"Project Homekey" Supervisor Janice Hahn Endorses Sellout Sharon for Torrance Mayor

               

Sharon Kalani has betrayed a number of voters across the city of Torrance.

She wanted to focus on local issues, and she campaigned on listening to the will and interest of the voters.

Sellout Sharon began showing her true colors when she pushed the PRIDE Resolution in 2024, despite the fact that the vast majority residents showed up to city council to reject the proposal.

She went along with raising the sales tax, Measure SST, when she could have shown real leadership and found ways to streamline services and cut costs.

Then she tried to shut down the Armed Forces Day parade. Sure, she says that she wanted to move it t Skypark to save money, but such a measure would have forced the parade to wind down and disappear.

She is arrogant and out-of-touch, not taking into consideration what is best for the city.

And now she's embracing more big-spending and out-of-touch principles, welcoming the endorsement of LA County Supervisor Hahn.

This is the same supervisor who tried to force the Homekey Project, a homelessness construction that would have stood in one of the busiest sections of Torrance, close to schools, homes, apartments, and other businesses: unsafe, unsanitary, and unsound!

The proposal was so unpopular that frequent protests popped up on the corner of Madrona and Torrance Blvd. to call attention to this project and stop its advancement.

Janice Hahn does not care about the city of Torrance, and neither does Sharon Kalani.

She is unfit to serve as our next Mayor.

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

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

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

1. Tom Brewer
2. Bill Sutherland

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Blame Tom Brewer

Not acceptable.

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

Congratulations, West Covina Mayor Mike Spence! Speech and Photos

Councilman James Toma

Councilman Corey Warshaw

Mayor Mike Spence presenting an award

To the West Covina City Council:

First of all, I want to reprimand the previous chief of police for not expediting the process and issue of concealed carry permits.

The Second Amendment is not a suggestion, but the affirmation of a God-Given right. Notice that the government does not give us the right to self-defense, but government is instituted among men to protect our rights.

I understand that that chief of police has been removed. I only hope that the current police chief will respect the application and issue of all valid and compliant CCWs. I am holding out great hope for national reciprocity to pass Congress and receive the President’s signature.

Second of all, I am here to recognize and celebrate the appointment of Mike Spence as the next mayor of West Covina. I am aware that there is much controversy that surrounds his placement as the leader of the city.

Yet I believe that his status there should be a welcome sign for all of us.

No one in this life is perfect, and to expect absolute perfection from our elected leaders is beyond idealistic. It’s impossible. If men were angels, we would not government or elected officials in the first place.

I want to specifically commend Corey Bradshaw for rejecting the vocal critics and partisan bigotry which repeatedly seeks to hold a man’s failures over his head and prevent him from serving his community in an available capacity.

Mayor—Yes, Mayor—Mike Spence recognized his wrong doing and plead guilty. Isn’t it about time that as a country we stopped repeatedly shaming and demeaning elected officials for private and personal wrongs, especially when they have apologized and made restitution?

On another account, I wish to directly indict and shame Councilman James Toma. It is evident to anyone paying attention that the city councilman deliberately intended to drag Mayor’s Spence name through the mud. The November 2016 city council meeting was a real disappoint in this regard. Mr. Toma had no regard for the well-being or image of the city. He just wanted to put down a man whose political views he did not share. Nothing more.

I was disgusted with the 20-minute hate campaign which Toma waged against his colleague--and it was vindicating to see everyone of his colleagues reject the move to have Spence removed from the Mayor Pro Tem position. Such behavior is unbecoming of an elected official, to repeatedly put down and embarrass someone for their past failings, especially when he had plead guilty, agreed to restitution, and took ownership for his actions. Mr. Toma, you own Mayor Spence an apology for your personal attacks against him, especially in an august setting in these chambers.

We need more elected officials like Mike Spence—people who don’t act as if they engage in a perfect life, but are willing to grow and improve. That’s the kind of leadership more people want to see in their cities.

To finish, I would like to offer some advice to the new Mayor. For the record, I do not believe that anyone is born an addict, and I would advise you to stop identifying as one. We are far more than our behaviors, whether healthy or destructive. What is an ongoing source of addiction in our lives? A sense of fear, shame, guilt, or condemnation which we have not confronted. When we face the hurts and pains in our lives, the sense of shame and condemnation, real or imagined, that we have wrongly believed for some reason, we are set free and will no longer find ourselves in bondage, no longer in need for comfort measures or pain killers.

And Mike – you’re going to have stop wearing those polo shirts. I would suggest staying away from them altogether.

Once again, Thank you Mr. Bradshaw for honoring your colleague. And Congratulations to Mayor Spence. I think of a great verse that depicts the beauty of this moment: “Where sin increased, grace superabounds—and also it is the grace of God which teaches us to say “No!” to sin and yes to godliness.

Election 2018 Torrance Mayor's Race: Time to Get Real

People, I will not be nice or diplomatic about this.

The city of Torrance needs real leadership, not corruption, arrogance, and malfeasance.

Crook Pat Furey must go, but right now there are two other contenders and they are poised to cancel each other out and give Crooked Pat re-election.

Ron Riggs and Tom Brewer, it's time for you BOTH to put the best interests of the city ahead of anything and anyone else. Who cares if I don't get invited to the Christmas parties or the swearing-in ceremony next June.

We need a fighter, we need someone who will call out the wasteful spending, the street-sweeping racket, the planning commission shenanigans, and the ardent bigotry of the mayor, who somehow thinks that the expression of First Amendment Rights constitutes an embarrassment to the city of Torrance. Not to mention the fact that one dollar out of four from the general budget goes to a pension!

We also need someone who will say to the labor unions "No More!" and say to the small businesses "Here's your money back." How about LOWERING the sales tax?

If neither one of you wants to do any of this, then both of you should back off and let another candidate run.

#FireFurey #MakeTorranceGreatAgain