City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, I will call the city council meeting to order. It's 5.01 p.m., city clerk. May I have a roll call, please?

Yes, Your Honor. Council Member Gerson. Present. Council Member Koji. Present. Council Member Kalani. Present. Council Member Lewis. Present. Council Member Micucci.

Here.

Council Member Sheik.

Present.

Mayor Chen.

Present. The council will now recess the closed session to confer with city manager and city attorney on agenda matters listed under 13A, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation. 13B, Conference with Labor Negotiator. A closed session on these matters is authorized by California Government Code Sections 549569D2 and 54957.6. We'll return after closed session. Thank you.

Bye. Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. ... ...

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you you

Good evening. I will reconvene our city council meeting. It's 6.32 p.m. City Clerk, may I get a roll call, please?

Yes, Your Honor. Council Member Gerson?

Present.

Council Member Kaji is absent. Council Member Kalani? Present. Council Member Lewis? Present. Council Member Matucci?

Here.

Council Member Shaik?

Present.

Mayor Chen?

Present. I want to welcome everyone joining us in the council chamber, as well as those watching remotely. We have been in closed session. City Manager, do we have any actions to report out?

Good evening, Your Honor. No actions to report. Thank you.

Thank you. Moving on to Item 2. Flag salute and invocation. We honor those who make it possible for us to be here today. If there is anyone here in the audience who is on active duty or a military veteran, will you please stand or raise your hands so that we may recognize you. Please remain standing and I'll arise and Councilman Shaikh will lead us in the flag salute and Councilman Gerson in the invocation.

My pleasure. Thank you. Please put your right hand on your heart and begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

In this council chamber, we ask for patience, we ask for guidance, we ask to be wise, and this is one of our last meetings together with this council. So in your name, please bless us, and amen.

Thank you. Some of you are wondering why we look the way we do today. We thought... Councilwoman Lewis has suggested that in the spirit of FIFA World Cup that we wear our soccer jerseys, so here we are in the spirit of the soccer season.

USA, USA, USA.

Moving on to item three, announcements of withdrawn, deferred, or supplemental items.

Thank you, Your Honor. I'm the City Manager. We are withdrawing item 8N. We'll bring the We'll bring you back at a later date, which is from community development to adopt resolutions to uphold the appeal and denial of a series of entitlements throughout the construction of a new mixed-use development comprised of 20 senior residential apartments and 1,608 square feet of commercial space on property located on the east side of Hawthorne Boulevard, approximately 200 feet north of Rolling Hills Road. Thank you, Your Honor.

Thank you. Moving on to item four, I will take a motion to wait for the reading of resolutions and ordinances after number and title.

Motion to wait for the readings.

Second.

Start voting, please. Your Honor, that motion carries with Council Member Kaji absent.

Thank you. Moving on to Item 5, Council Committee Meetings and Staff Announcements. I will start the first one. Please be advised that the Employee Relations and Public Safety Committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 24, 2026 at 10 a.m. will be rescheduled. Information regarding the new meeting date and time will be posted at the City's Public Meeting Portal once available. City Clerk.

Thank you, Your Honor. I would just like to remind members of the public that the election is now over and we are 14 days past the election. All temporary election signs should be removed from yards. The sign itself would go in the regular trash bin, but the metal portion can be put in your recycle bin. Thank you, Your Honor.

Thank you. Fire Chief Dume. Oh, whoops. Maybe we'll take that later. There are no community matters. Now we're moving on to oral communications number one. This portion of the meeting is reserved for comments on items under the consent calendar or items that are not on the agenda. Under the Ralph and Brown Act, City Council cannot act on items raised during public comment, but may respond briefly to items, statements made, or questions posed. Request clarification or refer the item to staff. Speakers on the orals are limited to either oral communications number one or oral communications number two, and no longer than two minutes per speaker. Time starts when you step up to the microphone. If presenting handout material to counsel, please provide 11 copies to the city clerk before speaking. Handouts will be distributed while you speak. City clerk, is anyone signed up?

I apologize, Your Honor, I do not have the speaker list.

Okay, and that's okay. But you will still have your opportunity. For those who wish to speak, they're on communication number one. Just please stand up and go directly to the microphone. If you want to queue up in line, you can do that as well. You have up to two minutes per speaker. Just to let you know, the microphone will be silent after two minutes if you continue on. So please, we have 30 minutes.

