THE SBCCOG AT 30: A Legacy of Success, A Vision for Tomorrow
As the South Bay Cities Council of Governments Gears Up for its Anniversary Celebration at the 25th General Assembly, Former Board Chairs Explore the Organization’s Accomplishments and Value
In the early 1970s, the South Bay Cities Association (SBCA) formed when the communities of the burgeoning South Bay began meeting to informally exchange ideas and information regarding interjurisdictional issues such as transportation. SBCA was a voluntary organization of South Bay cities. It was composed of elected officials representing each participating entity. However, over time it became increasingly evident that informal communication among the cities no longer met the newly emerging demands and opportunities facing the subregion. In 1992, the SBCA agreed to serve as the subregional body to participate in the Southern California Association of Governments’ Comprehensive Plan process. The SBCA began in-depth discussions of
regional and subregional issues. In 1994, the SBCA formally became the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) through a joint-powers agreement. Its original members were Carson, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Los Angeles (Harbor Gateway/San Pedro areas), Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates and Torrance.
L.A. County became an official member of the SBCCOG in 2009, with representatives on the SBCCOG board of directors from the 2nd District and 4th District.
THEN AND NOW
As the SBCCOG celebrates its 30th anniversary at the March 27 General
Last year’s General Assembly, which covered artificial intelligence, drew more than 400 attendees.
Assembly, speakers will explore the SBCCOG’s progress, as well as chart a path to address challenges in sustainability and resilience. As the event draws near, board members who served as chair were invited to reflect on the organization’s impact over the last three decades.
TACKLING SUBREGIONAL TRANSPORTATION
Bob Pinzler recalls the early years when the SBCCOG met in a small conference room at Torrance City Hall. It became so crowded that some attendees sat in the hallway. The organization focused mostly on transportation issues such as traffic signal synchronization on one of the South Bay’s largest thoroughfares, Hawthorne Boulevard, tapping into Executive Director Jacki Bacharach’s expertise as former founding chair of The Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink) and other transportation roles. Fast-forward to the present. The SBCCOG continues to play a role in shaping transportation in the South Bay. In partnership with Metro, Caltrans and South Bay jurisdictions, the SBCCOG manages the expenditures of more than $906 billion available from the South Bay Measure R Highway Program and $1.9 billion from Measure M Subregional Programs. These funds have helped fund major transportation improvement projects including the Mary K. Giordano Regional Transit Center in Torrance, pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure in Redondo Beach, improvements to Pacific Coast Highway throughout the subregion, and the SR-47/Vincent Thomas Bridge on/off ramp improvements at Harbor Boulevard in San Pedro.
THE FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
“When I was chair, we had our first General Assembly, which I think was the final statement that we were here and (the first step in) getting expert speakers to talk to the general audience about common problems and solutions,” Pinzler said. “It was relatively small, and Jacki and (deputy director) Kim (Fuentes) brought lasagna.”
Bob Pinzler, former Redondo Beach Council member and 1999/2000 SBCCOG board chair
The General Assembly has continued for 25 years and has grown into a much larger annual event attended by hundreds of civic leaders and community members. It serves as a forum for the region’s thought leaders to gather, share ideas and discuss important issues.
BREAKING THROUGH POLITICAL BARRIERS
“I found the solutions we (the SBCCOG) came up with were more accepted because they had been put together by people who otherwise would have been politically different,” Pinzler said. “No one is 100% right and no one is 100% wrong. There’s something great in the commonality.”
MENTORING AND CULTIVATING LEADERSHIP
As a junior council member in Manhattan Beach, Linda Wilson credits the SBCCOG for giving her more confidence in her new role. She took lessons from other seasoned civic leaders such as former Torrance Council member and Mayor Dee Hardison, who served as the SBCCOG’s second chair in 1998/1999.
“I was such a novice in the government area. It was a steep learning curve for me, and all these folks around me seemed to know a lot of what was going on in other cities. I think it’s good to have both—the wider perspective and the neighborhood ‘picnic,’ so to speak.”
