Torrance City Council Election: Opposition to Sanctuary State Law Helped Propel Conservatives to Victory

The Torrance City Council elections were a huge victory for me, for conservatives, and for the citizens as a whole in the Balanced City.

It was great to see Kurt Weideman gone, and to see Jimmy Gow, the anti-social injustice warrior, get taken down like a BOSS on election day. He received the lowest vote turnout, and it served him right.

As a reminder, Jimmy Gow joined the corrupt cabal of violent leftists to attack a veterans hall in West Carson two months before Election Day 2016. It was really bad, and shame on the Torrance City Council for doing nothing about it!

"I hate veterans, but don't tell anyone I said that!"

But today I wanted to focus specifically on the issue of SB 54, the sanctuary state law, and how it factored into the election.

Two candidates--only two--made a big show of their opposition to that unconscionable and unconstitutional law. Bill Sutherland paid it lip service, but he told me that he wasn't going to use his final comments during debates to single out that issue. 

Mayoral candidate Tom Brewer didn't talk about SB 54. According to one voter, Brewer decided that it wasn't that serious of an issue. I just found out that New Majority PAC, the same crappy and corrupt organization headed by Andy Gimme-Kandy (really Gharakani) was backing Brewer. I don't call them the "New Permanent Minority" for nothing. They don't want to win. They want to soft-pedal all the major issues, raise lots of money, and pay big prices to sit at "The Kool Kidz' Table". Brewer was getting bad advice, for certain, and David Hadley's endorsement and "machine" backing didn't get him elected, either.

In fact, illegal immigration and opposition to the sanctuary state law were deciding issues, along with public safety in general. Many of the people whom I spoke to in the city shared their alarm about this law. There was one voter who said that she had compassion on the illegals, but I told her that SB 54 protects violent criminals!  

I stressed a number of times my outrage with SB 54 to the city council. They issued a letter last year, but the deciding vote to write the letter took place in a legislative committee, not in an open vote of the city council. What are the councilmembers afraid of, if they received to issue a letter following an open vote before the public?

Finally, we have two more city councilmembers who are not afraid to speak out against illegal immigration:

1. George Chen

2. Aurelio Mattucci

George Chen, Naturalized Citizen from Taiwan

Aurelio Mattucci, Naturalized Citizen from Italy

These two individuals are immigrants. They played by the rules, passed all the tests, paid all the fees. Ask any naturalized citizen how long it takes to become a full-fledged citizen in this country. The time and costs are immense; therefore, it's fundamentally unfair to allow people to break into this country (a felony in its own right), then to cut in line in front of all those who have followed the law to become citizens.

George Chen and Aurelio Mattucci's telling victory is a big win for the city of Torrance and the rule of law, yet the local press refuses to cover this new trend. The reporter covering Torrance focused at least three articles on the fact that there are now no women on the city council. But we have two immigrants, including an Asian-American, as well as a black American representing the city of Torrance.

Of course, diversity doesn't matter to the press if the elected officials are conservatives.

Final Reflection

CAGOP Chairman Jim Brulte reported to Stuart Varney on "Varney and Company" that the fight against the gas tax propelled Republicans to a strong voter turnout. He forgot to mention the fight against the perverse sanctuary state law and the fight against illegal immigration in general. Throughout Orange County, I saw signs touting opposition to the sanctuary state law as well as the gas tax hikes. In Torrance, SB 54 was the signature issue that got two candidates elected to city council, and in the process they beat a liberal incumbent who had served as President of the Torrance Historical Society and who had received commensurate support from the Torrance Police Officers' Association.

What's more, Chen did not have any prior local government experience, in that he had never served on a commission or worked with any standing Torrance sitting committee--yet he won!

If conservatives want a chance to win in November, they need to focus on ending illegal immigration, as well as combating corruption and ending the onerous taxes driving hard-working middle-class Californians out of the state. The overrunning of our borders, the drain on our public welfare systems, and the destruction against our quality of life has all occurred because of illegal immigration, and yet it affects all of us!

Torrance Conservatives Lose Mayor's Race Again. Who's to Blame?

Now I can write more freely about what happened with the Torrance Mayor's Race for Election 2018.

In 2014, two different members of the Scotto Team wanted to run for mayor after getting termed out from city council:

1. Tom Brewer
2. Bill Sutherland

Both candidates had run with Scotto in 2006 against the corrupt development projects forced on the city under Walker's regime. Dan Walker routinely violated the Brown Act, according to some sources, and he would pre-arrange the four other city councilmembers on his team to vote in such a way so that it would be a different set of four voters each time.

