My Opening Comments to Torrance City Council--June 14th, 2016

Good Evening Torrance City Council:

My name is Arthur Schaper, long-time resident, life-long citizen.

First, I want to celebrate and congratulate Milton Herring, Mike Griffiths, and Geoff Rizzo on their electoral victories.

I am particularly glad for Pastor Milton Herring’s election. He was in third place during the early part of the ballot count, and then vaunted to first place.

His election is historic, not just because he is an African-American, and a Republican, but because of his moral backing and the widespread support he received in this community.

I underestimated his campaign last year, and I am glad that he stayed in and won.

This city is looking for new, moral leadership, where our elected officials serve in the public’s best interest, not just for the financial well-being of special interests.

I also welcome Mr. Griffiths independence and Mr. Rizzo’s measured appreciation for issues as they face the council in the years to come.

I want to further remark that the last-minute machinations of Congresswoman Maxine Water came to nothing, as the candidate whom she had endorsed was ultimate exposed as disloyal and untrustworthy.

No, the reason why these three men won on Election Day has nothing to do with race, bigotry, or narrow-mindedness, but an indication from Torrance residents who want good government, integrated representatives, and a respect for our balanced, conservative values.

Last of all, I wish to share my deep condolences for the tragic massacre which took the lives of forty-nine Americans, and wounded many more following the Islamic Terrorist attack on the Pulse Night club Sunday evening.

Regardless of their personal choices, or their, these men and women did not deserve to die.

LIE-Lani endorsed By the Crazy Black Lady

This terrible act of terrorism in Orlando Florida was not the result of gun ownership. Gun Control will not solve this problem. Imagine if more individuals in that club had possessed a concealed-carry permit. Where law-abiding citizens can exercise their Second Amendment rights, you will find more law-abiding citizens, since wicked miscreants like Omar Mateeen would think twice about attacking any place where someone possess a firearm.

This massacre is a result from the ongoing pattern of despicable political correctness, practiced by our current President and the media at large.

The assassin was a devout, radical Muslim. Twice the FBI had profiled this man. He had professed his radical adherence.

It’s time for people in this county to put aside the skittish political correctness which has silenced so many from speaking the truth.

We are not just talking about radical Islam, or a few lone-wolf fanatics. Islam itself has a problem.

And I am not saying this myself. From atheist Bill Maher to the Egyptian leader to the son of the Founder of Hamas, Mossab Youseff-who is now a devout Christian—Islam has a problem.

For now, though, I will just congratulations to Milton Herring, Geoff Rizzo, and Mike Griffiths for their Election win.

Thank you.

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."

Election 2016: More Torrance City Council Race Takeaways

I have shared my preliminary happiness about the Torrance City Council race outcomes.

This was a Presidential election year, with an incredibly high Democratic turnout.

Yet in spite of the largely liberal bent of the voters, Three Republicans won the three open council seats.

Good, solid, reform-minded, action-oriented conservatives.

Independent thinking is a must in Torrance.

We need to not just stop the Big Green agenda trying to work its way through the city.

We need leaders in Torrance who will stand up to the labor unions, demand the best for our local businesses, who will ensure that public safety and economic development remain top notch.

The success of the June 7th turnout was a real relief for me:

I had already shared about the signature victory of electing the first African-American to the Torrance City Council.

The greater achievement, however, rests in his service to our country and the ministry of the Gospel. What a wonderful combination we have received in Milton Herring!

Mike Griffith's victory is noteworthy because the mayor's political machinations were determined to remove him. Why? Griffiths had the smarts to call out the mayor, suggesting that he should have recused himself on account of the pro-McCormick spending big money on his election big in 2014. I have heard the store from a number of sources that ...

Mayor Furey attacked Mike Griffiths in front of his colleagues shortly after the McCormick vote. That was wrong. That is evil.

Furey still snaps and mocks people who do not agree with him. His time is short.

Griffiths received no union-backing, either, and yet he won! Good for him. We need common-sense fiscal prudence free of Big Labor interventions.

Also ...

LIE-lani Kimmel Dagostino bit the dust, big time.

I had long-standing contacts with her throughout the election cycle. Shortly after her untimely loss in 2014, when she was within a few hundred votes of making it into the Top Four.

Then she went to the dark side.

First, she started bad-mouthing other people in the city.

She told me that the other candidates running were saying nasty things about the police department, fire department, etc.

She gossips a lot.

Then she allied herself with Pat Furey. I learned so much about what was going on behind the scenes in the city through her.

She had informed me of the mayor's attempt coup to place Ray Uchima on the city council, even though he had not run for office, and was basically trying to buy influence through ethnic peddling.

