Torrance City Council Elections 2022, Reflections: The City Treasurer

The outcome of the Torrance City Treasurer's race was a mixed bag for me.

For the last four years, I have wanted Dana Cortez out of that office. She got elected in 2018 unopposed, and then she disappeared. She refused to do her job, she issued sick-leave requests and absentee notices repeatedly. She cried to the press about her health problems, and then some of her supporters also shared with me that she was unfairly treated by the city council.

Even if the city council had done her wrong, she had no right to harm the entire city by not showing up to work.

So, five people filed to run for City Treasurer. And with such audacity, one of the candidates was the do-nothing, MIA incumbent.

It was a widespread fight throughout the city, certainly. I saw signs for all five candidates, and I received mailers for three of them: Tim Goodrich, Rick Marshall, and Mike Griffiths.

Come election day, the initial vote tallies had Goodrich ahead, with Griffiths a close second. As the weeks progressed, Goodrich's lead increased until he was 5% ahead of Griffiths. There was no way that the initial second-place finisher could overcome those numbers.

I am not thrilled that Tim Goodrich got elected to this office, especially since he reneged on his responsibility to serve the city of Torrance as councilmember for a full second term. He complained that he had to resign for the sake of his work, but then he suddenly has time to run again, this time for the Treasurer's seat? Really?

Let's be frank: he only won because there were four Republicans pulling apart the vote from different interests and segments of the city. The strong conservative faction voted for Rick Marshall. Anyone who was interested in putting another lady into city government, and who still respected Pat Furey's endorsement, voted for Melissa Wright. Then there were the uniformed voted who still selected Dana Cortez, just because she listed her name as incumbent.

And last of all, there was Mike Griffiths.

Yes, he had the longer political pedigree in town compared to the other candidates. Well, expect for Tim Goodrich, since he got elected in his own right in 2014, and Mike Griffiths was appointed to fill Pat Furey's place a few months after. However, Griffiths has lived in the city of Torrance for decades, while Goodrich carpet-bagged into the city from Buffalo, New York.

Griffiths was elected for two terms on the city council, and before that he was the consensus pick to replace the mayor. Before that, he had served on two major commissions: environmental quality and planning.

He had sent out two mailers, compared to Goodrich sending out only one. Rick Marshall sent out two mailers, but I received them both on the same day, and very late in the campaign season. Judging by the large number of his signs in the city, I thought that Griffiths was going to sweep the seat.

And yet Griffiths lost, and I am not sad about that outcome one bit.

Griffiths was a major part of the old political establishment that crashed and burned Election Day, 2022. He was one of Scotto's people, and he was buddy-buddy with liberal Republicans like Tom Brewer and Bill Sutherland. I have also shared how rude he has been to me and other voters in the city.

And that, in the end, was his downfall.

Griffiths could have been elected treasurer if he had treated his base of voters with respect instead of contempt. That lack of respect has been an ongoing problem in the city, whether from Furey's camp or Scotto's camp. These elected officials forget who elected them, and they think that they do not have to keep their word or respect their concerns. 

That kind of dishonor was roundly punished in this last election.

Don't get me wrong: Tim Goodrich is bad for that office. He should never have been elected to city council in the first place, since he spent so much of his time pushing his left-wing agenda, at the expense of what was common-sense best for the city.

One can only hope that the new city council will take steps to eliminate the Treasurer position altogether, thus saving the city some money.

Election 2022: Torrance City Treasurer, An Office with High Interest

Election 2022, and the race for Torrance Treasurer has cashed in on some growing interest.

Five people are running for Treasurer this year, a position which was uncontested four years ago, with Dana Cortez running unopposed, presumably because she was doing such a great job?

Or because no one was paying attention.

Torrance residents are starting to pay attention to their city council and mayor. For the last eight years, the city of Torrance has suffered under unprecedentedly bad leadership. Pat Furey has been an embarrassment to this city.