The massive building and construction in the city alarmed lots of voters, and the homeowners associations rose up to fight the cronyism--and they won.

Eight years later, Sutherland, Scotto, Furey, and Brewer were termed out and/or looking for higher office.

Brewer and Sutherland had met a few times to iron out their differences and find some way forward so that only one of them would run against Pat Furey for mayor. Nothing happened.

Bill Sutherland was dead to me in 2014 because in 2012, he had endorsed Al Muratsuchi for State Assembly. Not only that, but he had voted to appoint Democrat Kurt Weideman to the city council to replace Cliff Numark.

These decisions showed that Sutherland was more interested in himself and pushing his own ambitions rather than doing what was best for the city of Torrance. He had also floated an idea to raise the city sales tax by half a cent as one way to deal with the pension issues.

I supported Brewer, although even in 2014 he was low energy. He admitted that he was a moderate Republican too. A pro-choice Republican on abortion, for example, he also believed that Republican should give up on some of the divisive cultural issues in order to win over Millennial voters.

That kind of thinking does not generate or spring from a sense of leadership, boldness, or initiative. He was low-energy then, and he was low energy this year, too.

In 2017, Ron Riggs was the first candidate to throw his hat in the ring against Pat Furey for mayor. He had raised a significant sum of money for his campaign, too. Brewer then wanted to run a second time for mayor, and the two sides worked out a brief deal going forward. Riggs would change his mind and run for city council, and Brewer would endorse Riggs for city council, too.

Then Bill Sutherland jumped in to run again. Just as I had resisted his bid for council in 2014, so again I had no interest in supporting him. I wanted to help George Chen above all. I warmed up to Aurelio's campaign afterwards.

Then I got this sudden unpleasant news after I spoke to Ron Riggs a week after the deal had been struck. Brewer had backed away from his promise and chose to endorse Bill Sutherland. What a shame! Riggs was hurt, and I don't blame him. In turn, he changed his mind and chose to run for mayor once again.

For the next five months, I didn't make any endorsements for mayor or city council. I didn't know what to do about the mayor's race, since the two candidates were going to split the vote again and let Furey win re-election. Then came the Travis Allen-John Cox debate at the Marsee Auditorium in Torrance. Riggs was the only guy there. I also saw George Chen, but I didn't have a chance to speak with him.

At that point I decided to get behind Ron Riggs. He was the only one showing up to events. Brewer was low-energy as usual, and it seemed to me that he was more interested in coasting his endorsements and connections to the local political establishment as opposed to hustling to earn votes and victory.

If Brewer was such a strong candidate, why couldn't he clear the field to run for mayor? Such is the fallout when candidates run as a slate and set up machines. Scotto had worked with both men many times in the past. He expected some sort of fealty from them both, for sure.

I had asked Tom to drop out
since Ron Riggs was the only one
I saw doing anything

What do you do, though, when human ambition rises again? The two cancelled each other before, and this time Sutherland's refusal to sunset quietly hurt their chances again. Such is the result of putting insider friendships and political power ahead of the best interests of the city of Torrance.

Let's face it. Brewer was never a strong candidate to begin with. He didn't host many events in 2014 or 2018. He wanted to make nice and not take strong stances on key issues. One voter told me last week that Brewer showed no interest in taking on SB 54. "The city doesn't deal with immigration issues that much", the voter reported to me.

In contract, both Aurelio Mattucci and George Chen made SB 54 a focal issue in their campaigns. George Chen spoke out about it right away in the debates. Aurelio added the issue to his campaign literature. This issue resonates with everyone in the state of California, whether for or against, and a growing community in Torrance wants the terrible law repealed and demand that the city come out against the law in every way possible.

Also, Mattucci and Chen worked hard, put their names out there, including signs and flyers. Aurelio addressed quality of life issues in the city, too, and featured on his flyers the steps he had taken to start cleaning up the city. I must say that the Western Ave. border of the city needs a lot more attention, but Aurelio took steps to deal with it.

George Chen's signs were EVERYWHERE, including North Torrance, well-known as the most Democratic section of the city (Torrance Dem President Jimmy Gow lives there, along with Pat Furey, Kurt Weideman, School Board member Terry Ragins, and others). Chen's church connections were instrumental, too, in getting Chen elected, no doubt.

To recap, Brewer was a lukewarm candidate at the outset, and he reneged a straightforward, principled agreement to support his competitor Ron Riggs if he would switch his campaign focus to the city council. Riggs was willing to play along, but then Sutherland stepped in and Brewer broke his promise.

