King Harbor Blog

I'm always most relaxed and content when I'm on or around the water. Boats have always been a big part of my life so it was only natural that a desire to volunteer my services within my community led me to the waterfront.

I became a Redondo Beach Harbor Commissioner in 2005. In 2007 I found a way to help focus attention on the harbor by writing a weekly column for the Easy Reader called Harbor Lights. It's all about King Harbor.

In January 2008, this blog was launched. It's a forum to share ideas on the many issues and subjects of interest that surround the harbor. Click here for more about Harry Munns.

Feel free to contribute opinions, facts or ideas, either about the subjects covered in Harbor Lights or other topics related to King Harbor. My only request is that you keep it civil. Let's make sure we respect one another, even when we disagree. Happy Blogging!

Harry Munns January 6, 2008

If I’m going to be judged by this blog then I have no choice but to admit the following; I’m a lousy blogger.

What I’m going to tell you next isn’t an attempt to brag or make anyone question their own actions. One of the things that kept me away from my computer for at least part of the summer is the very thing this blog is about, King Harbor. So I guess I’m saying I have an excuse, at least since June.

Here’s a list of some of the things I’ve done in KH this summer; drinks at Old Tony’s, dinner at Samba, lunch at Joe’s Crab Shack (I’ve got an 8 year old son), sailed big boats, sailed a Sabot with my son from the yacht club, swam in the Seaside Lagoon three times, spent July 4th at the Lagoon, hiked more than half way out the breakwater, hiked to the end of the jetty behind the little pier multiple times, played football at Moonstone Park, discovered the location of Turtle Park, hiked the outside of the Galveston wall on Yacht Club Way, rode bikes all around the marina, attended 3 concerts on the pier. There’s more but rather than risking anyone saying I’m bragging, I’ll leave it at that.

King Harbor’s the place I go lots of times when I don’t really have anyplace to go. I might end up on a boat, in a park or in a restaurant. Sometimes I have a plan. Sometimes I don’t. Lots of times I just go down there and figure it out when I get there. Maybe I’m weird, but I never get tired of it.

Chances are you haven’t spent as much time in the harbor as I have this summer, but there’s still time to swim in the lagoon, rent a paddle boat, go out on a fishing boat and any number of other activities.

Please post a reply and tell me what you have done, what you wish you had done and what you’d like to do in the future. There really is a lot crammed into that little space. I’d like to hear from everyone who uses it, even if you don’t use it as much as me.

The May HC meeting was a re-airing of one of the fundamental complaints that comes up again and again within the commission. As requested, Director Parker provided us with agenda items related to Pier and Harbor business the City Council has recently processed.

The key word in the previous sentence and the root of the pervasive discontent among the commissioners is "processed" as in past tense. Failure to include the commission in decisions that concern the Pier and harbor has been a source of tension between the Harbor Commission and the city for most of the 3+ years I've served on the commision. In fact, last year one commissioner suggested he was ready to quit and that the only way to send a message to the city would be for the rest of us to quit along with him.

Unfortunately, most of us want to serve on the commission as a way to participate in city government and give something back to our community. The city's big mistake with the Harbor Commission was appointing a bunch of smart, competent people. If the intention was to give us little or nothing to do, I would think the best people to be satisfied doing little or nothing would be individuals who lack those two qualities.

So being a guy, I ask the question, how do we fix it? Well, we tried about a year and a half ago. We sent a letter to the city council asking them to direct the City Manager to run all Pier/Harbor items that will appear on the council's agenda through the Harbor Commission first.

That symbolic gesture wasn't intended as any serious attempt to alter city policy. It was just a plea from a group of eager volunteers asking for a chance to be included in the process, to help. I never saw an official response to that letter, but reports indicated the council agreed with the concept.

Yet there we were more than a year later looking at an agenda that included in excess of a dozen items relating to the Pier/Harbor that had all received action from the City Council. That's right, "received" as in past tense. The Harbor Commission never saw them.

