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# Hermosa Beach Deserves More Than Campaign Talking Points
- URL: https://www.hermosareview.com/hermosa-beach-deserves-more-than-campaign-talking-points/
- Published: 2026-10-20T05:45:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-21T19:55:30.000Z
- Description: Hermosa resident and keen City observer Bob Atkins reflects on what we may or may not learn from staged council candidate debates.
- Author: Hermosa Review
- Tags: Opinion

Having attended all three Hermosa Beach City Council candidate forums, I appreciate the efforts of the organizers and candidates to help residents make informed decisions.

But I came away disappointed—not so much by the candidates themselves, but by how little these forums revealed about how they think, how they would govern, and, most importantly, their vision for Hermosa Beach's future.

We heard plenty about familiar problems: the budget deficit, the pier, public safety, short-term rentals, traffic and development. Important issues, certainly. But after three forums, the questions and answers had become remarkably repetitive.

Frankly, having lived in Hermosa Beach since 1999, I've heard many of these same discussions election after election. Different candidates, sometimes the same incumbents, but largely the same problems and familiar proposed solutions. Meanwhile, in my view, remarkably little has changed to substantially improve the everyday experience of living in or visiting our city.

What I wanted to hear was something different.

> **What does a better Hermosa Beach actually look like to each candidate? What would residents notice in their everyday lives four years from now because that person served on the City Council?**

I asked essentially that question at the September 29 Neighborhood Association forum, inspired by the words inscribed on our Community Center: *“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”*

Unfortunately, the answers often returned to familiar campaign priorities rather than a meaningful vision for our community.

The format and substance of these forums also deserve some scrutiny.

Across all three events, we heard variations of essentially the same questions about budgets, public safety, parking, development and the pier. Important subjects, certainly, but repeating them did little to reveal how candidates think beyond their familiar positions and prepared responses.

Shouldn't the organizations sponsoring these forums be asking broader, more probing questions? Questions that explore a candidate's judgment, intellectual curiosity, willingness to challenge established practices, and ability to recognize opportunities for improving our community?

Only the September 29 Neighborhood Association forum allowed residents to stand and ask questions directly. After I asked what each candidate envisioned making noticeably better about Hermosa Beach during their four-year term, several residents approached me afterward to express their appreciation for a question that went beyond the usual campaign issues.

The Chamber of Commerce accepted written questions, limited to a couple of handwritten lines, and selected which ones would be asked. At the final Leadership Hermosa forum, I had offered suggestions for more probing questions in advance, but they were not included. When I attempted to ask a question directly at the conclusion, I was declined.

I don't presume the organizers intended to discourage meaningful discussion, but their own lack of vision is part of the problem. When community input is so constrained and the questions remain so predictable, these forums risk becoming little more than opportunities for candidates to repeat their campaign talking points.

**We need forums that do more than tell us what candidates think about today's problems. We need questions that reveal how they will think, learn, listen and make decisions once elected.**

Consider economic development.

We repeatedly hear candidates discussing how to attract more businesses to Hermosa Beach but, businesses need customers.

**Shouldn't we first be asking how to attract more visitors, encourage them to stay longer, and give them more reasons to spend money in our community?**

Otherwise, aren't we putting the cart before the horse?

Instead, we're being asked to approve another local sales-tax increase—the third attempt after voters rejected proposals in 2022 and 2024\. The current half-cent proposal is expected to generate approximately $2 million annually, only a portion of the city's projected budget shortfall.

And despite suggestions that visitors will shoulder much of the burden, residents will pay much of this additional tax, including on substantial purchases such as automobiles.

Why does the conversation keep returning to collecting more money from existing economic activity rather than **finding creative ways to generate more economic activity in the first place?**

Our beach is the city's greatest attraction, yet it appears that our City Council and successive candidates have been remarkably unimaginative about making it more enjoyable and economically productive during the 25-plus years I've lived here.

Why haven't we seriously explored seasonal concessions offering beach chairs, umbrellas, food, refreshments and other visitor services? Such amenities are commonplace at beaches around the world. Properly managed, they could generate permit revenue, encourage local spending and improve the visitor experience without compromising free public access.

And before anyone dismisses these ideas by claiming the California Coastal Commission would never approve them, consider that the Commission has already approved seasonal beach equipment rentals and limited food and beverage services at Silver Strand State Beach in San Diego County. Certainly, Hermosa Beach has its own legal considerations, but that's a reason to investigate the possibilities—not dismiss them.

I'd also love to know how many of our Councilmembers and candidates have actually spent an afternoon relaxing on our beach with family or friends, enjoying the sand and taking a dip in the ocean, just as our visitors do. In my conversations with three of the six candidates, I discovered that they rarely, if ever, spend time enjoying the beach in this way. So, how can they confidently tell us what would or wouldn't benefit visitors when they have so little firsthand experience of being beachgoers themselves?

With the 2028 Olympics bringing international visitors to Southern California, shouldn't we be looking seriously at opportunities to showcase Hermosa Beach and make it more convenient for tourists to enjoy our beach, shop, dine and spend time downtown?

Instead, we heard discussion about potentially transferring ownership of our beach to Los Angeles County to avoid substantial future lifeguard and maintenance costs. Thankfully, most candidates opposed the idea. But once we surrender ownership of an irreplaceable public asset, we may never get it back.

But here's the question I wish someone had asked:

**Before contemplating surrendering control of our city's greatest asset, what have we done to explore its potential to generate additional revenue while making Hermosa Beach a more attractive destination?**

The same thinking applies elsewhere. Why do we keep emphasizing traffic enforcement without adequately exploring whether more sensible traffic controls and better intersection designs could improve safety and traffic flow? Why encourage visitors to patronize downtown businesses while imposing parking restrictions that can discourage them from staying longer?

These are examples of opportunities worth investigating. I'm not suggesting that every idea is feasible or that new visitor revenue would eliminate our budget problems. But surely we should be examining opportunities for improvement rather than continually returning to the same familiar responses.

And that's really my point.

**I don't expect a City Councilmember to have all the answers. I expect them to recognize that they don't.**

I want representatives who are curious, who actively seek knowledge and perspectives beyond City staff, familiar advisers and supporters, who welcome constructive disagreement, and who are willing to reconsider their positions when presented with better information.

I'd especially like to hear candidates describe a time when someone challenged their thinking, taught them something new, and caused them to change their mind.

That would tell me far more about their vision for Hermosa and their ability to govern than another rehearsed answer about the budget or the pier.

Candidate forums are valuable. But they could be so much more valuable if they devoted less time to repeating familiar positions and more time to revealing the judgment, imagination, humility and openness of those who want to lead our city.

**We're not simply choosing who will occupy three Council seats. We're choosing the people who will help determine what Hermosa Beach becomes over the next four years.**

Surely that deserves a deeper conversation.

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**Bob Atkins** 
**Resident of Hermosa Beach since 1999**

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