Mayor Furey’s Misleading Explanation for not Attending ExxonMobil Town Hall
Mayor Furey was a noteworthy absentee at the ExxonMobil Town Hall held shortly after the recent explosion. His stated reason for not being there was that he was in Sacramento and could not attend. Turns out, that justification may not hold water.
It can be tense in the anxious atmosphere existing in the aftermath of a significant public emergency like the ExxonMobil incident. As state Senator Ben Hueso commented at a recent hearing, “People are very afraid, and with very good reason.” It is times like this that more than ever people need honest answers from their government leaders. Resident Brad Commisso exemplified that need at a recent Council meeting as he stood to express his concern about the toxicity of the soot and ash that snowed upon his property.
In the midst of his remarks, he paused for a moment to inquire how many of the City officials had attended the ExxonMobil Town Hall meeting held a few days after the explosion. Few raised their hands. As Commisso was expressing his displeasure at this absence of leadership from City Hall he was interrupted by Mayor Furey who explained, “First of all it was not our meeting, it was ExxonMobil’s meeting.” In reference to his own absence, the Mayor then went on to say, “I was in Sacramento that day so I couldn’t be there.“
The one glaring problem with the statement is that it does not appear to be wholly accurate. Information obtained from the Southbay Workforce Investment Board (SBWIB) reflects that he was not actually in Sacramento at the time of the meeting as he had indicated.
Earlier in that same Council meeting, Mayor Furey had explained that he traveled to Sacramento to attend an executive meeting of the California Workforce Investment Board where a request from the cities of Torrance and Lomita to realign themselves with the local SBWIB was approved. The agenda for that meeting indicates it began at 10 am and was set to conclude by 12 pm.
Flight information obtained through SBWIB reflects that Mayor Furey returned to LAX from Sacramento shortly after the meeting on Southwest Airlines Flight 607. Records for that flight show that it left Sacramento at 1:12 pm (PST) and arrived to LAX at 2:25 pm. The Town Hall meeting in question did not begin until 6:00 pm. If not in Sacramento as he had indicated, where was the Mayor during the Town Hall meeting? How come he did not attend? And, much more importantly, why did he mislead the public about his whereabouts?
The lack of forthrightness by Mayor Furey on this issue is troubling as it undermines the faith people are putting in City Hall to provide them with honest answers. It begs the question that if he would mislead the public about his absence at the Town Hall, then how can we trust that he is not being deceptive about other important matters?
Perhaps there is good cause for this apparent discrepancy. If so, I would welcome it. Barring such, however, it would appear that Furey’s absence at the Town Hall warrants further explanation.
It was a Scribners error.
Funny, John Bailey. You guys are really pathetic.
What’s it like to be a little b****, Clint? All you do is point out negative s*** on a daily basis (a la Nick Green). Have you even once contacted the Mayor? Asked him any questions. Doubtful because you are f****** coward. Move to a different city and let the people who love living here not have to deal with your petty BS.
As I’ve indicated before on this blog, Mayor Furey has an open invitation to respond to any information I post or questions that I raise. Whether he contacts me and avails himself of that opportunity is up to him.
Why would he? You are a nobody who peddles lies and got destroyed when you ran for office. You aren’t the press. You aren’t even an important member of our community. Tell me, Clint… What have you ever done to make Torrance better? You aren’t active in any of our major charities, you are never seen at events that promote Torrance. You literally do nothing to make our city better, yet you think you know better than everybody because you have a law degree but failed the bar exam. You are a couch pundit who has never taken an active role in our community, other than maybe your church… Although that can’t be true either based in your uneducated attacks against Councilwoman Ashcraft during the election – somebody who is a respected leader in our community and in your church.
Your post implies Mayor Furey only talks to important members of our community. I guess that is where we differ. I believe all members of the community are important and relevant in their own right. Nobody needs to prove their worth to me by attaining some prestigious position. Perhaps you believe the value of a person is measured by how large a check they can cut to a politician. That would explain a lot. I don’t think I know more than everybody else, but I do know that every person is important enough in their own right that they deserve to be treated with respect and basic human kindness. Based on the posts you continue to leave on my blog it would appear that is a lesson you have yet to learn.
Did I say he only talks to “important people?” No. This is a perfect example of distorting what was really an attempt to turn the conversation around. What I said is that you are not an active participant in our community and that nobody knows you because aren’t even a respected member of our community.
So you have posted on your blog that you want to talk to the Mayor and hope he r can bothers to read your blog or even knows that it exists. Again my point is true. You have not made any attempt to speak to the mayor about any issues. Assuming he would just randomly read your blog is yet another strange distortion of reality. I hear you even met with the Mayor and Councilman Weideman asking them to support you by appointing you to a commission but didn’t use that opportunity to ask them any questions about any subject on your blog. That is cowardice, to ask somebody you slander online to appoint you to a commission rather than asking them about these “important issues.”
Wow Anonymous, you sure do like to hate on Clint. How does Mayor Furey’s nut taste? Your obviously gulping it down pretty heavy.
Sure does. Thanks for asking, loser.
Pretty ripe from somebody who blows Ambassador Brewer… Or is Ambassador Brewer. Thank God we didn’t get stuck with Mayor Yuck Mouth (brush your teeth, Tom).
Wow. That is about as tasteful a comment as I’ve ever seen. His nut? WTF?
I’m done reading this blog if people like you keep posting. How foul!
What is going on? Why are you stalking the Mayor and his family? Mayor Furey has been working 40-60 hours a week on behalf of the residents of our city – for $100 per month. He is at every city function, he donates so much more than he makes to our local charities. But in your mind he should be at even more events?
Where were you when Scotto was showing up to nothing the last four years? Obviously though that doesn’t support your biased arguments – so somehow the current Mayor isn’t good enough for not showing up to enough things for Clint Paulson. I guess being retired full-time Mayor for $100 is worse than having a mayor who is mailing the thing in for an entire term.
And where is Tom Brewer during all of this? He hardly shows up to anything anymore – and when he does, it is only in his role as Ambassador and then he spends the entire event drinking and eating. You should’ve seen how blasted he was at the Education Foundation dinner this weekend. Could you imagine what kind of embarrassment he would have been as mayor?
If you consider watching City Council meetings stalking, then I guess I am a stalker. Why are you so obsessed with posting false information to my blog and disparaging anyone you think might have a different viewpoint than the mayor?