I'd be happy to point the finger where I believe it needs to be pointed, but I'll leave it to the reader to look at the players in this game and figure out who's disrupting the team's harmony.

I've felt like a lot of different things in my life, a recipient of good fortune, a victim and a cog in the machinery to name a few. This is the first time I've ever felt under-utilized. It's kind of hard to get used to, but I guess I'll be going to the next commission meeting so what does that tell you?

Bill Brand and I disagree on the one thing that defined his political career prior to election to the Redondo Beach City Council. He thinks the AES Redondo Power Plant would best serve our community if it became a park. I don’t believe that’s the best use for that property, when and if it becomes available for conversion from its current use. I will give him this, if a park or power plant were ever the only two options, Bill and I would be in complete agreement, bring in the bulldozers and plant some grass.

I’ve expressed this opinion in my Easy Reader column, Harbor Lights, and in public statements at Harbor Commission meetings. King Harbor, the focus of my column and my Harbor Commission work, lies in Bill’s district, District 2. It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if Bill and I looked at all the issues facing our common territory and found we agreed on more than we disagreed upon. In fact, it’s safe to say we both want what’s best for District 2, the Pier and King Harbor.

When you’ve disagreed, sometimes vigorously, with someone in the pages of a newspaper and other public discourse, you don’t expect to find that individual personally agreeable, at least I don’t. So it was a pleasant surprise after a few emails to finally talk with Bill on the phone and find we had a lot to talk about and it all transpired in a pleasant, harmonious fashion.

I believe in the ideal of citizen-run government and the value of diverse opinions. I congratulate Bill Brand for his election victory, welcome him to the council and look forward to working with him in coming years.

Let me start by saying I know anyone who's been checking this blog lately has been disappointed by the lack of new content. Isn't the whole idea of a blog to post current, timely information? Yup, it is and I appologize for not keeping it that way. If you see me around town, bug me about it! I deserve it! I'll try to improve even before I get any harassment.

March was a pretty light month at the HC. We got to review the latest plans for a new, improved Lagoon. We seemed to agree on a couple things. The water feature should be as large as possible and under no circumstances should we give up any park land for parking.

Mike Witzansky explained that it was just there in case we needed to swap some space to Decron, the current owner of the leasehold that borders the lagoon. I liked that explanation better but still believed the public will never stand for any deal that converts that gives away a portion of the park.

It's tied to the boat ramp. I'll rant about the ramp later, but for now let me just say that I'm tired of ramp advocates trying to ram their concept down everyone's throats. There is no plan for a ramp. There has been no approval. Anyone who tries to tie a ramp to the lagoon is playing a very risky game. They may lose a lot of friends when their fictitious connection between a ramp and the lagoon gets exposed for what it is, fiction.

They've become very aggressive and they seem to have bamboozled a few city officials, but not all of them. My advice; recede into the background and wait for the right time to fight your battle. Otherwise risk the very real possibility of getting tarred with the "kook" brush.

In the end, the HC approved one of the plans, I think it was #3. It doesn't matter much because the City Council approved the same one after lengthy discussion about how there was almost no possibility of coming up with the $11 million to build it.

City government's funny, in a frustrating, illogical sort of way. When you get to the state and federal levels you lose the funny and all you've got left is the frustrating and illogical. City government's a picnic by comparison.

It was pretty cool (no pun intended) to see people ice skating in Seaside Lagoon in November. I've skated at the Culver City rink where the Kings practice (or at least they did then) and the mall in PV. This was by far the best of the three, palm trees swaying, the harbor and the Pacific, beyond as a backdrop.

Tom Kearney and Scott Williams worked very hard to make this dream a reality. On the morning of November 18th, hours before the opening ceremony, I saw Scott luggin equipment down to the shed that housed the compressor. I hope they succeed. They deserve it.

