*Former California State Sen. Steven Bradford says he may walk away from the Gardena Jazz Festival he helped launch 23 years ago if the city changes its leadership structure to give current State Sen. Laura Richardson a formal role.
The dispute spilled into public view at the Sept. 23 Gardena City Council meeting. In separate interviews with Keith O’Derek of Upfront Productions and EURweb, Bradford and Richardson offered sharply different views of what Richardson’s proposed involvement means.
Bradford Says the Festival Belongs to the Community
Bradford said eight residents of Gardena’s Holly Park neighborhood created the festival when the city was struggling financially, with the goal of bringing residents together and lifting the community.
“This was never about an elected official,” Bradford told EURweb. “The community started this 23 years ago — eight community members living in Holly Park at the time when the city of Gardena was bankrupt — and we put this together as a way of galvanizing and bringing the community together in celebration and, you know, uplifting the community at a time when we were very concerned about the city’s future.”
Bradford emphasized that his political career wasn’t what gave him a place in the festival.
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“I was assemblyman, senator and a city councilman, but my role in the jazz festival had nothing to do with my title,” he said. “It had to do with the fact that I lived in Holly Park, and it was the residents of Holly Park who started it.”
EURweb’s previous coverage has identified Bradford as a festival co-founder, and EURweb’s 2025 festival coverage reported more than 7,000 people attended the 22nd annual event.
Richardson Says She Wants to Help It Grow
Richardson described her proposal differently.
The state senator called the Gardena Jazz Festival “extremely successful” and said she wants to use relationships connected to her office to attract sponsorships and provide additional support.
“I certainly respect everyone who’s been involved with the festival for many years, whether it’s volunteers, whether it’s staff, whether it’s past electeds,” Richardson told EURweb. “This is not about that. This is about more formalizing the role that I would play, to support the city.”
Richardson said many corporate contributions involve state lobbyists and advocates with whom she regularly works. “We need more support so we can continue to grow it,” she said.
She characterized her letter as an initial “thought starter” and said she would let Gardena officials determine her role.
“I have no problems with them coming back with how they would define my role,” Richardson said.
Bradford Challenges the Financial Argument
After the meeting, Bradford strongly disputed any suggestion that the festival needs additional financial support or has operated at a loss.
“This event has not lost a dime,” Bradford said. “Yes, we were a little down this year. We usually average 150,000 in sponsorships, but we do another almost 200,000 in ticket sales, vendors and tent sales. We have covered the cost of this event for the last 23 years.”
Those financial figures are Bradford’s account and were not independently documented in the interview material provided to EURweb.
Bradford also said the festival has donated $10,000 annually to nonprofits for the past six years.
“If we were not raising the money, how are we giving $10,000 away every year to nonprofits?” he said. “We’re giving money away because we’ve had reserves over the years. That’s why we were able to do that. So, you wouldn’t have reserves if you were in the red.”
Bradford accused Richardson of seeking to politicize a successful community institution for personal benefit. Richardson, however, said her proposal is about helping the festival and supporting the city.
Bradford Says He Could Walk Away Before Year 25
Asked whether he could work with Richardson if the city proceeds in the direction he opposes, Bradford said, “I couldn’t work if this is the direction they want to go in. I’m more than willing to walk away.”
When asked about continuing through the festival’s 25th anniversary, Bradford went further.
“I don’t know if I get to 25 if they make the changes that they’re proposing because my integrity means far more than this,” he said. “But more importantly, the community, the residents of Holly Park, the citizens of Gardena mean more than me. This has always been about public service.”
Bradford described Holly Park as predominantly African American and historically “underrepresented” and “underresourced,” placing the disagreement within what he sees as a larger fight over the community’s voice.
Richardson left the door open to whatever arrangement Gardena ultimately establishes.
“My letter and the proposal was to formally extend my offer to be helpful,” she said. “And however that is deemed to be done, I’m happy to.”
For a festival created to bring Gardena residents together, city leaders now face a sensitive question: how to welcome additional political and financial support without alienating community figures who spent more than two decades building the event.
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