He was taking campaign money from McCormick Ambulance, and then he was the deciding vote to kill the city's ambulance contract with Gerber. He was busted in campaign violations connected with the PAC working with McCormick Ambulance. His son, Patrick Furey (Jr.), has quite a dirty reputation, as he faced numerous campaign violations over his career. Thankfully, he was pushed out of the campaign consulting business in 2015 following the reports from the California Fair Political Practices Commission--and we got him off the Torrance traffic commission, to boot!

But what about the Treasurer position. Why so much interest now?

Dana Cortez, the incumbent, has been missing in action for the last four years. She got elected, and then she stopped doing her job. She refused to show up to work, issuing doctors' notes and other excuses why she wasn't coming to city council, and why she wasn't answering emails. When the city and the staff faced a budget crisis in 2018, they had to take unprecedented steps to divest power away from the current Treasurer position and give the key tasks to other civil servants in the finance department. The situation was so dire, because at the time Cortez was the only person who had access to the city's bank accounts to pay bills and manage investments. 

Cortez put herself first, ignored the needs of the city, and harmed the residents. The funny thing is that I met her while going for a walk one afternoon in late 2017. She was very supportive of me, of all the things that I had been writing about and sharing with city residents. Of course, all her nice words don't make up for her dereliction of duty. It's quite an embarrassment that one of the key elected officials never bothered to show up for her work during her second four-year term on city council. Because she's elected, the voters have to fire her, just as they had hired her.

For the last four years, Deadbeat Dana Cortez has been collecting a paycheck and benefits, and doing no work. I connected with a group of people in the city who wanted to recall her. Unfortunately, such an effort required collecting a minimum of 10,000 signatures, and even then the voters would have to vote to fire her.

To add insult to interest, Cortez is running for re-election! How stupid does she think the voters are? This is really insulting!

But the insults don't stop there.

Let's consider who else is running for the Treasurer position:

1. Mike Griffiths, city councilman.

2. Tim Goodrich, former city councilman

3. Melissa Wright, Cultural Arts commissioner

4. Rick Marshall, former planning commissioner

Mike Griffiths is probably one of the most arrogant people on the city council today. He has routinely scolded residents in the city for not making purchases in brick-and-mortar stores in the city, which "deprives" the city of sales tax revenue. Since when does a resident owe the city the necessity of purchasing goods in a building as opposed to online? All of this condescension connects to his push to raise the sales tax. He and his colleagues for the past eight years should have been cutting costs and reducing spending when they had the chance. He refused to make the tough choices, and now he expects the already cash-strapped residents to pay more. It's outrageous!

The last straw for me was his attitude toward passage of a Resolution of No Confidence in pro-criminal LA County District Attorney George Gascon. When I spoke to him about this issue last year, he made nothing excuses, and he just shut me down about the whole proposal. I exposed his arrogant resistance to this very popular proposal last year--and he sure changed his tenue a few months afterwards when he joined with four of his colleagues to approve the resolution.

Mike Griffiths does not respect the will of the voters, he doesn't take the lead to build revenue, he wants to tax residents more, and he has the audacity to run for another office simply because he wanted to run for mayor, but could not compete against Cliff Numark or George Chen. Let's state the truth plainly: Griffiths wants to be treasurer so that he can position himself to run for mayor in four or eight years. This is not about serving the city. This is about serving himself. I don't like Mike.

Adding further insult, we have former Torrance city councilman Tim Goodrich running for the treasurer position. I mean ... really? This guy quit his job as city councilman last year because the demands of his job were too great for him, and he could not devote the time needed to the job. In other word, Tim Goodrich has the "Quittin' Cliff" syndrome.

Goodrich didn't even live in Torrance for the greater part of his life. He is a carpet-bagger from Buffalo, New York. Torrance is better than this.

Tim Goodrich also protested the troops but then (attempted to) cover up his unpatriotic record as he wrapped himself in the American Flag, all while pushing left-wing causes and raging against the country and the military. Really sickening, really insulting. Unfortunately, the voters didn't pay attention then.

Hopefully, they are paying attention now. He quit his job on the Torrance city council last year--LAST YEAR!--and now he is running for another position on the city council. Why should anyone believe that he will stick to his word and stay on the job? Why should anyone trust him on anything? This whole thing is a joke. Really, I am so tired of these social-climber politicians who leave office when the going gets tough, or the promotions get few and far between. There are many reasons why Torrance voters should say "No" to Tim Goodrich.

