Ballots began arriving in Redondo Beach mailboxes over the past week as a controversial special election, comprising both a recall and a cannabis measure, draws near.
The special election, conducted entirely by mail, is set for Wednesday, Oct. 19 — three weeks before the statewide general election on Nov. 8 — and will see voters in North Redondo Beach decide whether to oust District 4 Councilman Zein Obagi Jr. and replace him with nine-year resident Tonya McKenzie, who is the president of that neighborhood’s business association and the founder of a public relations company. There are 9,458 registered voters in that district.
The other issue on the Oct. 19 ballot — one impacting all 48,361 registered Redondo voters — is Measure E, a citizen’s initiative to allow up to three dispensaries in town, which would override a recently passed city ordinance that allows two dispensaries.
Residents have until 8 p.m. Oct. 19 to mail in or return their ballots to a drop-off center.
The election, though, has been rife with controversy, including allegations that its timing — just ahead of the Nov. 8 election and on a Wednesday, rather than the traditional Tuesday — is meant to suppress voter turnout, accusations that the recall and cannabis measure represent outside business interests rather than the will of residents, and a threatened lawsuit against the financial backer of both initiatives.
The recall and the citizen’s initiative are both funded by South Cord Holdings LLC, the parent company of Catalyst Cannabis Co., a Long Beach dispensary chain that is also behind efforts to bring marijuana shops to other South Bay cities.
Because of the special election, Redondo’s cannabis measure will be a test case, of sorts, before voters in El Segundo, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach weigh whether to let dispensaries come into those towns during the Nov. 8 election.
Catalyst CEO Elliot Lewis has previously confirmed that he’s funded the Redondo Beach recall and cannabis measure, and campaign finance statements filed earlier this month show he had so far spent $356,000.
The Redondo Beach City Council, meanwhile, recently approved its own city ordinance to allow up to two cannabis dispensaries in an effort to set the future for marijuana in the town and perhaps curb whatever incentive residents may have to back Measure E.
That ordinance, which the council passed unanimously, will go into effect on Oct. 6 — but it may be shortlived.
That’s because if Measure E passes during the special election, it would override the city’s ordinance, increasing the number of dispensaries by one.
In interviews last week, Obagi defended the City Council calling a special election and coupling the recall with the cannabis measure, saying both moves were appropriate.
Pairing the two, Obagi said, makes it easier for residents to “just say no” to both issues.
“They are both the product of hundreds of thousands of dollars fueled by Elliot and Catalyst,” Obagi said. “It’s Mr. Lewis’ cannabis initiative and his recall, so put them together and just say no.”
MacKenzie, though, said the moves were meant to suppress voter turnout.
After all, McKenzie said, many residents still don’t know there’s an election on Oct. 19.
“We still have a lot of work to do in building awareness,” McKenzie said. “Voter confusion allows (council) to direct their agenda; they’re making it so noisy that (voters) will just say, ‘Nevermind.’”
District 4 already has some of the lowest voter turnout in the city, McKenzie said. The special election could exacerbate that in the working-class district.
Lewis, for his part, went even further in criticizing the City Council.
The council, he said in an interview last week, wanted a special, off-cycle election because they typically draw more conservative, older voters compared to state-aligned, regularly scheduled elections. Younger, progressive, working class people of color, he said, is “the electorate (the council) is scared of.”
Yet, the recall and ballot measure are inherently linked, which has led Obagi and others to speculate that Lewis is funding McKenzie’s campaign.
McKenzie has denied that — and there’s no proof that Lewis has provided her direct financial backing.
McKenzie’s financial statements for the election, in fact, show no monetary contributions from Lewis, Catalyst or South Cord Holdings.
Lewis also denied funding McKenzie’s campaign, but said he has spent money on his own flyer promoting her in the race.
McKenzie had $942 in cash-on-hand and Obagi had $522, according to both of their most-recent campaign finance documents.
Obagi, meanwhile, has taken a defiant stance toward Lewis.
Since the special election stems from Lewis’ initiatives, Obagi said, he will sue the cannabis entrepreneur if recalled. Some of the reasons people have given for wanting to oust Obagi aren’t true, the councilman said, including accusations that he lives outside of Redondo and tried to shut down one of the city’s fire stations.
“If he succeeds in recalling me, trust there will be a big-time defamation suit against this guy,” said Obagi, who is an attorney. “He’s interrupting the great work we’re doing here and damaging my reputation.”
Lewis, for his part, told Obagi to “wait in line” with a potential lawsuit.
He also said he hasn’t done anything defamatory. And, Lewis said, Obagi did previously vote to initiate a study on whether to shut down that fire station, which didn’t end up happening.
Beyond the political intrigue, however, McKenzie and Obagi also differ in how they view the current state of District 4.
McKenzie has more than 20 years of community and government experience that, she said, illustrates how she’d take on a Redondo Beach council role.
McKenzie is on LA County’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs, has been a youth commissioner in Contra Costa County and worked with three different mayors in the Bay Area.
She is also on Redondo Beach’s General Plan Advisory Committee and a board member with the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce.
McKenzie said she’s running a community campaign, with her approach centering on asking her constituents what they need and delivering it, having meet-and-greets at local businesses and engaging at a grassroots level.
“A community that’s been here for decades and thought nothing positive would ever happen in North Redondo,” McKenzie said, “are kind of excited.
“When we talk about District 4, we talk about working-people problems,” she added. “There are struggling families who may have moved here to make sure their kids can go to a good school — they have real-people problems.”
And with the city’s leadership usually investing most in the more affluent south side, McKenzie said, the council doesn’t know what District 4 residents really want or how to give it to them.
“North Redondo actually provides the most tax revenue for the city but gets the least amount of resources and support,” McKenzie said. “It would behoove (the council) to peek their heads in to see what’s going on in North Redondo.”
Businesses constantly close along Artesia Boulevard because there’s not enough foot traffic, McKenzie said, an issue residents have urged the council to address long before Obagi arrived.
“Our current councilman (Obagi) seems to still vote in (other districts’) favor, so we have nothing new and promising coming,” McKenzie said. “We should be one of the most walkable places in the South Bay, but we have nowhere to walk to; the more you fight development, the more we’re going to fall behind other cities.”
The district needs new shops and restaurants, McKenzie said, and more opportunities to support businesses.
The city’s two teen centers, meanwhile, are both in District 4 — but have no programming, she said. McKenzie said she intends to change that if elected.
Obagi, though, said that despite some in the community calling for his removal, the recall is an opportunity for him to start fresh and remind residents why he wants to keep representing them. (When Obagi ran against incumbent John Gran in March 2021, he won by just 33 votes.)
And, Obagi said, some “exciting” improvements will soon come to District 4.
A $500 million renovation of the South Bay Galleria, for example, will start next year, Obagi said, and a new hotel is rising up in the district.
Three new restaurants are getting ready to open on Artesia, and a multimillion-dollar indoor-outdoor food court is in the works for Artesia and McKay Lane.
Obagi also recently recommended the council discuss consolidating lots along Artesia to allow for new development that currently can’t happen there because the sites are too small.
“I see this recall as an opportunity to get down on the ground and revisit with the people who were with me the first time around,” Obagi said. “It’s been awesome, fulfilling and healthy to be walking around my neighborhood again and talking to folks.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated the cost of the South Bay Galleria renovation. The story has been updated.
