Torrance Think Tank 2008: Tim Goodrich

Tim Goodrich is the third to answer the questions posed to him by Torrance Think Tank 2008. The answers to the following questions have been posted verbatim. Analysis on Mr.Goodrich's answers are provided below. Here now is Torrance Think Tank 2008 with Mr. Tim Goodrich.

1) Throughout your campaign you have stressed the need for Torrance to be a “green” city and environmentally friendly so that it improves the quality of life for all people residing in the city of Torrance. What would you do to make Torrance a “green” city and environmentally friendly. Also would you consider bringing in new “green” business into the city and if so how will you propose it be done?

I was born near Love Canal in New York and I saw how the people and the city were negatively impacted by the pollution and toxic chemicals there. For this reason, the environment is very important to me and I don’t want to see Torrance become the next Love Canal.
With the recent discovery of contaminated groundwater near Exxon-Mobil and the Palos Verdes landfill’s plans to flare toxic gasses into the atmosphere (in an area where there are 20 schools in a 2 mile radius), the right leadership is going to be important. As a City Councilmember, I will increase the oversight of polluters in Torrance and ensure full accountability so they clean up their mess. I will also be actively involved in the community to accept feedback and communicate the problems, risks, and solutions for these issues.
As the Del Amo mall ages and many people forgo driving to Torrance for their shopping trips, I expect our tax revenues to decrease. As it is, the retail sales in Torrance only grew at half the rate of the rest of Los Angeles County last year (18% vs. 36%). To diversify and grow our revenue base, I support bringing green businesses to Torrance through tax incentives and ensuring we have first rate public services and infrastructure. Energy prices are all but guaranteed to steadily increase in the years to come and this will spur growth in the environmental and renewable energy sectors. I would like to see Torrance capitalize on this opportunity to ensure our quality of life is maintained and enhanced into the future.

2) Throughout your campaign you have suggested that you want the younger generations of Torrance to be involved within the community to bring a sense of togetherness and unity throughout the city. What programs or what ideas do you propose to complete such a task and specifically what will you do as a city councilmen to make the youth more active in community involvement?

As part of Torrance’s “next generation”, I feel that it is vital to engage our youth in the city and have a city government that is reflective and responsive to people of all ages in the city. To involve our youth, I would like to work with the school board to develop a community service program that would expose the students to different aspects of the city. As part of the program, the students would volunteer their time in the community with non-profits or city government.
As a City Councilmember, I will volunteer my time to go into the schools and talk to students about civics, update them on what is happening in the city as it relates to them, and work to get them more active within our community. To solve the problems we are facing now and in the future, we are going to need increased involvement from our youth.

3) When it comes to traffic congestion many have suggested that Torrance assume from the State of California responsibility for Hawthorne Blvd. and Pacific Coast Highway. As a member of the city council do you believe this is a good idea and what else do you propose to improve traffic flow throughout the city? Also how will we as a city be able to pay for traffic fixtures that you suggest if Torrance assumes more traffic responsibilities from the state government?

If there is one issue everyone agrees on, it is traffic. It is getting worse and we need to do something to solve this problem so we can get back to the more important things in life, such as spending time with our families.
Unfortunately, CALTRANS is notorious for poor communication and bureaucracy and that puts a burden on Torrance when we want to synchronize our traffic signals on a city-wide basis. I support taking over the signals on the state owned streets only after all other avenues have been exhausted in trying to get CALTRANS to cooperate with the synchronization plan. If it becomes necessary for Torrance to assume additional responsibilities, I would pay for it by making sure to take advantage of all available transportation grants and also wisely investing the lump sum payment received from the state for taking over the roads. It is also important to consider our tax revenues will be better off as businesses will be more likely to locate in Torrance if their transportation needs are met.
To improve the flow of traffic, I will synchronize our signals. While we have heard this over and over, I am uniquely qualified to accomplish this. In my day job, I work with the employees at the Los Angeles County Traffic Management Center. When I look up a the video screen showing all the traffic signals across the County, I see the independent cities of Burbank, Pasadena, and Inglewood have all synchronized their lights, but Torrance is still in the dark. I would like to include Torrance as part of this Information Exchange Network (IEN) and bring this technology here to everybody’s quality of life.

4) Effective and well-funded public safety and other vital services are a concern for all Torrance residents across the city but as of late the state of California is facing massive budgets cuts across the board. These massive budget cuts make many Torrance residents wonder if such budgets cuts from the state will allow fewer funds from the state of vital services such as police, fire, paramedic and educational services. How will you on the city council ensure that Torrance residents do not go without such vital services in the face of budget cuts? Also, how will you ensure that the money that goes into police, fire and paramedic services is used efficiently?

We are lucky to live in a city with first rate public services. As a City Councilmember, I will work to ensure these services are prioritized in the city budget. The benefits are many:
a) Public safety is enhanced
b) Having a first rate fire and police department saves homeowner’s money on their insurance polices
c) Businesses are more likely to locate in Torrance if they feel safe and their employees like the schools their children will be attending. This will improve city revenues in the form of an improved tax base

To make sure the money is used efficiently, oversight is key, but it has to be balanced. Too much oversight adds to the bureaucracy and impedes people from performing their jobs, but not enough oversight can lead to wasteful spending and improperly allocated resources.

5) Complete the following statement “When I think of Torrance the first thing I think of is….”

When I think of Torrance the first thing I think of is a balanced city where people are happy to live. As a City Councilmember, I will work to maintain balance, generate greater community involvement, and implement a long term vision that will ensure Torrance remains a great place to raise our families.

6) Is there anything not addressed in the above questions that you would like Torrance residents to know about you personally or why you should receive one of the four votes we will cast on June 3rd 2008?

My first job was delivering newspapers at 10 years old, I bought my first home at the age of 21, and I served three deployments to the Middle East while in the United States Air Force. I know what hard work and resolve can achieve. As your City Councilmember, I will represent you with the same values I learned in the military: Service before self, Excellence, and Integrity. Thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to working with everyone after the election.

Analysis:

Tim Goodrich rose to the occasion when facing Torrance Think Tank 2008. His experience of living near the Love Canal strikes a sense of personal connection when it comes to keeping our environment safe and clean. His oversight of polluters is a well needed solution. I just wonder what he would propose as punishment for Exxon-Mobile if they defied the Torrance City Council. Tim is also one of the strongest candidates when it comes to a commitment in bringing green collar jobs to the city. He brings up a great point in how Torrance only grew half the rate as the rest of L.A county did last year and a viable way to get back on top is to invest in the inventible future or renewable energy.

It goes without saying that I am in strong favor of his plan to get the next generation of younger citizens involved in city government. The next generation will soon become the current generation and having them exposed to how government works, operates and meets the demands of the people when working well will only inspire them to be involved and active in the community and make the city a better place. This plan is again one of Goodrich’s strong suits.

I concur with Tim that the city needs to take over traffic signals because of the inefficiency of CALTRANS. Grants on the state and federal level are always a great idea to save the city some money but I wonder how far Tim would go to get one of these grants when grants at times are known for string and stipulations which can impede a local governments ability to act with the money in the way they want to use it. His plan of having Torrance join the L.A Information Exchange Network as a way to recognize unsynchronized lights is a great way to know where we can improve traffic first and in the future.

In order to ensure the budget can support and maintain the vital services we have in they city Tim supports oversight for government agencies. Although Tim gives the most popular answer in this instance, it is important to note that he recognizes oversight it self can become a bureaucratically burdensome and would limit it to make sure it never got to that point.

Tim Goodrich’s wonderful ideas and hard work ethic would make him an excellent member of the city council.