Good evening, everyone. I am Charlie Salinas. Good evening, Honorable Mayor Chen, City Council, and staff. Please, and fire. If people are going to donate clothing and household goods and want a big truck to come to the house and pick it up, I wish you'd consider the Vietnam Veterans of America household goods program, the same size truck as the Goodwill Salvation Army. And the requirement is nothing bigger than what one person can carry at a time. Now, these household goods go to thrift stores throughout the United States, and then the money goes to the National Vietnam Veterans of America and gets distributed to our chapters throughout the United States, the amount of money depending on how many members in your chapter. And then we turn around and we donate that money to $6,000 a year we give in high school scholarships towards college. We donate to Gold Star Mother. We donate to the Bob Hope USO at the airport. Everything that's military-related, we donate to. We fill care packages that get sent out to San Diego to the sailors on the ships. And we cannot use this money for our own Christmas party. So at the same time, I'd like to ask if anybody would be willing to host a party, a Christmas party for 35 veterans and their spouses and partners, we would really appreciate it. And that's why I'm starting out to request this early to make sure everybody gets a message that we'd like to have a Christmas party. Thank you very much. Thank you, Charlie.

My name is Susan Schneider. I have lived and worked in Torrance for over 50 years. I own a house and a business here. I pay my taxes, I vote, and I return my library books in a timely manner. I am here in my capacity as a health insurance broker. I have been working on issues with the Torrance Fire Department billing vendor since 2024. I sent an email to Assam Shaq, Outlining what the problems were, and I will read this. I've already contacted Adam Brown, Danny Santana, John Kaji. I need whichever person or persons has the power to really look at the issue and resolve it once and for all. Whitman, the company that handles the billing contract, gets paid more if they do an inadequate job billing. Also, Torrance makes more money having private citizens pay versus the insurance reimbursement. I have a client who had three bills for advanced transport in 2024 and 2025. They took months and even years to resolve. He has two more active advanced transport bills that are unresolved. I truly assume the city of Torrance does not want to cause hardship. Financially or emotionally, when EMS is dispatched, often the illness alone is enough. If Torrance is running the receivables and analyzing them, they would see EMS transports take months or years to resolve. I'm running out of time, so I just want to say, what happened is I got audited for running a business without a license, which isn't true.

Go ahead and come up. Yeah, she doesn't have to use the entire two minutes.

Good evening, Mayor and members of City Council. On June 9th, we submitted a letter, a detailed letter, raising concerns about the proposed right of entry through Alta Loma Park. Two weeks have now passed since the Council met in closed session to negotiate that agreement. To date, the public has received no response to those concerns, nor any meaningful update regarding the status of the negotiations. The agenda describes this as a right of entry, but the practical effect of this agreement may be far greater than its title suggests. The Community Development Director previously reported that the proposed solar project is accessed solely throughout Toloma Park and has no direct access from Skyline Mobile Home Park. If that is true, then this agreement is about much more than temporary construction access. It may authorize the long-term access necessary to construct, operate, maintain, inspect, repair, and provide emergency access to a private, for-profit commercial facility for decades. That fundamentally changes the nature of this decision. Government Code Section 54956.8 protects the city's bargaining position during rural property negotiations. it is not intended to shield broader public broader policy decisions from public discussion either the city has already evaluated the consequences of granting this long-term access or it has not if those analyses exist they should inform a public discussion before the council acts if they do not then the council is being asked to exercise its discretion over public parkland without first understanding the consequences of its decision And it is relevant to note that Alta Loma Park was officially dedicated as a public parkland on April 10, 1971. Thank you.

Good evening. I'd like to continue where the previous speaker left off. At a recent Hillside Neighborhood Association meeting, both a City Parks and Recreation employee and a City Parks and Recreation Commissioner indicated they were unaware that this proposal was under consideration. That raises legitimate questions about whether the departments responsible for protecting our parks have been meaningfully involved in evaluating this proposal. The City has demonstrated that it values public participation. For the proposed renaming of Columbia Park, it is conducting neighborhood outreach involving park staff and commissioners, and inviting public comment before making a decision. If changing the name of a park deserves that level of public engagement, then surely a proposal that may establish long-term private access through a public park deserves no less. This decision also reaches beyond this single project. If the city authorizes long-term private access through public parkland to facilitate a private, and I emphasize private, commercial enterprise benefiting one man, future applicants may reasonably point to this decision when seeking similar access. Ultimately, this council is being asked to exercise its discretion over public parkland to facilitate a private commercial enterprise. Before exercising that discretion, the council should be able to explain what public interest is served by granting that access and why its long-term consequences are justified. For these reasons, we respectfully urge the council not to approve the proposed right of entry. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak? Please step up to the microphone. Okay, if you're still here at the end, if you didn't speak during oral communications number one, you can speak during oral communications number two. But I'll be at the end of the meeting. We'll move on to the consent calendar. Do any council members wish to pull any items listed under the consent calendar? I think Councilman Gerson.

