South Bay Watch_Fall24 by Vincent Rios Creative

SOUTH BAY WATCH

It Takes a Village to Solve Homelessness

Redondo Beach Moves Closer to That Goal By Reaching Functional Zero Street Homelessness See Page 2

Redondo Beach and the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) recently celebrated reaching functional zero. Second District L.A. County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell (front, second from right) said she is ready to take the SBCCOG’s pilot program county-wide. Top row (from left): Hermosa Beach Mayor Dean Francois, Redondo Beach housing navigator Lila Omura and SBCCOG homeless services manager Ronson Chu. Middle row: Redondo Beach quality of life prosecutor Joy Ford, Redondo Beach Mayor Pro Tem Paige Kaluderovic, SBCCOG homeless services project coordinator Addy Ajijolaiya, and Hermosa Beach Council Member Ray Jackson. Front row: Redondo Beach city attorney Mike Webb, SBCCOG executive director Jacki Bacharach, Holly J. Mitchell and SBCCOG homeless services project coordinator Miranda Werts. The SBCCOG’s 2025 General Assembly A Legacy of Success, A Vision for Tomorrow

Learn more about sponsorship opportunities See Back Cover

The Road to Functional Zero Homelessness

Redondo Beach Moves Closer to Solving Homelessness by Getting Laser Focused on its Own Backyard

Jason Newton, a student at El Camino College, will graduate with an associate degree in business administration in December. His plan is to transfer to a school in the California State University system to continue his education. While this is a major accomplishment for anyone, for Newton, who completed much of his journey while unhoused, the road was extra-long.

“Because of these people and programs, I’m able to do what I came here to do—thrive,” he said.

He shared his gratitude with an audience of city and county leaders in October at the opening celebration of The Moonstone, a place that since July he has called home. The Moonstone is a 20-unit Project Homekey development located at the former Pacific Inn Motel on Pacific Coast Highway in Redondo Beach. The permanent-supportive housing site—now managed by Oasis Residential Services—provides support and onsite services to local individuals transitioning out of homelessness.

After spending most of his youth in foster care, Newton found himself in multiple instances of homelessness across several states as an adult. Following years of stability in Kentucky, he moved to Redondo Beach during the pandemic to help members of his family through a tough situation.

He landed work at a restaurant in Redondo Beach, but soon he found himself unhoused. He slept on the ground, under

license and purchased a car, which would then serve as his home while he worked various second jobs.

In time, Newton connected with Lila Omura, a housing navigator for Redondo Beach. Through her help, he was able to move into Redondo Beach’s 15-unit pallet shelter, which provides temporary housing and help toward the goal of more permanent housing solutions like Moonstone.

A FUNCTIONAL ZERO MINDSET

Newton is one of about 300 members of the city’s unhoused community to benefit from Redondo Beach’s involvement in a pilot program called Functional Zero Street Homelessness. The opportunity was introduced by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments’ (SBCCOG) homeless services manager Ronson Chu.

To reach this benchmark, under a framework developed by Chu’s team, the number of individuals who become homeless within Redondo Beach must be less than or equal to the number of individuals who move out of homelessness over a six-month period.

less than 90 days.

Beginning in July 2023, Chu met weekly with Redondo Beach’s housing navigator Lila Omura, city attorney Mike Webb, quality of life prosecutor Joy Ford and others working on the homeless services front lines to meticulously track and review a roster of unhoused individuals at a micro level and discuss person-centered interventions for each.

Through this work, Newton was identified as a candidate for residency at Project Moonstone, which opened in July.

Redondo Beach achieved functional zero in June 2024. Specifically for the Januaryto-June measurement period, the city had an inflow of 65 homeless individuals and an outflow of 66. The median street duration for the population also dropped to 14 days, with 25 active street cases—down from 261 in 2017, according to the SBCCOG’s functional zero calculations.

On October 30, 2024, the city celebrated reaching this milestone at the Redondo Beach Historic Library. At the event, Chu explained the functional zero mindset.

“I think we should, as a county, stop thinking about this as a 75,000 people problem [the 2024 homeless count in L.A. County],” he said. “Whether it’s Westwood or Torrance—the average homeless count per community is between 150 to 300 individuals. If every community would just focus on that small population, L.A. County would get to functional zero.”

