Newsletter No. 83

• Chen flubs Friendship Cities' argument.

• Mattucci drops an S bomb.

• Kaji on wrong side of reparations.

The last candidates forum became the most tendentious yet with Mayor George Chen and District 4’s Sharon Kalani’s sparring over Friendship Cities and Aurelio Mattucci saying “shithole” twice.

The League of Women Voters’ moderator called him out for his obscenity, but we will talk about that brouhaha later.

(Anyone who missed the April 23 forum can watch it on the link listed with the other forums below.)

I realized that readers could use a heads-up on the Chen-Kalani fireworks after RHA President Libby Spatz’s email me asking what was going on, followed by a host of others who were also puzzled.

Here’s what happened:

Chen was asked a question on traffic, but said he wanted to talk about Friendship Cities.

Longtime Take Back Torrance readers have followed this project since its introduction (www.TakeBackTorrance.com, Newsletter No. 26).

Initially Chen boasted that Friendship Cities would have zero cost because he was visiting his hometown in Taiwan on his own dime. From there it ballooned to costing Torrance $350,000 with – according to a staff report – zero benefits. (To follow the chain of events, check out Newsletters 66, 69, 71, 79 and 81.)

Chen continues to crow about how wonderful the Friendship Cities program has been, ignoring the lack of results.

Kalani continues to hammer him, pointing out there have been zero results. Even worse, staff has been spending futile hours chasing non-existent business.

Kalani also says those hours could have been spent on luring businesses to Torrance from elsewhere in Southern California. Unlike many nearby cities, Torrance has no gross receipts taxes, and that point has been used to convince many businesses to move here.

The City’s Economic Development Department, headed by Fran Fulton, has an exemplary track record of doing just that. But Fulton has been sidetracked to work almost full-time on Friendship Cities.

Evidently, Kalani heard from a source that Del Amo is planning to create a high-end wing. She had a connection to a high-end jewelry manufacturer in Spain. Sources told her this company was looking to establish a U.S. beachhead. So, Kalani let the City know she was approaching the company on its behalf.

At the forum, Chen thought he had a gotcha moment. Asked about traffic, he said that instead he wanted to talk about Friendship Cities.

He then whipped out a copy of her letter and waved it asking, “How can she say that Friendship Cities isn’t worthwhile when she is writing to this company. Here (she) just wrote a two-page letter to a Spanish jewelry company and touting the City of Torrance is in the process of looking into developing a friendship city with a city in Spain. Which means that is not a zero. The fact that we got the largest mural in the City of Torrance at the Doubletree is not a zero. The fact that the Taiwan national Olympic committee is picking Torrance as their base camp of Operation in LA 28 is not a zero.”

But Kalani replied that the city’s hotels already have high occupancy rates and that all the rooms would have been rented during the Olympics without costing the City the security expenses from housing an official delegation, rather than tourists. So, she pointed out, his Taiwan deal “is less than a zero.”

Chen does not comprehend that his concept for Friendship Cities is a flawed one. He picked cities without having any understanding of where the return would come from, starting with his hometown. Kalani picked a company with actual potential.

Mattucci taunts audience:

The treasurer candidates were also asked the Friendship Cities question. That allowed Mattucci to let loose with his repeated obscenity. As the District 5 representative, he has voted for Friendship Cities at every opportunity.

For some reason, he thought it appropriate to expand from Torrance to the state of California, at which point he said, “California is a shithole of a place to do business.” The audience responded with angry mutterings so Mattucci repeated the word.

In contrast, Griffiths answered the same question by saying that he had opposed Friendship Cities at every opportunity.

“I believe that it has been a misdirection of our City resources. Not just money, but in staff. We have a very limited Economic Development Department (that) now has been hijacked to take over and work on all this Friendship City nonsense, which – from everything I’ve seen – has generated next to nothing besides a mural on the side of a hotel building.”

At another point, Griffiths made an observation that may well predict the outcome of the treasurer’s race. He said he had been elected by wide margins in both of his campaigns.



Charles Deemer is the only treasurer candidate who has run in several elections but never won.

Mattucci has won two elections, but by narrow margins: In a citywide 2018 election, he won the third available seat by 200 votes.

In 2022, despite have the incumbency benefit, he won re-election by only 16 votes, narrowly besting a political unknown. Full disclosure: I was that unknown.

How to watch the candidates:

Each of the forums has something that makes watching the video worthwhile.

With one exception, the moderators did excellent jobs of keeping the questions and answers flowing. It’s a tricky job.

The League of Women Voters’ moderator mispronounced candidates’ names and failed to let District 1’s Jon Kaji answer the last question before final statements. The League tried something new with the questions for Council candidates, but it got so complicated it confused her as well as the candidates.

That said, this forum made for must-see TV. Here are its links:

For Council candidates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BadT_y7rWY

For mayor and treasurer candidates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=DzrHZgJWEAQ

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 Hillside Neighborhood Assn. did not record its April 20 session for mayor and treasurer.

Here are the others:

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 thecandidates for District 5, treasurer and mayor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soc7N2d3LBc

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

Kaji on wrong side of reparations:

Kaji’s push to rename Columbia Park for Ted T. Tanouye has been seen by many as a Hail Mary pass to get re-elected to his District 1 seat (see Newsletters No. 73, 74, 75 and 76).

His support districtwide started slipping as residents became aware he lived in Rancho Palos Verdes and was only renting a North Torrance home but not actually living there.

Then they learned about his Crown Castle Cell Tower involvement (Newsletters No. 39, 42 and 82).

But for Japanese-American voters, that is not even his biggest issue.

The lack of reparations to World War II incarceration victims is understandably galling.

Evidently, a big push for reparations occurred in the late ‘80s, but Rep. Dan Lungren opposed reparations and made it one of his re-election campaign stands.

Much to the shock of senior members of the Japanese-American community, including my source, Lungren got Kaji’s vocal support. My source confronted Kaji, who admitted he was looking for an appointment Lungren had promised to help him with.

This happened almost 40 years ago, but elders who remember are quietly making sure voters are aware of his opportunistic history.

We don’t know if Lungren ever followed through on his promise.

Ballots are almost in the mail:

Four years ago, Torrance voters had a chance to elect Cliff Numark, who had wonderful plans for Torrance and would have moved us forward. Unfortunately, he was also a nice guy so he decided not to hit Chen with his missteps as a council member.

When I asked him why he was letting Chen off the hook, he answered, “Because we will need to work together if I am elected.”

Collaboration was key to Numark’s approach. Unfortunately, Chen has repeatedly shown he doesn’t understand the concept, starting with his failed attempt to take over the commission-appointment process as a brand-new mayor (Newsletters No. 10 and 10 Update).

Kalani has demonstrated that she also has ideas for things that will benefit residents more than her ego. And anyone who has worked with her – such as when she served as the Torrance Area YMCA’s board chair – has seen her work collaboratively.

We have wasted four years. Let’s not waste four more.

To support Kalani and the candidates who can help her move Torrance forward, please consider donations to:

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

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.