Mayor, I don't want to pull any items from the consent calendar. I just wanted to apologize to you and my colleagues. I have to excuse myself. Okay. Sorry. All right.

Okay. Let me know. Councilman Gerson, excuse himself at 646. Councilman Shaik.

I'd like to pull agenda item 8L, as in Larry.

I think I heard 8L. Okay. I don't see anyone else clicked in, so at this moment.

That's because consent is still on my screen.

Okay. Okay. Councilwoman Lewis?

8P, please.

Eight P as in Paul?

Yes, sir.

Okay. So we have eight L and eight P. Let's see. The good thing is I believe eight L and eight P is not on my next statement. So city clerk, I have a number in titles for items eight B, eight C, eight D, and eight N, and and not 8P yet.

8N was pulled.

8N was pulled? Oh, yeah, my bad. Right. Just number and titles for 8B, 8C, and 8D.

Yes, Your Honor. The first is ordinance number 3967, an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Torrance, California, repealing ordinance number 3499 and granting to Air Products and Chemicals Inc. a franchise to construct, lay, operate, test, maintain, use, renew, repair, replace, move, change the size and number of, and remove or abandon in place a system of pipelines and appurtenances for the purpose of conducting, transporting, conveying, and carrying hydrogen on, along, in, under, and across public streets, ways, alleys, and places within the City of Torrance. ordinance number 3968, an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Torrance, California, amending, superseding, and extending the term of franchise ordinance number 3800 and continuing to grant to Torrance Basin Pipeline Company LLC a franchise to construct, lay, operate, test, Maintain use repair replace remove I'm sorry move change the size and number of and remove or abandon in place a system of pipelines and appurtenances for the purpose of conducting transporting conveying and Carrying gas oil petroleum products and water on along in under and across public streets ways alleys and places within the city of Torrance Ordinance number 3969, an ordinance of the City Council of the City of Torrance, California, approving a First Amendment to a development agreement between the City of Torrance and Gable House Development, LLC, related to a development at 22501 Hawthorne Boulevard, Torrance, California. and resolution number 2026-62, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Torrance, California setting forth the hours, wages, and working conditions for executive and management employees effective June 28th, 2026, and repealing resolution number 2025-41.

Okay, motion to approve the consent calendar in its entirety with the exception of eight N as in Nancy that was deferred and eight L and eight P that will be further discussed and adopt ordinances numbers 3967, 3968, and 3969. Second. Start voting, please.

Your Honor, that motion carries with Councilmember Gerson recused and Councilmember Kaji absent.

Okay, item 8L.

Thank you, Mayor. For 8L agenda item is the recommendation for amendment to a tri-party agreement with the City of Torrance and Torrance Refining Company and the West Basin Municipal Water District. My request to the staff and also for the public information, we are amending for five months this agreement. And briefly, if you could explain for the public what financial and technical issues are out there that we need to resolve before we sign the agreement.

Thank you, Council Member. Andy Darlak, Water Operations Manager with Public Works Department. The issues mentioned in the item are between the refinery and West Basin regarding some equipment, existing equipment and water quality standards that the refinery is asking for. The city is not involved in those negotiations at all.

Will it be between the refinery and the water port?

West Basin Water.

Correct. Okay. When will we know the result of whatever the remediation is needed?

We've asked them to finalize this deal in the next five months so we don't have to do another amendment. All right.

Thank you, sir. Thank you for the information. Thank you. Do you want to make a motion on that at this moment? Sure. I make a motion to approve Agenda Item 8L as in Larry. Second.

Start voting, please. Your Honor, that motion carries with Council Member Gerson and Council Member Kaji absent.

I guess the next item is 8P.

Thanks, Mary. My question is for Human Resources. In Section 1.2, where it says that we do a study of comparable cities, I had a question about transit. Are we comparing cities that have transit programs and the level of their transit programs? I understand from the SCAG Transportation Committee that there's actually tiers is how they're rated. Is that correct? Do we rate our salary for our transit personnel? How do we do that?

Thank you, Councilmember Lewis. Hediyeh Kajavi, Human Resources Director. Yes, you're correct. We compare our transit department to comparable other transit agencies.

But with their level of service, not necessarily because they serve as a comparable survey city to us. Correct. Is that correct?

That's correct.

That's what I wanted to know. Thank you.

You're welcome.

