Sup. Hahn Visits County Lifeguards, Some Of Whom Were Jr. Guards

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose motion for the county to come up with a report and plan to offer the Junior Lifeguard program this summer [it was canceled due to COVID-19 in 2020] was approved by the Board of Supervisors, stopped in to Lifeguard headquarters in Manhattan Beach recently.

Hahn, whose district includes Manhattan Beach, attended the county's installation of a new Mobi-Mat in El Porto on Wednesday, Feb. 17. The mat creates an official pathway to the ocean for disabled individuals.

MB's Lifeguard headquarters are a short distance south of the Mobi-Mat installation so Hahn took the opportunity to visit lifeguards at headquarters, which happens to occupy land that once belonged to Willa and Charles Bruce in the early 1900s until the City of Manhattan Beach used eminent domain to take their land and other contiguous plots from owners under the ruse of needing to build a city park. The park, which sits above the county headquarters and parking lots, is now called Bruce's Beach, in recognition of the Bruce family. Bruce's Beach became a controversial landmark in the summer of 2020 after community members pushed for its true history to be told and restitution and reparations be made to descendants of the Bruce family. In response to community outcry, the Manhattan Beach City Council had the historical account of Bruce's Beach reexamined and delivered at a city council meeting. The city had not admitted that the Bruce's were forced out because they were Black but a review of historical information has borne that out. City Council has said it is not able to pay money to Bruce family descendants and instead appointed a task force of residents to propose a rewording of the plaque on site [the current plaque is not accurate], perhaps an art piece, and additional measures/ideas.

While visiting with county lifeguards at the Manhattan Beach headquarters, Hahn spoke with several who had benefitted from participating in the Jr. Lifeguard program when they were kids and teens.

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