Sore Loser: Cagey Kaji Plays the Race Card Following Election Loss

Now this is just shameful.

Towards the end of the campaign, Councilman Jon Kaji was the subject of an FCC complaint from the FBI.

Here's how he responded:

Whether the "FBI" is an acronym for a private entity or the letters refer to the actual Federal Bureau of Investigation is immaterial to my point.

Why does Kaji mention 1942?

Because he's tying this political attack to Executive Order 9066 and the discrimination, incarceration, deportation, and internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

He literally compared his campaign setback to the Internment of Japanese-Americans.

This response is not serious.

In fact, it's quite offensive.

I don't recall David Kartsonis:

1. Forcing Kaji to sell his goods.

2. Forcing Kaji and his family to move out of their home.

3. Forcing Kaji to live in a horse stall as temporary shelter

4. Forcing Kaji and family to live in an internment camp

Did David Kartsonis do any of this?

Last time I checked, Kaji and his family are still safe and sound in North Torrance. There are no internment camps. Japanese-Americans in general are facing nothing like that level of discrimination today.

Most importantly, Kartsonis has done nothing of the sort to suggest or advocate for such treatment.

People are more than welcome to have their differences with Kartsonis (I certainly do).

But to implicate him with such abject racism and abuse is a low blow.

To disparage and exploit the Internment of Japanese Americans because you lost an election, that is just despicable.

Kaji was his worst enemy this election, and I must say at this point, he deserved to lose.

Update (July 16, 2026)

The Rational Animal summarized the base character of Kaji's retort very well, responding to disgraced Congressman Ro Khanna's racist remark earlier this week:

And here comes the race card. Not long ago I thought Khanna was the Democratic frontrunner for 2028. He's been spiraling fast, and now he grabs the oldest trick in the playbook: address a policy fight as racial martyrdom.

Bowman and Bush didn't lose over "Black martyrdom." They…

— The Rational Animal 🤔 (@theobjectivist) July 15, 2026

Breaking News: FPPC Investigation of Aurelio Mattucci Recall Underway

Torrance resident Patsy Okada has filed a complaint with the FPPC in connection with Jean Adelsman's recall effort against Torrance City Councilman and City Treasurer candidate Aurelio Mattucci.

This is a significant development, since the FPPC receives between 1,000 and 2,000 complaints each year. Patsy's complaint was accepted!

I received the following text message from Patsy, which she had received from Bob Habel, one of the Torrance Parks and Recreation Commissioners, who organized the failed recall effort against Torrance City Councilman Jon Kaji:

Here's the full message, if you cannot read the text in the picture:

Thanks [sic] you. The names will not appear in the Breeze because we are just going to scare him into that we are going to recall him. After we gather the necessary signatures, we turn them into the city clerk, she verifies that they are valid. Then we can pay someone to serve him that he is being recalled.That is where it ends. Names and addresses will not appear in the paper. It's not going to go that far. Once he is served, he will know that District 1 people are not happy with him. There is no lawyer with the Kaji recall. I don't know who Jean is using for the Mattucci recall.

So, the Kaji recall effort was a hoax.

What about the Mattucci recall?

Patsy shared the following with me:

My complaint was 99% from Jean Adelsman’s newsletters. But in the newsletters Jean asked for donations for the recall. FPPC jurisdiction is money involved in an election/recall. 

In case anyone has forgotten, Jean Adelsman was one of the key organizers of the Mattucci recall. She asked for donations!

She was the biggest cheerleader, outlining all the reasons why Mattucci "needed" to be recalled.

She did have a considerable role in the recall effort:

A few personal points: I am No. 39 out of the 60. If the recall succeeds, I will not seek the seat. I ran in 2022 because, at that moment, no one else was prepared to oppose Mattucci. Some excellent candidates have already indicated that they would be available to fill the seat in 2024. I am neither chair nor treasurer. I am serving as the committee’s communications director. 

She frequently promoted the donation links for the recall effort, too.

Newsletter 46

Newsletter 47

Newsletter 49

Was the Mattucci effort just another bluff? If so, why raise money for it? If the circulators had no intention of actually collecting enough signatures to put a recall measure on the ballot, why fundraise?

Pasty shared with me:

I got the financial disclosure for this recall and I used it as an exhibit.  The treasurer of the recall is Evelyn Smith, and Marilyn Bailey is the state measure proponent. Also, Jean was interviewed by the Daily Breeze when the recall ended . The reporter asked her how many signatures were collected, and she wouldn’t answer. I gave that as an exhibit.