If you're okay with that, I'll take a motion. That has a resolution as well.

Yes, make a motion to approve a resolution, repeal resolution number 2025-41 and adopt the new resolution 2026- I'm sorry, give me the number.

62. 62. Second. That motion carried with council members Gerson and Kaji absent.

Thank you. Guess we're moving pretty fast tonight. Some people might be able to catch a little bit of the World Cup games after this, huh? Moving on to hearings.

Apparently he left. I thought he recused himself, but apparently he left.

Okay. Now is the time and the place for a public hearing on Agenda Item 9A, a recommendation of the Public Works Director that the City Council adopt separate resolutions approving the 2025 Urban Water Management and Water Shortage Contingency Plan in their submittal to the Department of Water Resources. Is there a staff presentation?

Yes, Mr. Mayor, today's presentation will be given by Andy Darlick, Water Operations Manager.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. Andy Darlick, Water Operations Manager with the Public Works Department. Tonight, I will present the City's 2025 Urban Water Management Plan. This plan serves as the City's long-range water resource planning document and demonstrates our ability to reliably meet customer water demands into the future. Next slide, please. California law requires urban water suppliers serving more than 3,000 customers or delivering more than 3,000 acre-feet of water annually to prepare and update an urban water management plan every five years. The plan is a comprehensive planning document that evaluates current and future water supplies, projected customer demands, water conservation efforts, drought preparedness, and long-term reliability. The plan also incorporates the city's water shortage contingency plan, which outlines response actions during periods of water supply shortages. Ultimately, the plan demonstrates that Torrance has a resilient and sustainable water supply portfolio capable of meeting future needs. Next slide, please. For preparation of the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan, the city retained SA Associates a consulting firm with extensive experience in water resource planning. The project included extensive data collection, review of regulatory requirements, analysis of water supply and demand projections, climate resiliency evaluations, and assessment of future water resource needs. Staff worked closely with the consultant throughout the process to ensure that operational data, capital improvement projects, and future water supply initiatives were accurately reflected in the plan. Following completion of the analysis, the draft urban water management plan was prepared for public review, adoption, and submittal to the California Department of Water Resources. Next slide, please. This slide illustrates the city's current water supply portfolio and anticipated future supply banks. Today, approximately 60% of Torrance's water supply is imported through the Metropolitan Water District. Local supplies currently account for the remaining 40%, through the North Torrance Wellfield and the Goldsworthy Desalter. Looking ahead, the city is continuing its strategy of increasing local water production. With the addition of the Van Ness Wellfield and expansion of local groundwater resources, importer water reliance is projected to decrease from approximately 60% today to about 35% in the future. This diversification improves reliability, enhances drought resilience, and helps reduce dependence on importer water supplies. Next slide, please. In conclusion, the Urban Water Management Plan demonstrates that Torrance has sufficient water supplies to reliably meet customer demands through at least the year 2050 under normal, single dry year, and multiple dry year conditions. The plan confirms that the city's investments in groundwater production, desal, and future well field development continue to strengthen our long-term water supply reliability and sustainability. The Urban Water Management Plan satisfies all applicable state requirements and will be submitted to the Department of Water Resources following council adoption. This concludes my presentation. Staff recommends adoption of the resolutions approving the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan and the Water Shortage Contingency Plan. Thank you, and staff is available for any questions.

Great. Thank you. That means we've got plenty of water left, at least if things go as forecast. For those in the public who's not aware, I think we did a groundbreaking ceremony just a week ago to expand our desalter by doubling the capability. So most of us don't know how good water is. We just turn a spigot on it as soon as it turns on. And in this country, we can actually drink right out of it, too. Amazing. At this moment... We'll take public comment on this matter. Each speaker will have up to two minutes to speak. City Clerk, has anyone signed up to speak on this item?

No one signed up on this item, Your Honor.

And that's okay. Anyone in the public who didn't sign up who wishes to speak on this item, will you please step up to the microphone? You have two minutes per speaker. Okay. I don't see anyone stepping up. Does any member of the city council have questions or comments on this item? Please click in. Councilman Shaikh.

Thank you. Thank you again for the presentation. My question is, first of all, I want to thank the staff and also for the Water Commission. I think you also received their input for presenting this to us.

Correct.

Thank you. The question is, last time RENA number was given to us for about 5,000 new units. We don't know what will be the RENA number for the next cycle. How did we make projection or how did we decide that by 2050 we will be able to provide enough water resources for our community? Did you take into consideration for that as well?

