Council stands with neighboring cities after marathon debate
Council stands with neighboring cities after marathon debate, despite transit advocates' objections
The Hermosa Beach City Council voted 4-1 on Tuesday evening to support the Hawthorne Boulevard alignment for the Metro C-Line extension to Torrance, siding with neighboring cities Redondo Beach, Lawndale, and Hawthorne in opposition to Metro's preferred right-of-way alternative.
The decision came after more than two hours of passionate public testimony from approximately 20 speakers and dominated a meeting that stretched past 11 p.m. The vote saw Mayor Rob Saemann and council members Dean Francois, Michael Keegan, and Ray Jackson supporting the motion, while Mayor Pro Tem Mike Detoy cast the sole dissenting vote without explaining his position during deliberations.
The debate centered on two competing visions for extending light rail service into the South Bay. Metro's locally preferred alternative (LPA), also called the hybrid option, would run trains along an existing freight corridor—the same right-of-way that runs through portions of Redondo Beach and Lawndale. The alternative Hawthorne Boulevard route would place trains along the commercial corridor, requiring more new construction but avoiding residential impacts.
The City is spending $8M to $12M a year fixing things. Available project funding for next year: $4.7M. A pandemic-era cushion that papered over the gap is gone and the unfunded backlog has now grown to somewhere between $148 million and $280 million, with the Pier replacement now added to the list.
A $3.2 million structural deficit has been sitting under Hermosa Beach's budget for five years, masked by pandemic relief, vacancy savings, and unspent carryforward. With all three now exhausted, the council inherits a problem its predecessors chose to defer.
Council meeting opened by recognizing two pillars of the community — a gold-medal winning hockey coach and a century-old civic club — before working through a heavy agenda that included a contested fee study, Little League field improvements and police vehicle contracting.
City budget squeeze laid bare as council prepares to consider a series of difficult options to balance the books.
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