Access to and close tracking of data, which Chu and others on the front lines have long lamented as the missing pieces in the homeless management system, but are now made possible with the functional zero framework help cities more accurately target programs and services needed and funding for those resources. This includes $1.3 million in funding recently obtained from health insurance provider Health Net and $800,000 from 2nd District L.A. County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell to expand the city’s pallet shelter to 40 beds and to launch a mobile alternative crisis response program, a nonuniformed response to individuals with behavioral health emergencies.

“I’m really excited to partner with all of you and see where this takes us. We can hit functional zero for the entire county,” Mitchell told the audience of city and county leaders while speaking at the functional zero celebration event.

THE JOURNEY TO FUNCTIONAL ZERO

For Redondo Beach, the journey really began long before the functional zero term was coined. Back in 2017, the city hired a case manager to tackle its homeless count

Superior Court Judge Kelly M. Kelley presides over Redondo Beach Homeless Court, which gives homeless defendants the opportunity to complete social programs in exchange for clearing their backgrounds.

Beach’s housing navigator Lila Omura and Jason Newton celebrate the recent opening of Project Moonstone, a 20-unit Project Homekey development in Redondo Beach, where Newton is now living.

• Project Homekey Housing Site – In 2024 the city opened Project Moonstone, 20 units of interim housing at a former hotel site, in partnership with Century Housing. The site is the city’s first state-funded Project Homekey housing site. Project Homekey provides regional and local public entities an opportunity to develop a broad range of housing types as interim or permanent housing.

of 261 people. Tasked with addressing the city’s growing homeless issue, City Attorney Mike Webb launched multiple programs utilizing federal, state and county funding and collaborated to provide resources for the city’s unhoused:

• Homeless Court – In 2020 Redondo Beach launched the first-of-its-kind outdoor Homeless Court during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Homeless Court program gives homeless defendants the opportunity to complete social programs in exchange for clearing their backgrounds. In addition to its federal HOME American Rescue Plan funding allocation, the city leveraged $500,000 in state investment, secured by 66th District Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi to support the Homeless Court program.

• Pallet Shelter Interim Housing – In 2021, with funding from L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, the city opened its first 15-unit pallet shelter to help facilitate housing readiness for participants (in partnership with Harbor Interfaith Services). To sustain the pallet shelter, the city has utilized roughly $500,000 in state Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention funds.

• Client Aid and Single Room Occupancy Beds – With L.A. County voter-passed Measure H funding, the SBCCOG has provided city participants with just-intime Client Aid funding to city and agency case managers. This pays for expenses to place clients in housing, shelter or an employment situation. Funds can also be used for needs such as transportation expenses for job interviews or family reunification, assistance with first/ last months’ rent, security deposits and application fees. Measure H dollars have also funded single-room occupancy beds through Swami International, a regional property management company.

In addition, L.A. County’s CEO-Homeless Initiatives Office has also been instrumental in delivering state and Measure H funding and in providing technical assistance to the city.

“In striving to maintain Functional Zero, we are working closely with our partners to also include aftercare for those in housing so they don’t return to the streets, as well as programs to help those most at risk of becoming homeless,” said Webb.

THE NEXT PHASE

Now eager to give back, Newton’s next chapter includes accepting an appointment to serve on the city’s Housing Authority Commission—a group consisting of the mayor and council members and two current Section 8 housing program tenants. But most importantly, he’s now enjoying freedom he never felt without a roof over his head.

“I get to follow my dreams, my goals, and at the same time I get to help out the community and help these things grow and show that they work and that they are needed,” Newton said.

Over the next six months, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach and Torrance will be the next cities to work with the SBCCOG using its functional zero framework. •

Redondo

Faster Internet Connection at Hermosa Beach City Yard Speeds Up City Services

The Hermosa Beach city yard maintains a low profile but serves the important functions of keeping streetlights, sewers systems and traffic flow in working order. The workers at the yard have long struggled with a poor internet connection. Only three team members could stream at once. This caused significant inefficiencies when participating in virtual meetings with staff, city officials and residents in a post-COVID online world.