I contacted the City Clerk for more information regarding who initiated the recall, and here's what she shared with me:

The legal publication lists Mary A. Bailey, Mathilde F. Terre, and Marla Shwarts.

YIKES!

Loser Jean Adelsman: Lying Hypocrite, Sore Loser (Trump Wannabe?)

 

Jean Adelsman ran against incumbent Torrance city councilman Aurelio Mattucci in 2022. She was the liberal candidate who pretended to be "bipartisan." She called herself "purple" on her website.

Of course, she lost. She's not on the city council dias today (thank goodness!)

She attempted to play nice shortly after the election, even reaching out to Aurelio briefly to have coffee with him.

That obviously went nowhere.

But she doesn't want to go away ...

Here we are now. Jean wants to recall Aurelio ... and Jon Kaji, too?

Why, now?

She and other wagging tongues in town say that it's due to Kaji and Mattuci's opposition to extending the LA Metro into Torrance. But let's get serious about this: they don't like the fact that a more conservative, a more principled set of politicos is now serving the city on the city council.

That bothers them.

They don't like the fact that the current mayor didn't kiss all the brass rings, from commissions to public sector unions, to become the next mayor of the city. He didn't go through the usual "Torrance Way" to become the next head of state for the city.

The same thing applies to Kaji, of course. He didn't kiss rings and glad-hand the "Good Ol' Boys" in Torrance in order to get elected. That bothers some people in The Balanced City.

It seems to bother Jean, as well.

But what about Aurelio? Why don't they like him? He did sit on commissions, and he participated in a number of city events. He even took pictures with local Congressmen Henry Waxman and Maxine Waters at one time.

They don't like that he speaks his mind, and that he wants--and gets--results. He has certainly disrupted business as usual, and he does not "play nice" with some people.

All of these reasons are not reasons at all. They are embittered excuses from sore losers who don't like the fact that creeping liberalism, and big-spending wastrelism are no longer the order of the day. One can be sure that the local Democratic Party is all over this, too. Jimmy Gow got stomped on--TWICE--after spending time and money and collecting every endorsement from every who's-who in the LA County Democrat zoo. 

He even posted non-stop about me on the Torrance Democratic Club Facebook page last year!

(This photo is one of my favorites!:)

Now, what is it about Jean Adelsman that makes her a lying hypocrite?

One of the voters in District Five made it plain as day:

Jean didn't support the recall of pro-criminal district attorney George Gascon becqause "she didn't believe in recalls." Now she suddenly believes in recalls? Really?

And she says that part of the reason for the recall is that Aurelio and others are opposing the extension of the LA Metro into Torrance. For the record, I confess that I supported this move, and did nothing it would be a big deal to have an extension of the metro rail from Redondo Beach to Torrance. But five years later, and with the rising crime, and the worsening conditions on the LA Metro, the fact that the Board of Supervisors have removed heavy police presence to protect riders on the Metro, and the fact that fewer people are using public transit, I am now inclined to oppose it.

So, Jean wants the LA Metro, she seems so upset about the current council opposing its extension.

And yet ...

Pamela Combar calls out Jean Adelsman for not even showing up to ANY OF THE MEETINGS on the proposed extension!

In short, Jean is making up excuses. She is a lying hypocrite and a sore (liberal) loser who can't stand the fact that she got beat by a stronger candidate who, despite almost every political force against him, prevailed in his re-election bid.

You know, for a lady who hates Trump so much, she is sure starting to sound a like like him,

She lost by a very slim margin in 2022, just as Trump did because of slim margins in key states in 2020.

She is belly-aching about losing, the same way she bellyaches about Trump, who contested his loss in 2020.

She is trying to overturn a legitimate election, and yet she criticizes Trump for doing the same thing regarding Election 2020 (for the record, it do believe that the election was stolen, but a big part of it was his own fault. See here).

She is all in on big government transportation projects, just like Trump.

She is talking about "Take Back Torrance," kind of like how Trump campaigned on "Make America Great Again." But she wants to take us backwards! Does she want Don Wilson to redline housing, too?

She is connecting with the previous Democratic establishment, the same way that Democrats have tried to attach themselves to Trump, who was connected with Democrat politicians for years. She wants to reach out to both sides, all while upsetting the Republican base. Trump wanted to make deals with both sides, he has upset his Republican base, too.