The city helped as did a number of sponsors. If all goes as planned, the event will repeat for the next two years and perhaps beyond.

As an an advocate for the harbor, I'm thrilled to see the Seaside Lagoon operating in any capacity during its usual dark period from September to May. It's great to see people down there having fun. Now let's see if we can figure out something to do with it between January and May.

We were presented with some of the documents the Harbor Business and Transit Department and Fire Chief prepared to apply for a grant from the Department of Boating and Waterways for transient moorings in the harbor. According to the chief, we can expect to hear something in about 6 months.

The commission was also presented with a summary of the City Council's September 10th Strategic Planning Workshop. The City Council has had these meetings on a 12 month cycle in the past. It appears they are shorting that cycle to 6 months.

It seems the meetings help those involved in the highest level of city government set some goals and deadlines for their achievement. Without the benefit of having performed a detailed analysys of past goals and their current status, it appears the city's overall record is satisfactory. You can see an outline of the objectives at http://www.redondo.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=17222.

Director Parker presented her report summarizing some of the recent activities in the harbor such as the Lobster Festival and the visit of the tall ships, Lynx and the Californian. She also summarized some of the upcoming events such as ribbon cutting for Seaside Ice, Santa's visit to the Pier and the boat parade.

The Harbor Commission saw the completed (at least for now) version of the web site that's intended to draw visitors to the Harbor/Pier area. There was another round of complaining about the name redondoharborresort.com. In case you missed it, some of us, me included, believe it's misleading to call the harbor Redondo Harbor or even Redondo Beach Harbor because it has a proper name, King Harbor. Overall, the site looks good and we have great hopes that it will stimulate activity.

The Mayor sent a letter to the commission, which we assumed would be sent to all commisions, regarding the City's Utility Users Tax. A committee made up of the Mayor, two City Council members and the City Treasurer will recommend to the City Council that it, "approve a modernization of the existing UUT tax with NO increase in the rate."

Budget and Finance Commissioner Gary Ohst suggested that, "Anything that hints of an Internet tax loophole will meet with opposition." We will certainly hear more about this when it becomes a ballot measure.

Earlier this year, RB city staff predicted a series of new signs, some of which will direct people to the Pier/Harbor, would be installed in the summer of 2008. Harbor, Business and Transit Director, Gwendolyn Parker submitted a report on their progress. Seven directional panels are scheduled to be installed in October. Five monument signs are secheduled to be installed in November. We'll see.

The HC has had a group of sub-committees set up in case we ever needed to take action on any of the topics they cover. We've talked about getting rid of the sub-committes and just creating them when they're needed for a project. We did something in between doing nothing and getting rid of the sub-committes altogether. From now on, we will dissolve the existing sub-committes once a year and re-establish the exact same committees immediately. It's hard to decide whether we actually did something or not.

We re-elected Alex Bannerman as committee chair, Trish Murakawa vice-chair and yours truly as secretary.

Aquatic Design Group, Inc. presented an updated plan for various rehabilitation plans for the Seaside Lagoon. Time is running out on that project. In September 2009 when the Lagoon closes for the season, the current permits will run out. The Water Quality Control Board expects a clear solution to the pollution problem by that time. If the solution requires extensive construction, which it probably will, that work must be completed by May of 2010 to avoid missing that summer season and possibly others. So far, the city still hasn't figured out what to do. The clock is ticking.

There will be new benches, planters and railings on parts of the Pier. We looked at a few designs and offered suggestions. The most important part of this project is that the city will get $176,000 worth of new furniture. What we don't know is how long it will hold up and contunue to look new.

We welcomed a new member, Corwin Eberting, who replaced Jon Bevington. Jon went to the Planning Commission. We're all looking forward to working with Commissioner Eberting.

If you've been looking at this blog for news about King Harbor in the last few months, I'm embarassed to say, there hasn't been any. My company, BookMyFun Online Reservations www.bookmyfun.com hosts the blog. We performed some major hardware and software upgrades over the summer and The King Harbor Blog was one of the last things to return to normal.