Blame Tom Brewer

Not acceptable.

If anyone deserves blame for Torrance conservatives' failure to win the mayor's seat, blame Tom Brewer. He didn't run a strong campaign, he didn't keep his promise to Ron Riggs, and he was more interested in resting on the laurels or efforts of endorsements and connections than doing the hard work of getting out there to rally voters and get the excited in his campaign.

Election 2018: Torrance City Council Low Energy Election

I guess there is no chance for making a difference unless men and women start getting serious about what's facing the South Bay and the rest of the state. Do we really expect to see victories in the South Bay, whether for the Torrance City Council races for the state assembly races if the same people keep doing the same things?

I have never seen such a wide bunch of low-energy candidates. It's so disappointing.

Tom Brewer and Ron Riggs couldn't make up their minds about who would run for mayor and then who else would run for a city council seat. I am so disgusted. This kind of dueling efforts pretty much guarantees Pat Furey another four years.

Tom Brewer is low-energy Jeb Bush. Boring.

Ron Riggs is hyped up Rick Santorum. Yes, he is a dark horse candidate, but he has energy, but not much else. Rick Santorum ran for President twice and lost both times. He was closer to winning in 2012! His plan to reach out to working-class voters and put their needs ahead of Wall Street and Big Business were all winning ideas, but he was not the vessel to impart those ideas.

Donald Trump took over and made those ideas a reality for American workers.

Here's another problem: the residents in the city are happy. No matter what crap and corruption waged by mayor Pat Furey, the roads are getting repaired, the streets are clean, the economy has picked up, too. I don't hear a lot of angry chatter from residents, either.

That kind of simple calm suggests that voters, however few choose to vote in June 2018, are going to go with the status quo. Some of the city council candidates have been raising a fuss about the dirty streets. The mayor and city staff are now addressing those concerns. For now, Pat Furey is going to play nice guy and respond to all the moral outrage over his bad dealings and the other issues.

There will not be a PAC going after Mike Griffiths this year, either, since Griffiths is not up for re-election. The hit pieces from reporter Nick Green at the Daily Breeze will not be effective, either, because voters are relatively happy. President Trump's reforms and regulatory rollbacks are going to help the vast majority of taxpaying residents in the city of Torrance.

I doubt that there is any moment to get rid of the Big Green phalanx of Kurt Weideman and Tim Goodrich. Everyone is happy, and even if crime is rising in key parts of the city, there aren't enough people affected buy it.

I want to see Pat Furey gone, but who's going to knock him out? Even if we whittled down the field to one candidate, I don't see Brewer or Riggs vamping up enough momentum to win.

The city council races ...

1. Heidi Ashcraft has my vote. I did not support her before because I was focusing so intently on the pension issue, but I have seen her demonstrate considerable independence on the council. She has stood up to Pat Furey and spoken her mind. She answers my calls, and she cares about my concerns, too. Her name has not officially appeared on the campaign filings, but she told me that she is running again. She has my vote.

2. I do not like Aurelio Mattucci anymore. He was a guy I could trust, but when he took the contact information for the Beach Cities Republicans to run for President in 2016, I found him to continue to act like a man who would cut corners to win. That kind of behavior is not acceptable. Besides, his "nice and clean" Torrance campaign, yawn!

3. I like George Chen, because Mark Tsuneishi knows him and likes him. I am OK with that. I do need to know more about the candidates.

4. Then there's Bill Sutherland running ... again! He would be better than Tim Goodrich and left-leaning Kurt Weideman. After all, Sutherland is not a left-wing Greenie ideologue. Still, this guy is like a John McCain type, more interested in playing nice and going along with the political establishment and the status quo. He also floated the idea of a quarter-cent sales tax increase to pay for more police on the streets. How about cutting costs?

I can definitely say that I am squarely in support of Heidi Ashcraft. To give a fully qualified answer on George Chen, I need to talk to him. I think it's premature for me to full endorse him when I still don't know that much about him.

The choices beyond all of that are not that great.

Here is what I am looking from the Torrance City Council:

1. No more Big Green boondoggles, including Community Choice Aggregation
2. Dealing with the pension debt in a serious fashion.
3. Standing up to the public employee unions to ensure that the city's budget and coffers go toward assisting the citizens, not just one dedicated, organized interest.
4. Keeping the refinery open and stopping this nonsense about banning Modified Hydrofluoric Acid.
5. Lowering the sales tax in the city. Wouldn't that be nice?!

That's all from me for now.