So the plan doesn't take the exact number, but it does add in projected growth. And the plan has us, in the Torrance water area alone, we can't talk for Cal water. So those 5,000 units you speak of will be split between Torrance water and Cal water, so they won't all be absorbed in the Torrance water area. So the plan doesn't address that number specifically. What it does is just give a growth, and it says we have about 106,958 residents and 25 residents. And it expects that service area to grow to 116,000, so an additional 10,000 people by 2050. So it does account for that. And it still shows we have plenty of water.

Well, thank you. Also, what's the usage of recycled water? What's the projection for recycled water?

The refinery is the largest user. So if they're going to continue to use recycled water, that's our biggest customer. We have about 40 other customers that are very, very small irrigation. But as long as the refinery continues at their production they're at, we don't see any drop-off in the recycled use for them unless the water quality degrades and they use more potable water.

And I'm assuming, again, not with a lot of facts, but recycled water, a lot of people are using that methodology, not only the residential, but also for the large corporations. Are you taking into consideration maybe we need to have more meters for those large corporations, at least to promote recycled water, so have more resilience in that aspect?

I don't think the plan addresses that. Again, West Basin owns the recycle water line, so it would be their plan to build the water line out like they did up Anza, up Vista Montana to get to Palos Verdes. That was part of the West Basin plan. I don't believe City of Torrance has. It's not involved. We don't own the line. Yeah.

Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think any of us as residences have the option to tap into a recycled line, right?

I don't believe there's any residents with recycled water currently. That would be a cross connection. Unless it's by accident.

Mayor, the capacity also for demand has to be such where the line can stay active, otherwise it creates odors and lack of viability. So we do the example of Lagos Eco Park pump station, as well as a city-owned property to support American Honda at the corner of Del Amo and Crenshaw is an example where We have a system that's based on a partnership. And we will do so in the future if there's demand. But that's a challenge. Certain vegetation does not respond to the salination into the recycled water. And as such, we provide it based on demand.

Yeah, I think the other thing is the city of Torrance population roughly is about 143,000 now. At one time, we were in high, almost 147. So we already have margin to build on top of that.

So I just want to make sure I understand. So we do not have any plan for recycled water for the City of Toronto?

We continue to work with West Basin to identify other properties, but they own the line.

we partnership with the water. Okay. All right. Thank you, sir. Thank you again.

Any other members of the council have comments or questions on this item? If not, I just want to make sure. This is a public hearing, so I'll take a motion to close the public hearing.

Motion to close the public hearing.

Second.

Start voting, please. And that motion carries with council members Gerson and Kaji absent.

All right. City clerk, may I have number and title, please?

Yes, Your Honor. The first is resolution number 2026-63, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Torrance, California, adopting the 2025 Urban Water Management Plan. The second is resolution number 2026-64, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Torrance, California, adopting 2025 Water Shortage Continuity Plan.

Motion to concur with the recommendation of the Public Works Director and adopt resolutions number 2026-63 and 2026-64.

Second.

Start voting, please. Your Honor, that motion carried with council members Gerson and Kaji absent.

Thank you. Moving on to administrative matters, item 10A from the city managers to the attorney and city clerk is their staff presentation.

Just a brief one, Your Honor. Patrick Sullivan, city attorney. This is an update to our city council rules of order that is required by Senate Bill number 707. That is requiring our city council as well as city councils throughout the state of California to allow for remote participation in our meetings, either by two-way telephonic service or two-way audiovisual platform. Additionally, it requires that we adopt a technology disruption policy and that is in our revised order, Rules of Order in Article 12. And so that's the main reason why we're asking the council to update the Rules of Order tonight. We're also clarifying and updating other portions that are shown in the red line of this resolution. And before I close, I'd just like to say thank you to Carlos, Jamie, Danny, Aram, and Rebecca for assisting me with the updates and clarifications. I'm available for questions.

Thank you. So it takes us a little bit like what we did during COVID days, a little bit? Correct. All right. City Clerk, has anyone signed up to speak on this item?

No one signed up to speak on this item, Your Honor. Okay.

Now, does anyone that's in the public right now wish to speak on this item? Please step up to the microphone. You have two minutes per speaker. So the main point of this one is that you can call in publicly to participate if you're not able to sit in here. I think you all want to come because the monitors are so big now. Okay, anyone else? Okay, then I'll take the council. Any members of the council who has comments or questions, please click in. If not, I'll take a motion to concur with the city manager and city attorney and city clerk and adopt resolution 2026-65.

Make a motion to concur and adopt resolution number 2026-65.

Second.

Your Honor, before they vote, may I read the title, please?