Unfortunately, some of the material was lost, specifically, comments to the orignial postings. No, I didn't delete opposing opinions. They were just lost in transit. If you posted something here in the past, I urge you to take a moment to re-type your posting.

Everything's working now so I hope to get back to blogging.  There's lots to talk about.

The Chamber of Commerce, the Pier Merchants Association, King Harbor Association, city government and various other interested parties, spend considerable time and effort trying to solve the same mystery. How do we get more people to use and enjoy the fantastic resources in the Pier and harbor area?

Walk down the pier or boardwalk any Saturday or Sunday afternoon in the good weather and you’ll ask yourself, "why all the fuss?" There’s people everywhere. Travel the same route on a Monday morning in January or February and you’ll get it within the first minute. You wouldn’t be able to hit a person with a fully-loaded AK-47.

There are plenty of reasons to come to King Harbor, restaurants, night clubs, fishing, boating, Seaside Lagoon (in season), to name a few. On some weekends, like the weekend of September 27-28, the place fills nearly to capacity.

Credit the newly invigorated Lobster Festival, the Rods, Rides and Relics car show on the Pier and the Dolphin Dash for that weekend’s crowds. In the next couple of weekends the Redondo Beach Art Group will present The Power of Art inside the AES Steam plant. Redondo Beach Marina and the King Harbor Association will host the tall ship Lynx.

What’s the message in all this? The static attractions in the harbor area do an adequate job of attracting people. If you want more people, you need more attractions. It’s that simple.

The Pier has music and a few festivals in the summer and the Lagoon has a few events scattered throughout the year. If you want more people to come here, you need to create the impression that, in addition to the regular stuff, there’s always something fun going on along our waterfront.

Part of the solution would be to coordinate the existing events and market them altogether. In addition, the frequency and number of special events should expand to fill as much of the annual calendar as possible. Then the King Harbor Events Calendar needs to get marketed so that everyone within driving distance knows that there’s always something fun going on in Redondo Beach.

A tall order? Sure, but it’s doable and as it begins to come together, our need to share the harbor and pier with others will slowly become satisfied.

The meeting started like most others, with role call and a salute to the flag. We spent received presentations from various city staff. Newly hired Harbor Projects Analyst, Veronica Wolkow, reviewed her progress on the harbor resort web site.

Harbor, Business and Transit Director, Gwendolyn Parker reviewed the 6 month strategic plan and the water quality matrix. While it may not always be obvious, the harbor does make progress.

The idea behind branding Redondo's waterfront as a resort destination has been embraced by many stakeholders. When people plan their vacations to this part of the country, they have lots of choices. The city wants to put itself up at the front of the line when those decisions are made. It's a way to package and brand the harbor and its surroundings.

A few of us have voiced our strong objection to creating a new name, Redondo Harbor Resort when there's no such thing as Redondo Harbor. Our harbor already has a perfectly good name, King Harbor.

Aside from that, the web site is coming along fine. It's due to roll out by the end of the year.

An outside consultant has been hired to prepare a business plan for the harbor. It has great potential for guiding one of our city's most valuable assets to bigger and better things. It's in the early stages, so it's too soon to tell how it will turn out.

We had a short discussion on harbor reserves but it seems as though specific numbers are still somewhat vague.

The Harbor Department has created some pamphlets with guidelines for handling potential sorces of pollution. They're being called Best Management Practices.

The anxiety level rose when we landed on the subject of the August joint meeting with the City Council and the Budjet and Finance Commission. The best way to sum it up is to say some of the commissioners felt we were more like observers than participants. This has become a chronic complaint among some Harbor Commissioners, me included. It's a subject for another post, but it made for some lively debate in September.

We tabled a discussion about sub-committes for another meeting.

