Redondo Beach council narrows 2026 strategic plan, adds fiscal sustainability and opts for 12-month cycle

The Redondo Beach City Council on Tuesday revised its draft strategic priorities, adding a stand-alone goal on fiscal sustainability and directing staff to finalize a 12-month planning cycle and come back with a draft for the council’s consideration at the first May meeting.

Mayor Light opened the workshop with a shortened, workshop-style agenda and turned the discussion over to a staff facilitator, who explained the abbreviated approach: an accomplishments recap, a combined strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats review, public comment opportunities and a focus on crafting realistic objectives. “This year’s a little bit different…we decided to do a bit of an abbreviated version of strategic planning,” the facilitator said.

Why it matters: the council sought to be more selective about objectives and explicit about funding and operational capacity. Adding fiscal sustainability as a discrete goal reflects growing attention to revenue stability, fee and vehicle-replacement policies, and the need to align capital plans with grant opportunities.

What the council changed: staff proposed—and members agreed to—three changes that will show up in the next draft: - New goal: “Enhance the city’s fiscal sustainability,” which will capture efforts on revenue measures, reserves, fee studies and vehicle/capital lifecycle planning. Staff noted a development-impact-fee (nexus) study is already in motion. - Broader infrastructure wording: council asked staff to expand “rehabilitate city roads and facilities” to explicitly reference “critical public facilities and infrastructure” to include utilities and other nonfacility assets. - Public-safety phrasing simplified: members removed a trailing reference to “strategic partnerships,” preferring a focused objective that stops at “community resilience.”

Process and next steps: Council members favored a 12-month planning cycle to align the plan with budget and election calendars. Staff said the draft will remain a work product until returned for formal consideration; the council directed staff to present the draft for agenda consideration at the first meeting in May. The facilitator and department heads will continue to refine objectives and the supporting timeline, and two public-comment opportunities (after goals and after objectives) will remain part of the process.

Public input: during the meeting’s public-comment portion, a North Redondo Beach resident announced state certification for a new farmers market and urged the city to make Artisia Boulevard more walkable and safer for market patrons. Alex Feman, a District 3 resident, urged the council to make housing—especially missing-middle units—a higher priority to retain younger residents.

What staff will report back on: the council specifically asked staff to return with an itemized draft that reflects these wording changes, a refined CIP and asset-management presentation, a communications plan for public outreach, and a proposed calendar for adoption. No formal votes on policy changes were taken at the workshop; the changes are direction to staff for the next formal agenda packet.

The council recessed after setting the draft’s return date; the workshop adjourned with the mayor thanking staff and announcing the next regular meeting schedule.