Newsletter No. 80

• Chen and Kaji losing Democrat votes.

• More Chen gaffes.

• Latest on Hillside Overlay.

• Food drive

George Chen may have won the mayor’s race and Jon Kaji the District 1 seat in 2022 because they flew under many Democrats’ radar. 

Many Democrats had no idea that Chen and Kaji were MAGA Trump-loving Republicans (www.TakeBackTorrance.com, Newsletters No. 77, 79). 

In 2022, Democrats had an edge over Republicans among registered voters. And Chen got some of the Democrats’ votes because they agreed with his campaign assertion that it was time for an Asian American mayor. The problem: They thought they were getting an Asian American of the caliber of George Nakano, Ted Lieu and Al Muratsuchi.  

In 2026, I’m hearing Democrats saying they won’t repeat that mistake, that District 1’s Sharon Kalani will get their votes for mayor. 

In 2022, Kaji, using Chen’s PAC, had the chutzpah to distribute a mailer that made him look like a Democrat. The mailer said North Torrance deserved strong leaders. And under the headline, United for North Torrance, were photos of four candidates: Gavin Newsom for governor, Ben Allen for State Senate, Al Muratsuchi for Assembly and Kaji for City Council.  

A lot of Democrats were snookered into thinking Kaji was running with the three of them.  

Facing three opponents who split the vote, he won with less than 50 percent in 2022. Now he has only one opponent – David Kartsonis.  

Of the other two in 2022, David Zygielbaum, who is now on the Torrance School Board, and Jimmy Gow, longtime leader in the Democratic Party, have endorsed Kartsonis. 

The mailer was a dirty trick. So, residents have been telling me they are wondering what Kaji will try to pull off this time. 

Thanks to my readers on Chen Watch: 

Thanks to everyone who sent me photos from the March 28 No Kings rally in Torrance. Most of the signs were about Trump, of course, but one said in capital letters: TORRANCE MAYOR IS MAGA. And another, also in caps, said: KAJI GAVE TRUMP $35,000. The word is getting out. 

Thanks to Adam Schwartz who pointed out another example of the mayor taking credit for good work in which he had zero involvement (for earlier examples, check out Newsletter No. 78). The latest are Chen’s statements about the City’s ambitious social media work. However, the plaudits belong solely to Jin Chun and her staff.  

Thanks to Arohi Sharma for sharing this link to a site put together by her husband Aaron Altamura. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of dollars Chen is raising for his PAC, his personal fundraising, which is limited to $1,000 per person, is focused on people outside of Torrance: https://dubbl-a.github.io/torrance-2026/ 

All about Chen: 

One last item on him: A friend who lives in Manhattan Beach asked me, “What is it with your mayor?” She had attended the South Bay Cities Council of Governments’ March 26 event in which Chen appeared on a mayors’ panel . Her comment: “He talked just about himself instead of the City of Torrance.” 

That reminded me of a similar instance that occurred when he was a relatively new mayor. A friend who lives in Long Beach called me and asked, “What is it with your mayor?”

She and her boss, who also lived outside Torrance, had attended the introductory meeting of an aerospace group created by Fran Fulton, Torrance’s economic development director. Fulton wanted to bring together local aerospace leaders and those who weren’t yet in Torrance but could potentially move their businesses here.

At that first meeting, Fulton introduced Chen. He hadn’t been given a script because he wasn’t supposed to speak and was just supposed to say, “Welcome to Torrance.”

But he decided to take a trip down the memory lane of his aerospace career. He talked. And he talked. Occasionally, he sounded as if he had reached an end, and Fulton appeared eager to take the mic back. But he wasn’t done. This went on for at least 20 minutes.

My friend said she and her boss were appalled. 

Your opportunities to hear the candidates:  

Listening to the candidates themselves is the best way to become an informed voter. Some of the groups have recorded their sessions. In the next edition of Take Back Torrance, I will share links, as well as takeaways, from the meetings that have already happened. 

Here are the upcoming ones: 

• April 6. Mayor, City Treasurer, Council District 5. Riviera Homeowners Assn. and Seaside Neighborhood Assn.  

7 p.m. South High School Auditorium, 4801 Pacific Coast Hwy.  

• April 13. Mayor and City Treasurer. Southwood HOA and West Torance HOA.  

          7 p.m. Bert Lynn Middle School, 5038 Halison St. 

• April 20. Mayor and City Treasurer. Hillside Neighborhood Assn. 

        7 p.m. Alta Loma Park Meeting Room, 26126 Delos Drive. 

• April 23. Mayor, City Treasurer, Council Districts 1, 3, 5. Torrance League of Women Voters.  

         6:30 p.m. Toyota Meeting Hall, 3330 Civic Center Dr.  

Hillside Overlay:

Residents in the Hillside Overlay area came out in force at the March 24 City Council meeting. The overlay wasn’t on the agenda, but they took over the Orals portion of the meeting with one after another speaker making cogent points about what the City could be doing to protect the overlay.  

The parade was led by Betty Lieu, candidate for District 5’s seat. Lieu is a former prosecuting attorney, and she forcefully pointed to options the City could use. 

Evidently her opponent Michelle Brooks is not plugged into the community. She has made it a point to speak at meetings on issues on the agenda, but she didn’t know what the residents had planned.

When the second Orals started at the end of the meeting, Brooks showed up and delivered her thoughts. But she clearly didn’t understand the issues so her two minutes were more of a rambling thought.  

The residents apparently pushed the City to look at the proposals they recommended.  

Supporting the candidates: 

For everyone wanting to see Sharon Kalani in the mayor’s seat and Asam Sheikh, Betty Lieu, David Kartsonis and Mike Griffiths on the dais with her, they could use financial support to get out their message. Here’s how to donate to their campaigns:

https://www.sharonkalaniformayor.com/ 

https://www.bettylieu.com/ 

https://www.david4torrance.com/ 

https://www.voteasam2026.com/ 

https://ilikemike4torrance.com  

Help for hungry children: 

The Volunteer Center’s spring food drive is Saturday, April 11 at its Torrance headquarters, 1230 Cravens Ave. between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The parking lot at the corner of Torrance Blvd. and Cravens will be set up for donors to drive through. Volunteers will unload your car.  

The nonperishable food items go to local schools. Each Friday the Center’s volunteers deliver bags of food to schools so that students, who get free breakfasts and lunches during the week, will have food for the weekend.

To get an idea of what’s needed, check out https://volcenter.org/home-2/. Please remember to buy items students can carry home. In the past, some well-meaning donors brought industrial-size cans. Nothing goes to waste so the VC donated items too heavy for bags to other food-donor agencies. 

Full disclosure: I am a VC board member. 

Grounded . . . not yet:  

Newsletter No. 79 reported that pilots lost their lawsuit against the City. Indeed, U.S. District Judge John F. Walter dismissed it with prejudice. But this was the suit fighting the new landing fees. The suit against the touch-and-goes ban is still an active suit. My error.  

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  

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.