Then there's Melissa Wright. She has a long record of service in public and private efforts in the city, and she has plenty of accounting experience. She is not a quitter. I am grateful for her record of service. But she has two strikes against her, and one of them is quite insulting, too.

First, she is endorsed by "Creepy" Pat Furey, the retiring failed mayor of our city. He has been an absolute disgrace to the city of Torrance. Any candidate running for office should repudiate his endorsement, and she has not done that. The second problem is that she supports the tax increase, as do Griffiths and Goodrich. What is the matter with these people?! The residents, the business owners in this city are struggling enough as it is. Why make it worse? High gas prices, staggering inflation, sluggish business growth, all of this is weighing on the minds and wallets of Torrance voters. Enough is enough. The city leadership needs to take the necessary steps to cut taxes, cut spending, innovate public services, and streamline other costs in the city. There is no excuse for our elected leaders to keep passing the buck and putting the costs on We the People.

Melissa Wright is probably a "No" for city treasurer for anyone who finds Pat Furey disgusting, and for anyone who does not want a sales tax increase, too.

What about Rick Marshall? He has accounting and budgeting experience as an employee at UC Irvine. He has served on the city Water and Planning Commissions. He has stated clearly and unreservedly his opposition to any sales tax increase. 

And he led the effort, as frustrated as it became, to recall Do-Nothing Deadbeat Dana Cortez. I wish Rick Marshall the best in his latest bid for office in the city of Torrance, but I am not sure he can pull this bid off. He has not served in any major capacity for the last two years. Furthermore, he has a strong following, but there are many people in the city who simply do not care for him.

What is the best path forward for the Treasurer position? Who should replace Dana Cortez?

What? Torrance "Strives" To Fill Goodrich Seat on Torrance City Council?

This was the headline in the Daily Breeze after former Torrance City Councilman Tim Goodrich announced his resignation from the city council.

The city council is "striving" to fill the seat, reads the headline. Really? This is journalism now?

Torrance strives to replace resigning Tim Goodrich on CityCouncil

The newly appointed councilmember will be in office until the regular municipal election scheduled for June 2022.

The City of Torrance has decided to appoint someone to fill the remainder of the term left vacant by the resignation of at-large Councilmember Tim Goodrich rather than incur the cost of a special election.

The newly appointed councilmember will be in office until the regular municipal election scheduled for June 2022.

Goodrich’s last day on the panel was June 1, a little more than a year before his second four-year term expired.

Upon announcing his resignation at a council meeting in May, he said he was stepping down to spend more time with family and on his business commitments.

Candidates to replace Goodrich will be interviewed in private, said Torrance City Clerk Rebecca Poirier, with nominations and the appointment taking place publicly at a regular council meeting on July 13.

To apply, you must 18 years of age, reside within the City of Torrance and be registered a voter within the city.

Applications must be returned to the City Clerk no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 30, 2021. Postmarks are not accepted. If emailed, time of email must be 5 p.m. or earlier.

Again, the headline stated that the city council was "striving" to fill the seat vacated by Tim Goodrich. Where is the striving? Where is the hardship? 

Here's a definition of the word, at the least:

strive: make great efforts to achieve or obtain something

The city council did not have to make great efforts. Eighteen people signed up to seek the position. The city council selected a replacement after three votes. It was a pretty quick process.

Tim "Flag-Burning, Anti-American" Goodrich Whines About "In God We Trust" in Torrance City Council Chambers

Torrance City Councilman Tim Goodrich has been a blight on our city council chambers since the moment he was elected, since the moment he ran for office.

This guy wanted to fly the American Flag high for everyone to see, when he ran for office. He loved playing up his veteran status. He wanted everyone to see him as a loving, patriotic Torrance homebody.

The truth is quite different, even sinister.

The truth is that he was anti-war flag burner shortly after the Iraq war, and he hoped that everyone would conveniently forget about it. He lambasted the the military and attack our country's leaders.

