Torrance City Council: New Members Installed and More (July 10, 2018, Full Report)

The July 10th, 2018 Torrance City Council meeting turned into a full house really quickly.

Most of the people there did not attend because of the new city councilmembers, but because of outrage over a proposed car wash on the corner of Torrance and Crenshaw.

Before I entered the city council chambers, I met with some of the city residents who want a real solution to the coyote problem:

There's a growing coalition in the city to stop the Butcher Hill project, too:

Aunt Janice was there, and it was pretty clear that she didn't want to talk to me:

But she was more than happy to place nice with Torrance Democratic Club pariah Jimmy Gow:

Her field representative Mark Waronek was there, too:

Waronek is also a city councilman in Lomita, CA. I thought he was a Republican, but routinely he has endorsed and supported Democrat. He also runs a consulting firm, so it makes sense that he has cozied up to Democrats.

I don't know if he has re-registered as a Democrat yet, but it makes little principled sense for him to remain a registered Republican, since he supports every major Democratic Party leader and office holder he can find.

As I got settled into the audience, lots of people focused on different issues crowded in.

The audience was filled to overflowing:

The Butcher Hill proposed project has many residents worried. The traffic in the city of Torrance has gone from bad to worse, and for many stakeholders the city is just plain built out. No one wants more stack-and-pack apartments, for example, since those constructions have to include "low income" housing, which means more crime, as well as congestion and lower quality of life in the city.

The carwash issue was a true bone of contention. A couple owns a piece of property along Sepulveda Bvld, and they have a buyer which wants to open up another car wash. However, there are three other car washes in the city.

Not only that, but the zoning for that piece of property now conflicts with the quality of life concerns held by most of the residents in the area. Torrance was founded on a balance of industrial, commercial and residential housing. The residential aspect has grown considerably, and more long-time homeowners in the city want quiescence, not more business.

One carwash can bring in as much as 1,600 cars a day. That's a lot of traffic.

When the matter came before the Torrance City Council (they brought it up ahead of the induction of the new city councilmembers), almost every hand in the audience was raised to oppose the project.

The mayor and city council agreed to postpone the project, especially since the new buyers had claimed, without proof, that there was no opposition to the project. Yes, there was opposition, and it showed up in large numbers.

After the carwash issue was tabled, half the audience left the city council chambers. Didn't anyone realize that two new city councilmembers were joining the Torrance City Council? Didn't they care?

The most important part of the city council meeting followed. Finally. This was important to me, enough that I walked to city hall rather than miss the installation of two, new city councilmembers.

The extensive ceremony first marked the end the tenures of Councilmembers Heidi Ashcraft and Kurt Weideman.

Here's the entire video I recorded Live on YouTube:

Major Portion:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Gl1LFKSrmA

Comments from the newly installed city councilmen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHuOUGXUblg

LA County Board Supervisor Janice Hahn (aka Aunt Janice) presented them with certificates from the LA County Board of Supervisors.

I supported Heidi Ashcraft much more than Kurt Weideman.

Heidi is a Republican, a conservative, and many times she was not afraid to vote against the majority on a number of issues. Ultimately, however, she disappointed me because she had told me that she was going to run for re-election, but then decided not to at the last minute.

It's unfortunate that she was unwilling to stay around, and many people in the city believe it had more to do with the friction caused by mayor Pat Furey on the dais than her expanding family private life. She also voted to continue the city of Torrance's enrollment in the Southern California Region of Governments program.

We need Torrance officials to get us out of the waste of time and money.

Then Kurt Weideman spoke. He is a registered Democrat, a faithful foot soldier in the progressive cause. He reached out to me to have coffee, and I had hoped that I can find some common ground on local issues with this man. He was one of the biggest Green Agenda cheerleaders on the dais, however. He formed a tight block with Pat Furey and Tim Goodrich. They were the most left-wing phalanx on the city council, and Timmy voted with Kurt to ban MHF in the city. The Democrats have been heavily invested in taking over the city of Torrance.

Election 2018 not only stopped their efforts, but turned them back into retreat. Two conservative Republicans, focused on the everyday concerns of the citizens, knocked out a liberal incumbent. This is great news for the city of Torrance.

Here are the two new city councilmembers!

Check out the team of volunteers and supporters who cheered them on at the Torrance City Council meeting:

Check out what the new city council looks like on the dais as a whole:

Torrance residents need to do more than just applaud the installation of new city councilmen on the Torrance City Council.

You need to make your voices heard.

You need to contact them as often as needed for them to pay attention to the concerns that you have.

Here are the email contacts for the Torrance City Council and staff:

Torrance:

Pat Furey (pfurey@torranceca.gov);

George Chen (gchen@torranceca.gov);

Tim Goodrich (tgoodrich@torranceca.gov);

Aurelio Mattucci (amattucci@torranceca.gov);

Milton Herring (City Council) (mherring@torranceca.gov);

Mike Griffiths (mgriffiths@torranceca.gov);

Geoff Rizzo (grizzo@torranceca.gov);

Rebecca Poirier (rpoirier@torranceca.gov);

Dana Cortez: DCortez@TorranceCA.Gov

Patrick Sullivan: psullivan@torranceca.gov;

Leroy Jackson: ljackson@torranceca.gov;

Police Chief Irivne: eirvine@torranceca.gov

Phone:   (310) 618-2801