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The March 3rd City Council elections yielded two returning Council members and one new face. Incumbents Bridget Lewis, District 2, and Sharon Kalani, District 4, will continue to represent their areas. Newly-elected District 6 Councilperson Dr. Jeremy Gerson left his Board of Education trustee position to begin serving on City Council. Among the issues that the Council will be facing in the next few months are various proposals for amendments to the City's charter. Those include whether the Council and the Mayor should receive a pay raise (their present stipend is $100. per month plus benefits); whether to expand the present 30 day residency requirement for candidates for public office; changes to the City Treasurer and City Clerk job descriptions; and if there should be a run off election when one candidate does not garner 50% of the total votes. Public input for these and other possible Charter changes is solicited for the April 23rd and June 4th Council meetings. Pictured below, left to right: Bridget Lewis, Sharon Kalani and Jeremy Gerson.
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On Tuesday, March 12, 2024, the Torrance City Council voted to continue its support of using the Metro-owned Right-of-Way to complete the Redondo-to-Torrance segment of the Metro, and accepting the LA Metro’s C-Line into the Torrance ending point at the new Mary K. Giordano Regional Transit Center. The Torrance Chamber of Commerce had previously also declared itself in favor of completing the segment. Members of the public may continue to attend or call into LA Metro’s Committee and Board monthly meetings to voice their opinion on this matter. For more information, please visit: https://www.trendingintorrance.com/cline.html or https://www.metro.net/projects/green-line-extension/  Attention Seaside Neighborhood high school seniors! Class of 2024: The Seaside Neighborhood Association (SNA) is very excited to announce a wonderful opportunity for all Seaside Neighborhood senior high school students. We have two $1,500. scholarships to award this year! These scholarships will be awarded to two students, regardless of which school they are graduating from in June 2024. Students can use the scholarship for any educational need, such as college tuition (4 year, 2 year, or trade school), books and supplies. In addition to filling out the application we request a personal statement from each applicant, student’s parents must be members of the SNA to qualify for a scholarship, and students must have resided in Seaside for their Junior and Senior years, at a minimum. PLEASE have your student fill out an application, and return by Feb 29, 2024 https://www.seasideneighborhoodassociation.org/scholarship_application.html The SNA scholarships are presented in honor of Tom Rische, who started the scholarship award many years ago. The Rische family continues to support our youth through their generous donations. We have also received generous donations from businesses and residents in our neighborhood that have enabled us to give these scholarships. Scholarships are given to individual SNA students based on a cumulative point system that includes; Academic Achievement, Letters of Recommendation, Community and School Involvement, Leadership, and Responsibilities and/or Family Need. https://www.seasideneighborhoodassociation.org/scholarship_application.html  Below is a list of SNA’s activities for 2024.
See you around the neighborhood! -The Scholarship Committee will select two high school seniors to receive our Scholarships Awards. SNA will celebrate our Scholarship winners at an in-person meeting in May. -The President will disseminate City and neighborhood information to members via articles for the SNA Blog and the newsletter, Seaside Matters. -Committees will select Green Thumb and Holiday Lights Awards winners. -A content creator will advertise for SNA’s Business Partners on SNA’s Facebook, Insta and our website. -SNA will support monthly beautification efforts at Seaside Heroes Park. -The Membership VP will solicit new and renewal memberships and Business Partners. -The Treasurer will manage Association funds, create fiscal reports and complete tax filings. -The Secretary and the VP of Community Development will fulfill the duties of their positions as well as support and participate in Board and Association activities. http://www.seasideneighborhoodassociation.org https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=sna https://www.instagram.com/seaside_neighborhood_assoc/ February 18, 2024 Dear Seaside Community residents, As the President of the Seaside Neighborhood Association, I am posting this message to bring all of you up to date on the SNA Board’s plans for the Association for 2024. I am incredibly proud of the nonprofit, all volunteer 501(c)(3) Association that present and past SNA Board Members have built, almost from scratch, in the last 9 years. But it's getting time for me and others to pass the baton to new leadership. By the beginning of 2025, I plan to hand off the role of President to someone else. We already are short one Board member, the VP of Advertising and Social Media. Other Board members will also depart at the end of 2024. We are looking for replacements for almost every Board position. It would be great to have people shadowing the Board this year so they're ready to lead in 2025. The results of the SNA Board elections in November 2024 will determine the future of this organization. To let me know of your interest in helping SNA, please write us at [email protected] Sincerely, Tricia Blanco
 Citing the aging facilities and the changing needs of the Civic Center Complex, the City has engaged the Gruen Group to create a Master Plan Proposal for a complete redo of the space. That includes the Plunge, the Library, City Hall and all other adjacent buildings and spaces. From the City webpage: "The Master Plan and Economic Feasibility Study will lay the groundwork for a new, modern center ... aligning with Torrance's aesthetic aspirations and enhancing City pride. " This is expected to be a 20 year project.