On top of that, he's not from Torrance. He's a carpet-bagger from Buffalo, New York, and the Democratic Party put him in this seat in the vain hopes that he could be a politician who would move up the ranks into Congress and perhaps one day run for President.

Now, he's just an embittered progressive who can't anything done that he wants to accomplish.

A pro-Torrance majority has taken back the reins of power on the Torrance City Council.

And as of May 14, 2019, the Torrance City Council will have "In God We Trust" posted on the front of the chambers.

Now, how did Touchy Timmy respond to this?

He whined, he belly-ached about the lack of transparency. Really? This from the guy who was trying to force Community Choice Aggregation onto the city of Torrance, who refused to provide the requisite details on the program.

This is the same Tim Goodrich which didn't tell anyone about his anti-war, anti-American, progressive, Left-wing past!

And he was appalled -- APPALLED, I tell you -- that the city of Torrance would recognize our country's national motto inside our city council chambers.

APPALLED!

Here is his official email whining to the public:

I’m proud to say that during my last 5 years on the City Council, we have always operated with transparency and the best interest of the public in mind. That is, until this past Tuesday night. It brings me no joy to write this email, but I was witness to an unprecedented lack of transparency and I’m sharing it with you because, as the quote above says, the best way to stop it from happening again is to make sure people are aware of it.

Oh please, Timmy. Give it a rest!

It started two months ago when Councilmembers George Chen, Milton Herring, Aurelio Mattucci, and Mike Griffiths voted 4-3 to place the words “In God We Trust” on the wall behind the Council dais after receiving an email from a woman in Bakersfield (I've never heard a Torrance resident ask for this). 

That's because Timmy ignored their interest in doing this. Timmy isn't interested in requests from people whom he does not agree with.

Despite their proclamation that this was a “unifying issue”, it proved to be a very divisive issue. Not only was it brought just days after a religious extremist killed dozens of Muslims in New Zealand, but an overwhelming majority of the public spoke in opposition (including the South Coast Interfaith Council, an organization representing dozens of faiths), and a compromise solution put forward by Councilmember Rizzo, Mayor Furey, and myself was rejected out of hand. Additionally, per longstanding precedent (ie, the recent City Hall front entrance redesign), we urged this item to be referred to the appropriate committee to allow for further public input on the design and placement, but this too was rejected.

Making decisions is often going to be divisive, Being decisive means that you will may be divisive. It's part of leadership. You should know that, Timmy, having served in the military.

When the item came back for discussion regarding design and placement of the wording this past Tuesday, I argued that the item should be delayed by one week because we were conducting business without the public present (due to an unrelated incident just minutes earlier that led to four arrests), but that too was rejected out of hand. I still don’t understand the urgency to move this item forward without any public participation, but the same four Councilmembers voted to move forward and approved an expenditure of almost $2,000 for this item.

"Due to an unrelated incident"  -- wow, is that what you think of the Black Lives (Don't) Matter Hate group?

The issue here is not one of religion (I’m a baptized and confirmed brother of a pastor), its one of transparency and I feel that the standard the residents of Torrance have come to expect was not lived up to.

Yes, Timmy, the issue is religion. You don't want God to have any audience or recognition in the city council chambers or anywhere else in our country. You are an atheistic, narrow-minded bigot, nothing more.

Making sure we listen to the public and operate transparently is what has set Torrance apart from other cities in the past and I will continue to make sure we act as transparently as possible going forward. I hope that you will continue to be involved in our City and I encourage you to be in touch with us at any time on matters of interest to you. Our email addresses can be found here: https://www.torranceca.gov/government/city-council

Don't Worry, Timmy, we are still very much invested in what is happening in our city.

That's why the city council is more responsive to the concerns of the city, and why good things are finally happening in the city of Torrance.

Torrance Forward!