Oh, sorry. Yes, please.

This is resolution number 2026-65, a resolution of the city council of the city of Torrance, California, adopting amended city council rules of order, including but not limited to a technology disruption policy to comply with Senate bill number 707 as city policy number two, as set forth in Torrance municipal code section 11.7.010.

Would you like for me to redo the motion?

No, that's okay. Start voting, please. Your Honor, that motion carries with Council Member Gerson and Kaji absent.

All right.

I had a feeling they already know what's on the agenda.

Item 10B from the Community Service Director. Is there a staff presentation?

No, Your Honor, no staff presentation. Okay. Good evening, honorable mayor and members of the city council. Brent Abelson, Management Aid, Community Services Department. With item 10B, we're seeking to establish a new tradition for the city of Torrance, an annual Torrance LA Galaxy Night. In the city, we're already very familiar with the popularity and success of our annual Dodger Day, and this is the opportunity for another very successful annual event. With item 10B, we're asking for your approval for the purchase of 300 tickets for the Saturday, August 1st, 2026 Los Angeles Galaxy game for a total of $10,395 and to authorize the purchase of 200 additional tickets based on interest and demand for an additional $6,930 and to provide direction to authorize staff to resell tickets to Torrance community members at cost. for an expenditure not to exceed $17,325. LA Galaxy will be playing FC Dallas at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday, August 1st at Dignity Health Sports Park. Staff recommend purchasing 300 tickets in the mezzanine section number 233 at $34.65 per ticket, then reselling them to interested community members at full price. 20 people will be selected at random to participate in the post-game autograph session. And if given the authorization to purchase an additional 200 tickets, 20 additional people will be selected at random to participate in the bench warmer experience. Thank you. And I'm available for questions.

Thank you, Brent. I understand that we are already receiving the tickets at a discounted price from LA Galaxy, so we really thank them, similar to the Dodger. Are we going to be ordering tickets similar to how we buy the tickets for the Dodger game?

Yeah, correct.

Okay, got it. All right, before I ask any more questions, I'm going to see if any members of the public have questions on this item. If you do, please step up to the microphone. I guess I jumped ahead, I should add to city clerk, I'm assuming no one signed up earlier. So if you wish to speak, please step up to the microphone. We got two minutes per speaker. Even if you wanna say I love it. All right, I think city council members has clicked in. Councilwoman Lewis.

Nice job on the staff presentation. Question for you. Have we arranged the possibility of using Torrance Transit to meet at a location and maybe go down on a bus?

No, we haven't.

Okay. Is that something that we can look into?

Council Member Lewis, Ted Stevens, Community Services Director. Yes, I fully intend to have those conversations with Ms. Turner.

Okay, perfect. And very excited, another chance for us to wear our shirts. Thank you.

That's good, give a few uses out of it. I believe for LA-28, we're working on the bus too, right? So this will be maybe a trial case. And Councilman Matucci, are you going to play in the games?

Yes. Actually, no, I'm going to do the bench warmer experience. I kind of grew up with that. No, I love the idea, and I think Louis said it right, that the transportation is something that we should definitely look at because – It's just easier getting in and out. And also, it's a nice experience to go together as a group. I definitely fully support it. How do we determine if we do 300? Is it going to be in the same section, the additional 200?

As far as we know, yes, all in Section 233. Okay.

As long as we're all together, I support it. Thank you.

And it looks like should the Torrance bus doesn't go through, it looks like your staff report says there is, it looks like a free bus, similar to the Dodger bus, you can go to Harbor Gateway, right?

Yeah.

All right. Anyone else from the council who has a comment or question?

Oh, Councilman Shaikh. Yeah, let me just ask. The seating will be under the shade or not? That's always a problem.

No, this is not in the shaded area. It's on the other side of the field, but the game is at 7.30 p.m., so yeah, sun won't be an issue.

Good answer. Thank you.

You can wear sunglasses still. Anyone else? If not, I'll take a motion to, I guess, approve or concur.

Motion to approve item 8.

I'm sorry item 10 B second Your honor that motion carried with councilmember Gerson and councilmember Kaji absent.