But the big thing is that she is staging an "insurrection" against city hall and trying to remove two duly, lawfully elected people from Torrance city council. It sure sounds like Trump when he shouted "Fight Like Hell!" on January 6th, 2021, but a handul of Antifa miscreants broke windows and assaulted police officers.

Still, the fact that she can't give up complaining aout losing ... yet at the same time she thinks Donald Trump lost and shouldn't complain at all. Wow, how the tables have turned in Torrance!

Torrance City Council Election 2022, Reflections: City Council District One

 

The election for Torrance City Council District One was the most contentious.

Four candidates!

Two Democrats, one Republican, and an Independent: Jon Kaji.

And Kaji carried the seat by the widest margin of any of the candidates running for office in the city of Torrance!

Like George Chen, Lauren Cotner, and even Aurelio Mattucci, Jon Kaji ran as an outsider. He had never served on a Torrance commission, and he did not brown-nose a bunch of political insiders to get their support.

In fact, the RINO establishment pick for this race was David Kartsonis, the same candidate who had racked up every major endorsement across the political spectrum in his bid to become a member of the El Camino College Board of Trustees ... and lost.

He was too young, according to a number of people in the city, and he was too connected with the political status quo. Even some of the more engaged Republican activists were turned off to Kartsonis' campaign when they found out he was connected, supported by the local teachers union. Of course he would have their support, since he had garnered the backing of a number of government public sector unions during his time with the El Camino College district.

Then there were two Democrats: David Zygielbaum and Jimmy Gow (please, stop laughing).

Zygielbaum is a good dude. He's a respectable guy. He cares about public safety, and he listens to other people with a willing ear. I have met him a few times at the Torrance Commission trainings in the past. I have no qualms with him per se. Yes, Pat Furey endorsed him, but that's not the end of the world for me.

Jimmy Gow, on the other hand, was the clearcut partisan favorite for every activist Democrat in the city and throughout Los Angeles County. Jimmy Gow boasted endorsements from every Democratic Party elected official in the region!

• Congresswoman Maxine Waters
• Congresman Ted Lieu
• Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi
• LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn

Jimmy Gow had a veritable Who's Who of the California Democratic Party lined up behind him.

Yet he not only lost, but the other Democrat in the race, Zygielbaum, got more votes than he did! It's pretty shocking, to put in mildly. District One is about 70% Democrat, based on the latest census data that I have read.

And yet voters went for a registered Independent!

I was really honored to participate in this fight. I am glad that I could help (a little) to get Jon Kaji across the finish line. Of course, Kaji, who has extensive connections and a long history of contacts and support with the city of Torrance, relied on a great deal of support from many others, too.

Kaji was endorsed by Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.

Kaji raised a considerable amount of money for the city council race, too, around $120,000. His extensive business and cultural networks enabled him to do very well in this race--and he certainly deserved to win.

This race was a big victory for the everyday citizen and the outsiders generally. The RINO establishment lined up behind Kartsonis, and the Democratic Establishment lined up behind Gow, and they both not only lost, but they were the bottom two vote-getters of the four candidates, too.

Which brings up another set of observations ...

1. It's become crystal clear to me that Torrance voters are not interested in crass, outspoken partisanship. They want real representation and good governance. They want able adults to do their job, to keep the city safe and to keep the funding stable for all core services. 

2. Torrance is not like Santa Monica or West Hollywood, not just in terms of ideological bent, but in terms of the fact that city residents are not interested in political posturing of any kind from their elected officials. The voters here are rightfully consensus-based conservatives, not so much looking for right-wing political agitation, but they want deliberate changes, if there must be changes at all.

3. Torrance residents wants the city council and mayor to represent their interests and listen to their concerns. They are tired of the political class focusing on themselves and not listening to residents. They are fed up with the Furey-Scotto phalanx which allows for business-as-usual while ignoring the needs of everyone else.

Jon Kaji won a blow-out victory in District One. He was attentive to the needs and concerns of residents throughout the district. He stuck to local issues, and relied on years of good will that he built up with local residents and business owners throughout the region. We need more city councilmembers with the same kind of drive and attention to detail.

Torrance City Council Election 2022: The Fight For North Torrance (District One)

 There are two very contentious races in the 2022 Torrance City Council Elections:

1. Torrance City Council, District One

2. Torrance City Treasurer

For this post, I am going to explore the District One contest more closely. 