As a first step, residents are offered a survey to indicate their likely support or likely opposition to many possible options. Among them are the inclusion in the complex of retail establishments, a hotel, athletic facilities, residential housing, and cafés or restaurants. Would you be likely to support moving the Plunge to another area of Torrance? Or putting it on top of a tiered parking structure? At this early stage, just about every possibility is on the table. SNA strongly encourages all residents to fill out the survey. So far, the City is not directly contacting residents, but instead is relying on Neighborhood Associations, outreach at the Farmers Market and other venues, and presentations at Commission meetings to spread the word. For more information, to view a discussion between the Gruen Group and a handful of neighborhood association leaders, and to take the survey yourself, go to this City website: HTTPS://WWW.TORRANCECA.GOV/OUR-CITY/CIVIC-CENTER-MASTER-PLAN  THREE DEVELOPMENTS TO MAKE THE SEASON SHINE BRIGHTER 1. The King's Guard, a professional snare drum line, will offer FREE performances of their own poignant version of Little Drummer Boy just for us on Sunday, December 10. The 5 minute show will take place at 6 pm, 7 pm and 8 pm at the Halle home, 5419 Reese Road. Neighbors of all ages will enjoy the pageantry and talent of the group. Residents are encouraged to walk rather than drive in order to avoid traffic congestion.
2. The city Code Enforcement team is already on the job in the lights displays area, working with toy and food vendors to get them to move away from homes and out of the middle of streets and Emergency Vehicles lanes. All vendors are required to hold a city Business License, and food sellers need a County permit. Residents are urged to immediately report a troublesome vendor by calling (310) 618-5929 or sending an email to [email protected]. To alert the County to food sellers, call LA County Public Health’s Mobile Food Program at (626) 430-5500 or send an email to [email protected]. 3. TPD is once again maintaining a presence in the area in the form of a Motorcycle Unit which circulates on busy nights. Also, the Traffic Unit is setting up again on Robert Road and PCH, attempting to put a dent in the traffic jams that regularly occur. A popular and professional snare drumline will come to our own neighborhood on Sunday, December 10th when Dale Lofgren, brother of Seaside resident Dean Lofgren, brings his talented group The King's Guard to play its touching rendition of the classic holiday song'The Little Drummer Boy' to the Holiday Lights crowd. The group has performed all over Southern California as a holiday gift to the community for over 10 years In the course of the early evening, they plan to stop and play, completely free of charge, in front of a handful of homes in the Lights area. Seaside residents who would like to offer The King's Guard their front yard as a performance venue should call Dale at 310 920 6521 or send him an email to [email protected]. Enjoy a preview of their performance below!  In January of 2023, a Seaside Ranchos resident who is a professional market researcher created and distributed a survey regarding residents' reactions to the 2022 Holiday Lights period. The survey showed that 80% of Sleepy Hollow residents were 'not content' with the snarled traffic, the outside vendors, the (lack of) a strong police presence and the trash. The results of that survey were reported on and discussed by residents, TPD and other service providers and the Community Development Department at a rather intense community meeting on Feb. 8, 2023. It was at that meeting that Ms. Michelle Ramirez, Director of the Community Development Department, and Captain Hart of the TPD made it clear that in 2023, the outside vendor situation will be handled by a Code Enforcement group, and not the police. TPD bike and traffic officers will continue to receive overtime pay for maintaining a police present at the event, keeping the Emergency Access Lanes clear, handling disturbances, and trying to manage the extraordinary number of vehicles filled with spirited visitors from all over Los Angeles who come to the neighborhood every year.
This Tuesday, October 24, the City Council will review the results of the May 18th Citizen Development and Enrichment Committee meeting, in which the Committee accepted the Staff recommendations. Read the Staff report for Item 9C, including the survey results, here: 9C - STAFF REPORT. Staff will recommend that Council 1). Accept and file the May 18, 2023 Committee meeting minutes; and 2). Review appropriated resource contributions to the neighborhood-coordinated Seaside Ranchos Holiday Lights Display. To comment on item 9C, you may attend the meeting in person, or send an email to City Council stating your viewpoint, A detailed account of all the laws governing outside vendors can be found on this City website: www.trendingintorrance.com/sidewalk-vending.html Among the very long listing of Operating Requirements for sidewalk vendors (414.1.120), ordinance (c) states that '"Sidewalk vendors must at all times provide a clearance of not less than three (3) feet on all sidewalks or pedestrian areas so as to enable persons to freely pass while walking, running, or using mobility assistance devices and to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act." Last December, outside vendors blocked sidewalks, streets and even the Emergency Access Lanes. Will the Code Enforcement group enforce that provision this December? An email from the Torrance Transit Planning Manager, states the following:
Metro Staff will not be presenting at the October 2023 Metro Board meeting with a recommendation for a preferred alignment, called the “Locally Preferred Alternative” (LPA). Metro staff is anticipated to present to the Metro Board in early 2024. Due to recent board motion from LA County Supervisor Holly Mitchell to add more communities meeting for this project, the Torrance City Council Meeting to Discuss C-Line Extension to Torrance will be moved to later date (TDB). I will make sure to include you in future updates for this project as well.- David Mach |
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