City: Redondo Beach
Position Seeking: City Council – District 4

Question 1: Please share a meaningful experience you had with art (visual, dance, drama, music, media arts) while growing up and its impact on you.

My parents took my sister and I to live theater as very young children. Beginning in elementary school we started with Annie, Grease and Wizard of Oz. As we got older we would go to London and NYC and see more shows. Today live theater is my favorite form of entertainment. I attend the Pantages at least twice a year and love improv comedy. MY most meaningful experience had to be seeing Miss Saigon in London and the ending scene when the helicopter lifts off the embassy roof. I was blown away at 15 years old how extravagant that scene was. I remember telling my mom that there could be no way that another play could ever top that.

Question 2: What do you believe the role of City Council should be in developing and supporting the region’s arts and cultural infrastructure?

Redondo Beach has a arts fund that developers either pay into or agree to spend 1% on public art. I fully support this and would look to increase it if elected. I would expand art to the neighborhoods using rotating art in our parks and parkettes. The city should allocate funds to bringing art not only to the main parts of the city but into disadvantaged neighborhoods. I also will advocate for living art be it natural, landscaping, water, and disguising utility boxes and poles as art. I participated in Leadership Hermosa Beach three years ago and our class project was to wrap the city owned volleyball poles in art. I would champion similar projects if elected.

Question 3: What’s your vision for the city? What role, if any, does art and culture play in advancing that vision?

My vision for Redondo Beach specifically District 4 is to work with the SB Galleria team as the seek to redevelop an underperforming asset. If we correctly design and build a 21st century lifestyle center collaborating with Metro’s expansion of the blue and green lines that will not only be the economic engine for the future of Redondo Beach but also a gem of the S. Bay. That bookmark will be the spark to revitalize the Artesia corridor. We will see old properties torn down and new multipurpose office, loft, retail, and restaurants flourish all the way down to Aviation. With an increase in the public art requirement Artesia will be flourishing with public art displays for over one mile. At least that is my hope and vision.

Questions 4: A recent report by the Otis College of Design found that 1 in every 6 jobs in LA County supports the creative sector and economy in Los Angeles County. If elected, how will you aim to ensure the continued vitality and growth of the creative economy and the artistic community that it supports?

I will look to expand the role that the Redondo Beach performing Arts Center. The facility needs some capitol investments and I will support those expenditures. I will encourage the city to contract out management of the facility to attract more travelling shows. We shouldn’t have to go to Hollywood or LA to see a Broadway show. We have the only theater in the S. Bay and it needs a marketing professional to land larger shows.