Torrance Councilmember Tim Goodrich

www.timgoodrich.com/

Torrance Councilmember Tim Goodrich · 3031 Torrance Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503,

Open Letter to Torrance City Council: Leave Mattucci Alone

Dear Torrance City Council:

I have received the following report from Councilman Mattucci:

https://www.facebook.com/aureliomattucci/posts/10156931955780909

[O]n January 8th the Torrance City Council will vote on whether or not they will investigate me and my involvement with exposing the truth, up fronting the funds to pay for a few dozen shirts, and for advocating for change in policy. 

I see this as a Political Hit Job and it doesn’t surprise me one bit.

I agree, and I am saddened to see this happening on my city council.

I am appalled that any of our elected officials want to waste time and resources investigating one of the members simply because he took a stand to fight against the previous coyote proposal.

The urban coyotes were killing pets and attacking people in growing numbers, and the reporting process was completely inadequate. The idea that Aurelio was getting rich or profiting from this fight is ludicrous. I received the shirt for free, and so did a few friends of mine, including one who lives in Texas:

Again, Anthony Garcia (to the left, standing with US Senator Ted Cruz) did not even pay for it! And at the November 27th Torrance city council meeting, more shirts were handed out FOR FREE!

The city should start investing the councilmembers trying to shame or limit Councilman Mattucci's efforts to do what is best for the city. Councilman Rizzo had a reporting error on his FPPC files, and no one raised their eyesbrows about that.

https://www.dailybreeze.com/2015/01/16/state-political-watchdog-panel-censures-torrance-councilman-geoff-rizzo/

State political watchdog panel censures Torrance Councilman Geoff Rizzo Councilman Geoff Rizzo has become the latest member of the Torrance City Council to be given a regulatory slap on the wrist by the state’s political ethics agency in the wake of last year&#x… www.dailybreeze.com

And let's not forget the McCormick Brouhaha:

https://www.dailybreeze.com/2016/03/07/state-fines-pat-fureys-torrance-mayoral-campaign-35000-for-hiding-illegal-campaign-contributions/

State fines Pat Furey’s Torrance mayoral campaign $35,000 for hiding illegal campaign contributions – Daily Breeze Torrance Mayor Pat Furey’s successful 2014 mayoral campaign was fined $35,000 Monday by the state’s political ethics watchdog for “intentional coordination and concealment” of improper ... www.dailybreeze.com

To investigate a city councilman for connecting with constituents to air their concerns is just the height of hypocrisy at this point.

By the way ...

Councilman Goodrich (an anti-war activist preaching against our men and women overseas while attempting to stifle the freedom of expression of an army general) has received plenty of money from outside of the city, including retired Congresswoman Lyn Woosley (From Marin County?!) and former state senate candidate Sandra Fluke. Why is all this outside money getting poured into our local elections?

Furthermore, I APPLAUD Councilman Mattucci exposing what that teacher did. She had her students write letters on a specific issue before the city council in order to sway the votes of the councilmembers. She was using her classtime to push her agenda. Shameful. That is beyond inexcusable, and that teacher should be put on leave for using her classroom, her public trust, to push a political agenda on the students.

The city should withdraw any interest in investigating any kind of financial or legal impropriety against Councilman Mattucci.

Rest assured, I am sending a loud message to every resident in the city of Torrance to write to the city and attending the January 8th, 2019 City Council meeting to denounce this stupid kangaroo court-investigation before it starts.

Sincerely,

Arthur Christopher Schaper

Reminder: Tim Goodrich Anti-War Vet Hiding His Background

Just a reminder for Torrance residents.

Not that it will seem to matter, unless more voters wake up to what is happening in our city.

Tim Goodrich is a full-on carpetbagger from Buffalo, New York.

What is he doing here in Torrance? How was he able to get elected in 2014?

Big money from Big Labor, that's all.

Sure, he pushed out his pro-veteran credentials--blah, blah, blah.

But he was a rabid anti-war vet, and harassed General Franks outside of a LAUSD School.

Here's the link for an article about his anti-war sentiments.

Thanksgiving in Iraq

By Tim Goodrich, co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War

As the time comes to celebrate Thanksgiving here in the United States, my mind wanders and my thoughts shift to Iraq. This is frequent occurrence for anyone who has been involved with the war; just ask any of the hundreds of thousands who have been deployed there.