For all her efforts to bring reform and balance in the beginning, all of it fell away within the last six months.

I saw her at the ExxonMobil meeting in January, and she walked passed me without talking to me. I told how snubbed I felt, and it seemed at the time that she understood how I felt.

Then the news hit the headlines about Pat Furey and son engaging in illegal practices with McCormick Ambulance, and the Fire Department PAC, too.

By then, I had asked Leilani what she was going to do next. She needed to drop Pat Jr. as her consultant and campaign manager.

She was very evasive at that point, stopped returning my calls, and even unfriended me on Facebook.

She drifted further and further away from any kind of principled leadership and campaign integrity at that point.

Then she posted this "endorsement":

Leilani "endorsed" by Maxine "Tea Party Can Go Straight to Hell" Waters

This was too much for many, including me, although by this time I had given up on supporting her.

She was covering up for Pat Jr which according to the campaign filings was still working for her, but under a different company heading.

A lot of concerned conservative voices in the city feared that many women voters would vote for Leilani because ... she was a woman. A number of her supporters were convinced that she would do very well because of her gender.

I am so glad that the voters in Torrance were paying attention to all the facts.

The Daily Breeze even reported the disturbing facts about her campaign. Leilani had boasted to me that she would probably raise $60,000 by January.

She didn't. She had to loan herself a lot of money, and she depended on donations from outside of the city, too!

Now that's just sad.

It was good to see integrity and honesty win out in this election.

It also spells further doom for Pat Furey and his corrupt connections throughout Torrance.

He will probably not remain mayor for much longer, either.

LIE-Lani and Pat Jr. Still Working Together

So, different names still use the same address.

Leilani and Pat Jr. are in collusion.

Wow!

How shameful.

How utterly contemptible.

I tried to ask Leilani some basic questions about her continuing relationship with Pat Furey Jr.

She just ran away from me. Why was it so difficult to simply tell me the truth?!

How disgusting.

Here is another letter issued by a concerned citizen against the LEI-lani corruption::

Hello Patrick Furey Jr.:

I just wanted you to be aware that your RFC Communications website has been taken down since I posted a few links online.

You may want someone to take a look at that and restore it. http://rfccommunications.com/

Also, feel free to correct me if I mistakenly said that you were part of RFC Communications.  After all, both the PO box and phone number match the numbers of Liberty Campaign Solutions, which is your company. Also the registration of the name listed on WHO IS is marked "Private" which also seems strange.

I checked Liberty Campaign Solutions -- and there is no longer a website there. What's going on?

(LCS is the same firm which Pat Jr. was working in).

Again, feel free to correct me if I am wrong. All I want is an answer made public as to your involvement in RFC Communications, and why was it changed in the first place.

I also have a screen shot of that in case you thought it would go away by taking down the site. 

I am not part of the angry crowd as a few have said about me, I'm part of the crowd that wants something better for Torrance and is always seeking the truth.

Truth is a good thing. Evidence helps a great deal, too.

Why is there so little of it from certain city council candidates?

This Pat Furey Jr. guy -- he is trying to tie up all the candidates and elected officials in Torrance.

Another betrayal of the consultant class.

LIE-lani Kimmel-Dagostino? Jonathan Kaji Speaks

John Kaji, a Torrance business leader and community leader, called out Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino for a number of false endorsements which she claimed in her second bid for Torrance City Council.

LIE-lani Kimme-l-Dagostino

John Kaji reported the following on his own blog:

Any candidate running for office must be held to the highest standards of integrity and honesty regarding their personal or professional background.  The voters can then judge who the best candidate is.

In the interest of fairness and complete disclosure, I’ve done my own fact-checking regarding Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino’s campaign materials and newspaper articles; the following has found to be factually inaccurate.

Ouch!

Leilani claims in her mail piece she had a leadership role at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute. However, she is not a member of the Board of Directors of the GVJCI.

Ouch! She told me that she had all of these leadership roles in the city, and yet she had no such role?

In the same mail flyer, she lists under “leadership”, Kashiwa Sister City Organization. There is only one sister city organization affiliated with Kashiwa, the Torrance Sister City Association. Leilani is not on the board of directors.

Wow!

In the Japanese newspaper “Rafu Shimpo” (5/14/2016 issue) Leilani Kimmel- Dagostino claims that she has been “endorsed” by the Cultural Arts Foundation, Torrance Education Foundation, Torrance Rose Float Association, Torrance Art Museum and Torrance Theater Company.  These organizations don't endorse candidates for public office. 501(c)(3) Non-profit organizations are not allowed to endorse political candidates or run the risk of having their non-profit status revoked.