Linda Wilson, former Manhattan Beach Council member and 2000/2001 SBCCOG board chair
LEADING THE WAY TO A GREENER SOUTH BAY
In the early 2000s, California faced an unprecedented energy crisis as low supply and idle power plants led to record electricity prices. The City of Redondo Beach responded in 2003 by applying for and receiving funds from the California Public Utilities Commission to implement a program to incentivize—through instant rebates—the
purchase of Energy Star® appliances. The Redondo Beach city manager suggested promoting the program throughout the entire South Bay and asked the SBCCOG to take on its execution.
The success of the program led to partnerships with Southern California Edison and SoCalGas for marketing, education and outreach programs for the entire SBCCOG geographic area. This eventually prompted the formal naming of this SBCCOG program as the South Bay Energy Savings Center. With further expansion and partnerships with other utilities, including West Basin Municipal Water District, it eventually became the South Bay Environmental Services Center.
Judith Mitchell specifically recalls passage of Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act in 2006, intended to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.
Judith Mitchell, former Rolling Hills Estates Council member and 2010/2011 SBCCOG board chair
“That filtered down into what local government had to do. And the SBCCOG very, very smartly marched forward with that,” said Mitchell. The momentum served as the impetus for the SBCCOG to work with cities in 2005 and 2007 to complete GHG inventories for each city. Using this baseline carbon footprint, the SBCCOG later worked with cities to develop climate action plans to help them set GHG-reducing goals.
Through the years, additional partnerships were forged with Southern California Regional Energy Network, Water Replenishment District, Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, L.A. Metro, and City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to provide energy efficiency, water conservation, waste mitigation, shared mobility options (e.g., van pool and carpool), telecommuting and traveler information, and recycling resources to cities, school districts, businesses and residents.
These efforts have helped cities and schools save 14,355,145 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 207,765 gas therms.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE LOCAL-USE TRAVEL MODES IN THE SOUTH BAY
In 2008, state Senate Bill 375 passed, requiring cities to combine their local land use planning with transportation planning, which presented challenges for the South Bay.
Mitchell recalls that this legislation proved pivotal to the SBCCOG’s exploration of what’s known as “micromobility” and the use of electric-powered, low-speed, zero-emission travel modes as a solution to increased congestion to prompt the additional lowering of emissions. These modes include neighborhood electric vehicles, pedal bikes, e-scooters and other devices that operate at 25 mph or less.
“We are transit poor (in the South Bay), so there weren’t a lot of ways for us to comply,” she said. “One of the really innovative activities that came out of that was a program called the Local Use Vehicle (LUV) Project.”
The LUV project utilized seven neighborhood electric vehicles equipped with GPS that could only be driven on local lowerspeed roads. They were loaned to South Bay residents with the objective of learning where residents were going and their trip purpose. It revealed that 70% of subregional trips are 3 miles or less, leading to the conclusion that it makes sense to “right-size your ride” to such microdevices for local trips.
Thirteen years later, in 2023, the SBCCOG launched phase one the Local Travel Network in El Segundo, a street network that will support the growing use of micromobility for local trips. The proposed 243-mile route will eventually connect the South Bay, with streets marked by “rolling turtle” signs that notify drivers of cars that they may be sharing the roadway with slower-speed micro vehicles.
BRIDGING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Late 2020 marked the culmination of a 15-city municipal partnership forged by the SBCCOG to create a broadband infrastructure that would provide an essential public asset and resource to city governments and create opportunities to bridge the “digital divide” in broadband underserved communities.
The completed middle-mile, fiber-optic ring, named the South Bay Fiber Network (SBFN), provides 1 gigabyte service to South Bay cities and other agencies. Lateral service connects various municipal buildings and public agency sites to the network.
