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If it\’s too loud you\’re too old? Maybe not.
Every once in a while I write an article that I know ahead of time is going to upset some people; I am relatively confident there will be those that are not going to like this article. I am okay with that and apologize ahead of time if you don\’t approve of my thoughts.
A couple months ago, at a Torrance City Council meeting, there was a topic of discussion regarding a free \”summer\” concert series that runs from January through October on Saturday evenings from 6:00-9:00 PM at the courtyard on Cabrillo by El Prado. Since the event is sponsored by BFD Buffalo Fire Department and The Depot restaurants and the owner, Chef Shafer, is known for his support of local charities it was pretty open and shut as to whether or not the City of Torrance would grant Shafer the permit he requested to hold these concerts.
When it came time for public comments there was one gentleman that lives somewhere in the courtyard complex and he came complaining about the noise. Naturally, Shafer had the deck stacked against the guy as he had customers come in and talk about how much they enjoyed the concerts. What I found odd was the one young lady that said she lived a couple blocks away and could hear the music, but wished it was louder so she could hear it better. Continue reading
Torrance comes to Fiesta Floats
On Sunday evening several bus loads of Torrance residents, along with their mayor, the city council, commissioners and other various dignitaries headed out to Irwindale and Fiesta Parade Floats to check out the progress of the float that the City of Torrance is sponsoring for the 126th Annual Tournament of Roses Parade.
The theme of this year\’s Rose Parade is \”Inspiring Stories\” with the Grand Marshal being Torrance hometown hero, Louis Zamperini, who passed away earlier this year. The Torrance entry is called \”A Race Well Run\” and will feature black-and-white photos of Zamperini\’s life, the Olympic torch and other imagery that reflects Zamperini\’s life including a replica of the B-24 plane he was shot down in during World War II. Since the movie Unbroken was released on Christmas Day the City of Torrance hopes that this float, dedicated to the memory of Louis Zamperini, can once again bring international recognition to the city.
Sunday\’s visit required a little imagination as all the floats essentially had most of their big items removed so flowers and seeds could be added prior to the reassembly which must be completed by Tuesday night. If you would like to see the progress that has been made over the last two weeks, you can see a few of my photos on CNN\’s iReport. I will return one more time, on New Year\’s Eve, so I can get some up close and personal shots of the finished product. Continue reading
An Open Letter to the Torrance City Council
On July 15 the City of Torrance got a new mayor, Pat Furey; and a new city council consisting of incumbent Gene Barnett, and newly elected council members Kurt Weideman, Heidi Ashcraft, Tim Goodrich and Geoff Rizzo. Now, it is true that Weideman and Ashcraft had one year and six months experience respectively as they had both been appointed, not elected, to the council but their combined 18 months of experience is but a drop in the bucket compared to the time put in by the council members they replaced. The fact is that on July 15 Torrance lost 30 years of experience between the departing of Mayor Frank Scotto, and Councilmen Bill Sutherland and Tom Brewer. Since Pat Furey was elected mayor, this resulted in another vacancy on the Torrance City Council. The options to fill the vacancy are either hold a special election at the cost of $200,000 or let the current council agree on an appointment. It was decided to solicit applications for the vacancy.
Apparently there were 12 applications submitted including six candidates from the June election; Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino, Michael Griffiths, Alex See, Milton Herring, Rahmay Khan and Ryan Mand. Additional applications were submitted by Charles Deemer, Ray Uchima, Mario Obejas, Jimmy Gow, William Daniel Feliz and recently retired City Clerk Sue Herbers. The current city council must make a decision at the upcoming council meeting scheduled for August 12 or a special election must be held. It is in the best interest of the city that a consensus is reached and the special election be avoided. I do not think there is much argument by any intelligent citizen that an appointment is the best way to go about this; the only discussion is who should be appointed. While no one has asked my opinion, I am going to give it anyway. Continue reading
The City of Torrance has a new mayor and council
On Tuesday evening, the Torrance City Council went through a major changing of the guard, with Pat Furey being sworn in as our new mayor; and Kurt Weideman, Heidi Ashcraft, Tim Goodrich and Geoff Rizzo being sworn in as new council members. Weideman had been appointed to the council a year ago when Councilwoman Susan Rhilinger resigned due to health; and Ashcraft was appointed in December when Cliff Numark was elected to the El Camino College Board of Trustees. They have a combined year and a half of experience compared to the 30 years of experience between the departing Mayor Frank Scotto, and Councilmen Bill Sutherland and Tom Brewer. It is going to be an interesting time for Torrance; no doubt.