This is the northern most district, a region of the city which has not gotten as much attention compared to other areas of the city. Based on the number of Title One enrollees at North High School, it's the poorest area of the city. It has seen a higher degree of crime compared to other areas of the city as well.

It's also the most Democratic region of the city, if one is paying attention to the affilation of voters in the area. Of course, I have found that many residents in the city are not as keenly focused on the party affiliation of city council candidates, as much as they focus on

There are four candidates for this seat. Right away, we understand why this fight is so contentious.

Here are the candidates vying for the seat, with their political affiliations and their endorsements

1. Jimmy Gow

Democrat

Endorsements:

Pat Furey: Mayor of Torrance

Al Muratsuchi: Assemblymember representing Torrance

Maxine Waters: Congresswoman representing Torrance

Janice Hahn: LA County Supervisor representing Torrance

2. David Zygielbaum

Democrat

Endorsements:

Torrance Police Officers Association

Torrance Firefighters Association

Pat Furey: Mayor of Torrance

3. David Kartsonis

Republican

Endorsements:

George Nakano - Former California State Assemblyman

Councilwoman Heidi Ann Ashcraft - Torrance Councilwoman; Former TUSD School Board Member Councilman Mike Griffiths - Torrance Councilman 

Frank Scotto - Former Torrance Mayor 

Tom Brewer - Former Torrance Councilman 

Paul Nowatka Former Torrance Councilman 

Maureen O’Donnell - Former Torrance Councilwoman; Former El Camino College Trustee 

Bill Sutherland - Former Torrance Councilman 

Martha Deutch - Former TUSD School Board Member; President of the Torrance Education Foundation Dr. George Mannon - Former TUSD Superintendent 

Ken Brown - Trustee Area 1; Community College Instructor 

Siannah Collado Boutté - Former ECC Trustee, Former ECC ASO President 

Eman Dalili - Former Trustee; Former ECC Student Body President; Gubernatorial Appointee to the California Board of Governors 

Dr. Thomas Fallo - Former El Camino College Superintendant/President 

Brooke Matson - Former Trustee; Current Board Member of the El Camino College Foundation 

John Vargas - Former Trustee 

Matthew Brach - SCROC Governing Board; Palos Verdes Unified School District School Board 

Mark Burton - Former Manhattan Beach Mayor 

Mark Waronek - Lomita City Councilman 

Hugo Rojas - Vice-President, Centinela Valley Unified High School District

4. Jon Kaji

Independent

Endorsements:

Torrance City Councilman George Chen

Torrance City Councilman Aurelio Mattucci

El Camino College Trustee Trisha Murakawa

City of Gardena Mayor Tasha Cerda

City of Gardena Councilman Rodney Tanaka

City of Gardena City Clerk Mina Simenza

Former State Treasurer John Chiang

Former LA County Supervisor Don Knabe

Former LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich

Former City of LA Councilmembers Jan Perry and David Ryu

Former LA County CEO William Fujioka

Former Chief of Staff, Rep. Steve Kuykendall,  Garrett Ashley

Former City of Torrance Planning Commissioner,  Ray Uchima

Civil rights attorney, Dale Minami, Esq.

Actor and civil rights activist, George Takei

Actor and comedian, Derek Mio

USC Heisman Trophy winner and Super Bowl Champion, Mike Garrett

Los Angeles Laker legend Michael Cooper

PGA Professional Ted Oh

Former SONY Interactive Entertainment Chairman and CEO, Shawn Layden

This race has a diverse split in all the endorsements. That certain will make for an interesting contest come June 7th, 2022.

How does this all break down, though?

Jimmy Gow is clearly the most partisan of the endorsements. He has gotten complete backing from every Democratic machine politician in the region, from Congress to the county to the state assembly. No one should be surprsied, since he remains the president of the Torrance Democratic Club, an institution with a history of shutting down public participation when residents want to confront their locally elected officials.

The last thing that many TOrrance voters want is an outright partisan, based on how elections have fallen for the last several decades in the city of Torrance. What's worse, though, is that Jimmy Gow was recently removed from the commission that he had served on for a number of years: The Social Services Commission.

It's a bitter irony that he servded on that commission, based on his obstreperous behavior during the 2016 President election. His infamously visited the West Carson Veterans Hall in 2016, in which he and other rabid leftists trespassed on the property, spit at veterans, pushed them around, and one of the hateful activists stole the phone from one of the veterans at the hall.

Jimmy Gow should be a clear "No" for any voter in North Torrance. He ran in 2018, when city council seats were still elected at large, and he was the bottom vote-getter. Will his overt connections to the Democratic Party get him into the seat?

