The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 5, No. 50 - December 10, 2015 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................10 Classifieds............................4 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Film Review..........................4 Legals....................................9 Police Reports.....................3 Real Estate.........................12 Sports....................................5 TerriAnn in Torrance..........6 Weekend Forecast Successful Community Expo TerriAnn Ferren from the Torrance Cultural Arts Center promoted the city’s various business and entertainment facilities available to book for a function including the Toyota Meeting Hall where this year’s USBA Expo was held. For more photos see page 7. Photos Provided by Unified Small Business Alliance. • Council Honors Retiring Employees From Four Different Departments By Cristian Vasquez Tuesday night’s city council meeting honored employees from two different departments on their upcoming retirements, including Monty Latham for the General Services Department for 36 years of service and Chester M. Pitts from the Torrance Police Department. Resolutions honoring Thomas W. Cook of the Public Works Department for 36 years of service and James Caprio of the Communication and Information Technology Department for 32 years of service were also approved but the two will be honored at a later date. Latham began his career with the City of Torrance in 1979 as a semi-skilled laborer with the Street Department. After 12 years of service he became an airport worker at the city’s municipal airport where he stood out not just as an employee but as mentor as well. “I have known you the last 20 years of your 36 years and there were three important things that you taught me in that time,” General Services Director Sheryl Ballew said to Latham during the meeting. “Number one: compassion. As they indicated in the resolution you were always very professional and caring during any incident at the airport, whether an event or an emergency. Number two was you taught me the art of patience. When I came to the airport I didn’t know a piper from a cessna plane and then came the phonetic alphabet, yet you were always supportive and a good teacher. “Lastly, you taught about an expression that is used frequently in the aviation world: any landing you can walk away from, is a good landing,” Ballew added. “And Mr. Monty Latham, I would say that after 36 years of service with the City of Torrance, you’ve had a very good landing.” Officer Pitts, who also launched his career in 1979, was born and raised in Los Angeles where he graduated from Crenshaw High School. After completing his education at Cal State University, Los Angeles, Officer Pitts applied with LAPD, Pasadena P.D. but it would be the Torrance Police Department to offer him a home to launch his career. “It has been a wonderful ride, it really has,” Officer Pitts said. “I have had the distinction of working with five chiefs and not many people can say that. It’s been good; I am kind of sad that it’s coming to an end but I’ve had some great partners and worked with some really great people. The citizens of Torrance have always been number one, especially with the police department. They did not hesitate to pick up the phone.” Officer Pitts worked a wide-range of assignments with the police department and would become the first full-time officer assigned to See City Council, page 10 Ragins, Lee Sworn-In During Board Meeting By Cristian Vasquez Former Torrance School Board President Don Lee and Board Member Terry Ragins were sworn in to their next term on the city’s school board during Monday night’s regular meeting. Both Ragins and Lee, who are long-serving board members that plan to serve just one more term, won reelection in November by a comfortable margin. “We represented the district well in the process,” Lee said. “Mrs. Ragins and I managed to get 65 percent of the votes, so it looks like the community feels pretty well about what we did.” Both Lee and Ragins reflected on their time serving on the school board, as well as their respective journeys as public servants in the City of Torrance. Lee, who was installed by Mr. Applegate, shared some details regarding the beginnings of his life in public service, dating back to when he was 21 years old. “Mr. Applegate who knew my father, and what Mr. Applegate did which I think is something we should all do is, he mentored a lot of people through the political process,” Lee said. “He had to put up with me hanging out and popping into his office from time to time, sit in a chair and learn what was going on. While a lot of people did that for me, he was certainly the first and it is something that I think the community needs to do. I think we need more people involved into this process, whether it be here or at the city council.” See School Board, page 12 Friday Mostly Sunny/Wind 63˚/48˚ Saturday Sunny 67˚/49˚ Sunday PM Showers 65˚/51˚
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