Newsletter No. 82

Anatomy of a Campaign Smear*

Plus:

• Kaji's Crown problem.

• Chen digs another hole for himself.

• Strange bedfellow.

*If you are new to this newsletter, please go to www.TakeBackTorrance.com and click on Newsletter No. 80 for a history of the problems caused by Chen/Kaji/Mauno and on No. 81 for the start of the smear that is this issue’s lead topic.

The victim:

District 3’s Asam Sheikh who is running for re-election.

The perpetrators:

Mike Mauno, Sheik’s opponent who has run for the Council in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008 and 2026. He won in 2002, but voters did not re-elect him in 2006 because his Council performance was subpar. More on his 2008 failed comeback attempt later.

George Chen, the current mayor who has put together a slate that includes Mauno. Chen needs Mauno to win to have even a chance of gaining the four votes he needs to push his agenda, including the budget-busting annexation of El Camino Village, Allondra Park and El Camino College.

Jon Kaji, District 1’s council member running for re-election, is a key member of Chen’s slate and the chief perpetrator of this smear. Since January 2022, Kaji, a longtime Rancho Palos Verdes resident, has rented a North Torrance house he does not live in. When people hear that he doesn’t live in Torrance, their first question is why would he want to be on Torrance’s City Council and not RPV’s. When they learn he is a developer, they answer themselves by saying, “For the money.” More about Kaji’s role later.

The plan: Put out campaign mailers smearing Sheikh hoping he will have to spend valuable campaign resources on denouncing lies. The mailers will say that Sheikh is under investigation for elder abuse.

My City sources tell me that – despite repeated attempts by Mauno’s team – the “proof” has fallen apart. I have emails and other documents that Mauno’s campaign team have sent to City officials as well as other government agencies. They portray themselves as being concerned citizens. But Mauno’s co-conspirators made some unwitting errors that show what is going on. My thanks to everyone who shared this information with me because they want to stop this travesty.

After Newsletter 81 appeared, talking about the estrangement between John Fleming and his daughter and about the claim that Sheikh had committed elder abuse, I heard from longtime Torrance resident Tom Newman. He sent me this email:

“John Fleming was a fine individual. He told me, and the discussion group I attend at the Bartlett Center, that his daughter was trying to get him declared incompetent and gain control over his estate. He went on to tell the group that Asam was working as his advocate, his protector, to shield him from this abuse.”

Upset with his daughter’s behavior, Fleming went to his attorney to change his will. The attorney then told Fleming that he wanted an independent lawyer to interview him and an independent doctor to evaluate his mental acuity. The second lawyer and the doctor delivered the same opinions: Fleming was of sound mind, and his decision to change his will came from no outside pressure.

The smear:

Gangs are only as strong as their weakest link, and Mauno, Chen and Kaji are no exception.

Let’s start with their weakest link, Mauno.

Back on May 14, 2008, the Daily Breeze printed my letter to the editor:

“Two years ago, Mike Mauno was not re-elected to the City Council, and his current campaign makes clear why he does not deserve a second term.

“At a recent candidates forum at Anza Elementary, he made ExxonMobil the cornerstone of his campaign. Flashing his campaign literature, he let loose a diatribe about the refinery not paying its fair share of property taxes. The campaign mailer, by the way, eerily resembled material put out years ago by his mentor, former Mayor Dan Walker.

“Later in the session, he admitted that he had not checked the accuracy of his statements and told fellow candidate Charles Deemer that he was sure Deemer would do it for him.

“During Mauno's first term, he often showed himself to be uninformed. As a former council member, he should have known that property taxes are not the province of the city to regulate.

“As a private citizen, however, Mike could have done his homework. I have done it for him. Briefly, I discovered that the Los Angeles County Assessor has reviewed the refinery's property value annually and – contradicting Mauno's public statements – this includes improvements.

“This is not the first time that Mauno has made misstatements for his own political gain. I hope it's the last.”

Now, he is back, this time beholden to Chen, rather than Walker, who had financed Mauno’s campaign. Chen’s PAC is doing it in 2026.

Chen and Kaji met with him in City Hall, apparently to discuss campaign strategy. That’s illegal (Newsletter No. 69), but it was just the start of their campaign to unseat Sheikh.

They needed an issue and thought they had found it in the Homekey+ project. As Newsletter No. 69 points out, Mauno became a plagiarist, appropriating City staff’s work as if he had written it.

At the first candidates forum, he made two major blunders. The first was the decision to violate forum rules he had agreed to. Candidates are not allowed to talk about their opponents. Not once, not twice but three times, Mauno made false or, at best, misleading statements about Sheikh’s positions.