Thank you All right. Thank you Brent and I think I did the calculation comes out to about thirty four dollars and sixty five cents per ticket So it's not a bad deal. We got a good deal. I'm glad you guys keep getting these deals. Just want to make sure that everyone knows we are already getting a discount. Let's see. No agency agendas. As I said earlier, those who did not speak in oral communications number one, you have an opportunity because right at this point, we're moving on to oral communications number two. This portion of the meeting is reserved for comments on items not on the agenda. Under the Ralph and Brown Act, City Council cannot act on items raised during public comment but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed, request clarification, or refer to items of staff. Speakers in the oral communications are only limited to oral communications number one, Oral communication is number two and no longer than two minutes per speaker. Time starts when you step up to the microphone. If presenting handout material to the council, please provide 11 copies to the city clerk before speaking. Handouts will be distributed while you speak. Do you have any members of the public who did not speak during oral communication number one who wish to speak now? Please step up to the microphone. You have two minutes per speaker. Don't be shy. I think I see a student in the audience. Is that a homework assignment? I thought school was out already.

All right, it was your opportunity.

Now I'm gonna go to Council Orals then. Looks like Council Orals is gonna be short tonight as well. We'll start with Councilwoman Kalani.

Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to say happy belated Father's Day to all the fathers that are out there. You're so appreciated. And welcome to our student who's visiting and working on her requirements. You're welcome to stay behind and get a picture with the dais if you'd like. We're so glad you're here. And you got lucky because some of these meetings go till midnight and passed. So it's 7-17. So thank you.

You're absolutely right. This was a lucky ducky night for them to come and watch. Councilwoman Lewis.

I would like to make a request for the student to come to the microphone. Yep, that would be the student.

It's not an order. It's up to you. But you could introduce yourself and say something what you're doing.

Hi, good evening. My name is Tegan Nguyen. I'm here from my troop 310G. Mayor Chen and Councilmember Kalani were at our Eagle Corps on Saturday, and I'm here for a merit badge requirement. And yeah, thank you.

Excellent.

Thank you, and congratulations.

Thank you for sharing that. I think Councilman Kalani and I were there last Saturday. 310G did their inaugural Eagle Scout Court of Honor, so it's the all-female troop, and the first two Eagle Scouts were honored last Saturday, the first two. Thank you for coming. Councilman Lewis, anything else?

That's all I had. I just wanted to make sure she had that for preservation purposes.

She had her moment in time. Councilman Mattucci. Thank you, Mayor.

This is probably going to be one of my second to last meetings. That's right. You got one more chance. Well, it depends.

July 14th is your last one.

Yeah, July 14th. Then you're going to go down there. Down there. Get demoted.

No, no, no. You get a pay raise.

No, I wanted to bring something up because I think it's important. I brought it up several times over the last eight years. And I've talked to actually Councilwoman Lewis about it as well because she's into the whole safety thing. So I'm not going to ask for concurrence tonight because we don't have a full council. Catastrophic plan. Something that I've really thought is something that's needed. I know we have an emergency preparedness plan. I've read it from front to back. A great plan. But it doesn't cover a lot of the key elements of what a catastrophic plan should look like. One of them is mass destruction. We're talking about not just a city or a county. We're talking about maybe half the state being without power. And if you think that's not possible, just think of 2021. In the year 2021 in Texas, like 2.47 a.m., Transformers started popping left and right and over 4 million people in Texas were without power for several days. Some of them went in actually past a week, sometimes even some neighbors even past two weeks. Over 14 million people did not have access to water. Okay, now You might have a few cases in the garage. You might have a few snacks in the cupboard. But what happens when power goes out for an extensive period of time in torrents? I mean, we can only worry about torrents. This body here can only worry about torrents, right? Well, I can tell you what happens. Look at what happened during COVID with the shelves at the supermarkets. I mean, there was really hardly any reason why everybody had to get everything off the shelves, but people tend to panic and rightfully so when they don't feel that they can protect their families in a time of crisis. But we still had clean water. We still had some restaurants open, not all the restaurants open, but we still had the access to clean water, electricity, heat, cooling, whatever you needed. Gasoline for your cars. You still had all that. If there were to be a massive issue that goes on beyond just a few cities or just a few blocks or even just, we'll call it the county, which LA County with over 10 million people is bigger than the size of most of our states. If something like that were to happen, FEMA cannot be there for everyone. So that's why I really do think, And I don't want to sound like I'm not appreciative, but I'm just going to say it. I've been laughed at at the meetings. The first meeting that I met with fire department, they giggled. I mean, when I mentioned that we needed a catastrophic plan, they kind of felt like, well, you know, we already have a plan in place. I've been told Even just recently, this is probably my fifth time bringing this up, I've been told that I'd be stepping on a lot of people's toes. I don't even know what that means. I mean, whose toes? I mean, yeah, we have an emergency preparedness plan, but what does that mean? My understanding is that we only have three days worth of fuel to run the pumps at the water stations. That's what I was told. So I take this very seriously. I don't want to be the one that says, you know, I told you so. I really do think we need to put together a plan that goes above and beyond the emergency preparedness plan that takes us into the third week of a disaster. What's day 21 going to look like in Torrance when there's no power, no water, no gas, no food?