The SBFN lays the groundwork to eventually extend a low-cost comprehensive network to residents and businesses throughout the South Bay. To date, more than 40 circuits are operational on the SBFN. During his time on the board and as chair, Christian Horvath helped the SBCCOG secure $6.6 million in Measure M funds for the project by demonstrating to Metro that a resilient fiber network is essential to a modern transportation system, through benefits such as traffic signal synchronization, improved traffic management and reduced traffic through facilitating telework (the trip not taken).
Christian Horvath, former Redondo Beach Council member and 2019/2020 SBCCOG board chair
“We were looking at it from a perspective of ... how can we set cities up for success in terms of connectivity and being able to utilize connections throughout the city for public works, for transportation, even in their own IT (information technology) to function as an efficient and effective government,” Horvath said. “And we considered how we could ultimately use it as a backbone to create true municipal broadband—something that would have a clear, direct impact on residents and commercial businesses, possibly even as an economic development driver for the South Bay.”
ACHIEVING FUNCTIONAL ZERO HOMELESSNESS
Through the passage of Measure H, which created a one-quarter cent sales tax to generate funding for homeless services and short-term housing, the SBCCOG has taken a regional approach with its member cities to address homelessness. The SBCCOG engages cities through co-investment opportunities, while leveraging cities’ unique position to improve housing access. Successful interventions include 1) Client Aid just-in-time funding for security deposits, application fees and other housing expenses; 2) case management services to
guide participants through the rehousing process; 3) Homeless Court to repair individuals’ backgrounds necessary to access the private housing market; 4) SHARE!™ housing to employment; 5) housing location services to find Section 8-friendly landlords; and 6) increased interim bed capacity through investments in shelter, single-room occupancy homes and motel beds.
Last year, the SBCCOG worked with the City of Redondo Beach to develop a pilot program to help cities achieve Functional Zero Street Homelessness (when the inflow of homelessness is less than the outflow) to help cities track and ensure their progress toward ending homelessness.
“It was first recognizing a need and having conversations about it (ending homelessness), but then it grew to the SBCCOG hiring individuals to focus solely on homelessness,” said Horvath. “Now the SBCCOG really is an essential conduit for the cities to address homelessness in their communities.”
SHINING A LIGHT ON ALL SOUTH BAY CITIES
This year Gardena hosted the SBCCOG’s second South Bay Climate and Energy Awards at its Nakaoka Community Center. The event highlighted energy-saving efforts of cities, awarding gold, silver and bronze designations based on their achievements.
According to Gardena Mayor Pro Tem and current SBCCOG Chair Rodney Tanaka, such opportunities give smaller cities like Gardena the opportunity to shine with their larger counterparts.
Rodney Tanaka, Gardena mayor pro tem and 2024/2025 SBCCOG board chair
“As a small city with 60,000 people and 6 square miles, we get a lot of value through funding for Measure M, Measure H and environmental initiatives that we don’t have in our small budgets,” he said. “It’s amazing how much input we have through the SBCCOG within our South Bay communities, and the work that we accomplish together.” •
The 25th General Assembly
The SBCCOG at 30: A Legacy of Success, A Vision for Tomorrow
This year’s program marks the 30th anniversary of the SBCCOG and will explore progress, as well as chart a path to address challenges in sustainability and resilience.
Thursday, March 27
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. (Check in at 8:30 a.m.; continental breakfast and lunch included with required registration)
Carson Event Center, 801 East Carson Street, Carson
Register at southbaycities.org/2025general-assembly
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:
Benefactors
$5,000
Chevron Products Company Fabric Networks, Inc.
L.A. County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell
South Bay Association of REALTORS© Southern California Edison Company
Sponsors $2,500
4LEAF, Inc.
AECOM
American Dark Fiber, LLC
California Water Service
Clean Power Alliance
Continental Development Corporation | Mar Ventures, Inc.
Daily Breeze | The Beach Reporter | Palos Verdes Peninsula News
GEO SEARCH, Inc.
Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts
LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn
Metropolitan Water District
Southern California Association of Governments
SoCalGas
Transtech Engineers
Water Replenishment District
Watson Land Company
West Basin Municipal Water District
West Basin Welcomes The Bolt and Intuit Dome as New Recycled Water Customers
Businesses are prioritizing sustainable water-saving practices to help meet their bottom line—especially as the effects of climate change result in more intense, frequent and widespread extreme weather events, including drought conditions. West Basin Municipal Water District (West Basin) continues to support businesses in this effort by providing recycled water for landscape irrigation and commercial and industrial uses.
Recently West Basin welcomed two new customers to its growing list of professional sports event facilities that benefit from recycled
water produced by the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility (ECLWRF) in El Segundo. The Bolt, the Los Angeles Chargers’ new state-of-the-art training facility in El Segundo, and Intuit Dome, Inglewood’s new indoor arena that serves as home to the Los Angeles Clippers, join West Basin’s already notable customer base of celebrated partners including SoFi Stadium (home to the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams); Dignity Health Sports Park (home to the Los Angeles Galaxy, located on the campus of Cal State University Dominguez Hills); and the Porsche Experience Center of Los Angeles.
Located just 1 mile from SoFi Stadium, Intuit Dome opened in August 2024 and will use recycled water to flush more than 1,400 toilets and urinals within its 18,000-seat facility. This water conservation initiative will save around 40 acre-feet per year (AFY) of drinking water—roughly 13 million gallons, which is enough to cover nearly 40 football fields with 1 foot of water.
Just up the street from the ECLWRF, The Bolt is a 150,000-squarefoot facility that opened in July 2024. It features three practice fields, all of which will be irrigated with recycled water to save approximately 20 AFY—around 6.5 million gallons of drinking water annually.
The centerpiece for this recycled water production is the ECLWRF, the largest water recycling facility of its kind in the United States. It is the only treatment facility in the country that produces five types of customer-specific recycled water that meet the unique needs of West Basin’s municipal, commercial and industrial customers.
Members of the public can visit westbasin.org to sign up for regularly scheduled facility tours and learn more about the water treatment process. Visitors will also learn more about The Bolt, Inuit Dome, Chevron, Honda, Mattel, Raytheon and other innovative recycled-water partners that are doing their part to make water conservation a way of life. •
The Intuit Dome in Inglewood (left) and The Bolt training complex (above) are among the latest professional event facilities to benefit from recycled water produced by West Basin Municipal Water District’s Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility in El Segundo.
Going for Energy Gold
South Bay Cities Honored at Second South Bay Energy and Climate Recognition Awards
The South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG), in partnership with the Southern California Regional Energy Network (SoCalREN), recognized South Bay cities for their efforts in pursuing energyefficiency initiatives and sustainability-related tasks over the span of a year. The cities were honored at a luncheon at the Nakaoka Community Center in Gardena.
To participate, cities were required to be enrolled in the SoCalREN—a program administered by Los Angeles County to provide energy-saving services to residents, businesses and public agencies served by Southern California Edison and/or Southern California Gas Company. Progress was tracked through a point system.
From left: Event keynote speaker Robert Fortunato, president of ForStrategy Consulting and owner/builder of the awardwinning Green Idea House in Hermosa Beach; Jacki Bacharach, executive director, SBCCOG; Michael Owh, director of the Los Angeles County Internal Services Department; and Rodney Tanaka, mayor pro tem, City of Gardena, and SBCCOG board chair.
While all cities received recognition for their efforts, seven cities took home goldlevel awards: Carson, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Manhattan Beach, Rolling Hills Estates and Torrance.
STEPS THAT EARNED GOLD
• Carson – Installed more than 150 electric vehicle charging ports at 13 city sites; joined the Clean Power Alliance, a community choice aggregator that allows local government to procure cleaner power for its community; and replaced gas water heaters with more energy-efficient heat pump water heaters.
