I sent the remainder of the Torrance Think Tank 2008 questions to the rest of the viable Torrance City Council Candidates and the first to respond was Rod Guyton.
This will be Rod's second time answering a round of questions from Torrance Think Tank 2008, if you wish to see the first Q & A I had with him just go here and please notice the new detail he has recently added to his questions.
Rod Guyton's First Round of Questions
Here now is the second round of questions we posed to Mr. Rod Guyton. Analysis to Rod's answers are posted below.
1. A recent issue worrying many Torrance residents is the threat of the long standing ban on jet fuel being sold at the Torrance airport being lifted. Lifting the ban is practically universal condemned by those who live near the airport as they suspect that if Torrance sells jet fuel they would only battle more loud jet noises flying over their houses disturbing their peace and disrupting their way of life. Mayor Scotto has already said he does not support lifting the ban on selling jet fuel. What is your position on this issue and if you support lifting the ban what do you say to those residents it would directly effect?
I am a Southwood Riviera HOA Board Member. Our HOA has been fighting the selling of Jet Fuel for several months. I am adamantly opposed to selling jet fuel at the Torrance Airport . Jet Fuel is already at the airport for testing purposes at Robinson Helicopter. Selling Jet Fuel would increase air traffic and reduce property values in the Riviera , Southwood Riviera , Walteria, West Torrance , and many other neighborhoods.
2. Governments ability to respond to the wishes and desires of it citizens is always a key to making a city prosperous and its residents happy. How will you make government more accountable to it citizens and what would you propose in order to make citizens feel at ease when discussing ideas with local government officials?
I think the current Mayor has done a good job of reaching out to Torrance residents and inviting them to be more involved. I would, however, like to emphasize that while the Mayor has opened the door and made the invitation, residents need to respond themselves by their participation. Lastly, we might want to consider attending soccer games in the fall, baseball games in the spring, etc to meet people and allow them to talk with us. Parents especially are very busy with their children’s sports, school and activities. Anything we can do to allow them to continue with their schedule and still have access to their city leaders would be helpful.
3. Many residents of Torrance suggest that the nearly decade long over development housing boom in Torrance has led to an increase in traffic congestion and a strain on municipal services throughout the city. Even currently there are still 6 large scale housing projects going on in the city that will make up for an additional 750 homes in Torrance. As a member of the city council what will you do to stop the over development of the city of Torrance, deal with the problems over development has caused and finally will Torrance ever regain that “small town feel” it once had?
I will not vote to see more industrial property converted into residential property. Not only does this increase traffic, but it reduces our city’s ability to bring in more businesses and raise additional funds for our city. We also need to find a way to work with our surrounding cities to deal with traffic. This is a South Bay problem and not just Torrance . We need to work together to fix this problem.
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?
The City of Torrance has always been fiscally responsible with budget and I do not see this changing. Police and Fire have always been our priority since our budget does not include the TUSD and they have their own budget. People need to feel safe in their community first. Our quality of life begins with feeling safe. This has always been our city’s strength and I do not see this changing.
5. Measure T, the telephone utility users’ tax will be placed on the ballot this coming June, many Torrance residents are tired of paying taxes knowing that government in general seems to take in money and than waste it only to ask for more money later on. Do you support measure T and if so how will you ensure that the additional tax dollars Torrance receives from this measure is used appropriately and that city of Torrance will not come begging back in 2010 for more money through higher taxes?
Measure T is not a new tax. It is protecting the cell phone utility tax that has been implemented for some time now. Not passing Measure T would result in an estimated $8 million dollars less in our next budget. This is money that goes to the City of Torrance and, as I stated above, is spent wisely by our city. I do support Measure T.
6. Historic Downtown Torrance is considered by many in the city to be a treasure that should be protected and preserved. At the same time we also went to keep Torrance a fresh and exciting city allowing new people to visit and enjoy all that Torrance has to offer. How will you attract new people to visit Torrance and at the same time preserve the historic tradition of the city?
I have already begun talking with some of the store owners and managers in the Old Torrance area and discussed some ways we can help them attract more people to patronize their businesses. Many of these people have some great ideas that I think are worth looking into. Again, I would like to wait until later to publicly discuss their ideas since I have not heard anyone bringing these ideas up yet.
7. Many residents 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?
Torrance has already begun its “green waste” program and will eventually be in all neighborhoods in Torrance . I think this is a good idea and would continue to support it.
8. How will you get the younger generations of Torrance to be involved within the community and 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? I have been working with our youth since 1982 when I started coaching youth sports. I continue to coach baseball at the Riviera Little League. I am also the Co-Founder of the Leadership Torrance Alumni Association- Youth Leadership Program currently at North Torrance High School . One of the monthly events we featured in our Youth Leadership Program was City Day. We took 24 NHS Juniors to visit City Hall and to meet with the Mayor, City Clerk, City Manager, City Treasurer, etc to talk about how the city works and is run. These kids really enjoyed this and became much more excited about being involved in our city. This tells me that having more interaction with our city leaders would encourage our young people to be more involved. I would like to see our next council members and Mayor to visit our local schools periodically to meet our young people who will soon be adults and voting. Our young people are our future and we need to expose them to the importance of their being involved.
Analysis to Mr. Guyton's answers:
Since I already did an analysis of Rod Guyton’s answers in the first Q & A, I will make this one brief. I am glad Mr. Guyton has always been against selling yet fuel at Torrance airport; lifting the current ban on selling jet fuel would severely disrupt the quality of live of Torrance residents. The city council meeting with residents at Torrance youth sports events sounds like an interesting idea and certainly ties strongly into Rod’s committed involvement with youth sports. I am glad Rod recognizes that turning industrial to residential property would be detrimental to the city's tax base especially in times of possible upcoming economic woes. Finally it is pleasant to know that Rod confounded the Leadership Torrance Alumni Association- Youth Leadership Program. Rod’s commitment to helping the younger generation Torrance is certainly stronger than most of the other city council candidates running for office. Rod would be an excellent choice for the city council.
Torrance Election 2008
"Because We Want More Than Sound Bites"
No comments:
Post a Comment