Thanks to a newly added connection to the South Bay Cities Council of Governments’ (SBCCOG) high-speed, low-cost broadband network called the South Bay Fiber Network (SBFN), the city yard will no longer face the challenges of a substandard connection.

“This new connection will empower staff to fully engage with and assist in event planning, projects and resident requests,” said John Cordova, Hermosa Beach public works superintendent.“ These new capabilities have expedited workflow and increased the city’s responsiveness and ability to be proactive in addressing the concerns of residents. We expect this will result in the public seeing service requests closed more quickly.”

The SBFN connection allows staff to monitor key public works assets in real time. City lighting, sewer systems, traffic counters, irrigation and timers are cloud-based programs. With increased broadband capacity, these systems can be utilized in their full capability and issues can be responded to more quickly.

“This is a great example of the SBCCOG helping to meet local needs—especially since the city does not have funds for a similar fiber connection for the city yard,” said Doug Krauss, Hermosa Beach environmental programs manager. Krauss also noted that the installation process was smooth and did not disrupt staff capacity.

Hermosa Beach staff plan to build on this connection and will explore adding new technologies that will allow the city to deliver

The Hermosa Beach city yard may not be flashy, but it’s now high tech. Thanks to the South Bay Fiber Network, public works now uses high-speed, low-cost broadband to maintain seamless public service.

services more strategically and efficiently. The city hopes to bring more connections online to its city hall, police department and city yard through external funding sources.

“The connection to the SFBN at city yard came at the right time and has allowed our staff to improve the way we serve the Hermosa Beach community in a work environment where all departments increasingly rely on internet connectivity,” said Krauss. •

To learn more about the South Bay Fiber Network, visit southbaycities. org/south-bay-fiber-network

The Rolling Turtle Receives a Trademark

It’s official. The South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) recently received notice from the United States Patent and Trademark Office that the South Bay Local Travel Network (LTN) “rolling turtle” logo is trademarked and can now display the (®).

The LTN is a network of existing low-speed streets designed by the SBCCOG to inform motorists when they are sharing the road with e-bikes, pedal bikes, neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs), scooters and other zero-emission, lowspeed vehicles known as micromobility. The logo’s signature rolling turtle design was selected to communicate that when trips are local, “slow is the way to go.”

The network launched in 2023 in El Segundo and soon will arrive in Redondo Beach, Lomita and Carson. When fully developed, a 243-mile route will eventually connect the entire South Bay. • To learn more, visit southbaycities.org/local-travel-network

Torrance Expands Community On-Demand Transportation Service

Since 1989, Torrance Transit has been operating the Torrance Community Transit Program (TCTP), a taxibased service to any destination in Torrance for residents who are disabled or age 65 and older. Rates were $5, $3 or $1 per trip, depending on household income and ambulatory status—for up to 12 trips per month. However, on certain days, the taxis can get tied up with other trips. This creates long wait times that are not exactly “on demand.” With riders encouraged to book at least 24 hours in advance to ensure a ride, flexibility is limited for those who want to change their destination at the last minute.

To solve these challenges, Torrance Transit is launching a new pilot micro transit program called Connect Torrance that enables residents and nonresidents of all ages and abilities to book a ride on demand for the same low price using a phone app. Instead of taxis, eight designated micro transit vehicles will provide curb-to-curb transport—four of which will be wheelchair accessible. The technology also matches riders with those who are traveling in the same direction for ride sharing.

“It’s a hybrid model between Uber, Lyft and public transit,” said David Mach, transit planning manager for Torrance Transit. “Instead of waiting at a bus stop based on the bus schedules, the Connect Torrance vehicles will pick you up at the curb where you are located. As soon as a ride is booked, the app will tell you where the vehicle is and how long it will take to get to your location.” The program is aiming for approximately 15-minute wait times on average.

For those who choose not to use the mobile app or don’t know how to use or download

it, the service will also offer a call center that enables riders to book their ride while speaking to a live person.

In addition to local trips, the system is also designed as a first- and last-mile solution for those seeking to board a Torrance Transit bus (or train when the Metro K line is eventually connected) at the Mary K. Giordano Regional Transit Center.

