Rancho Palos Verdes · October 21, 2026
Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi presented Rancho Palos Verdes with $5 million in state budget funding for landslide mitigation, and the city’s weekly report also covers a public safety update and progress on dewatering and winter storm preparation.
At the Oct. 20 City Council meeting, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi presented a ceremonial check marking a $5 million state budget allocation to Rancho Palos Verdes for landslide mitigation. The city said the money will support remediation work aimed at preventing the Portuguese Bend landslide from speeding up again. The Council also recognized Lomita Sheriff’s Station Deputy Alex Ramirez, named Deputy of the Year by the Rotary Club of Palos Verdes Peninsula.
Public Safety Manager Jennifer Schmid gave the council a quarterly public safety update. City Public Safety Liaisons have been patrolling priority locations, including the Switchbacks, Del Cerro Park, school traffic areas and business corridors; the city says they need a different patrol vehicle and mobile computers before the Sheriff’s Department can dispatch them to calls. A targeted Sheriff’s speed operation on Hawthorne Boulevard produced 59 traffic stops and 54 citations, and a regional Sheriff’s drone program shared by four cities is in its early stages.
Public Works reported that deep dewatering wells have pulled about 585 million gallons of groundwater from the landslide area since September 2024; eight of the nine remaining wells are running, and the ninth was redrilled and is due back soon. All planned winterization work was finished in early October ahead of an expected strong El Niño season, along with new drainage improvements on Palos Verdes Drive South near the former Wayfarers Chapel and Klondike Canyon.
The report also notes that the state set the Southern California region’s housing need for the next cycle at 1,359,750 units, the starting point for RPV’s next Housing Element, and that Code Enforcement planned to mail swale-maintenance reminder letters to property owners on Oct. 23.