Torrance City Council – A Town Hall Style Conversation About Local Politics

Patrick Furey, the Current Vice-Chair of the Traffic Commission and son of Mayor Furey, expressed his displeasure with former Mayor Scotto and Councilmember Sutherland in remarks appearing on his public Facebook page.  In those remarks, Furey claimed the pair suffered from sour grapes and that they were no longer considered his friends.  His statement in full reads, “Sour grapes. Attacking the wonderful city employees that make Torrance such a great place to live. Attacking the working class. Honestly embarrassing – especially the remarks of two people I used to consider friends.”

Both Scotto and Sutherland expressed concern in a recent Daily Breeze article about an agreement that was reached between the City and the Union representing approximately 500 City employees.  According to the Staff Report, the agreement includes a $261K one time pay-out to Union members for back pay.  The agreement also includes an accelerated pay increase on the back end of the deal in the amount of $185K.

Scotto equated the payments to a signing bonus and commented that it was an indication that the “unions are going to be running the show” under the Furey administration.  Sutherland claimed that the Union was trying to get more with the new Council and that they got it.  He was also quoted as stating that the “Unions have all the power.  They did a lot of work to get these people elected and they put in a lot of money, a lot of effort.  I hate to say it, but it paid off.”

Patrick Furey was also critical of the local paper and author Nick Green.  His remarks included the statement that the “Daily Breeze is going belly up. Readership is down 50% from 2010. Bad writing, creating news rather than reporting it, extreme views that are out of touch. It’s no wonder whatever candidate they endorse tends to lose.”

The Daily Breeze had endorsed Tom Brewer for mayor in the past election and has printed several stories targeting the campaign tactics of Patrick in his role as the Campaign Manager for his father’s successful mayoral bid.

Mayor Furey has not publically commented on the Daily Breeze article.  It should be fascinating to hear what he has to say about the subject, if anything, at the Council meeting tonight where the union agreement will be a hot topic along with an appointment to fill Furey’s unexpired council term.

Partisan politics played a significant role in the recent election even though the Council positions are supposedly non-partisan.  This was especially evident in the mayoral race as the two republicans effectively split the vote opening the door for democrat Pat Furey to take the election.  With the upcoming appointment, it is likely that partisanship will once again affect the outcome.

Twelve individuals submitted applications to receive appointment to the council position.  The one that would probably engender the most support in the community is Leilani Kimmel-Dagastino.  Many would consider her the people’s choice after she finished 5^th in the recent election.  As a women and a minority she would also bring needed diversity to the Council.  Perhaps in an attempt to curry favor with the Council, she stressed in her application that during the recent election she “did not say anything bad about the current council or any of my fellow candidates.”

The 6^th and 7^th place finishers in the election would also bring diversity to the Council.  Restaurant owner and former rocket scientist Alex See could be a voice for the Asian business community.  The Council could also choose to make history by appointing Milton Herring who would be the first member of the black community to serve on the Council.

All of the above choices, however, were heavily backed by the Republican Party in the recent election.  Mayor Furey, as well as recently elected Councilmembers Weideman and Goodrich, are democrats.  Mayor Furey, and the other democrats, will almost certainly want to appoint someone that adheres to their same political ideology to ensure they have the votes on the Council to fulfill their agenda.  This may be the reason why other names have surfaced as possible appointees.

An appointee that will likely be more acceptable to the democrats and that will also bring the needed diversity to the Council is Ray Uchima.  His selection, however, may now be tainted by rumors in the community that a back door deal was cut several weeks ago in a “pay for play” scheme to make him the appointee.  In his application, Uchima touted his ability to “attract High Technology and Solar Electric Industries to Torrance” that will provide high paying jobs in the community and replace those jobs that will be lost with Toyota’s departure.

To avoid the controversy surrounding Uchima, the Council may opt for one of several intriguing compromise candidates.  The most well known of these is probably recently retired City Clerk Sue Herbers.  Sue reiterated several times in her application that she “will not under any circumstances seek a seat in the 2016 election” and that her decisions on the Council would be based “on the best interests of the City and not for any future political gain.”

Jimmy Gow also offered himself as an appointee.  As the current President of the Torrance Democratic Club he campaigned hard on behalf of Furey, Goodrich and Weideman and was instrumental to their success.  He claims he would bring a commitment to “uniting the members of the Council in a non-partisan partnership.”  That assertion, however, is hard to believe given his current role in the Democratic Party and the list of references he provided that includes such names as Maxine Waters, Janice Hahn, Al Muratsuchi, Betsy Butler, and Sandra Fluke.

Should the Council want to avoid partisan politics completely, then Mike Griffiths would make an attractive choice.  He was the highest finishing non-party affiliated candidate in the recent election and brings a wealth of City experience as a current Planning Commissioner and a previous lengthy stint on the Environmental Commission.

Recent candidates Rahmat Kahn and Ryan Mand also applied for appointment.  Rahmat Kahn shot himself in the foot with falsified endorsements in the past election and Ryan Mand continues to make a name for himself by showing up for council meetings in his now signature chicken suit costume.

The slate of applicants is rounded out by Environmental Quality Commissioner Charles Deemer, Cable TV Commissioner William Dan Feliz, and retiree Mario Obejas.

Should the Council not be able to come to a consensus they still have the option of placing the burden on the public through a special election.  The main deterrent to this option continues to be cost.  Though it will likely be expensive, the exact costs of this option are not known as the Council has not sought firm quotes from potential vendors for the various means (i.e. vote by mail, vote by precinct) that could be utilized to conduct a special election.