Newsletter No. 54

• Council asks for huge pay raise

• Zygielbaum running for School Board

• New source for state news

• A fix for the too-long-meeting problem

• Looking for e-bike solutions

The City Council is asking voters to decide if members should be compensated for their work or viewed as public servants with some benefits, as they are now.

On the Nov. 5 ballot, residents can vote whether to increase the mayor and council members’ checks from $100 a month to $1,900. That’s in addition to the $23,416 they receive for various items such as health insurance, pension, car expenses, etc.

At the July 16 meeting, the Council voted 5 to 2 to add the pay raise to the ballot measure it had approved at its July 2 meeting.

At the earlier meeting, the Council unanimously agreed to language correcting gender references and to removing the city manager and city attorney’s civil-service protections. It split 3-3 on the pay consideration. District 1’s Jon Kaji skipped the meeting to attend a Dodgers game.

On the 16th, District 4’s Sharon Kalani and District 6’s Jeremy Gerson voted against the proposal, citing their beliefs that the position was an opportunity to perform public service. Kalani also pointed out that voters two years ago approved the sales tax increase and said this request was “too soon.”

Mayor George Chen pushed the narrative that it is illegal for the Council to be paid as little as $100 a month.

So, Kalani asked City Attorney Patrick Sullivan if that was the case. No, it is not illegal, he responded. In fact, he pointed out that many cities pay their council members nothing.

Recognizing that he looked misinformed, Chen reminded everyone he had said that’s what “a friend” told him. Of course, the question then arises: If he thought the friend could be correct, why didn’t he ask the city attorney about its legality before offering such mistaken information at the Council meeting?

Closer to the election we will delve deeper into the details surrounding the ballot measure.

A TUSD candidate:

Dave Zygielbaum has filed to run for the Torrance Unified School District seat that Don Lee is filling temporarily.

The seat became open when Jeremy Gerson won his District 6 City Council race. Zygielbaum has spent the last couple of weeks lining up key endorsements. The father of three is a deputy district attorney and vice chair of Torrance’s Civil Service Commission. He came in second behind Kaji in the 2022 District 1 contest.

The filing period ends Aug. 9, but Zygielbaum is such a well-qualified candidate that it would be surprising if anyone would try to challenge him.

Speaking of the November ballot:

If you’re not familiar with CalMatters, it is the best source for what’s happening at the state level. No newspaper is matching what you will find at www.CalMatters.org.

The site plans to publish material on each of the 10 statewide ballot measures, which will include one-minute videos. First up: Prop 5, which has to do with housing. Check it out: https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2024/propositions/prop-5-vote-threshold/.

How late was it?:

The July 16 meeting adjourned at 10:18 p.m. That is a recent record.

How did that happen? The agenda had no Community Matters. Those are the items where people, organizations and events are recognized. Often, each Council member reads a segment of a lengthy article. Almost all result in time-consuming photos being taken.

They are all worthy events, and they all take big bites out of the agenda.

A thought for the future: Instead of the current two meetings a month, have three. Devote two to City business with items occurring at an early-enough hour for residents to come and give their input. Then let the third serve as the time to recognize everyone.

City staff would not need to attend – unless honorees were involved with their departments. Evidently one of the reasons for going from four meetings a month down to two was the drain on staff time and energy.

E-bike issues:

District 2’s Bridgett Lewis received approval to have the Torrance Police Department update the Council on e-bike issues. In particular, she asked for an evaluation comparing our policies with what our neighboring beach cities are doing.

The Riviera Homeowners Assn. put a spotlight on e-bike problems, but the unanimous agreement that Lewis’ request got reflects that they are occurring in other districts.

Before I go:

v The City’s deadline for correspondence to be included in the Council’s pre-meeting public supplemental is now 5:30 p.m. the Monday before the meeting. The Council will receive anything that comes in later before the meeting, but it won’t be posted until Wednesday. It will be at the top of the agenda. You can also leave voicemails to be included as Oral Communications in the supplemental. Call 310-618-2404 to leave up to a two-minute recording that will be transcribed. Voicemails have the same deadlines as the emails.



Want to tell the City Council your opinion on an agenda item or address any concerns? Send it to  CityCouncil@torranceca.gov; in the subject line put the agenda item or the topic. If you also want your comments to appear in an agenda item’s Staff Report, send it as well to CouncilMeetingPublicComment@torranceca.gov.

Jean Adelsman

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