, Redondo, the money is there. One example is; in the City's budget, under the column of Public Safety, there is a three to four million dollar gap. The gap is a result of public officials getting as much overtime as they can, before retirement, in an effort to boost their pensions. Not in my Redondo. Reinvent the Red Cars.

Bring Back the Fun. Vote Coleman March 5th. Contact/Volunteer/Donate: ericjamescoleman@gmail.com

Our Trip to SeaLab's Water Desalination Facility

Candidate for Mayor, Eric Coleman, researches options for what to do with the soon to be decommissioned AES plant.  Incredible thanks to Ron Wildermuth, Ritza, and the West Basin Water District for making this all possible.

Preserve Historic Redondo while Planning for the Future.

Vote Coleman March 5th, 2013! Contact/Volunteer/Donate: ericjamescoleman@gmail.com

Coleman's Challenge: Know Your District!

On the Campaign Trail January 6th, 2013

Concerning Noise

One person's sound is another person's noise. Another person's noise is someone else's music.  Let's be honest; we find sound comforting.  What do we do when we get home? Turn on the TV? Turn on the radio? Heck, I used to do my homework with the radio blaring overhead and TV flickering, in the corner. Even what people think of as quiet is not really that quiet. Close your eyes and listen. There's the hum of the computer, the tick-tock of the clock, the rattling of the refrigerator, the ocean-like sound of the traffic outside. Prolonged sensory deprivation can drive us bonkers. Just like how a slow water trickle can be agonizing or peaceful depending on the conditions; such is true of absolute silence.

Recently there's been a lot of noise over the 200 million dollar "Pier Redevelopment" deal, right before the City Council is set to be termed out. This is the same City Council that tried to slip a "Heart of the City" deal past the people and failed. Heart of the City, eh? So every other part of Redondo that's not the Pier is just an appendage? Something similar to this also happened back in October of 2004, and just before the last mass City Council term-out. A deal was made to dredge deeper into the harbor, allowing for the passage of larger boats, circumventing the original intentions of the harbor's construction and the will of the people. It takes a while for incoming Council people to become acquainted with their new job, and land developers know this. In both instances, the City violated its own Charter.

As Chester Powelson puts it in his extensive report, 

 "On October 19th, 2004,... Without formal Notice of Hearing, or any other means of public notification, the Redondo Beach City Council illegally passed, approved, and adopted Resolution No. CC-0410-112. The purpose of this resolution was to award a public works contract to AIS for inter-harbor dredging. This was designated Maintenance Project Job 7556..."

Mr. Powelson continues, 

"As a former City of Redondo Beach Engineering Department employee, I have been intimately acquainted and familiar with the entrance to the Small Craft Inter-Harbor channel plans. The several depth surroundings of the Harbor have shown that from April 1960 to July 27, 2004...originally dredged and constructed for approximately 1,200 small boat slips accommondating a mean average, stem to stern vessel length of about 30 to 32 feet. On January 5, 2004, the owner, the City of Redondo Beach, had obtained California Coastal Commission Coastal Development Permit Application Consistency Certification No. CC-32-04. This permit provided and allowed for maintenance dredging of King Harbor, Basin One, and consisting of the hydraulic dredging of approximately 60,000 cubic yards of dredged, sandy material, resulting in an increased basin depth of MINUS 10 TO 18 FEET; that is, now, 40 to 45 feet total harbor dredged."

Understanding this, Mr. Powelson then makes a powerful point: 

"Dredging Project Job No.7556... will cause a serious defect to the safety of the Federal Breakwater that was built to protect the Small Craft Harbor from any ensuing storm damage, and it is now sitting on a liquefaction hill of approximately 15 to 18 feet in height in what is currently designated as the Redondo Seismic Quadrangle. In time, and in response to this destabilization and subversion, the federal Breakwater and the City Small Craft Harbor will eventually collapse and implode..."

A sobering thought, for sure. 

So, in conclusion, I suppose a rushed contract (and one good earthquake) could quiet some of the noise regarding the Pier's direction. With less people in a position to complain, we're bound to have fewer complaints.

Contact/Volunteer/Donate: ericjamescoleman@gmail.com

Yes On Measure A