A week after the heavy first meeting of the fiscal year, Tuesday's open session is a light one. The public agenda is mostly consent items and a long evening of commissioner interviews. The real action is behind closed doors: five separate closed-session items, four of them waterfront lease negotiations covering Quality Seafood, Fisherman's Wharf, and two new names on the board. On the consent calendar, Council will name the new Herondo park after the late Mayor Bill Brand and pour another half-million dollars into the Palos Verdes Boulevard bike lane.
Items to watch
Waterfront lease negotiations — four properties behind closed doors
Four of the five closed-session items are conference-with-real-property-negotiatorA closed-session category under Government Code § 54956.8 that lets the Council privately discuss the price and terms of a lease or sale with its designated real-property negotiator before any public vote. items, and together they map the city's waterfront-leasing strategy:
123 International Boardwalk — negotiations with Raman Walia of Multiverse Platforms over the space branded Level Up Bowl & Bistro. 100 and 130 International Boardwalk — the lease for Quality Seafood, the harbor institution, with owner Jeff Jones. Fisherman's Wharf, 200–250 — a “various tenants” negotiation over price. And 2500 Marine Avenue — a price-and-terms negotiation with Scott King of Del Amo Motorsports.
The city's negotiators on the boardwalk items are City Manager Mike Witzansky and Waterfront and Community Services Director Elizabeth Hause, with outside counsel from Redwood Public Law. Nothing gets decided in public tonight — but these are the conversations that determine the future of the King Harbor waterfront.
Why it mattersThe city's long-running effort to sort out its waterfront leases dominates closed session. Four separate real-property negotiations cover International Boardwalk, Fisherman's Wharf, and a Marine Avenue property — the terms that get set here shape who operates the harbor for years.
Naming the Herondo park after Bill Brand
Resolution No. CC-2607-053 would name the Herondo open-space area, at Herondo Street and Catalina Avenue on the city's northern edge, the Bill Brand Gateway Park. Bill Brand served as Redondo Beach mayor until his death in 2019 and built his political career opposing large-scale waterfront and power-plant development. Naming a new gateway park for him is a fitting tribute — and the item sits on consent, so unless a Council member pulls it, it passes in a single motion.
Why it mattersThe open-space park at Herondo Street and Catalina Avenue — discussed at the July 7 meeting — gets its name. Resolution CC-2607-053 designates it Bill Brand Gateway Park, honoring the late mayor and longtime waterfront-development critic.
Palos Verdes Boulevard protected bike lane — $577,450 change order
The item approves plans and specifications for the Palos Verdes Boulevard Protected Bike Lane project and a Change Order No. 1 with All American Asphalt South, Inc. for slurry and bicycle-lane additions from Pacific Coast Highway to Irena Avenue, plus additional traffic-calming and safety improvements at various locations. The change order costs $577,450, raising the total contract amount to $1,175,381and resetting the City Engineer's change-order authority. It continues the city's build-out of protected bike infrastructure — the same policy debate we took up in our PCH corridor piece.
Why it mattersCouncil will approve the plans and a Change Order No. 1 that adds $577,450 to the Palos Verdes Boulevard protected bike lane and traffic-calming project, pushing the total contract to $1,175,381.
Commissioner interviews — filling the city's volunteer boards
Council will conduct interviews of commissioner applicants, then submit recommendations to the Mayor by August 6. The Mayor proposes appointments at the August 11 meeting, and new and reappointed commissioners are sworn in on September 1 or before their October commission meetings. If you have ever wondered how residents end up on the Planning, Harbor, or Cultural Arts commissions, this is the process in action — see our commissions guide for what each body does.
Why it mattersThe bulk of the open-session evening is set aside for the Mayor and Council to interview applicants for appointments to the city's commissions — the volunteer bodies that shape planning, harbor, arts, and public-works decisions.
Consent calendar — the notable items
Beyond the park naming and the bike-lane change order, a handful of consentA batch of routine items voted on together in one motion. Any Council member or member of the public can pull an item for separate discussion. items are worth flagging:
H.6 — Fire Chief class specification update: Resolution CC-2607-052 amends the official book of class specifications to update the Fire Chief position — a personnel-classification step that often precedes a hire.
H.5 — Police academy training agreement: A memorandum of agreement with the County of Los Angeles for basic academy peace-officer recruit training, effective retroactively to July 1, 2025 until terminated by either party.
H.4 — Contracts under $35,000: A second amendment extending the PetData, Inc. dog-licensing contract through August 18 (about $1,000) while the city evaluates a new licensing vendor, and a $5,413 agreement with Forvis Mazars, LLP to prepare required State Controller reports.
Closed session
The meeting opens at 4:00 p.m. with a closed session before the 6:00 p.m. open meeting. Alongside the four waterfront lease negotiations above, one litigation item is on the list:
Harry Stuver, et al. v. Redondo Beach Police Department and City of Redondo Beach — an existing-litigation item under the attorney-client privilege, handled through JAMS arbitration (Reference No. 5220006179, before retired Justice Candace Cooper). The same closed-session items are re-listed at the end of the open meeting (items R.1–R.5) so Council can reconvene if the open agenda finishes early.
What's not on the agenda
No public hearings, no ordinances up for reading, and no big-ticket discussion items. After a July 7 meeting that put a possible November General Plan ballot measure and $3.57M in Measure FP contracts before Council, this is a deliberately quiet open session. The substance is in closed session — and in the volunteer-commission pipeline that will shape the boards for the coming year.