After school, sports, homework and jobs, seniors Vaughn Marselis, Emaad Moghal and Quinn Ortadeveci are ready to decompress, and for them and a lot of other students, that means playing basketball. Unfortunately, their responsibilities keep them from getting to a court when it is still daytime, and Perry Park is the only park in the South Bay that has working lights.
“When the night comes, and you need lights, Perry Park is the only place in this wide area with lights, so it’s gonna be full. I often go there and have to leave because there’s no space. I play at the same parks where my older brother, who’s currently in college, used to play. He would always complain about there being no lights. So I was like, ‘Damn, this is a long lasting problem,’” Ortadeveci said.
With the hopes of solving this problem, Moghal, Marselis and Ortadeveci addressed the Redondo Beach City Council on March 3. They were received well and got in touch with Councilman Chadwick Castle and Councilwoman Paige Kaluderovic. At the end of their address, Mayor Jim Light applauded them for working with their city council to make this change and said that the reason Redondo Beach has a skate park by the pier is because of students just like them who addressed the Council and made them aware of the need.
“[The Mayor’s comment] shows that just because we’re students doesn’t mean we don’t have a voice. A lot of people think that you have to be an adult, or to have more power to speak at these meetings, but in reality, [everybody has a] voice in our community. We have the ability to make this change,” Moghal said.
The first priority is to fix the broken lights at Anderson Park. According to Moghal, it would be quick and cost effective if the lights were powered with renewable energy.
“Turning the lights on is a lot simpler, because they have the infrastructure already built. It’s something that can be fixed within weeks. But building lights, that’ll take more time, more money, and more effort. That’s something we have in mind for the future,” Moghal said.
When they do get the opportunity to build new infrastructure, they plan to start with Wilson Park. The park is spaced out, and according to Ortadevici, it is in an area where it is unlikely that residents will be bothered by noise.
“[We have to address] some of the problems that people will have with [this project], which would probably be noise, and electricity costs because there are a good amount of parks that need lights to be installed. Also, the City Council might not want to do all of them. So, I think the hardest part will be [hashing out the fine details] and figuring out which parks it’s even going to be possible to do this,” Marselis said.
In order to do so, they are planning to speak at a Community Meeting held by Councilman Castle. They plan to outline the pros and cons of building lights, and to float ideas to get feedback from the public.
“[When we met with Councilman Castle] he said that this is a big project and would most likely take a really long time. So he said it would be most realistic to get lights working in one place, and then see how the neighborhood responds. He also proposed the idea of bringing it up at a community meeting and having us discuss it and answer questions. The next step is working with the community to find a compromise,” Ortadeveci said.
When addressing the council, Marselis said that as they are seniors, their motivation to complete this construction is not for their own benefit, but for the benefit of the future generations of Redondo Beach residents. According to Moghal, he’s made some of his closest friends on the basketball court, and he wants others to experience the same welcoming community he did, despite all of the responsibilities that keep students from enjoying a friendly game on the court. According to Marselis and Ortadeveci, the three value having a city council that is willing to work with them.
“It’s always important to be involved in your local government. There’s not many ways that we can make change on a national level, but [this is an achievable] way for us to make a change within our community. We obviously feel strongly about this issue, and I feel like a lot of people in Redondo Beach can benefit from having these parks lit up at night,” Moghal said, “I’ve gotten so much closer with people because of basketball. So, we’re having fun, we’re exercising, but we’re also building a stronger community. We’re getting closer to each other.”
