Page 4 May 1, 2014 TORRANCE TRIBUNE ELECTION 2014 Questions for the City Council Candidates See City Council Candidates, page 5 The Torrance Tribune complied a number of questions from Torrance residents and businesses to pose to the candidates for Mayor and City Council. We will publish two questions per week. Each candidate has a 200-word limit per question. Herald Publications does not edit or change any candidate’s answers. We have a lot of pending retirements coming up in Torrance including the Police Chief, Fire Chief, City Manager, City Clerk, in addition to a new Mayor and 4-5 open council seats. What are your ideas on how to make this as seamless a transition as possible? Heidi Ashcraft: The election on June 3, 2014 is critical because it is the first time Torrance will have 4 city council seats up for election at the same time. It will require a leader with a firm grasp of the mechanisms of city government if and when retirements take place in the near future. I have the experience of participating in and developing the criteria of hiring 3 superintendents for 2 different school districts. My first priority would be to look within the current city employees as potential replacement leaders before looking outside. The City of Torrance has developed a model leadership-training program that gives opportunities for employees to take classes in management and leadership skills to advance their employment. I would look for the most qualified candidate to meet the needs of our unique and diversified city. Tim Goodrich: Of these many changes in Torrance, the first one to happen will be the turnover of the City Council with the election on June 3rd. Because so many seats will be changing, it’s imperative we elect people who are ready to serve on day one. With a long record of service to our community (Police and Fire Department volunteer, Board Member of the Torrance Education Foundation, Member of the School Bond Oversight Committee, etc.) and an education to match (Master of Public Administration and City and County Management Fellow at USC) , I feel that I’m up to the task. In terms of filling any vacancies left by retiring city staff, I think it’s important to make sure that current staff members are eligible to apply for the openings. This is important because I believe we have current staff members who may already be qualified for the higher level positions. Michael Griffiths: From the information that has been shared with me in my meetings with our department heads, I’ve learned that our departments have worked hard to set up a succession plan so-to-speak, where the key employee works closely to groom one or more potential successors. As what just happened with the replacement of our Police Chief John Neu after his recent retirement, the City Manager ultimately picked Mark Matsuda who had been ‘groomed’ as a likely successor by the chief well prior to his retirement. This results in a replacement who already is trained and well familiar with the issues, traditions and history of working in that department. My preference would always to try to hire from within as the first choice. And I feel that the voters should use this same thinking when voting for new councilmembers. To choose candidates who have the experience and training to step in and be productive councilmembers as quickly as possible. Milton Herring: Succession planning is a part of every organization and government. Torrance has a process in place and it worked well most recently with the hiring of a new Police Chief. The decision was made by the City Manager to hire within the department and several qualified applicants applied. City Manager, Leroy Jackson, announced the appointment of Mark Matsuda as the new Police Chief after serving as acting Police Chief. The process was seamless. The same process would be applied to the position of Fire Chief. In regards to City Manager, the Councilmembers would make the decision to hire from within the department or seek qualified applicants from outside. The City Manager is currently training others who would be qualified to fill his position when he retires. Regarding City Clerk, Mayor and Council seats, the residents of Torrance will decide and there are job descriptions in place for a smooth transition. Rahmat H. Khan: Answer not submitted by deadline. Leilani A. Kimmel-Dagostino: The Fire Chief position has already been filled by acting Police Chief Mark Matsuda. He had been filling in until a replacement was named and has extensive knowledge and experience and the respect of the Police Department. The City Clerk position will be decided in the election on June 3. Two of the candidates have been working in the City Clerk’s office for some time and should have no problem in assuming the duties that the position requires. In regards to the Fire Chief position, the Fire Department already has a system for succession planning and has candidates in place who are capable of assuming the position. The City Manager’s office has many qualified candidates to choose from who have the experience and tenure that the City Manager position requires. There is no need to go outside the city as we have qualified candidates within our city departments for these two critical areas. Ryan H. Mand: Answer not submitted by deadline. Aurelio Mattucci: Answer not submitted by deadline. Omar Navarro: Answer not submitted by deadline. Clint Andrew Paulson: This transition period is critical. More important than the transition, however, is to focus on electing leaders that will move Torrance in the right direction for the next eight years and