Torrance Kills Plan to Return to April Vote

Although voter turnout has steadily decreased since Torrance moved up its municipal elections to March, City Council members don’t favor switching back to April, when most other South Bay cities vote.

With unusual swiftness, the council voted 6 to 1 Tuesday night not to place a proposed charter amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot that would push the elections back.

Councilman Bill Applegate suggested the change in an effort to boost turnout in city elections, which has generally dropped since 1974, when voters approved the switch to March. In 1976, 24% of eligible voters went to the polls; last March, only 15% voted.

Torrance taxpayers spent at least $105,000 to hold that election, or $10.36 for each of the 10,133 votes cast. All three incumbents up for reelection won.

Applegate said the charter amendment offered the prospect of “something other than the dismal 15% turnouts we’ve been having.”

But his colleagues balked at the change.

Higher Offices Sought

Council members privately acknowledge that if the municipal election were held in April, it would be more difficult for Torrance council members to run for reelection and then for higher office in the same year. The filing period for state offices ends in March, usually a few days after the Torrance election.

Veteran Councilman Dan Walker, who has made no secret of his desire to run for a legislative seat and has amassed a large campaign fund in anticipation of such a race, recommended killing the charter amendment. “I think we ought to take it and file it,” Walker said.

He argued that Torrance is “the focal point of news in the South Bay area” when it holds its election in March. If the date were changed, Walker said, Torrance would have to fight it out with other cities for press attention. “There is absolutely nothing to be gained,” he said.

Councilman Mark Wirth, a Democrat who is running against Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro) in the 51st Assembly District, also opposed the change. He said Torrance should “just stick with the date we have.”

Councilman George Nakano said there was no evidence that changing the date of the election would save money, as some have said.

The council did agree to place two other charter amendments on the November general election ballot.

One would allow the city to publish a summary rather than the full text of newly adopted ordinances when running legal ads. Officials say the measure would save the city money, noting that publication of the recently amended Uniform Fire Code alone cost $8,000.

The other charter amendment would give city prosecutors the flexibility to make violation of a city ordinance either an infraction, punishable by a fine up to a $250, or a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of $500, a jail term of up to six months, or both.