Did you want to also mention the idea of having a community fair where our residents can come and get purchased supplies as well and also gives them exposure to our emergency services?

management team here in the city. Correct. There's approximately 1,000 people a month that move in and out of Torrance that don't even know where Torrance City Hall is. There has to be a constant effort of educating people where are all the places to go in case of an emergency. The first thing that people think is, okay, maybe the fire station. What does the fire station have? Does it have water? Does it have gasoline? Does it have food? Does it have other resources? I don't know. Do we? Maybe, maybe not. And is it big enough to take care of 5,000 people? Probably not, right? So those are the things that I think we need to take into consideration. It doesn't have to be done all at once. It doesn't have to be done immediately, but Over the last eight years, I'd say going back two years, six years, going back six years, I've been bringing it up to different departments, met with even the head of emergency response. And I just don't think we're ready to go past seven days, quite honestly. On the seventh day, we're going to be in chaos. You know, so... are we gonna wait for something to happen or actually have something in place that God willing, we'll never need? So that's where I'm at. So again, I'm not asking for concurrence, I'm just asking the new council to just have, to keep it in the back of your mind that we do need something that goes past what we already have, which it's beautiful, it's great, it's thorough, but we do need something more. And I'm really truly concerned That if there is, whether it's... uh, you know, cyber attack or I mean you can just tell like internet down and we're on chaos over here at city hall. I mean you saw what happened in uh, was in March of 2020. So I mean things happen and God willing they don't happen. But when they do happen, I just want to know that Torrance did everything we could to make sure that we keep everybody calm and keep the water flowing one way or the other. I mean we have great resources here. but how long can those pumps stay open if there's no more power and no more fuel being pumped? So those are the things that we need to really discuss and also keep the new, residents that are moving in, new businesses that are moving in, always abreast as to what and where they can get things done in the event there's a problem. Anyways, I'll just leave it at that. Councilwoman Lewis, we've talked about this extensively. And I think we both agree that the future of Torrance needs to be better secured in the event of a catastrophic, not emergency, I'm talking about catastrophic. So, all right. Thank you, guys. And that's all I have today. Thank you, man. All right. Councilman Shaikh.

Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I want to just thank our law enforcement agencies for doing a wonderful job. This FIFA World Cup brought a lot of people from all over the world. And a lot of commotion, a lot of new traffic is coming in. And thank you for your hard work in making sure our community is safe. You, the Torrance Fire Department, you guys are literally working 24-7. And I want to commend and thank you for all your hard work. On another note, sad note, that my sincere condolences to my colleague, Councilman Khajiit's mother-in-law. She passed away. That's the reason he's not here. So our hearts and prayers are for Councilman Khajiit's family. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, everyone. I think as we conclude this evening's meeting, I just want to thank you all for your participation. Today was a short one. We want to thank Torrance City Cable for covering this for us. And those of you who miss a meeting, you can always watch our meetings on YouTube or Facebook Live. And our next meeting, I'll take a motion to adjourn. Next meeting will be July 14th. Oh, maybe before I take a motion to adjourn, I want to wish everyone a super duper America's 250th birthday. How did I forget that one? We got to celebrate big, OK, everyone? Celebrate big. This is a once in a lifetime. For those who want to come and watch the fireworks, Jim, it's July 4th, Saturday. We're going to be at the LA Galaxy Sports Complex. We've beefed up more fireworks this year than previous. So you're going to see more. We're going to have a band there. Go big, whatever you celebrate. I really appreciate this country. 250 is big. OK, let's take a motion. To adjourn. Anyone?

Make a motion to adjourn the city council meeting to Tuesday, July 14th, 2026 at 5 p.m. for closed session with regular business commencing at 6.30 p.m. in the Leroy J. Jackson Council Chambers. Tuesday, June 30th, 2026 and Tuesday, July 7th, 2026 are council dark nights and we hope to see you at the 4th of July celebration.

Second.

Start voting, please.

Your Honor, that motion carries with Councilmember Gerson and Kaji absent, and Councilmember Shaik voting no.

One day, Councilmember Shaik is going to get stuck here. We're going to get him a sleeping bag. For those of you who know, our next meeting, come and celebrate with our newly elected. Okay, so that's when we're going to do transitions so that there's no surprises. And have a great Independence Day weekend, everyone. Good night.