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Newsletter No. 61

jeanadelsman4

Plan to spend millions for annexation

Mattucci resents servicing residents

Bumpy ride with new technology


Mayor George Chen has set off fireworks that could burn down his re-election chances.


During the first City Council meeting of 2025, he oversaw a discussion about a plan to annex El Camino Village, El Camino College and Alondra Park at a cost to the City of more than $11 million annually – after $27 million in startup costs.


Texts, voice mails and emails poured in from newsletter readers who were watching the session and were outraged by what they had heard.


First some background: Last August, District 1’s Jon Kaji asked to have City staff research annexing the area north of the City. Kaji, Chen and District 5’s Aurelio Mattucci have been pushing the concept.


The City turned to a consultant who worked with eight City employees. Here are the high points of the Jan. 14 presentation:

  • Where will the initial $27 million investment come from? Reserves and budget cuts in current spending were the two options.

  • The ongoing costs are an estimated $16 million. The estimated income is $5 million. How would the City find $11 million to cover the annual loss? Add a tax increase to the above options.

  • The park is already heavily trafficked and behind in maintenance. District 4’s Sharon Kalani pointed out, “Our current parks need work and investment, so before we take on Alondra . . . .”

  • The El Camino residents will be asked whether they would like to be annexed. If 25 percent object, an election will be held. Torrance will pick up the tab for that. No one said what it would cost, but based on past election bills from the County, it could be close to half a million dollars.

  • An additional fire station and $3 million to upgrade a police station are needed to serve 8,825 additional residents. And of course, additional people will be needed to staff both.

  • Among the unknowns: How much of the current El Camino Village property taxes would the County insist on retaining. Neither the college nor the park generate property taxes.

  • The City report reminded everyone that its analysis did not (and that underscore was the City’s emphasis) include impacts to Park Services, Public Works or any funds, except for the General Funds. And it cautioned that the $11 million estimate might be low.


To see the detailed staff report, go to https://torranceca.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=200. Click on the icon next to the agenda item’s number. A PDF button will appear to the right of the item. Click on it, and the staff report will appear.


At the Jan. 14 meeting, District 6’s Jeremy Gerson said his initial reaction to the proposal last August was positive, but his enthusiasm has waned the more he has learned. He pointed to the strain the plan would put on public safety and said that this is “not the time to bring in more public-safety issues to an already-understaffed police department.”


District 3’s Asam Sheikh liked the idea of gaining the park, but not the responsibility of dealing with more crime issues: “In theory, it makes sense to have more space, but we don’t want to carry the dead weight. I don’t want to annex something that will give us more issues. Security and safety . . . should be a major part of the equation.”


District 2’s Bridgett Lewis raised questions about the intent to spend $3 million to upgrade a police station close to the annex area, rather than continue the current procedure of directing calls from the main station.



Kaji made a pitch for how eager the El Camino Village residents have told him they want to enjoy Torrance services. He talked extensively about how many of their homeowner meetings he has attended and plans to attend. One person, who has complained about the cold shoulder he has given to his constituents in the North Torrance homeowners’ group, said they now know where Kaji is spending his time.


It would be interesting to learn if the residents think that being annexed would also make them eligible to send their children to Torrance schools. The school district is a separate institution. Gerson, a former school board member, told the Council that Torrance Unified School District has no interest in taking on El Camino Village students.


Kaji also said he thought the main thoroughfares in the area – Marine and Crenshaw – were hugely underdeveloped. Wearing his developer’s hat, he talked about how the business area could be built out and generate sales tax revenue. But Kalani tempered his euphoria by saying that his pitch had a lot of ifs.


Recognizing how damning the $27 million and $11 million figures were, Mattucci said he thought they might be too high, but he offered no specifics to counter the City’s disclaimer that the estimates might be too low.



As the council members asked City staff questions, they received responses that seemed constrained. That led to Kalani asking: “I don’t want to put anybody on the spot, but I don’t see everybody jumping out of their seat to take on this endeavor.”



City Manager Aram Chaparyan gave her a measured answer: “Our job was to bring . . . the report and our findings. We will proceed with the Council’s direction.”



Kalani raised several concerns, including the annexation’s impact on reserves and other projects the City is considering.



“We have all been talking about the fact that we have incredible potential still in Torrance,” she said. “We have not maximized everything that we could possibly do to continue growth in our city limits.” She talked of “bypassed opportunities within the city” and said we should “not pay for other people’s needs.”




Then, she added, “I’m OK with risk if that reward is worth the risk. I don’t see the reward. I do see the reward of focusing on those things that we’ve already discussed and have in motion and not go in several different directions so that we accomplish nothing.”


Chen, who has talked up the annexation, could see that the Council was going to pass on the project, so he decided to try to kick the can down the road by setting up an ad hoc committee. He still needed a fourth vote to add to his, Kaji‘s and Mattucci’s.


Lewis gave it to him and stirred residents’ ire for not letting a bad idea die a quiet death.


I reached out to her, and she responded:


“As a councilmember, I believe it is important to explore the possibility of annexing El Camino Village into Torrance to understand better the potential benefits and challenges for our city and the community involved. My concurrence to explore this option does not mean annexation will necessarily move forward; rather, it reflects my commitment to ensuring we have all the information needed to make an informed and transparent decision. The exploration process is about gathering facts, engaging with the community and stakeholders, and evaluating whether annexation serves the best interests of our residents and aligns with the city’s long-term goals.”


If I were to summarize the opinions readers shared, they echoed a Kalani statement: “We need to get back to the business of Torrance.”

 

Mattucci’s latest pitch:

The land mass of the proposed annexation is roughly the size of Hermosa Beach. Hermosa has a population of around 20,000, but the new area has around 8,200.


Mattucci went on a riff about how that was a good thing because servicing residents costs money. He said that looking at residential neighborhoods, “I wonder why we annexed the Riviera, Seaside and Southwood . . . . It almost seems like we would be better off giving them back to the County or giving it to Redondo Beach. It would be more profitable.”


Of course, if the City gave that all back, Seaside resident Mattucci would lose his Council seat.


Bumpy ride with new technology:

The City is switching from Granicus to OneMeeting, and it has not been seamless from a user viewpoint.


Wondering why you no longer get notifications of City meetings? You have to sign up again. Go to https://www.torranceca.gov/i-want-to/sign-up-for-enotification/-fsiteid-1#!/.


My thanks to Mike Wilson for helping me figure out how to find staff reports for Council meetings.


When offered a choice of agendas, pick the HTML option. Then when looking at the agenda items, click on the icon next to the item number. A PDF button will appear to the right of the item. Click on it and the staff report will download.

 

How late was it?

The Jan. 14 meeting adjourned at 12:28 a.m. Not a good way to begin the New Year.

 

Before I go:

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.


The City has changed how to have your comments appear in an agenda item’s Staff Report. You should use the OneMeeting Public Portal at https://torranceca.primegov.com/public/portal?fromiframe=true.

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.  

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