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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.

The Executive Editor and Vice President of Los Angeles News Group, Michael A. Anastasi, has confirmed in an e-mail to me that Mayor Furey met several months ago with Toni Sciacqua, Managing Editor of the Daily Breeze, and requested that local reporter Nick Green be removed from his current position.  According to Anastasi, Mayor Furey then related that if Nick Green was not removed that he would no longer talk to the Daily Breeze.

The Daily Breeze did not remove Nick Green from his post per Furey’s request and it would appear that consistent with his remark the Mayor has not communicated with the local paper.  Apparently, Mayor Furey’s boycott of the Breeze extends back to his election in May as there has been a noticeable absence of any quotes from him in the paper since that time.

The editorial board of the Breeze endorsed Mayor Furey’s rival Tom Brewer in the past election and it is no secret that Furey was not pleased with Nick Green and some of the reporting that occurred during the election.  In one council meeting shortly after the election, speaking in reference to the Daily Breeze, Furey cautioned residents to “consider the source” claiming that the source in question was “generally incorrect.”  He then concluded by stating, “so don’t always believe everything you read.”

This revelation by Anastasi comes just two weeks after Carson City officials also slammed the Daily Breeze stopping just short of passing a proposed resolution calling for a City-wide boycott of the local newspaper.  In response to that action, Anastasi penned an open letter to the Carson City Council in which he stated:

“Accountability reporting and a free press are what distinguish the United States of America from totalitarian regimes around the world, such as China, Iran, North Korea, Syria and Russia. It was so important that the Founding Fathers included it in the United States Constitution. Then, as today, there have been people who have shied away from truth and freedom of information, preferring to operate secretly… While it is unfortunate that Carson may cease being a business client of the Daily Breeze, we will not bow to financial pressure. And, I must admit, I am unsure how a potentially diminished Breeze would benefit Carson residents — although I can certainly see how less scrutiny would benefit politicians who do not want to be transparent in their actions.”

Maureen O’Donnell appeared before Council late last Tuesday evening to admonish Mayor Furey and the rest of the Council.  O’ Donnell previously served on the Council for eight years and is a recent recipient of the City’s highest civic honor, the Jared Sydney Torrance award.  In a sternly worded statement she related that she had been at home watching the meeting in her pajamas when she became so upset at an incident that occurred that she threw on some clothes and hurried down to City Hall.

She recalled that in her initial meeting after becoming a Councilwoman she was told by then mayor Katy Geissert that the members of the Council needed to respect each other, and that they were not to criticize or ridicule each other for decisions they made or the way they voted.  In her view, it is that civility and professional conduct that has placed Torrance City Council head and shoulders above neighboring city council’s.

For that reason, she was very displeased to have heard one Councilmember criticize and ridicule another member for expressing concern about spending $30K on a phone survey to determine public sentiment on the proposed Tree Ordinance.  Although she did not name anybody specifically, it seemed quite clear she was referring to an exchange between Mayor Furey and Councilmember Ashcraft in which Mayor Furey made light of Ashcraft’s concern about the survey.

O’ Donnell then advised the Council that if they ever did not like a decision of their colleagues or felt that their judgment was flawed that they should not criticize or ridicule them in public, but that they should talk to them in private.

In the same meeting, Mayor Furey and Councilmember Ashcraft also butted heads on whether the City should join the U.S. Conference of Mayors.  Ashcraft opined that such a perk should be reserved for better economic times, while Mayor Furey disagreed insisting that joining the organization would help the City reach its economic development goals.

O’ Donnell’s statement can be found in its entirety here at the 04:52:00 mark.

Mayor Furey’s comments in response to Councilmember Ashcraft are located at the 04:14:50 mark of the meeting.