Well, Democratic voters in North Torrance have another, more professional choice: LA County Deputy DA David Zygielbaum.

He's much more likeable and approachable. He also has a young family and he currently serves on a commission, having received the unanimous endorsement of the city council at that time. He helped start a Neighborhood Watch in his area, too. Plus the fact that he has endorsed by the two public safety unions in the city, and Zygielbaum is a viable option for partisan voters who want a city councilman with some panache and substance.

However, any candidate who receives Mayor Pat Furey's endorsement should invite considerable suspicious. Pat Furey has been a disgrace, an absolute disaster for the city of Torrance. A bitter partisan with open disdain for his colleagues on the council, a political hack of dubious moral distinction who colluded with a local PAC during the 2014 Torrance City Council elections, Furey is one creepy fellow. Many people in the city have had nothing but disdain for this man, in large part because of his rampant disrespect to voters and speakers in the city council chambers.

And his complete incompetence when it comes to running city council meetings has harmed everyone in the city. He refused to take a stand against outside hate groups which have long disrupted city council meetings. He has refused to take a stance against the relentless borrowing from the city's general fund.

Pat Furey has been a huge disappointment to the city, and anyone whom he endorses is all the more suspect as a result.

Like Zygielbaum, David Kartsonis has a considerable record of public service in the city of Torrance, specifically for North Torrance, and for the general region due to his advocacy and volunteer efforts with El Camino College. In 2020, he ran for a seat on the El Co Board of Trustees, and he even received numerous endorsements from local and county elected officials from across the political spectrum.

Yet he still lost.

He's running for the North Torrance city council seat with a considerable array of endorsements, but many of them are formerly elected officials, not current ones, aside from Torrance City Councilmembers Mike Griffiths and Heide Ashcraft. 

Kartsonis has considerable ties to the area, no doubt, and he does not have a partisan axe to grind. Is he the best pick for the seat?

Then there's Jon Kaji.

He's an Independent, and an independent business owner. He has the endorsement of two Torrance city councilmembers. He has ties to the Torrance business community, certainly. Most of his endorsements are from his activism and his connections with his alma mater USC.

It helps to have someone who is more of an outsider running for the Torrance City Council. As it stands now, two of the city councilmembers--George Chen and Sharon Kalani--never served on city commissioners before. It's worthwhile for voters to send a message to the community that they will give "outsiders" a chance to serve on the city council, as well.

There is one clear distinction which Kaji holds compared to the other three candidates: he is the only candidate who opposes raising the city sales tax. That is a considerable development, and makes him a worthwhile consideration.

Final Reflection

Diverse, divided endorsements, different political backgrounds, distinct records of public service: all these elements make the race for Torrance City Council District One an election for the Torrance history books. How will the voters assess these different candidates? Will the endorsements play any kind of factor? Each nominee has a number of respectable suppporters, and some of them have supporters from the same government agency (Torrance City Council, El Camino College Board of Trustees.)

The professional background of each candidate is something to consider, as well.

How will this race shape up going into June 7th?

LIE-Lani Lunacy Let Loose to Rafu Shimpo

Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino.

She was one of my top choices for Torrance City Council in 2014.

At the time, I respected her as connected, forthright, and business-oriented.

She opposed the Big Green nonsense, and as a registered Republican, I trusted her to advance conservative principles in a principled fashion.

She lost out for her first bid by 700 votes, and even when the city council appointed a replacement for Pat Furey, since he was elected mayor, the council passed on her and appointed Griffiths.

I did not think that outcome was fair.

Looking back at that moment, and seeing how far the council has progressed since then, it was a blessing in disguise.

Griffiths has stood up to the corruption on the city council, and has remained a vocal--and welcome--thorn in Mayor Pat Furey's side.

Leilani wanted to stand side-by-side with the corrupt mayor, and she ended up paying the price.

Election 2016, and once again, Leilani ended up in fourth place.

She is now 3,000 votes behind.

She lost the credibility of many supporters, including me, when she held onto Pat Furey Jr. as her campaign manager/consultant.

Following the money, the consultant company etc. it was pretty clear that Furey Jr. was still working for her.

How sad. She really could have made an impact on the city and for the better, if she had chosen integrity instead of ambition.

Rafu Shimpo, the Japanese-American newspaper based in Gardena/South Bay Los Angeles, reported one of the reasons why her second bid failed:

"An endorsement from Mayor Pat Furey may have been a factor in her fourth-place finish."

