Torrance Election Forum Review: Anza Elementary School

The 4^th forum in a series of eight forums took place Monday May 5^th at Anza Elementary School where candidates answered a verity of questions weighing on the voter’s minds. New and interesting questions were asked, more information was give to us about where the candidates stand on the issues and unfortunately the integrity of the forum was compromised at one point.

One of the first new aspects of this forum was the series of one word answer questions given to the candidates. All candidates were asked whether they voted for Dan Walker or Frank Scotto in the last election. A little awkward if you ask me having to answer whether you voted for Walker when current mayor Scotto is sitting in the front row. Also some of the candidates were asked about whether they supported propositions 98 and 99; I will try to get all the candidates to respond to that question later. Here were the responses of the candidates.

The first question was how the candidates would make up for the expected $8 million dollar shortfall in the city budget if Measure T does not pass. Cliff Numark throughout the entire forum had the worst seating out of all the candidates. The candidates were not allowed to step in front of the table there were sitting at and because Cliff was in front of table, behind a stage and adjacent to a podium and David Ouwerkerk he was forced to stand still almost the entire forum. Nevertheless Cliff explained to the audience that because phone companies charge customers based on time not distance and time any more the revenues for phone taxes have severely dropped and thus Measure T is vital to keep those funds in the city of Torrance. If measure T did not pass Cliff would look at the budget like he would a business, cut what needed to be cut and would consult the Torrance residents with Torrance 2.0 his e-mail marketing measure to see what the people of Torrance could live without.

Mike Mauno proposed that we take a look at Exxon Mobile and target them for not paying property taxes on $200 million of improvements they have made to their facilities. Mauno said doing this would honor the standing of proposition 13 and would force the oil companies to give the city of Torrance a check for $20.4 million which Mauno says would be a great benefit to our schools and the city budget.

A question weighing on all the voters minds at the forum was how Torrance would aid it schools with a $10 billion deficit facing the state of California. Tim Goodrich said he would use his lobbying power for more funding for educational funds on the state and federal level and ask the city of Torrance to chip in if it has enough money in its budget. Tim also reported that a cut in education from the state level this time around could lay off as many as 87 teaching positions. Kurt Weideman pointed out that the city of Torrance already spends about $3 million annually in the form of police protection, school crossing guards etc. Kurt also echoed sentiments that one of the main reasons people come to Torrance is because of the great schools.

All the Torrance candidates pledged that they take no money from developers or unions.

Rod Guyton and Pat Furey were strongly in favor of making swamp lands near Bishop Montgomery into playing fields for our youth. Dave Ouwerkerk said he would look for compatibility before going forward and Cliff Numark would deliberate with neighbors to consider problems such as lighting.

In the event that Del Amo mall were to declare bankruptcy, something highly unlikely if you ask me, Tim Goodrich would seek diversification of businesses in Torrance so if one industry fails the others will be able to support the cities tax revenue base. Kurt Weideman would immediately fix the zoning code for the Del Amo mall in order to prevent developers from buying the land and arguing they have the right to build high density housing on the property.

When discussing what should be built at the Sun Cal property, formerly known as Montgomery Ward, Gene Barnett was in favor of a hotel, anchor store or a convention center which was later echoed by Pat Furey, Rod Guyton and Susan Rhilinger. Tim Goodrich was in favor of a dog park and Cliff Numark wanted to do a market analysis to see what the voters would want in the area.

Transportation was discussed as well. Susan Rhilinger, Kurt Weideman and Pat Furey where in favor of a shuttle service with a more frequent schedule to reduce wait times for those who wish to ride the bus. Tim Goodrich said that Torrance should be part of the L.A Traffic Management Center in order to see what parts of Torrance traffic need improvement first and what lights need to be synchronized. Gavin Wassermann wants safer streets for those who bike. Rod Guyton suggested that parents who take their kids to school should use Torrance school buses and would reduce traffic during incoming school hours by an expected 70-80%. Cliff Numark would like bus routes to be more convenient for residents.

The most disappointing aspect of the forum was when the moderator asked Tim Goodrich why he was part of an organization that was against the Iraq war. Tim bravely stood up and defended his position on why he is against the war and said he didn’t know ahead of time that candidates would be asked individual questions and that he is running for city council not congress. When Tim was done responding to the unfair attack the audience erupted with spontaneous applause. In my opinion whether you are for or against the Iraq war it has absolutely nothing to do with what he would do as a city councilmen. What does matter though is scrutinizing somebody to see if their character and values mean something to them and if they stand up for what they believe in. In Tim’s case he strongly opposes the Iraq war and it is something he feels passionate about and instead of just talking about it he did something and that says quite a bit about his drive and determination he would bring to the city. It was obviously an attempt by the moderator who sold out the integrity and the honor of a fair and balanced political forum to push an agenda down the audience’s throat which fortunately backfired on him. Let’s hope these kinds of attacks don’t happen again throughout the campaign.

Despite that unfortunate incident the answers the candidates gave at the forum were insightful and voters learned just a little bit more about whom they might be voting for on June 3^rd 2008.

Torrance Election 2008
“Because We Want More Than Sound Bites”