This Thanksgiving, we have 160,000 troops in Iraq. This means there are that many empty seats at dinner tables across the US. This also means that the families of all these troops are worrying each minute about whether or not their loved one will make it home for the next Thanksgiving. In Iraq, many troops are feeling homesick, wondering why they are caught up in a seemingly endless war with no mission to speak of, when they could be home eating comfort food with their families by the fireplace. This year, real "Thanksgiving" for the troops will not involve a plastic turkey and a presidential photo-op, but instead will be when they've made it through the day alive and with all of their limbs intact.

Although the Iraqis don't celebrate Thanksgiving, one must ask, "What do they have to give thanks for?" They certainly aren’t thankful for living at the hand of an illegal and immoral occupation that has killed and wounded scores of their people. They aren't thankful for George W. Bush's version of freedom, which provides them with less electricity, potable water and security than they had before the occupation. My Iraqi friend in Baghdad is not thankful for the daily bombings that cause her great distress and have blown out her apartment windows.

Instead, the Iraqi people will give thanks when the unemployment rate of 60% goes down, the unannounced house raids on innocent homes stop and the last US troops have left their country.

During the upcoming holiday season, please show your support beyond slapping a yellow magnet on your car. We know the ultimate solution would be to end the occupation now, but please also consider giving in some way to the troops. There are a variety of ways you can do this, but please visit www.ivaw.net for some ideas.

Photo: Tim Goodrich (right) at Camp Casey II, Crawford, Texas August 29, 2005. Photo by Jeff Paterson. Copywrite 2005.

"Uh-Oh! I hope no one finds out
who I am really am!"

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!

My Comments to Torrance City Council--April 12, 2016

Good Evening Torrance City Council.

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

I have not wanted to share these concerns about one member of this city council, but I will choose to speak my mind at this time.

Councilmember Tim Goodrich ran on a platform of “back to basics” for the city of Torrance.

To his credit, in spite of our ideological differences, he interviewed me—as did every other councilmember, when I sought a commission assignment.

Now, I will speak to the ideological differences, and how a clear disconnect from the needs and role of the city of Torrance with what I would call a “Big Green Agenda”.

I do not see how the pursuit of Community Choice Aggregation is a move back to basics.

I have spoken against that wasteful, unnecessary program.

I also do not see why seeking a letter of concurrence to have a proper replacement on the California Air Quality Management Board has any bearing on the day-to-day actions of this city.

I now see electric car chargers, resting empty. I don’t see anyone using them.

I have heard residents complain about the new street sweeping program, and how more people are getting parking tickets. Were these policies designed to comply with onerous federal laws?

Or were they designed as a fastidious measure to put more power in the hands of the city council at the expense of everyone else?

There has been a lot of talk in this city about whether individuals can rent out their homes through Airbnb, and then discussions about moratoriums, followed by more steps in a complicated process whether individual homeowners will be permitted to remodel their homes in certain parts of the city.

Cities are for citizens, and city councils are designed to meet those needs.

They are not here to serve as foils for a long-term, protracted, yet out of touch illiberal agenda.

Who does not care about clean water or clean air? Who does not want safe streets and secure homes, and a thriving community which does not pollute our environment?

But the strictures, the limits on people’s private property must stop.

And I am tired of seeing my city and my city council used as a spring for liberal agendas which do not benefit the city of Torrance, or the state of California.

And no, I will not be standing in front of anyone’s jeep to protest or profess my views.

And no, there is nothing foolish about speaking one’s mind, exercising one’s Freedom of Speech and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Thank you.

Torrance's Tim "Not So" Goodrich

Torrance City Councilman Tim Goodrich has turned out to be a huge disappointment.

I had written at length about his anti-war rallies and activities.

I was surprised that the city of Torrance still chose to elect this man.

He ran away from his activist past. He had hoped to stagger away his views and attitudes about govenrment.

This guy was receiving donations from big time labor unions and liberal politicians.

Why did this guy get elected in the first place?

Most Torrance residents seem focused on their families and their jobs.

That is fine.