WHAT?!

Jonathan Kaji

One issue that Leilani does NOT claim in her credits is the recent tragic sale of Keiro Senior HealthCare’s Retirement Home, Intermediate Care Facility and Nursing Homes to a for-profit corporation in February of this year.  The more than 600-elderly Japanese American residents face eventual eviction in less than 5 years.

Ironically, Maxine Waters, Judy Chu, and Assemblyman David Hadley worked as hard as they could to prevent the sale and closure of the center. Where was Leilani? Where was she, indeed?

If Leilani was a true advocate of the rights of seniors and residents, the senior community would have welcomed her help in stopping the sale, since a number of former Torrance residents live at the facilities.  However, Leilani was “missing in action.”

Voters should elect candidates that possess and exemplify personal integrity and honesty in representing the interests of Torrance citizens and businesses.  Let the Torrance electorate decide for themselves if Ms. Kimmel-Dagastino meets or exceeds these qualifications.  There’s no room for “huffing and puffing” a false record of “accomplishments.”

She does not demonstrate integrity or honesty. She is good friends with the corrupted Mayor Pat Furey, his dishonest son, and the horrid Terry Furey.

For the record, I was a vocal supporter of Leilani's in 2014. She seemed like an outsider then.

She has sold out today.

How disappointing indeed.

How LIE-Lani Kimmel Dagostino Disappointed Me (and Many More)

I would have never expected such damaging political fissures to break out in the city of Torrance.

Perhaps I hold some of the blame.

In 2014, she ran as the outsider candidate.

She was a commissioner, but she was also dedicated to bringing business savvy to the district.

She was warm and alive.

I found her to be lively and engaging. She wanted to reach out to lots of people.

She was also working with Patrick Furey Jr.

I was not thrilled about that, yet at the time I just thought of the guy as a hard-nosed consultant.

Then the news hit the headlines, and it was clear that Mayor Pat Furey was peddling influence to McCormick, which had paid big money--along with the firefighters PAC, to help Mayor Pat get elected.

The FPPC exposed the collusion between the son and the PAC, all in violation of municipal and state law.

This is wrong.

I started writing to Leilani about her relationship with Pat Jr. She never answered my emails.

Then she had unfriended me on Facebook.

I had begun to detect that there was something wrong when she not only stopped responding to my emails, but also ignored me at public events.

Now she never talks to me. Other city residents have told me that she treats a lot of people like that.

She has a long history of gossiping about other people in the city.

She also bragged to me how much she was rubbing elbows with liberal Democratic politicians like Ted Lieu, Ben Allen, and Maxine Waters.

Yes! Maxine Waters. She even bragged about getting invites to her Christmas parties, with other city councilmembers (Tim Goodrich, Kurt Weideman, and Mayor Pat Furey)

She was already keeping close company with Democratic elements in the city of Torrance.

At the same time, though, she provided information to me about the city council's corrupt attempt to appoint Ray Uchima through  a backroom deal--and a major Brown Act violation.

The next year, I attended one of her fundraisers, and behold - Ray Uchima was there.

What was going on? She was telling me all the conniving things that he was doing behind the scenes,  along with Pat Furey and other elements in city hall ...

And now she was inviting him to her fundraisers? HUH?!

For a long time, I was still willing to support her. I spoke with civic leaders in the community. They shared their reservations, but they seemed inclined to work with her.

Now, it's too late. She has chosen to consort with corruption and with other illiberal interests in the city. Very disappointing.

She focuses way too much on identity politics, too. I respect the interest of certain Asian-American leaders who want to see more Asian-Americans on city councils, but the focus is all about integrity first, which in turn reflects on the ethnic community as a whole.

LIE-lani has no integrity left. I have spoken with leaders and participants in Torrance and around the South Bay. They do not trust her.

Looking back on everything that has unfolded, I can see why many friends of mine did not trust her, did not like her, or wanted her to have no elected office on city council.

It was a very disappointing day for me when I had to turn away my support for her.

Every politician, every elected official bears responsibility for their decisions.

Now, Leilani seems more like LIE-lani, and the last thing that the city of Torrance needs is another liar on the city council, a Furey puppet who will go along with the McCormick contract.

No!

Sorry, Leilani, but you have deeply disappointed me. Such actions make us more cynical about civic participation. This is wrong. All wrong.

I do not want a union-hack Furey puppet on my city council. The city of Torrance needs better.

LIE-lani Kimmel Dagostino? Aurelio Mattucci Speaks

Aurelio Mattuci of the Unified Small Business Alliance shared the following on Facebook about Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino:

I AM JUST SHARING LINKS TO REVEAL THE TRUTH.