The evening began with a ceremony marking the departure of City Clerk Sue Herbers who retired after 20 years of service. In her farewell address she mentioned that she will still be around and be as active as ever; even if it is as an audience member. She did mention that if the council decided to accept applications for the vacant seat that we now have since Furey became Mayor, she would apply. More on that later, but personally, she would be outstanding.
Herbers last official duty was the swearing in of Council members Weideman, Ashcraft, Goodrich and Rizzo; Pat Furey as Mayor and Rebecca Poirier as the new City Clerk. And with that we lost 50 years of experience in one swoop. Continue reading
My take on the upcoming Torrance election
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On June 3, 2014 the California Primary Election will be held to vote on statewide measures as well as local offices. For Torrance, this is a pretty important election as our current mayor, Frank Scotto will term out and there are four city council seats that are up for grabs. We have three candidates running for Mayor and sixteen candidates vying for the four city council seats.
As far as mayoral candidates are concerned, we are pretty lucky. Over the past few years I have had the opportunity to observe, interact and talk to all three candidates and I can honestly say that no matter which of them wins, I think Torrance will be okay. I like Tom Brewer, and he seems like a really nice guy; Bill Sutherland is a man of principle and he has no problem saying what he thinks. While I may not always agree, one must respect his honesty. Bill has been nothing but helpful when approached about a few Torrance oddities and that is also appreciated. I have previously written about my relationship with Pat Furey and as he has always been an advocate for children, both in his personal and professional life as well as having close to 25 years of civic involvement, I must endorse Pat for Mayor. A friend mentioned recently that Furey was the only Democrat of the three candidates so that is why she was voting for him. The Office of Mayor is not supposed to be a Republican versus Democrat ideology and the reality is, I do not know what political party Brewer and Sutherland belong to, but if party allegiance is important to how you cast your vote, I am relatively confident Furey is not a Republican. Continue reading
Rename Columbia Park AYSO Park
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Regular readers may recall that back in October I wrote an article entitled, Columbia Park, Torrance: Pay to play? To recap, the west end of Columbia Park was closed for renovations on May 20, 2013 for what was to be \”no more than thirty (30) calendar days.\” Apparently contracts mean little in the City of Torrance and instead of opening 30 days later, it was reopened September 21, 2013! When it reopened it was littered with barriers that had signs attached advising everyone that if they wanted to use the field from now on, they had to get a permit (see photo). Besides writing the referenced article I started attending Torrance City Council meetings on a regular basis so the normal people would have some representation; I ever addressed the council with my displeasure. I do not think they cared.
Anyway, fast-forward to April of 2014 and our park has more barriers, signs, and chain link fences placed all over the park making it not only an eyesore but creating a safety hazard. A couple weeks ago I decided to call the City of Torrance Facility Booking Office to find out just how much it would cost me to be able to use a small section of the park to kick a ball around. It turns out I cannot; just so you understand, you cannot either. Only AYSO can use it and they will not be using it until June or July. In other words, the Torrance residents that pay for the park and its maintenance are not allowed to use the park. We only wish it was \”pay to play.\” In our dreams. If I was angry before, that was nothing compared to how I feel now. The following is the prepared statement I made to the Torrance City Council at the last meeting, held April 8, 2014:
Mr. Mayor, City Council members, staff, audience members and television viewers: Continue reading
Griffiths for City Council Campaign Kickoff
These photos were taken last week, February 3 at the Mike Griffiths for Torrance City Council 2014 campaign kickoff which was held at the RE/MAX room in Torrance. While this site is not really dedicated to politics, I have been trying to attend as many Torrance City Council meetings as possible so I know what is happening at the local level with our city\’s governing body. As a result, I have become acquainted with our mayor and most of the city council members.
The General Municipal Election for Torrance will be held in June of 2014. There will be several vacancies on the city council because Mayor Scotto will term out and one of the current council members will replace him. There are also a couple council members that will term out so this is a pretty important city election. Because I do attend council meetings on a pretty regular basis I see which candidates are regular attendees of the weekly city council meetings. To be honest, there are only two candidates that I ever see there and Mike Griffiths is one of them. He introduced himself to me at one of the first meetings I attended. While I am not going to make any official endorsements, I will go so far as to suggest that if someone wants to be on the Torrance City Council, they should probably consider reserving every Tuesday evening for the next four months to attend council meetings if for no other reason than to be seen.
The campaign kickoff fundraiser was a pretty well attended event that included food, beer, wine, speeches and magic performed by Magic Castle performer Steve Silverman. His sleight-of-hand magic was very entertaining. Everyone seemed to have a nice time. If you want to know more about Griffiths\’ position on issues and history with the City of Torrance please visit his website. Continue reading