The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 4, No. 18 - May 1, 2014 Toyota Moves Operations From Torrance to Plano, Texas Mayor Frank Scotto addresses a crowd at a press conference last night; behind him stand City Councilmembers Kurt Weideman, Pat Furey, Bill Sutherland, and Heidi Ann Ashcraft. Toyota has announced that, in a move planned to last at least two years, it is relocating employees and operations to Plano, Texas. According to 66th District Assemblyman Al Murasutchi, “Toyota representatives have personally informed me that this is strictly a business decision that has nothing to do with California’s business climate. This is a nationwide corporate decision to consolidate their operations in one location. As part of this consolidation, Toyota will be moving manufacturing jobs from Kentucky as well as sales and financial jobs from Torrance.” When the move is completed, all of Toyota’s American operations will be centered in the South. See story below. Photo by TerriAnn Ferren. Inside This Issue Business Briefs...................8 Calendar...............................2 Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................14 Classifieds..........................12 Crossword/Sudoku...........12 Elections........................... 3-6 Food.......................................9 Legals..................................13 Police Reports.....................6 Politically Speaking..........11 Real Estate.........................16 Sports....................................7 TerriAnn in Torrance........10 Weekend Forecast ROAD TO ELECTION 2014 Toyota Moves to Texas By TerriAnn Ferren At 11:06 a.m. Monday, April 28, 2014 in front of the Torrance City Hall, Mayor Frank Scotto announced that Toyota Motor Sales, Inc. would be moving their complete operations including management, sales, and marketing divisions to Plano, Texas. Toyota came to Torrance in 1982 settling on 101 acres of land in downtown Torrance. Toyota has been a great partner with the city of Torrance and employs near 5,000 people who live in and around the South Bay area. According to Mayor Scotto, “The process starts at the beginning of 2016 and they say they will complete it by the end of 2017. So it will be a 2 year period of time to expect to make the move in entirety.” Mayor Scotto also said that the City of Torrance would take a 1.2 million dollar hit to its budget, but because Torrance is fiscally conservative, that is less of a blow than the blow to the whole economy of the South Bay. “The emotional aspect is - I have family that work for Toyota personally and I’m hoping they don’t move to Texas…families, extended families are part of this thing and we know it will be a big deal. This is not a simple thing,” added Mayor Scotto. He ended the press conference saying he will work diligently to, “…get somebody to replace them as soon as we can. We are saddened about the news and we hope that everybody understands that Torrance has done everything it can to keep them here – we’re hoping to attract another company like that…” Fran Fulton, Senior Management Associate and Director of Economic Development said, “We are very disappointed that this decision has been made. Toyota is a huge part of our community. Torrance is a business friendly community – a very well rounded community. We’re open for businesses that want to come to the city and we’re happy to help. We’re disappointed with this news. We wish we could do something to change their minds to keep them here, but again we want everyone to know that Torrance is a business friendly city and we encourage any and all businesses to come and give us a look about coming here.” • Friday Sunny 89˚/62˚ Saturday Sunny 76˚/57˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 71˚/54˚ Bocce Courts Project Given Boeing Employee Grant By Dylan Little The Friends of Torrance Exceptional Athletes (FTEA) have been working on building three handicap friendly bocce courts at Columbia park, and thanks to the donations of a group of Boeing employees, they are much closer to accomplishing their goal. Long-time FTEA and South Bay Bocce Court Project volunteer Bob Chiota helped the group submit a grant proposal to the Boeing Employees Community Fund, an employee-owned organization that charitably funds community organizations. On April 28, Boeing employees decided to contribute $5,000 to building these bocce courts, the maximum the organization can fund any one project. “I was beside myself,” said Chiota. “We were a first time requester and they rarely give the maximum the first time around.” The Bocce Court Project doesn’t just solicit donations; the group has hosted numerous fundraising events. One of the most notable was last month’s Charity Bocce tournament held in Hawthorne. The event drew in teams from as far as San Diego, with the SNAFU team from Downey and the Andiamo Bocce team from San Pedro winning first and second place respectively. More importantly, the event brought in $3,400 in donations to help construct the courts through entry fees, bake sales and a raffle. The proceeds from this tournament and other fundraising efforts of the South Bay Bocce Court Project are pledged towards turning an unused basketball court at Columbia Park into three handicap- and elderly-accessible bocce courts, which will be available as a safe and convenient place for Torrance’s aging, physically challenged and general populations to enjoy the sport. The group hopes to raise between $55,000 and $60,000 to create three unique bocce courts at the park. These courts are especially important to those with mobility difficulties because according to the South Bay Bocce See Bocce Courts, page 13
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