• El Segundo – Retrofitted and replaced city hall heating, cooling and air conditioning units (HVAC); operated an environmental committee which advises the city council on sustainable actions; and replaced three pool heaters.
• Gardena – Purchased renewable gas for transportation; made HVAC and lighting upgrades at its community center; and made LED light bulb replacements at Rowley Park.
• Hawthorne – Planted 80 trees; installed LED sports field lighting at Jim Thorpe Park; and upgraded police department lighting to LEDs.
• Manhattan Beach – Worked to obtain certification as a Green Business through the California Green Business Network; promoted sustainability online; and hosted a sustainability forum for residents.
Michael Owh, director of the Los Angeles County Internal Services Department, spoke to the audience about how the partnership between the SBCCOG, South Bay Cities, Los Angeles County and the SoCalREN has resulted in the savings of more than 1 billion kilowatt-hours of energy savings and more than 1,500 green jobs. This was accomplished through initiatives that include its facility equipment inventories at municipal buildings, grant support and planning for future climate resiliency centers.
• Rolling Hills Estates – Implemented the Solar App+, an automated residential solar permitting system; hosted an Earth Day celebration and facilitated an environmental advisory committee to guide the city council on sustainable activities.
• Torrance – Maintained a community garden; conducted a coastal clean-up day; and promoted water conservation.
The cities of Carson, Gardena, Rolling Hills Estates and Torrance earned points toward their gold status by receiving 2024 recognition by the Institute of Local Government’s (ILG) Beacon Award Program, which recognizes cities for their reductions in energy use or greenhouse gas emissions. The City of Carson earned the highest achievement in the Beacon program, a Platinum Vanguard Award. The SBCCOG assisted these cities with gathering and documenting data such as greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating meetings with the ILG to achieve these distinctions.
In addition, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lomita, Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills achieved silver-level awards, and Lawndale, Palos Verdes Estates and Redondo Beach earned bronze-level recognition. •
To learn more about the SBCCOG’s South Bay Energy and Climate Recognition Program, visit bit.ly/energyandclimateawards
Representatives from the City of Gardena gather to celebrate their gold distinction at the second South Bay Energy and Climate Recognition Awards. Gardena was the first South Bay city to achieve gold-level status last year in March.
From Wildfires to Earthquakes: When Disaster Strikes, Time is of the Essence
Written by Brandy Villanueva, Los Angeles County, Area G, Disaster Management Area Coordinator
It’s 2 a.m. You’re sleeping. Suddenly, there is a pounding on the front door. You wake up startled, walk to the front door and look out the peephole to see two uniformed law enforcement officers standing there—in a hurry. You slowly open the front door, and the officer begins, “There is an emergency. You are in an immediate evacuation zone. You have five minutes, so please grab your family and leave immediately!”
You try to process what you just heard: “There’s an emergency … evacuate immediately … only five minutes.” As you start to get your bearings, your mind slows down. Your body has taken over as you hastily grab your wallet, keys, family and pets, and head to the car with the final thought, “It’s just a precaution. I’ll return home in a couple of hours. My family and I will be safe, and nothing will happen.”
While evacuating, you realize the magnitude of the emergency and that you may no longer have a home to return to later. Safely away from the disaster zone, your fears are confirmed; your critical documents (passports, birth certificates, insurance, bank accounts) and a lifetime of mementos, photos and memories are now rubble and ash.
This was the reality for so many residents fleeing the recent firestorms. Some had little time; others had none. The stories of individuals and families narrowly escaping the flames with nothing more than the clothes on their backs are a terrifying reminder that no one is immune from disasters. In Los Angeles County, hazards such as fires, floods, land movement, earthquakes and tsunamis turn into disasters, resulting in life-altering impacts.
HERE ARE A FEW THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PREPARE:
A FIVE-MINUTE EVACUATION EXERCISE
• Set a timer for five minutes. Write down all the things in your home that you feel are important and would want to take if you cannot return home.