During the program’s pilot phase, the service will allow Torrance seniors and disabled residents to travel anywhere within city limits for just $3 (see map of service area 2). For all other members of the public who are not TCTP participants, pickup and dropoff locations must be within a designated zone for a cost of $5. If successful, the service will eventually be expanded to other parts of the city (see map of service area 1).

For all members of the public, the designated zone (which covers about 40% of Torrance) was selected due to its proximity to the city’s primary commerce and job concentration areas, which include but are not limited to Torrance City Hall, the Del Amo Fashion Center, Downtown Torrance, the Torrance Certified

Farmer’s Market, Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center, Torrance Memorial Medical Center, El Camino College, Madrona Marsh and the local hotels.

The project is funded by a combination of Metro Measure M Visionary Seed Funds, Metro Measure R Transit program funding administered by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments and Torrance Transit’s annual operating budget.

The service will launch December 11, 2024. It will operate Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Mary K. Giordano Regional Transit Center serves as the home to Hollywood Bowl and NFL game-day shuttles to SoFi Stadium. Because such events occur outside of those hours, Connect Torrance will extend hours of operation to accommodate those riders. •

For more information on Connect Torrance visit transit.torranceca.gov

The Future of Energy is Here

SoCalGas Creates First-Ever Clean, Renewable HydrogenPowered Microgrid and Home

In 2020, SoCalGas set out to build a net-zero clean renewable hydrogen microgrid that could provide a reliable source of power for more than 21 million of their customers. The result is the [H2] Innovation Experience—North America’s first clean renewable energy hydrogen-powered microgrid and home, located at its Energy Resource Center in Downey. Clean renewable hydrogen is hydrogen that is produced using methods that do not use any fossil fuels, which results in limited or zero greenhouse gas emissions.

[H2]IE features clean, renewable hydrogen production through a microgrid system that powers a nearly 2,000-square-foot *LEED-

certified home. The home draws power from rooftop solar panels and directs the energy into an electrolyzer and to a battery for storage. The electrolyzer uses solar energy to separate purified water into renewable hydrogen and oxygen. This renewable hydrogen is then stored and blended at 20% with natural gas to be used in the home. Excess renewable hydrogen is also directed

Rina Padula, SoCalGas customer communications manager, prepares to serve fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies, baked in H2’s hydrogen-fueled oven, to tour participants.

“This project has the potential to transform clean energy infrastructure as we know it.”

The SBCCOG and its partners recently visited the H2 Innovation Experience, a LEED-certified model home powered entirely by green hydrogen.

to a fuel cell to create renewable electricity, which is stored in the battery. The clean hydrogen microgrid system can power more than 100 homes. (*Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is the world’s most widely used green building rating system and is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement.)

“This project has the potential to transform clean energy infrastructure as we know it,” said Maryam Brown, president of SoCalGas. “When we set out to meet our goal of netzero carbon emissions by 2045, we knew we needed a tangible demonstration of what that could look like, so we chose to build a home. The home really represents how green hydrogen can power neighborhoods, industry, transportation and power generation.”

Brown adds that the technology has the scalability to potentially provide a year-round, reliable supply of clean energy during power outages and public safety power shutoffs.

“The project demonstrates how net-zero gas made from renewable electricity can be used in pure form or as a blend to fuel energy systems and communities of the future,” said Neal Navin, chief clean fuels officer at SoCalGas. “Once captured, that hydrogen can be stored and deployed at any hour of the day from the H2 microgrid, resulting in a highly resilient energy source.”

SoCalGas continues to invest in additional hydrogen and hydrogen blending pilot projects with the goal of making California the clean fuel hub of America. •

For more information visit socalgas.com/ sustainability/hydrogen/h2home

Cool Your Home, Cool Your Community, Cool Our Planet

Cool Roofs and Walls are Bright Ideas With Long Histories

By Dr. Ronnen Levinson, Staff Scientist and Leader, Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (bit.ly/RonnenLevinson)

Solar-reflective building envelope surfaces, such as cool roofs and walls, can be especially helpful in disadvantaged communities that have poorly insulated older homes, aging or absent air conditioning units, steep utility bills, polluted air, and high vulnerability and exposure to extreme heat. With support from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Cool Surfaces Deployment Project (bit.ly/CoolSurfacesDeployment) seeks to dramatically increase the climate-appropriate deployment of cool surfaces across the United States with an emphasis on their application to disadvantaged communities.

