Torrance City Council Regular Meeting – June 4, 2024

The Torrance City Council met on June 4, 2024, beginning with a 5:08 p.m. closed session and reconvening for regular business that continued until about 1:32 a.m. on June 5, 2024. The council considered consent items, the Fiscal Year 2024-25 budget, charter amendment proposals, homelessness services, and several administrative resolutions. All formal votes were unanimous unless otherwise noted.

Opening, Closed Session, and Community Matters

• Closed session items covered real property negotiations, anticipated litigation, personnel matters, and labor negotiations. City Attorney Sullivan disclosed that the council voted 7-0 to uphold a police officer suspension.
• The council adopted Resolutions 2024-30 through 2024-33 honoring police retirees: Captain Martin Vukotic (28 years), Lieutenant Patrick Hunt (20 years), Lieutenant Steven Jenkinson (20 years), and Sergeant Scott Turrentine (25 years).
• Item 6E, City Clerk commission vacancy appointments, was deferred to July 2, 2024.
• The council recognized a $15,000 donation from Torrance Refining Company for Torrance Summer Nights. The season opened June 1 with a Taylor Swift tribute concert drawing a record crowd of more than 1,000 people.
• Announcements included the June 10 first anniversary of the Mary K. Giordano Regional Transit Center, a June 13 commission application deadline, and the June 5 community alert siren test.

Consent Calendar

• The consent calendar was approved unanimously after Councilmember Sheikh pulled items 8D and 8G for discussion.
• Approved consent items included minutes for April 23, May 7, and May 21, 2024; two ambulances for $582,705.83; a $378,497 SB 1383 organic waste grant; a $492,015 UASI grant; a $132,780 custodial services contract amendment; and a $1,230,000 Torrance Community Transit Program amendment.
• Item 8D authorized a $548,449 CNG street sweeper as a cooperative purchase. Councilmember Sheikh asked for future reports on what happens to replaced vehicles; staff agreed to provide that information. The item passed unanimously.
• Item 8G approved a $117,767 second amendment for external auditing services. Councilmember Sheikh requested audit findings be shared with the council; City Treasurer Tim Goodrich said he would include that information. The item passed unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

• During Oral Communications #1, speakers called for civilian police oversight and accountability, referenced the death of Christian DeAndre Mitchell, and thanked the Torrance Historical Society for the Memorial Day ceremony. A Marine Mammal Care Center representative requested council support for a regional marine mammal rescue proposal. One speaker asked for the street lighting assessment public hearing to be scheduled in prime time.
• Several speakers waited until Item 9D to talk about the Tiny Home Village and homelessness services. A resident of the program asked for more resources and aid beyond housing vouchers.
• During the budget hearing, James Henry questioned why the agenda listed Expenditure: None despite a net staffing increase of one FTE. Finance Director Sheila Poisson explained the item was a hearing and budget adoption rather than a service contract. Melissa Wright asked about $100,000 in treasurer-related audit and training expenditures.
• During the charter amendment hearings, many public speakers urged the council to place standalone Torrance elections in odd-numbered years on the ballot, with some also requesting voter ID, paper ballots, and limits on mail ballots. City Clerk Rebecca Poirier explained that state law requires ballots to be mailed to every registered voter and that voter registration is controlled by Los Angeles County. Other speakers opposed removing city clerk and city treasurer from elected status.
• Oral Communications #2 included one resident complaint about the order of public comment relative to council discussion and a request for longer speaking time.

Discussion Items

Fiscal Year 2024-25 Budget and Capital Improvement Plan (Item 10B)

• The council held the second public hearing on the proposed FY 2024-25 operating budget, capital plan, and appropriations limit.
• City Manager Aram Chaparyan said the city is in a strong financial position, with reserves built to $73 million from an all-time low of about $581,000, seven of ten financial indicators in the low-risk green category, and a 24% reserve ratio against a 20% policy minimum.
• Finance Director Sheila Poisson highlighted a balanced 10-year forecast, a $205 million identified need for city facility repairs, and first-year capital funding of $10.6 million against an estimated $20.5 million annual need, leaving a roughly $13 million annual funding gap.
• Public safety accounts for about 62% of the general fund operating budget. The citywide vacancy rate was about 10%, with 36 sworn police vacancies and 25 police officers eligible to retire in 2024.
• Changes since the May 7 hearing included adjustments to the Meadow Park parking lot district fund and splitting community event subsidies into individually tracked amounts: $2,400 for the mayor and $1,400 for each councilmember.
• Councilmembers discussed recession risk, CalPERS volatility, police recruitment incentives, reserve targets, parks maintenance, and economic development. Councilmember Matucci said he was reassured by the full amortization of street bonds and appreciated the finance director’s explanations. Councilmember Sheikh praised the budget and asked for continued revenue growth and recruitment efforts.
• The council closed the hearing and adopted Resolutions 2024-37, 2024-38, and 2024-39 establishing the operating budget, capital budget, and appropriations limit for FY 2024-25.

