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Recap5 min

Council Recap: March 17, 2026

A mid-year budget reset, a preferential parking decision on N. Gertruda, and a $337K vote to keep the Performing Arts Center lit.

Meeting decided
Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Published
March 18, 2026
Source
Official agenda

A working meeting more than a contentious one. The big decisions were budget hygiene (mid-year FY26 reset, FY27 cost-savings direction), a $337K Performing Arts Center electrical replacement, and a preferential parking zone on N. Gertruda that drew the only real debate of the night.

Key outcomes

Item N.2Approved · 4/5ths required

FY 2025-26 Mid-Year Budget Review

Council adopted Resolution 2603-014 modifying the FY 2025-26 budget at mid-year, received the CIP status presentation, and gave staff direction on FY 2026-27 cost-savings strategies. This is the formal checkpoint where the budget Council adopted in June gets reset against actuals halfway through the year.

The 4/5ths-vote threshold means at least four of the five Council members had to agree to changes — Council passed it cleanly. Watch for specific cost-savings items to surface in individual decision packages over the next two months as FY27 budget prep begins.

Item L.1Approved

Preferential Parking Zone for 500-block N. Gertruda Avenue

A coastal development permit + CEQA exemption letting the City set permit-only on-street parking, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. weekdays, for the southern 400 feet of the 500 block of N. Gertruda. Restricted to residential permit holders at 500–522 N. Gertruda.

This is a small, hyperlocal item but a recurring pattern: streets near the Public Works yard and other commuter destinations get colonized by all-day parkers, and the affected residents petition for a preferential zone. Adding one is straightforward; the larger question of when to update the city's overall parking strategy is not on the agenda.

Item H.10Approved

Solid Waste Prop 218 Process — Public Hearing set for May 19

Council authorized staff to initiate the Proposition 218Proposition 218 (1996) requires voter or property-owner approval before California cities can adjust fees, rates, or assessments on water, sewer, trash, and similar utility services. Cities must mail notice to every affected property owner and hold a public hearing where majority-protest can block the rate change. process for adjusting Solid Waste rates beginning FY 2026-27 and set May 19, 2026 as the public hearing. Athens Services is the City's contractor; rates have been on a formula-driven schedule for years.

If you are a property owner, expect a mailed notice in the next few weeks. If you want to formally protest, the protest has to be in writing and received before the May 19 hearing closes. We'll cover this in the May 19 Preview.

Item H.16Approved

April 7 meeting canceled, rescheduled to April 14

The regular April 7, 2026 Council meeting (and concurrent agency meetings) was canceled and pushed to April 14. The agenda doesn't state the reason; typically this is for Council or staff travel conflicts, or to bundle agenda items for a fuller meeting.

Other items decided

Sixteen items moved through the Consent CalendarA 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. as a single bundled vote. The notable ones:

Consent Calendar highlights

  • ·H.6 — $337,468 to ABM Electrical to replace the Performing Arts Center emergency-egress UPS (uninterruptible power supply). Larger spend than typical consent items; reflects aging infrastructure at the PAC.
  • ·H.7 — Funding amendment with LA Metro for the Redondo Beach Avenue Bike Improvements + Pedestrian Safety Project. Active-transportation money continues to flow.
  • ·H.8 — Mayor signs letters supporting AB 1708 (homeless housing funding round), AB 2152 (CEQA exemption for fire-station projects — relevant to Measure FP), and SB 922 (street-maintenance cost recovery).
  • ·H.9 — Two $100K on-call consulting agreements: McClaren Wilson & Lawrie for police shooting-range design, Geosyntec for environmental engineering.
  • ·H.11 — Option agreement with the Marine Mammal Care Center for the new facility at 230 Portofino Way, plus a $15M letter of support to Prop 4 state funding.
  • ·H.12 — $42K to Raney Planning & Management for environmental consultation on Measure FP projects (the police station + two fire stations).
  • ·H.13 — Received and filed the 2025 General Plan + Housing Element APR for submission to State HCD. Relevant given the October 2025 Appeals Court ruling on the Housing Element.

Closed Session

Council spent the 4:30 p.m. Closed Session on the usual high-stakes confidential business: anticipated and existing litigation (including the ongoing Koyanagi case), real-property negotiations on portions of the Marina parking lot (Water Polo Program, Nike, BeachLife Festival), labor negotiations with the Part-Time Employees unit, and real-property talks with Redondo Beach Unified School District covering seven parcels — a sign that some kind of larger RBUSD/City land deal is being worked out.

Closed Session decisions, if any, are announced under Item I when the meeting reconvenes in open session. None of the items above produced public announcements in the open-session record.

What to watch next

Three things on the runway from this meeting:

  • ·Solid Waste rate hearing on May 19. Watch for the protest-notification mailing.
  • ·FY 2026-27 cost-savings direction from this meeting will materialize as specific items (mid-year adjustments, decision packages) over the next two months as the FY27 budget cycle ramps up.
  • ·RBUSD land negotiations covering seven parcels across both ZIP codes. Most details are in Closed Session for now, but a larger announcement seems likely later this year.