Leilani Kimmel D'Agostino is a FRAUD. This is my opinion of her. Besides the fact that Torrance City Council candidate Leilani Kimmel D'Agostino likes to talk bad about me and many others to people in Torrance. She is also lying to the public.

I can attest to this too. She loved to tell me all the bad things about other candidates. She is a fractious gossip.

Since when is speaking the truth something we should fear?

George Orwell answered this question in his dystopian novel 1984:

"In terms of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

Personally I don't care who Leilani uses for her campaign. I do however question the fact she denied using Jr. as her consultant.

She's a liar?

That is why I decided to share this "PUBLIC INFORMATION" with anyone that may have missed it.

I'm tired of the "Don't step on Political Toes" thing.

Politics is all about stepping on toes, when they step over the line. Individual citizens need to raise their voices and stomp their feet if necessary to stop the self-serving corruption and malfeasance in our cities.

Seems like this is information the public needs to know. She may still win, and I may make more enemies at city hall, but something no one could ever say is that I don't have the B----S to speak up.

As you know Torrance City Council Candidate Leilani D'Agostino is using Patrick Furey Jr. as her consultant. Amid the controversy with the Furey family, Leilani has been getting a lot of pressure from supporters about her relationship with Jr. and many advised her to drop him.

Funny thing is that she is now stating that she is no longer using Jr. but interestingly enough the company name changed according to her most recent 460 filing, but both the address and phone number of this "New" consultant is still the same as Liberty Campaign Solutions.

Feel free to compare for yourself.

Leilani is covering up her consultant relationship
with Patrick Furey Jr?

WHAT?!

I had written to Leilani three times about Pat Jr. She never responded to my emails. I had to speak to 

http://www.torranceca.gov/20148.htm

New company http://rfccommunications.com/contact-us/ Presumably owned by Patrick Furey Jr.

Old Company http://www.yellowpages.com/…/liberty-campaign-solutions-llc… Also presumably owned by Patrick Furey Jr.

Do what you want with the info, after all it's public record.

Again, I don't care who she uses as her campaign manager, but if she has to lie about this, what else will she lie about in the future?

SHARE with your Torrance Voters if you think this is information they should know.

So, is Leilani a liar? Should we start calling her LIE-lani Kimmel-Dagostino?

Leilani Endorsed by Maxine Waters? Crazy!

"I am not afraid of anybody! This is a tough game! You can't be intimidated. You can't be frightened. And as far as I'm concerned, the TEA Party can go straight to hell!"

Such was the offensive rhetoric which spewed out of Congresswoman Maxine Waters' mouth in 2011.

For this reason, and many other offensive gaffes--including the outrageous and false claim that the 2013 sequester would cost $175 million jobs.

She has tried to run away from her radical, communistic past, but it's not working.

Now that Waters represents the greater part of Torrance, CA, she has had to tone down her rhetoric.

She has to be nice to people.

And yet she votes in lock-step with a dangerous and destructive political ideology which is hurting working class and middle income families.

This is wrong.

What's worse?

She has stepped into Torrance politics in a terrible way.

She has endorsed Leilani Kimmel-Dagostino.

What is going on here?

Do not take my word for it.

Here's a screen shot of Leilani posting her endorsement from Maxine Waters:

Leilani was hanging with Maxine Waters at her Christmas Party one year.

She kept telling me Torrance elected officials have to work with her, since she is one of the two federal representatives for the city. Now she boasts about her endorsement?

How can Maxine Waters spend any time at the Armed Forces Day Parade, since she stood on the same church platform blasting the Bush Administration and the War in Ira .. with none other than councilman Tim Goodrich standing by her side!

The city council is getting eaten up with this illliberal lunacy, and Leilani is proud of it!

She even told me about all the liberal Democratic endorsements which would be coming her way. At first, I had believed that they were lining up behind her because of community outreach and other commitment.

Now I see that they are getting behind her campaign because they know that she has no morals to impeded their agenda.

She was also getting close to Pat Furey.

She wanted to make nice with all the special interests in the city of Torrance.

She has compromised on so many levels.

And now reports circle that she has not gotten rid of the corrupted Patrick Furey Jr. from her campaign.

The city of Torrance needs principled leadership, not political pandering.

After I found this photo, I shared it on my Facebook page, and then other concerned citizens in the city did the same thing.

The city of Torrance is turning into a cesspool of liberal Democratic shenanigans harming the well-bieig of homeowners, students, and future prospects.

Enough is enough!

Shame on Leilani for allying herself with the corrupt, communistic Maxine Waters!

I think that Leilani's bid for city council can go straight to hell, too!