Homelessness and Interim Housing Services (Item 9D)

• Staff presented a second amendment to the Harbor Interfaith Services agreement for the Torrance Temporary Housing Program at 3290, increasing the contract by 7.2% to $1,867,002 for the final one-year option through June 30, 2025, and setting a new not-to-exceed amount of $5,163,871.
• The council accepted and appropriated $1,665,759 in grant awards: $1,284,800 from the Cities and Councils of Government Interim Housing Services Fund, funded by Measure H, and $380,959 from the Permanent Local Housing Allocation program. The city manager was authorized to sign grant-related agreements.
• Program updates reported 40 units, 33 clients permanently housed from 3290 since its inception, 22 clients matched to vouchers, 22 people permanently housed directly through street outreach, 385 individuals served through street outreach, and 31 encampment cleanups since July 2022.
• Staff compared costs using per-bed-per-night rates: Torrance at about $127, Redondo Beach at about $170, and Hawthorne at about $237.
• Several councilmembers defended the program’s cost and effectiveness, with Councilmember Sheikh saying the cost-per-person math was misleading and that outreach workers respond to referrals within 24 hours. Councilmember Matucci supported the program and suggested more outreach to landlords and realtors about housing vouchers. Councilmember Lewis praised the city’s homeless outreach team and community lead officers.
• The council voted unanimously to approve the contract amendment, accept the grants, authorize the city manager as signatory, and accept the progress report.

City Charter Amendments (Items 10A1 and 10A2)

• Special Counsel Peter Brown reviewed proposed changes making the city manager and city attorney at-will positions whose terms and conditions would be set by employment agreements. Councilmembers noted that a supermajority termination requirement, if desired, would be better placed in employment contracts rather than the charter. The public heard speakers who favored an elected city attorney and stronger reforms. The council agreed with the recommended approach for 10A1.
• City Attorney Sullivan then presented a broader package for 10A2: combining early articles, changing the city election date to November, revising council compensation, removing the elected status of city clerk and city treasurer, deleting obsolete provisions, and adding good government reforms.
• After extensive discussion, the council voted informally to leave the election date unchanged rather than move it to November or create a standalone election. Councilmembers were concerned that a standalone election would add costs and that voter ID or mail-ballot changes were not legally available at the city level.
• The council directed that council compensation be set at no greater than minimum wage, calculated on a 40-hour work week, replacing the current $100-per-month charter amount set in 1956.
• The council decided not to add education or minimum job qualifications for either the city clerk or city treasurer. The city clerk article was left unchanged. For city treasurer only, the council added a requirement to attend at least one council meeting per month and created a removal process mirroring the council vacancy rule: unexcused failure to attend meetings within a 60-day period could be grounds for removal.
• The council approved other package elements, including deletion of the Board of Education article, deletion of the airport fund article, removal of outdated Article 16 provisions, revisions to appointed officer language, and addition of good government provisions on public participation, vacancies, anti-nepotism, audits, contracts, and conflicts of interest. The city attorney was directed to verify that deleting the Board of Education article would not negatively affect Torrance Unified.
• The council directed staff to make the approved revisions and set the July 2, 2024 council meeting as the date to decide whether to submit the charter amendments to voters. The motion carried unanimously.

Administrative Items (Items 9A, 9B, 9C)

• Item 9A: The council adopted Resolution 2024-34 setting the City Attorney’s monthly salary at $21,254.84, an 8% increase effective January 28, 2024, and repealing Resolution 2018-109. Public comment was supportive. The vote was unanimous.
• Item 9B: The council adopted Resolution 2024-35 approving an amendment to the 401(a) Defined Contribution Plan for Fire Plan 98215-03 to allow participant after-tax contributions effective June 30, 2024. Staff confirmed there was no additional general fund cost. The vote was unanimous.
• Item 9C: The council adopted Resolution 2024-36 adopting the City of Torrance Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, which covers hazards including drought, earthquakes, floods, landslides, and dam failures. The plan received FEMA conditional approval. The vote was unanimous.

Key Outcomes

• Adopted the FY 2024-25 operating budget, capital budget, and appropriations limit resolutions unanimously.
• Approved the Harbor Interfaith interim housing amendment, accepted $1,665,759 in grants, and accepted the homelessness progress update unanimously.
• Approved all charter amendment direction for further drafting, with the election date and elected city clerk/treasurer status retained, and the July 2, 2024 meeting set as the decision date on placing amendments on the ballot.
• Adopted resolutions for City Attorney compensation, the Fire 401(a) plan amendment, and the Local Hazard Mitigation Plan unanimously.
• Approved all consent calendar items and separate items 8D and 8G unanimously.