Bill Brand, Incumbent City Councilman for District 2

Bill Brand is currently the incumbent city councilman for District 2. He has two challengers for his position.

Below are Brand's responses to a questionnaire compiled by Patch editors with suggestions from readers.

Redondo Beach Patch: Why are you running for re-election?

Brand: I’m running for re-election as your District 2 representative to continue the resident-focused vision and policy I’ve championed for the last 11 years, both as an activist, and your council member.

I now have four years of experience as your elected official managing our city during the worst economic times since the Great Depression. I’m a proven leader who partnered with council colleagues and city employees to reform pensions, maintain excellent police protection and emergency services, while balancing our budget every year without raising taxes or dipping into our reserves.

Experience, work ethic and genuine concern for resident quality or life are what drive me.  

Patch: In your opinion, what is the No. 1 issue facing District 2?

Brand: Collectively, the No. 1 issue for District 2 residents is the proper redevelopment of our waterfront. We are at a critical crossroads in the history of Redondo Beach and we need to do it right.

Properly integrating the CenterCal project with Measure A zoning to eliminate the power plant, as well as other improvements we are making to our waterfront, including the Shade Hotel and Moonstone Park, represents a once in a generation opportunity to transform the economic vitality and quality of life for not just District 2 residents, but all of the South Bay.

We must be ever-vigilant in the planning stages, however, to ensure we get a good balance of economic vitality while preserving and enhancing resident views, public spaces and overall livability.

We need a first rate waterfront free of industrial operations that will draw both locals and visitors year round. Other coastal cities, such as Chula Vista, are meeting the challenge. We can too!

Patch: What is your position on AES' plans to repower its power plant on Harbor Drive?

Brand: I’ve been opposing AES' plans to re-build their power plant for 11 years. 

The AES plans will mar our waterfront with a new power plant, three new smoke stacks, 5-15 times more air pollution, power lines and all the associated negative economic impacts of a having a power plant define your coast for the next 50 years! 

A new plant is incompatible with the commercial development, King Harbor, the Salvation Army senior living, the most densely populated area on the entire California coast and all that surrounds it. This is no place for a new power plant, and as your District 2 representative, you can count on me to fight the AES plans to build a new one in Redondo Beach at every turn. 

For a glimpse of what a new power plant will look like, I invite those with interest to gaze at the new power plant on the beach in El Segundo that is almost complete. This plant is about the same size AES is proposing for Redondo, but only has two new stacks with flashing red-lights 24/7/365—a new Redondo plant will have three smoke stacks.

The power is not needed, now or in the future.  Power needs were my primary concern, but AES Redondo is old, inefficient and rarely operates.  Last year it only operated at 4.8 percent of their total capacity, while the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) was shut down. Plus, there are three new power plants coming online this year in the LA Basin with over three times the capacity of a new AES Redondo plant (500MW): NRG El Segundo (560MW), Sentinel Coachella Plant (800MW), and Mission Energy in City of Industry (500MW). 

Finally, the California Independent System Operator testified to our City Council last April that there is capacity to retire a plant the size of AES Redondo in our area. Go to this link to view their testimony: http://www.redondo.org/depts/council/rbtv.asp

Another reason I oppose the plant is that air pollution in our area will dramatically increase because a new plant will operate so much more often. Go to the AES application at this link and open the ‘Air Quality’ section of Volume 1. Table 5.1-17 shows 4 of 5 hazardous pollutants increasing multiple times.  AES tries to spin their own numbers, but there is no denying what they are asking for in their own application.

Particulate emissions will rise from 3.3 tons to as high as 49.7 tons per year.  Exposure to particulate pollution causes asthma attacks, heart attacks, linked to autism, and kills twice as many people every year in California than breast cancer. 

Deputy Director of the Air Quality Management District Mohsen Nazemi testified to our council last April that the two biggest polluters in Redondo Beach are the traffic on Pacific Coast Highway and the AES power plant. There is no denying that eliminating one of our major sources will increase the health of our residents, and those in other communities downwind.

Patch: What is your position on Measure A, the ballot initiative that would rezone the Harbor Drive property in hopes of preventing the construction of a new power plant?

Brand: I’m the co-author of Measure A, along with Jim Light, who is running for the District 1 Council seat. So obviously, I support it.

Measure A phases-out power generation on our coast by 2021 and rezones the land for 40 percent commercial and 60 percent recreation and open space uses—no residential development allowed. 