• Look at your list and determine what is critical, and number those in order of importance. For a list of important papers, visit alertsouthbay.com/emergency-preparedness.
• Make a binder with copies of all these documents and include them in your go-bag.
THREE KEY REMINDERS
1. Create a plan that includes family communication notes and a five-minute evacuation list. Map out how to grab items quickly and who will grab them. Make copies of critical documents.
2. Build an emergency supply kit for the family, including pets.
3. Register for official emergency notifications to receive emergency alerts by texting ALERTSB to 888-777 or visiting alertsouthbay.com/register.
* Alert South Bay is a regional alert and warning program for 14 South Bay cities.
FINAL THOUGHT
You have the benefit of time right now to craft your five-minute evacuation list and prepare yourself and your family for the “this will never happen” and “we will be back in a few hours” events such as the Lahaina, Palisades and Eaton fires. Start preparing today. •
The Lennox Elementary School District recently received an incentive check for $137,000 from the SoCalREN for installing heat pump water heaters at four school sites. The check was presented by Alex Monteiro, City of Hawthorne council member and SBCCOG board member; Alex Wheeler, SoCalREN project manager; and Eleanor Murphy, SBCCOG project coordinator.
Heat Pump Water Heaters Help Cities and Schools Save Thousands of Dollars
Recently 10 South Bay public agencies received a total of $1,109,500 from an incentive program to replace gas-powered water heaters with heat pump technology. Heat pump water heaters are fully electric and are 300% more energy efficient than gas-fired water heaters. Heat pump technology uses hot exhaust air from other heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems to heat water.
The upgrades will result in annual gas savings equivalent to a year’s gas use by 350 homes. It will also prevent the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere equivalent to the emissions from driving a gas-powered vehicle 2.5 million miles every year. The energy cost savings for all agencies will be $48,000 annually.
The funding for the replacements was provided through the Southern California Regional Energy Network’s (SoCalREN’s) Heat Pump Water Heater (HPWH) program. Through its partnership with the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG), the SoCalREN worked to bring the HPWH program to South Bay municipal buildings and school districts. The SoCalREN and the SBCCOG collaborate to bring money- and energy-saving projects to the South Bay.
“We are extremely grateful to have reliable hot water at our district cafeterias, with the added benefit of savings on our electricity bill for years to come,” said Genia Baker, director of facilities, Lennox Elementary School District.
Between 2023 and 2024, the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Hawthorne, Inglewood and Torrance, and the Centinela Valley Union High School District, El Segundo Unified School District, Hawthorne School District, Lennox Elementary School District and Beach Cities Health District replaced 52 gas-powered water heaters. The program covered 100% of the cost of equipment and labor for all units.
During that period, the SBCCOG worked to enroll seven new South Bay school districts in the SoCalREN, bringing the total to 10. Enrollment enables them to utilize this and other energy-saving programs.
The SBCCOG and the SoCalREN plan to bring additional energy-saving programs to the South Bay at no cost to public agencies as they continue to work together toward a cleaner, greener future. •
South Bay Watch is a quarterly bulletin by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments to inform local leaders of subregional progress and alert them to emerging issues.
Governing Board: Chair
Rodney Tanaka, Gardena 1st Vice Chair
Bernadette Suarez, Lawndale 2nd Vice Chair
Bill Uphoff, Lomita
Immediate Past Chair
Cedric Hicks, Carson
Members:
Carson, Los Angeles County, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lomita, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance
SBCCOG Executive Director
Jacki Bacharach
Legal Counsel
Michael Jenkins, Best Best & Krieger LLP
Treasurer
Matthew Robinson, City Treasurer City of El Segundo
Editor
Colleen Farrell, Senior Project Manager, Communications
Contributor
Rosemary Lackow, Administrative Assistant Design
Vincent Rios Creative, Inc.
To subscribe to SBCCOG newsletters or view past editions, visit southbaycities.org/newsletter
To view a schedule of SBCCOG meetings, visit southbaycities.org/calendar.
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