Now, however, for the sake of their jobs, their families, and the treasured South Bay way of life, they need to know who is sitting on their city councils, and start paying attention to the deleterious choices they are making.

Especially Tim "Not So" Goodrich.

He is a raging leftist, but for now tempering his liberal embers while prepping for a run for higher office,

He has been pushing a Big Green agenda for a number of months on the Torrance City Council.

He wanted a letter drafted to a state governing board to ensure the appointment of adequate presiding officer to succeed the one removed a month ago.

Yet when it comes to simple ethics among city staff, he has not demanded swifter action from his colleagues or the city staff.

The Daily Breeze reported on the March 22nd city council meeitng, in which Mike Griffiths sought concurrence to have Patrick Furey Jr. removed from the Traffic Commission:

The mayor abstained, while Councilman Tim Goodrich also declined to concur with the request.

Goodrich said he does not condone Furey Jr.’s illegal actions, but believed officials should have asked the younger Furey privately to step down. That courtesy was extended to a previous commissioner last year, who ignored the request and was then swiftly punted off a panel.

Arthur Plourde was the "punted" commissioner.


In a way, "punted" does not even make sense. This was not delayed measure. Plourde was removed from the Library Commissions. "Ousted" or "removed" would be more accurate.

At any rate ...

I received the following communiques  from a Torrance resident:

Remember you saying at a council meeting that you didn't believe the charges against the mayor. Well obviously they were true. Having said that, I've become a fan of your work exposing local corruption in various places. You do great work.

I was glad for the compliments, and yes I had given Mayor Furey the benefit of the doubt.

Some conservatives in the city had done the same thing, even though they opposes Furey for personal as well as political reasons.

On another note, it looks like Patrick Jr is being set up as the scapegoat for his Dad. Patrick idolized Sr and no doubt took direction from him. Patrick's problem is that he's more reckless than Sr. He didn't buffer himself as well as his Dad did. Jesse Jackson and His son might be a similar case. If it were me, I wouldn't want my son taking all of the heat for something that I orchestrated. How Sr behaves regarding the son may tell more about him than the political corruption.

Keep up the good work.

Ouch! I thought these points were well worth heeding.

Why would a father not do more for his son?

Teh truth is, regardless of any father-son or other familial relationship, Patrick Furey Jr. is an adult, and must be held accountable for his choices.

Three times he has been admonished and/or hit with fines. Three times!

Enough is enough!

The same writer then guided my attention to one of the city councilmembers who seems almost complicit in these unethical actions:

Am I hearing correctly that, Councilman Goodrich did not concur on sending a letter to Patrick Furey Jr asking him to resign, and as well as voted against a forced removal? After what he did to Plourde for nothing, this really shows what a Leftist political hack he is. This guy is the most dangerous person in Torrance. He's still young and there's no telling how far he could rise in Leftist California politics. His unethical position on this issue should be worked to the bone. Forget the Furey's, they're toast. Goodrich is the one to look out for.

Yes, indeed. 

Patrick Furey Jr. needs to step down.

I would like Mayor Pat to go as well.

This city does not need another liberal doing the bidding of the labor unions and other special interests.

Cities are for citizens, not for political action committees who thikn that they can game the system and play everyone for a fool.

Tim "Not So" Goodrich

Guess which council member is in league with labor unions?

Tim Goodrich.

This man is not-so good to me.

He gets worked up about climate alarmism, but the basic necessities of good and efficient government are not a priority? Really?

Let's state the developments plainly.

Tim Goodrich is a white version of Ted Lieu.

 At heart, he is a full-on lefist. He wants "equality for all" as determined by cultural-Marxistim

 outcomes.

He wants every city bowing down to Big Green.

Who knows what other out-of-step, out-of-touch views he holds.

He even confronted me at one point to shame me into silence: "I don't want you to look foolish."

I don't think so.

His reluctance to hold the Traffic Commissioner accountable and have him removed is very disturbing.

He needs to go.

It is wrong for  him to use Torrance as a spring board to further his illiberal, regressive agenda.

And it's time for more people to call him out on this!