Measure A does not take AES’ land or use the powers of eminent domain. AES retains ownership. But AES nor any other private property owner, has a grandfathered right to blight our community or pollute our air. The Redondo Beach City staff recommended rezoning their property in 2004. Here is a link to that report: http://laserweb.redondo.org/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=59711&dbid=0

The commercial portion of Measure A will increase city revenues several fold over the paltry $400,000 per year AES currently pays the city in taxes.  Commercial development on 40 percent of the site will return millions in new revenue directly to the City.

The rezoning in Measure A does not obligate Redondo Beach to purchase their land or obligate Redondo to fund anything. It’s a rezoning, that is all. And AES is responsible for the clean up, and plans to break-even on it given all the scrap steel and re-usable equipment. It would be illegal for them to walk away from a contaminated site. Nor can they continue to operate past 2020, a date they agreed to with the State Water Board.

Passage of Measure A by a public vote will set the wheels in motion at the State level (they have ultimate authority) to permanently retire AES Redondo, just like the recent retirements in three other coastal communities. Measure A could also initiate the retirement of the power lines that run all the way to the 405 freeway. What an incredible opportunity we have before us!

The CEC does have zoning authority over large power plant sites, but they rarely approve projects that are not consistent with local zoning laws. Current zoning in Redondo Beach on the 50 acre AES site allows industrial uses such as a power plant to be built here. It’s a conditional use, but it is allowed.

Measure A creates that important zoning conflict that will require the CEC to break our local laws if they issue a license to AES to build a new power plant.  Therefore, if Measure A passes, the CEC will be required to perform a needs analysis to determine if the power is needed in our area, and from that specific site, before they will over ride our local zoning laws—something they rarely do.

Without Measure A, the AES Corporation is going to be awarded a new license by the CEC, a new air pollution permit by the AQMD, a long-term contract by the Public Utilities Commission and will operate for several decades. These agencies are geared for approval without the zoning conflict and public opposition Measure A creates.

Patch: If elected, what are your top 3 priorities?

Brand: Public safety should be the top priority of any elected official. That’s where we spend most of our resources and ensures the most fundamental need we have.

Waterfront revitalization while enhancing our quality of life will be my second priority. What happens in the coming four years will shape the next 50. We must do it right!

Addressing individual resident concerns such as protecting views, tree trimming, parking, sidewalk repair, speed cushions, conflict resolution and the many other issues that residents expect from their council member will always be a top priority for me. Helping residents navigate the City processes are what a local council member is supposed to do, and you can count on me for help.

Patch: Share one specific example of demonstrating your leadership and execution skills.

Brand: I responded to the desires of the boating and Harbor community to see a master plan created for Moonstone Park by convincing my colleagues on the Council to move forward on such a plan, even though we had no funding. There was significant reluctance because we had no funding, but I argued successfully that we will never get funding until we had a plan.

It took about two years of public workshops and preliminary planning.  As we were beginning to look for funding, Chevron USA approached us with the funding in exchange for the use or our Harbor and streets to move  large refinery vessels through to their El Segundo plant. This is going on right now and they will be done soon. It was a team effort all the way around, but I did push the idea inititially, and they have donated $2.4 million for construction of Moonstone Park.

Patch: Why should people vote for you?

Brand: I have a proven, 11-year track record of fighting for the residents with no conflicts of interest. I spent the last four years partnering with Mayor Gin and my colleagues on the Council reforming employee pensions, and balancing our budget every year without raising taxes or dipping into our reserves. 

I look forward to leading the waterfront revitalization while protecting our quality of life. One of my opponents is the incoming Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, which presents a conflict of interest in my view when large scale development is under consideration. I will only have the best interests of the residents who elected me when making development decisions.

Patch: Is there anything else you'd like to say?

While I fully support and honor our public safety employees, their unions do not endorse me. I spent the last four years successfully reforming their pensions, so they are not endorsing any incumbents. Regardless, I will continue to partner with them to maintain the top-notch service they provide while providing fair compensation. Saddling the City with unsustainable pension benefits, like the $200,000 per year in retirement our recently retired fire chief earns, could not be sustained.

I am endorsed by our State Sen. Ted Lieu, our State Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, The Sierra Club and the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters. But my most important endorsement is from you, and I respectfully ask for your support for another four years as your District 2 representative.

Related:

• Bill Brand - City Councilman
  
• Bill Brand [Patch]
• Redondo Beach District 2 candidates prepare for election [Easy Reader]
• Redondo council District 2 candidates answer questions from The Beach Reporter [Beach Reporter]

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