As with so much that Mauno did during his one term on Council, he totally misgauged the situation. Instead of leaving Sheikh bloodied, he lost any audience goodwill he might have started with.

Then he made an even bigger mistake: He apparently couldn’t let Sheikh enjoy the victory so, as they were leaving, Mauno whispered to Sheikh that he was going to make sure “a certain matter” got out.

Yes, it’s mean-spirited, but even worse for Mauno: With that throwaway line, he tied himself to the smear. Chen and Kaji have taken great care to appear uninvolved. Mauno seemingly blew that for them.

In addition, one of my City sources shared some documents and then pointed out something that frankly I had missed on a first read. It puts Chen and Kaji at the center of this conspiracy and is allowing me to write definitively of their involvement.

Next up for review: Chen. The mayor got elected because voters had no idea he was a MAGA Republican who admires Trump. They also didn’t realize he was a Christian nationalist who brought his beliefs into the Council chamber.

But if it weren’t for the error I mentioned above, I would have to admit I didn’t have definitive proof of Chen’s involvement.

That leaves Kaji. This smear has his fingerprints at every step, starting with Ohno’s appearance at Council Orals.

While she was talking, Dylan Wakayama was taking her picture. (Wakayama, an Airport commissioner, is a Chen supporter, Newsletters No. 75, 76. He is also one of the five officials who have endorsed Mauno. Sheikh has about 50, past and present, including both of Torrance’s living mayors.)

Wakayama had angled the shot so it would get both Ohno and Sheikh in the same frame when she claimed a council member had committed elder abuse.

That move is classic Kaji. In Newsletter No. 42, I shared the contents of a confidential letter City Clerk Rebecca Poirier had sent to the Council.

She was disturbed by Planning Commissioner Tony Yeh’s failure in a mandated financial report to declare Torrance real estate he owned. Yeh was Chen’s District 6 candidate, and he shouted at one candidates forum, “I will be Mayor Chen’s fourth vote.”

I doubt my outing him cost him the election, but it didn’t help.

Kaji was furious with me.

I am a Civil Service commissioner. Our meetings have Orals, just like the Council’s. Not long after my article on Yeh, Kaji came to a Civil Service meeting, which is not illegal but is a breach of etiquette. Also attending were three women who were there at his behest.

Orals began, and the first woman went to the mic and said her one-minute speech, starting with, “Jean Adelsman is a disgrace and should resign from the Civil Service Commission” because of what I had written about Yeh.

The second woman then went to the mic, and said, “Jean Adelsman is . . . .” She was followed by the third speaker who said the same thing.

Afterward, Civil Service Chair Marianne Hamada told me that Kaji had been filming them, getting my face in the frame to capture my response.

Unfortunately for Kaji, he didn’t get the reaction he wanted. My default expression is a smile. By the time the third one started, I was desperately repressing a laugh.

While that may be humorous, what Kaji is trying to do to Sheikh is not.

Kaji and the Crown:

Kaji’s re-election campaign is having bumps, and one of them is coming from an incident involving the Crown Castle Cell Tower. For the history, go to Newsletters No. 39 and 42.

From the City’s perspective he failed to recuse himself from a Council decision involving a company in which he owned stock. City Attorney Patrick Sullivan reportedly admonished him.

That might have gotten him in legal trouble, but what is costing him votes is the sense of betrayal that a group of District 1 residents are still bristling about two years later.

They believe Kaji tried to make them think he was on their side when some of his actions indicated he had no intention of helping them. Consequently, they are supporting Kaji’s opponent, David Kartsonis, the Planning Commission chair.

Earlier in April, I was invited to attend an event for Kartsonis in a District 1 home. Normally at these sessions, some people already are planning to support a candidate, but usually the majority want to ask questions and take a reading of the person.

Not this time. Everyone there wanted to encourage Kartsonis and asked what they could do to help him get elected. The house had a great layout for such a get-together with the candidates at a table and visible to everyone in the living room, dining room and kitchen. Every space had a chair, and every chair was taken.

I said candidates because the hosts had agreed to Kartsonis’ request to invite Kalani and Griffiths. The audience was nine-tenths Asian-American and reflected what I am hearing: That Kaji is losing his support among voters he thought he had a lock on.

Final forums:

Sessions like these help residents decide who to vote for, and here are the last ones: 

· 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.