Just as wearing light-colored clothing can help keep a person cool on a sunny day, “cool” roofs and walls reflect sunlight to help lower building temperatures. Traditional dark roofs and walls can reach 150 °F (66 °C) or higher in the summer sun. Reflective roofs and walls under the same conditions can stay more than 50 °F (28 °C) cooler. They reduce energy costs in air-conditioned buildings, control indoor air temperature in buildings without air conditioning, mitigate the urban heat island effect, improve outdoor air quality, protect public health, improve grid stability and slow climate change.

Cool roofs and cool walls are available in a wide range of colors and materials.

roof and wall products engineered with pigments that efficiently reflect near-infrared radiation, such as “cool” asphalt shingles and metal panels.

Homes in the Mediterranean and the Middle East often have white roofs and walls. These cool surfaces have been a common architectural element for thousands of years. Although cool roofs and walls are some of the most cost-effective ways to reduce the temperature inside buildings during the hot summer, Western architecture has yet to adopt them to their full potential.

In the 1980s, the Department of Energy and the Heat Island Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (heatisland.lbl.gov) initiated research on the benefits of cool roofs for energy savings and reducing summertime urban temperatures. Today the influence of this research is felt globally as cool roofs now dominate the commercial roofing marketplace in some warm and hot climates. Many national and international building energy standards now prescribe cool surfaces for low-slope roofs, steep-slope roofs and exterior walls in certain climates. Cool products exist for virtually every kind of building roof and wall. They come in a variety of colors and materials. While lighter-colored materials tend to be better at lowering temperatures, cool surfaces do not have to be white. There are “cool-color” versions of dark-colored

Consider converting to a cool roof and/or walls if your roof is due for replacement, your exterior walls are in need of an upgrade, you’re experiencing high cooling costs or you’re experiencing discomfort due to excessive heat indoors. It is generally not cost-effective to replace a structurally sound roof solely to enhance solar reflectance, but property owners can consider applying a reflective roof coating to achieve cool-roof benefits. (Asphalt shingle roofing manufacturers do not recommend coating these products.)

The project team, including Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (lbl. gov), Oak Ridge National Lab and Arizona State University (ornl. gov), the Smart Surfaces Coalition (smartsurfacescoalition.org) and the Cool Roof Rating Council (coolroofs.org), recently launched an educational campaign explaining the science and benefits of cool roofs and walls, how to find cool products, and ways to promote a cooler future through urban policies and programs. •

To learn more about how cool roofs and walls can help you and your community, visit keepyourcool.lbl.gov

Save the Date

SBCCOG’s 25th General Assembly – SBCCOG at 30: A Legacy of Success, A Vision for Tomorrow

WHEN: THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2025

9 A.M. TO 3 P.M. (REGISTRATION 8:30 A.M.; CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST INCLUDED; LUNCH MAY BE PURCHASED)

WHERE: CARSON EVENT CENTER, 801 EAST CARSON STREET, CARSON

The South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG) has worked with local cities to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 47% since 2005 levels, reduce street homelessness by 15% since 2022 and created a fiber optic broadband network to reduce the digital divide. What’s next? Join the 25th annual conference that brings together South Bay communities to address emerging issues facing our subregion. This year the SBCCOG celebrates its 30th anniversary and will explore progress made in areas such as sustainability, housing, homelessness and transportation, and examine what the next level and beyond may look like. The conference will feature panel discussions and interactive exhibits. The community, as well as county, state and federal legislators representing the South Bay, are invited to hear an array of speakers.

This event is made possible by the SBCCOG’s generous sponsors. Become a sponsor and start receiving recognition immediately.

Contact Rosemary Lackow at rosemary@ southbaycities.org to sign up for one of the following categories:

GOLDEN CIRCLE:

$10,000

PATRON: $7,500

BENEFACTOR: $5,000

SPONSOR: $2,500

Thank You to Our Sponsors

BENEFACTOR

• Southern California Edison Company