Torrance Election Forum Review: Bartlett Senior Center

The 3rd in series of eight forums covering the city council election took place Wednesday April 23rd at the Bartlett Senior Center.

The format was quite unusual as almost every question was asked to only two candidates and a couple questions, which most of this review will cover, were asked to all the candidates. One of those questions changed mid way down the candidates oddly enough. Despite the format of the forum it was still a success and almost all the candidates did an excellent job.

The first question posed to all the candidates was how they would be able to pay for all city services and fixtures they promised and what would be top priority if there is a limited amount of funds. Tim Goodrich said he would seek federal and state grants and would use his former lobbying power in order to secure those funds. Dave Ouwerkerk challenged Tim's idea by saying he would beware of strings attached to federal and state grants. Rod Guyton and Gene Barnett showed conflicting ideologies as Guyton proclaimed not securing full responsibility on a city level for our street until we have the money to do so and in the mean time priority number one is our schools. Barnett on the opposite end said that it is crucial to secure full ownership of our streets before the problem gets worse. Other notable answers included shifting funds around to what is most important and using creativity and ingenuity to build a stronger revenue base.

The second questions posed to all the candidates was what besides your experience on boards and commissions qualifies you to be on the city council. The first questions was posed ironically to Gene Barnett who is on the city council. Most of the candidates did not get the full aspect of the questions as almost all of them touted their experience on various commissions and boards. Susan Rhilinger said her job was her life and her 32 years on the Torrance Police Department gave her the supervision and managements skills to lead. This experience would help her provide a financially stable city budget. Tim Goodrich at a disadvantage not being born in the city and told the audience his service in the military would instill in him a sense of duty, honor and respect for serving the country and the city. Gavin Wasserman asked to repeat the question and the question when repeated was changed to "What besides your job qualifies you to be on the city council?". Gavin went on to talk about various boards and commissions he served on as well.

Other Notable details:

+ Rod Guyton and Pat Furey mixed it up when Pat Furey said that Rod Gutyon had voted in favor of developing 87 condominiums near Wilson Park on Jefferson and Oak street. I talked to Rod Guyton after the forum and he said he would explain his vote on the planning commission regarding this issue on the blog. A summary and his answer will be provided in the comment section of this post.

+ The changed demeanor of two candidates in particular were a total turn around from the last two forums held. Kurt Weidmen seemed to come out with a new passion and energy when exclaiming his past of fighting high density housing and protecting homes Historic homes in Torrance. His new found enthusiasm was shown extensively when he talked about a 1912 Torrance home that was demolished by developers because they had all the right permits and the home had no protection from the city. Kurt's performance was substantially better then the first time we met him at the Civic Center Forum where his energy was low and his answers were choppy.

+ Cliff Numark also had a change of attitude this forum as he came with a new relaxed yet still confident and intelligent demeanor when discussing his innovative Torrance 2.0 E-mail marketing and rejuvenating Old Torrance's business district by improving the traffic in the area to entice business to reside in the area. We hope Cliff sustains this demeanor throughout the rest of his campaign.

+ Susan Rhilinger performance also improved, in most part because of the quality of her answers and in part because her answers were always in contrast with Charles Deemer. Susan said she would work with her former local Torrance police agencies which already have strong communication ties with her to crack down on gangs and sex offenders. Deemer complained that she got a softball question and then went on to say he didn't think sex offenders could live near Torrance schools.... Mr. Deemer might want to check the Megan's law registry, they are close enough to our schools. To be fair Deemer spoke so quietly it was hard to hear most of the time he spoke, despite the fact he was told to speak up and I sat in the front. Susan also mentioned the need to look at high paying industries and bring them into the city.

+ Mike Mauno has a secret plan to strengthen and save the Torrance City budget but wont tell anyone yet... in the mean time he said the best experience for the city council is the job it self which has served on. Mauno also said he would bring a sense of creativity and ingenuity to the council.

+ I met almost all the candidates after the forum was over and the nicest man I met was Gene Barnett. He seemed to have the most honest demeanor on stage and I will be taking a closer look at him at the next forum.

That is all for now, see you at the Anza Elementary School Forum on May 5th!