There wasn't a lot of new business this month so after approving a small construction project at the Spectrum Club, the Harbor commission got back to talking about zoning.  According to city staff, the goal of the current changes making their way through various city offices and commissions is to bring the various conflicting documents into alignment.

My Harbor Lights column about the flyers circulated by Buildiing a Better Redondo didn’t mention their alarm over the potential for 750,000 square feet of new development within the harbor.

In what could appear to be an attempt by the Panning Department to please everyone, which usually pleases no one, the latest version of the document headed for the city council contains a revised proposal that’s closer to 600,000 square feet.

It was generally believed among people in the room that a cap on square footage was irrelevant. The HC seemed to think that if you’re going to have an irrelevant number, it might as well be a big one.  We proposed that the square footage cap revert to the original staff recommendation of 750,000 sq ft.

You can expect to hear a lot more about this issue.  Here’s the way it looks to me.  It’s been 2 ½ decades since anything’s been built in the marina.  I’d like to see something built there that draws us all to it. Without zoning changes, that isn’t going to happen.  Let’s do something!

Quite often after it rains in this part of the world, the breeze freshens and the sun comes out.  Some people call this the back end of the front.

Friday afternoon about 25 people were invited out to sail the Lynx, a 122 foot clipper schooner built to resemble a ship that fought the war of 1812. It had rained that morning but by the time the Lynx crew had the sails raised, it was blowing a little under 20 knots in full sunshine.

We spent a couple hours sailing between Palos Verdes and Manhattan Beach.  It was one of those times when I understood why an old friend used to say sailing is the second best feeling in the world.

The Linx was one of only a few tall ships to visit King Harbor.  She spent the weekend hosting tours and afternoon sailing trips.  I told Jeffrey Woods, Director of Operations of the Lynx Educational Foundation and son of the man who had the ship built, to tell his father I said the world was a better place with the Linx in it.  I sincerely believe that.

The ship continues sailing up and down the coast.  You can check out the Linx at www.privateerlynx.org.

The RB Harbor Commission met in council chambers at 7 PM and adjourned shortly after 1 AM Tuesday.

We had a full agenda. We got an update on the Harbor Resort Web Site, the Harbor Patrol report and an update on the various items that make up the Strategic Plan.

The things that took us into the wee hours were a budget review and a discussion of the proposed land use amendments for the Harbor/Pier area.

The budget review was presented in a clear, concise spread sheet format that made it much easier to understand.  It pointed out that the surplus cash in the harbor enterprise will be depleted by more than 50% in 5 years. The most optimistic increase of 8% probably won't do much to offset that depletion.

The real time burner was discussion of zoning changes.  It looks like any major development in the harbor/pier area will require changes to the current zoning.  Anything that might spur development is like putting underwear made out of fiberglass insulation on the people in the city who don't want any development, ever. It irritates the hell out of them.

This is going to be a fight to the death and the only way anything is going to change in the harbor is if the people of the city refuse to be bullied by the small, vocal minority who would like to turn the entire city into a park.

On January 31st I attended a meeting with a number of other people who had a variety of interests in and around King Harbor.  The purpose of the meeting was to expose us to preliminary work on a new set of signs that will appear throughout the city.

I say the purpose was to expose us rather than to solicit advice because at the end of the meeting, I had the distinct impression that little or nothing we suggested would be incorporated in the final design and implementation phases of the project.  I hope I'm wrong.

The group was nearly unanimous in its choice of a design that was apparently displayed only as a contrast to the design that seemed like it was selected and approved before our "opinions" were solicited.  It's also unclear to what extent this will cause a dilemma for city staff. I'm hoping their energy will go into implementing the ideas we offered rather than coming up with an excuse to do what they were going to do anyway.  We shall see.

At any rate, there should be some new signs to direct people to the pier and harbor, as well as Riviera Village. The projected completion date is supposed to be this summer.  That seems a little over ambition for a city project but maybe I'll be wrong about that too.