Stop Hermosa Beach Oil continues to campaign for their cause

Lizzy Tsuang
Staff Writer

After seven months of negotiations and six months of canvassing efforts, Stop Hermosa Beach Oil prepares for the final stretch of their campaign before the March 3 Special Municipal Election on the proposed Hermosa Beach Oil Drilling and Production Project, “Measure O”.

SHBO has been campaigning daily by dividing Hermosa Beach into 16 sections and assigning a captain and group of volunteers to each section to go door to door. SHBO has also distributed 1,000 new campaign signs that feature “No on Measure O” in black and white print.

“Canvassing is the most important aspect of our campaign,” co-founder of SHBO Michael Collins said. “It begins with a level playing field, one in which advertising dollars do not matter. Hermosa Beach citizens knocking on their neighbors doors can make a major difference in the canvassing efforts leading up to election day.”

According to Collins, a vital aspect of SHBO’s campaign is to retain the feel of a community. SHBO has adopted the message “Not Healthy, Not Safe, and a Bad Deal for the city”.

“We are simply a group of highly motivated neighbors trying to stop a very wealthy oil company from drilling for oil in Hermosa Beach,” Collins said. “Fundraising offers voters an opportunity to come together and celebrate what we have accomplished thus far, as well as give something back to the countless volunteers, and supporters, that have made the last few years fun, memorable, purpose-driven, and worthwhile.”

SHBO held their final fundraiser on Jan 24 at Ocean Bar in Hermosa Beach. The fundraiser included food, drinks, entertainment, and a silent auction of Laker tickets, weekend getaways, surfboards, and more. Tickets were sold out with approximately 250 residents.

“This is what Hermosa is about, the community effort, and not letting an oil drilling company ruin our city,” Hermosa Beach mayor Peter Tucker said at the fundraiser.

SHBO will continue to canvass up until the election date.

“We had no idea how this issue would draw the community together, create lasting friendships, and grow to be so much more than just stopping an oil drilling project,” Collins said. “We set out to Keep Hermosa Hermosa, and along the way, we found a new definition of what Hermosa might truly mean.”