Newsletter No. 68

Kaji has an opponent and other election updates: David Kartsonis has filed to run for the District 1 Council seat in June 2026.

While he officially turned in his intent-to-run form on July 17, he has been working the last several months to assess his support against incumbent Jon Kaji. And what he was hearing allowed him to visualize a path to victory.

In 2022, Kaji defeated Kartsonis, David Zygielbaum and Jimmy Gow. He got the most votes, but he did not score a majority. Zygielbaum, now a Torrance school board member, has moved into District 2. Gow has indicated he will not run again.

So, what are Kartsonis’ challenges?

For starters: Kaji’s incumbency. And he has shown that he can raise a lot of money, so it will be a costly race.

What are Kartsonis’ advantages?

For starters: He lives in the district.

Kaji’s property tax records show that he takes the resident’s $7,000 exemption on his Rancho Palos Verdes home where he lives. His Torrance address is a rental; he signed the lease while he was campaigning. His neighbors rarely see him, except to pick up the official mail that comes to the property.

Kaji has also unnecessarily antagonized some District 1 residents. It started with bad planning on Kaji’s part at his first District community meeting. He held it outdoors at night in November.

When members of the North Torrance Neighborhood Assn. complained about having to stand in the dark and being cold, Kaji didn’t apologize. Instead, he demanded an apology, which he didn’t get. Consequently, he let the organization know it wasn’t  in his good graces.

He also tried to play the good guy in a cell tower controversy. Instead of leveling with local residents that the City’s hands were tied by federal statutes, he led a group to think he was working to help them. They learned the truth and felt betrayed.

That situation – and several similar others – may well haunt Kaji when these residents vote.

Also in Kartsonis’ favor: He has spent several years on city commissions, providing a background that would serve him well on the Council. He currently chairs the Planning Commission – more about that below.

A three-time rarity:

In 2023, the Planning Commission voted for Kartsonis to be its chair.

With rare exceptions, that is a one-year term. In 2024, as vice chair, Tony Yeh was in line to be voted in to run the commission.

However, City Clerk Rebecca Poirier had sent the mayor and Council a letter outlining legal issues with Yeh’s performance. So, no one wanted him in the leadership position.

Now, 2025 rolls around, and there is a replay of 2024 because for some reason Yeh was still vice chair. This time his fellow commissioners didn’t vote for him because he has been playing games on his phone rather than paying attention during commission meetings.

But 2026 will not see a repeat. The new vice chair is Megan Turner.

Mattucci running for treasurer:

District 5’s Aurelio Mattucci will term out in 2026, and he has filed to run for City treasurer.

Treasurer Tim Goodrich, on the other hand, has not yet put in his re-election application.

When I asked Goodrich his plans, he responded that he would decide “toward the end of the year.” Goodrich said he had to “finish up this audit and implement the recommendations,” adding that he would “then see how things look after that.”

I shared his comments with some politically savvy sources, and several said he planned to run for mayor. When I answered that he has said he wouldn’t, they universally scoffed.

More Council candidates:

In District 3, Asam Sheikh has filed for re-election. He now has an opponent: Mike Mauno.

Mauno was a one-term council member. He was in then-Mayor Dan Walker’s camp. When Walker lost, he took Mauno with him.

In District 5,Craig Neumann has filed for that open seat. He is on the City’s Measure SST Citizens' Oversight Committee.

Kalani for Mayor:

Take Back Torrance first came out three summers ago when George Chen won his first term as mayor, Kaji began his first term on the Council and Mattucci started his second and last term.

All three campaigns had spelled trouble for Torrance if they won. Their active fight against SST – the sales tax increase that even they now agree saved the City’s finances – was only one of several indications.

Unfortunately, my worst fears have been realized. Chen’s attempts to take controls that weren’t his have caused detractors to refer to him as King George. Kaji and Mattucci caused problems that have stalled plans to bring rapid transit to Torrance.

In 2026, voters will have an opportunity to take back Torrance by ensuring that Chen, Kaji and Mattucci no longer have any elected power.

As longtime readers know, I have been impressed with the job that District 4’s Sharon Kalani has done. When Chen became mayor, she blocked several of his ill-advised maneuvers. She has filled the role that then-Council member Frank Scotto had in keeping first-term Mayor Dan Walker in check. Like Scotto, she is trying to take out a problematic official.

For anyone who wants to see her unseat Chen, go to www.sharonkalaniformayor.com to learn more about Kalani and how to get involved. It can be as simple as putting up a yard sign and writing a check.

Navarro-Mattucci link:

Omar Navarro is going to prison for wire fraud. Navarro attempted to unseat Rep. Maxine Waters four times. Though he failed, he did raise millions of dollars, some of which he misspent.

An interesting side note: During the trial all kinds of documents were released showing how he spent his money. They disclose he contributed thousands to Mattucci’s 2018 campaign. I tried to find Mattucci’s filings for that campaign but could only find his most recent one in 2022.

The question: Did Navarro lie about the donations or did Mattucci illegally exceed the $1,000 per-person rule? As a treasurer’s candidate, he should make those files public.

Before I go: 

The City’s deadline for correspondence to be included in the Council’s pre-meeting public supplemental is 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? 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 

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