Hermosa Beach oil election postponed

By Lizzy Tsuang
Staff Writer

The vote on the proposed Hermosa Beach Oil Drilling and Production Project, originally scheduled by the Hermosa Beach City Council for Nov 4. was moved to March 3 by the Hermosa Beach city council and E&B Natural Resources.

If passed, this proposal will remove the standing oil ban in Hermosa Beach and allow drilling for 35 years. All Hermosa residents over the age of 18 may vote by mail or by attending polls.

“Our speculation on why the election was postponed is that they felt that they were losing and they wanted to buy more time to continue campaigning in Hermosa,” Stop Hermosa Beach Oil chairperson Stacey Armato said. “We feel like the delay won’t be beneficial to voters because it will cause less people to show up. We are speculating this delay could disenfranchise close to 4,000 voters, which is a serious risk.”

According to Communications and Community Outreach Lead for E&B Natural Resources Amy Roth, the vote prior to March 3 was not set by E&B. The setback was due to incomplete documents, such as the Development Agreement and Cost Benefit Analysis.

“Instead of rushing documents to meet an artificial deadline, we believe that voters should have completed documents to review before they are asked to vote on this important measure,” Roth said. “Reviewing these documents will allow voters to look past the myths and focus on the facts. We expect to maintain a dialogue with Hermosa Beach residents over the next few months to make sure they have the facts of the proposed project.”

SHBO hosted a campaign kickoff event on Sept. 14 to encourage votes, spread awareness and fund raise in preparation for the vote. With over 400 people in attendance to rally and spread information on the issue, the event included live music and a raffle.

“Events like these are crucial to our campaign,” SHBO member Kevin Sousa said. “They inspire members of the community and can help shape the outlook on this ballot measure.”

Both SHBO and E&B plan to continue promoting and spreading information among residents of the South Bay community until the vote takes place.

“We will continue to have community events in order to rally support and combat the lies that the oil company is producing in their advertisements,” Sousa said. “This proposed project is not healthy, is not safe and is a bad deal for the community.”