Newsletter No. 57

City pay-raise proposal criticized.

Town Hall on measure.

Three candidates for school board.

Daily Breeze coverage MIA.

Tickets on sale to tour Torrance historical homes.

“Where’s the transparency?”That’s the question Susan Niemeyer asked the Council in Orals at the Sept. 10 meeting. She held up the City’s mailer, which referred to the need to strengthen transparency.

Niemeyer then asked the Council why the mailer was anything but transparent. She pointed to the original agenda item which talked about pay raises, but nowhere does the mailer mention that the mayor and council members will go from an honorarium of $100 a month to more than $2,700 a month – on top of other benefits, including almost $1,000 a month for auto expenses. And that is a flat amount, not tied to mileage.

Instead, voters are asked to restrict officials’ compensation to minimum wage at the rate of 40 hours a week.

Niemeyer asked the city manager who authorized the language, but her microphone was cut off when her minute expired, and no one attempted a response.

After asking various people in a position to know, I was told the language was written by a consultant who specializes in ballot measures. The consultant was asked to make the large pay raise more appealing, and Mayor George Chen signed off on the language.

I have been hearing from irate residents. Carol Griest was one of many who emailed me that they had gotten the flyer and were annoyed because it made no mention that people were actually voting for major pay raises.

“Why don't the flyers show what the vote ‘for’ really means?” Griest asked.

Gail Rodkin said, “It’s like saying that you are for kissing puppies but you’re actually planning to put them to death. I think it will pass because people see the word "restrict," and they like that. They don't know what they are NOT seeing. That it represents a big raise.”

Town hall on charter measure:

The North Torrance Neighborhood Assn. is planning to have speakers on the charter measure at its 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3meeting at North High School’s black-box theater. They are welcoming all Torrance residents, and this may be the only opportunity to hear specifics before ballots are mailed out.

Call to action:

As readers of this newsletter are aware, I am strongly opposed to the pay increase. I intend to email Torrance friends to ask them to vote no. If you are also against the measure, I am encouraging you to reach out to the people you know.

If you would like some sample language, please send me a request at jeanadelsman@yahoo.com, and I will share my email. Feel free to edit or to use it as is – or to do what one friend said she would do: Just forward my email to her contacts.

To help this newsletter get a broader reach, please post the following on NextDoor:

Go to www.TakeBackTorrance.com to learn about the pay raise proposed for the mayor and council members.

3-way race for School Board seat:

David Zygielbaum was the first to file for the seat Jeremy Gerson vacated when he beat Tony Yeh and Jack Walser to replace Mike Griffiths in the City Council’s District 6. But Yeh and perennial candidate Charles Deemer have joined the school-board race.

Zygielbaum, an assistant District Attorney, is vice chair of the Torrance Civil Service Commission. I am also on the commission and have been impressed by his contributions to our meetings. In 2022, he ran for the District 1 Council seat but lost to Jon Kaji.

Zygielbaum and his family since then have bought a home in Torrance’s District 2. Because the City and School District’s maps don’t align, Zygielbaum is eligible to seek the position now held by Don Lee, who is filling out Gerson’s term.

Lee and elected TUSD board members Betty Lieu and Anil Muhammed have endorsed Zygielbaum, as have Gerson, District 2’s Bridgett Lewis, District 3’s Asam Sheikh and District 4’s Sharon Kalani.

Yeh is the City’s planning commissioner who got into hot water for filing his state financial disclosure and failing to include real estate that he owned in Torrance.

For more on Zygielbaum, go to www.davezyg.com.

Daily Breeze reporter MIA:

As a long-time newspaper journalist and the Daily Breeze’s former managing editor, I am well aware of the problems that have torpedoed newspapers’ incomes over the last 20 years and the changes that have occurred.

Corporate considerations have created a situation where local decisions are often made hundreds of miles away. In the case of the Breeze, it’s not hundreds of miles, but it might as well be.

Torrance issues are no longer discussed on the editorial page, which is run out of sister paper Daily News’ San Fernando Valley offices where the editors have little or no idea about what is going on in the South Bay.

Once again, the Breeze has no one covering Torrance.  Since Nick Peters retired as the paper’s Torrance reporter, he has been replaced by a string of green reporters who were transferred to bigger beats as soon as they showed they were prepared to move on. The most recent hire, Teresa Liu, was transferred to the chain’s Pasadena operation last April and has yet to be replaced.

Whenever a press release offers an easy-to-cover assignment – like Torrance Police Department’s new Real Time Response Center – Michael Hixon is sent to cover it. But no one is writing about what is happening at City Hall or in the school board race.

If there is a story on the charter changes or the district contest, it will probably be written without any in-depth reporting. That is what happened in Torrance’s June 2022 election when Kristi Hutchings had been transferred to Long Beach to cover its election. 

A few weeks ago, I reached out to Tom Bray, Southern California News Group’s managing editor for news content and an award-winning journalist. I asked him what was happening with Torrance coverage. Bray, who is usually responsive, has yet to answer.

 

Get your tickets:

The Torrance Historical Society’s biannual tour of historic homes’ interiors will be Saturday, Oct. 12, and Sunday, Oct. 13, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The $50 tickets, which are considered a donation to THS, are available at the museum, 1345 Post Ave. The museum will open at 10:30 a.m. both days. The tour includes six homes and a stop at the Torrance Women’s Club for lemonade and Torrance Bakery cookies.

How late was it?:

The Sept. 10 meeting adjourned at 10:41 p.m., but the Sept. 24 session didn’t end until after 1 a.m.

Before I go:

v Are your pies contest worthy? Then enter them in the Torrance Farmers Market’s contest on Tuesday, Oct. 1. For details on how to enter, go to https://www.torranceca.gov/services/community-services/world-famous-pie-contest.

v Congratulations to Jenna Christensen, a Seaside resident whom the Council recognized at the Sept. 24 meeting. For the last 10 years, Christensen and her army of volunteers has dedicated almost 5,000 hours to beautifying Seaside Heroes Park.

v Getting ready for the mail ballots’ arrival? Check out CalMatters coverage by signing up for 2024 election emails. Read up on the 10 ballot measures and the history of propositions in California. And check out our Voter Guide, including a FAQ on how to vote.

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

Feel free to share this email -- or tell friends about www.TakeBackTorrance.com. And if you email a response to jeanadelsman@yahoo.com, please indicate whether you are expressing a thought for my eyes only or whether I may share your comments with the whole audience.