beyond. If you elect the right people, they will get the job done in the short and long term. There has been a lot of talk about experience during this campaign. Many candidates are touting their past experience guiding this city on the School Board, one of the Commissions, or even the Council itself as reasons why you should vote for them. I applaud those that have served in these roles. Nonetheless, the question every voter should be asking is whether our city is better off because of that service. Reckless spending has brought us to the brink of financial instability. We have no money to fix our streets and sidewalks. Critical businesses such as Toyota are rumored to be moving out of Torrance. Our schools have been on the decline for at least a decade. Torrance is still an amazing city, but I question whether things have been moving in the right direction with our current experienced leadership. I believe it is time for fresh faces with new ideas. There are many experienced candidates whose entire campaign platform seems to amount to no more than I am endorsed by such and such Mayor, former Mayor, etc. I believe Torrance deserves better than that. Geoffrey Rizzo: As far as the city staff, succession planning is the key. I think the recent appointment of the new Police Chief points to this in that a qualified individual was promoted from inside the organization. I believe this will be true for the Fire Department as well as the City Manager. For the elected positions ( Mayor, Council, and Clerk) I believe the fact that all three of the Mayoral candidates have prior experience on the council will aide in a transition of this position. The council positions will be more problematic inasmuch as who will fill these positions is an unknown. Hopefully the electorate will select individuals that they believe have the experience, knowledge, and expertise necessary to be effective. This along with mentoring from the Mayor and sitting council member or members and the orientation training provided by staff will go a long way to ease the transition of the new members. The same is true for the City Clerk. Two of the current candidates have prior experience within the Clerk’s office. Should one of these two be elected I believe the transition will not be difficult. As far as the remaining candidate with no prior experience, I would propose providing this individual with training - perhaps through City Clerk’s Association of California. Alex M. See: Torrance will be facing many changes in the upcoming months and in order to maintain the quality services that Torrance residents deserve and expect, we need to elect leaders who have been involved with the community and understand the way our city government operates. As a water commissioner for the past 8 years and local business owner, I’ve dealt extensively with each of the city departments and I am prepared to work hard to preserve the legacy of our retiring city leaders while ushering in a new era of Torrance government. Norm “Opa” Segal: Torrance is a well run city. The new Police Chief was chosen from within the department and rightfully so. The new Fire Chief will most likely follow the same patern. These two retirements should be seemless. Our Police and Fire Departments are highly professional organizations. The City Manager, City Clerk and new Councilmembers will have a lot of work ahead of them to learn our systems, our people and our culture. Good people can come up to speed fast. I think the most critical is the new City Manager. I would want the City to hire a competant individual with a substantial resume. I would want to assure that this individual had the full support and backing of the various Directors and Chiefs. As a new Councilmember, I would be one of these persons with a lot of work ahead of me. I would hope that the existing Councilmembers would assist me as I would any Councilmember that would follow me. These transitions take time and should not be forced. Charlotte Ann Svolos: We have appointed a replacement for our Police Chief in Mark Matsuda. This was done from within the ranks of our currently serving officers, specifically a Deputy Chief. This decision is an example of smooth transition. In general, there should always be succession plans for such important positions. For the Fire Chief and City Manager, I would recommend having hiring panels that include the men retiring. They are aware that they intend to retire in the future and they should be drafting notes on current practice and procedures. What is usually lacking in such manuals is the rationale for why certain things are done. This would not bind a replacement to using all of the prior practices but it would make certain that a replacement understood current practice before making changes. Mayor and Clerk are different matters in some ways because of the fact that they are elective offices. I hope that all who intend to aspire to these offices have read back through past agendas and decisions, as I have. I hope that those moving on would sit down with those elected during the transition and beyond for the good of the city. I believe they will as several have already offered insight or knowledge to me as a candidate. John Paul Tabakian: Toyota is leaving Torrance! This is proof positive of a total failure of current and past city executive and political leaders, to prepare for a funding Enjoy a good read with your morning coffee... Subscribe to one of Herald Publications weekly newspapers. 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Torrance 05_01_14
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