You can go online to hear sessions you missed:

The Torrance Chamber of Commerce didn’t record its first forum for the Council district seats, but thanks to Chris Truman who recorded and posted its session with the mayoral and treasurer candidates: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5v5YiOAvE0E&ra=m

The North Torrance Neighborhood Assn.’s District 1 and 3 candidates forum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etAn38SqV1c

North Torrance’s treasurer candidates forum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfBfagbD7kA

North Torrance’s mayoral forum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ulI6FB8MtA

The Riviera Homeowners Assn.-Seaside Neighborhood Assn. had a technical glitch at the very beginning, so viewers will miss Michelle Brooks and Betty Lieu’s two-minute introductory remarks. This forum featured the candidates for District 5, treasurer and mayor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soc7N2d3LBc

The West Torrance HOA and Southwood HOA co-sponsored this mayor-treasurer session: https://www.youtube.com/live/lutSQpqNfDs

Chen digs another hole for himself:

At the West Torrance/Southwood forum, here is how the two mayoral candidates responded to a question on traffic:

Kalani: “Our streets don’t really have a capacity to get bigger. So, what are our other options? There’s an opportunity to make other ways of transportation possible through our transit system that already exists, through our trolley system and maybe through our bicycle system, if we can help bring that forward.”

Chen: “Because a lot of time traffic is caused by people who have accidents and close down a lane. We don’t talk about that. Sometimes seniors can become dangerous drivers to themselves and others and they don’t know that. And they can cause a traffic accident.”

Yup. The mayor is blaming our traffic on seniors. He’s 64, but I doubt that he will stop driving.

I didn’t attend the forum, but I watched the YouTube recording. And I knew what to listen for because my mailbox was filled with outraged residents.

Best response came from Torrance resident Helen Dennis, author of the weekly Successful Aging column in the Daily Breeze and a nationally renowned expert on gerontology: “Chen said that one way to ease traffic is to ‘get elderly people off the road.’ That is not the cause or the solution.”

She added, “This is ‘blame it on the older folks.’ Again, assuming older people are a problem, just affirming subtle and not so subtle stereotyping of older adults.”

During the treasurer’s segment of the forum, Aurelio Mattucci drew almost as much ire as Chen.

Mattucci said, "When I tell you something is going to happen, it's going to happen – whether you like it or not." He shocked the audience.

Peter Lefevre wrote me: “I thought, is that a threat? That's just a childhood bully all grown up. No collaboration, no negotiation, no mutually beneficial compromise, just SHUT UP, I KNOW WHAT'S BEST.”

District 2 resident Verne Palmer told me, “Thank God for Mike Griffiths.”

Chen survey:

Elinor Accampo and her husband still have a landline, but legitimate calls come in rarely. So, the first time a survey company called, she let it go to voicemail.

The second time, too. By the third time, she decided to answer.

A woman asked for Accampo by name and identified herself as conducting an eight-minute survey. After a couple of introductory questions, Accampo was asked whether she was voting for Chen or Kalani.

She responded enthusiastically: “Kalani!”

The woman next listed Chen’s purported accomplishments. She then asked Accampo: “Would you still vote for Kalani?”

The answer: “I will never vote for Chen because he is MAGA and against human rights and LGBTQ.”

Has anyone else gotten the survey? If so, I would be interested in hearing about it.

Strange bedfellows:

While on the Supreme Court, Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Antonin Scalia rarely agreed. But off the bench, they were great pals.

District 2’s Bridgett Lewis and District 5’s Aurelio Mattucci don’t have that close a friendship, but Mattucci endorsed her in 2024. He did it despite facing Chen’s wrath because that meant he was dissing the mayor’s choice, Andrew Lee. Then-District 6’s Mike Griffiths also supported her, but at no cost.

So, when both asked for her endorsement for their race for treasurer, she endorsed them both, thinking they were both better choices than Charles Deemer.

In the 24 hours after Mattucci posted that he had her endorsement, my mailbox flooded with emails from stunned people. Evidently, Lewis was also hearing from residents. She recognized a misstep and, for those who haven’t seen the post, this is her response:

“I have withdrawn my endorsement of Aurelio Mattucci. The City Treasurer’s race is non-partisan, and I am not endorsing in that race. I heard the concerns from the community, took them seriously, and made a decision to step back.

“What matters most right now is that Sharon Kalani is elected Mayor, and that David Kartsonis, Asam Sheikh, and Betty Lieu are elected on June 2.

“And remember—this election is one and done. There is NO run-off.”

Donating to the good government candidates:

Voting will begin soon, but there is still time to support the candidates that you want to see raise enough money to compete with Chen’s PAC.

Please go to these websites:

https://www.sharonkalaniformayor.com/ https://www.bettylieu.com/

https://www.david4torrance.com/ https://www.voteasam2026.com/

https://ilikemike4torrance.com

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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