The headlines in the Daily Breeze spelled it out clearly that his campaign and his son, along with the Ambulance, were colluding in violation of municipal and state law.

Leilani never took a strong stance against this corruption. She had spoken with me directly and shared with the press that the city needed to "move on."

There is no moving forward when there is corruption and malfeasance in the midst.

Her latest rant against her opponents following her second loss was beyond telling in its lunacy:

"In a statement to The Rafu, Kimmel-Dagostino attributed her defeat to "a vicious hate campaign that was waged against me in the last three weeks of the campaign.'"

Oh brother. She plays the "hate" card. For the record, I am not ashamed to declare that I hate corruption and wrong-doing. I hate political candidates who refuse to answer uestions or to disavow themselves from corrupt actors.

LIE-lani continued to blame everyone else for her second epic loss:

"'It all started [when] The Daily Breeze published ... a story filled with inaccurate information about me,' she said."

Which stories? What information was inaccurate?

"'It continued with three more inaccurate articles and was followed by a paid advertising campaign by a hater on Facebook to all Torrance residents that I was a liar and a fake because I lied to The Rafu Shimpo about the associations I was involved with."

She claimed leadership roles which she actually did not have, and then she tried to back-pedal those claims in the same article! UGH!

"Then when I received endorsements from [Rep.] Maxine Waters, [former Assemblymember] Al Muratsuchi, [State Sen.] Ben Allen and several other prominent Democratic leaders, the salvo started because it was impossible that Democrats would endorse a Republican person. This was orchestrated by members of the Republican clubs that I belonged to.""

Another lie.

I am the President of the Beach Cities Republicans, and I supported with the rest of my club to endorse the three winning candidates long because Leilani received endorsements from illiberal, regressive Democrats like Maxine Waters and Ben Allen.

I am really surprised that Muratsuchi endorsed Kimmel-Dagostino. After all, he had openly despised her two years ago and would have nothing to do with her, She had told me this herself?

What would have caused Muratsuchi to change his mind?!

As for the endorsement from Waters ... I mean, who in their right mind would want her support for anything? She is corrupt, unethical, and just plain untrustworthy.

As far as I am concerned, anyone endorsed by Maxine Waters can go straight to hell!

LEI-lani plays the hate card, and she plays the race card to excuse her loss.

"I think the final insult was that The Daily Breeze kept publishing a racist photo of me with al the stories about the campaign."

Really?! Are you kidding me?!

Here is the photo:

(Source: Daily Breeze)

This headshot is appropriate and even flattering. What is she talking about?

"'I reason I objected to this photo was that several Japanese people who were imprisoned in camps during World War II said it reminded them of some of the caricatures that were done by the media to make fun of us."

What?!

One Japanese-American in Torrance objected to Leilani because of her unethical dealings, and her untrue claims of leadership and endorsements from non-profits groups in the city. Other Japanese-Americans shared with me that they did not trust her, and suspected bad things about her because of her tight alliances with Pat Furey.

"'By then the damage was done and it was too late because any people who saw the old photo and were deciding who to vote for would not cast their vote for someone who looked like the Wicked Witch of the East."

First, she claims racism, and then she claims that the photo was simply unflattering. She contradicts herself in the same statement in the same article. The woman has at best a loose connection to the truth.

"'I could not believe how nasty this campaign turned out to be ... It just goes to show you that Torrance still does not want Asians on the city council, let alone an Asian woman."

Excuse me!

Asians of all backgrounds rejected LIE-lani. They did not want her scheming, selfish ways.

One restaurant owner informed me that from the first moment he met her, he could tell that she was out for herself. She refused to buy a meal at his restaurant when she was visiting prospective voters there.

One more time, she reverses herself on that blatantly false charge, when she claims: "Even The Daily Breeze kept publishing that the Asian population was not supporting me, even though this was not true."

OK ... she does not get elected because she is Asian, and yet the Asian population was supporting here? A number of leaders in the Japanese-American community were not supporting her, yet LIE-lani loses because of racism. Is she claiming that Asian voters are racist, self-hating, or confused?!

This lunacy was just disgusting and sad.

The city of Torrance dodged a bullet in 2014 and 2016.

The good news at the end of the Rafu article?

"Kimmel-Dagostino, whose term on the Commission on Aging ends Jan. 31, 2017, has indicated that she will no longer be involved in local politics."