CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Candidates send out potholders to handle a hot 55th Assembly race.

MATERNAL MUSCLE: You can always tell when things are heating up in an election year. Whenever the candidates start feeling the pressure, they usually break out the old campaign potholders.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the hotly contested 55th Assembly race, where Dick Floyd and Dave Elder are duking it out for their party’s nomination against Juanita McDonald. The race for the predominantly South Bay/Long Beach seat is so tight that Floyd and Elder decided to break out the big guns earlier, sending out dueling potholders with “vote for me” admonitions to prospective voters.

But Floyd didn’t stop with kitchen necessities. Unlike some candidates who will raise the flag, motherhood and apple pie in the same sentence, Floyd went one step further. His mother, Viola, is out stumping on the campaign circuit to get Dick reelected.

“Now you should vote for Dick Floyd, if you want somebody who is going to fight for us up in Sacramento, because that’s what my son is . . . a fighter,” reads a letter Viola Floyd is sending out to voters in the district. “He was that way when he was a little boy. His father and I taught Dick to always stand up for what he believed in and he certainly listened well.”

Since this is only the primary, we can only wonder what will happen in the general election in November. Campaign cookies from Grandma?

JUMPING OFF THE BANDWAGON: Bungee backers are not jumping for joy in Carson these days. In fact, they’re not jumping at all.

Plans to open a bungee-jumping platform at the South Bay Drive-in Theater were recently torpedoed by the City Council. A company called California Bungee had proposed using a crane to lift jumpers 140 feet off the ground, where elastic cords would carry fans plunging down--and hopefully back up.

But the council said that although bungee jumping may be uplifting to some, questions about safety and liability were serious enough to warrant nixing the whole idea.

No word yet if bungee advocates will try to jump to another South Bay city.

TRUTH-IN-ADVERTISING: The slogan of the Torrance Visitors’ Bureau is “Halfway to Everywhere,” which apparently is supposed to mean that the city is close to a number of interesting places. The problem, of course, is that if you’re halfway to everywhere, you presumably are also halfway to nowhere.

But the Chamber of Commerce chose to overlook that. On the cover of the chamber’s magazine, “Destination Torrance--Halfway to Everywhere!” is scrawled on a postcard that depicts in colored ink such famed L.A. hot spots as Universal Studios, the Hollywood Bowl, Beverly Hills and Disneyland. Torrance sits near the center, a nondescript grayish block that looks more like the Union Bank building on Hawthorne Boulevard.

“Some people love it, and some hate it,” Judith R. Share, manager of the visitor’s bureau, said of the slogan.

Mayor Katy Geissert said she doesn’t mind the slogan as long as it is paired with graphics showing Torrance close by Los Angeles’ attractions. But Councilman Don Lee says he personally prefers the phrase “Destination Torrance” because it uses the city’s name. And besides, Lee notes, “You can always make ‘Halfway to Everywhere’ mean the opposite.’ ”

ROLL OF THE VICE: Hawthorne is looking for a few good cops. The question is, how are they going to pay for them?

The council is grappling with several financing options, ranging from a utility tax to a proposal from one resident to open a gambling casino.

We don’t know if they’ll ever find the money for more police, but don’t bet on a new casino in the City of Good Neighbors anytime soon. Almost as soon as the idea was raised, a group of religious leaders got together to oppose any casino. They are even planning to march from City Hall to a local church June 7 to protest the proposal.

Councilman Larry Guidi is also in the no-casino corner. “When you bring in gambling into a city, it brings in corruption,” he said. “I saw what happened in the city of Bell. It brings in bad vices.”

NEXT WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Inglewood: Shovels will be swinging Tuesday morning at the corner of La Cienega and Hillcrest boulevards, site of the new K mart store. The groundbreaking is expected to draw a host of city officials, who in the wake of last month’s rioting, are anxious to promote Inglewood as a safe place to do business.

Torrance: The city Traffic Commission will hold a meeting Monday on proposed changes in city circulation and transportation planning as part of a revised General Plan. People are invited to comment on a draft plan, which can be obtained from the city Transportation and Planning departments. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m. in City Hall council chambers, 3031 Torrance Blvd.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Avalon: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 209 Metropole. (310) 510-0220. Televised live on Channel 3 (Catalina Cable) and repeated Saturday morning.

Carson: 6 p.m. Tuesday, 701 E. Carson St. (310) 830-7600. Televised at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 26 (Continental Cablevision) and repeated the following Wednesday.

El Segundo: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 350 Main St. (310) 322-4670. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated at noon Wednesday.

Inglewood: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd. (310) 412-5280. No cable telecast.

Lawndale: 7 p.m. Thursday, 14717 Burin Ave. (310) 973-4321. Televised live on Channel 60 and repeated several times during the week.

Lomita: 7 p.m. Monday, 24300 Narbonne Ave. (310) 325-7170. No cable telecasts.

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. In San Pedro, (310) 548-7637; in Wilmington, (310) 548-7586; in Harbor City/Harbor Gateway, 548-7664; in Westchester, (310) 641-4717. Televised live on Channel 35; meetings repeated individually at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and collectively on Sunday starting at 10 a.m.

Manhattan Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1400 Highland Ave. (310) 545-5621. Televised on Channel 3 (MultiVision) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Rancho Palos Verdes: 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, Hesse Park, 29201 Hawthorne Blvd. (310) 377-0360. Televised live on Channel 3; repeated at 7:30 p.m. the following Thursday.

Redondo Beach: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 415 Diamond St. (310) 372-1171. Televised live on Channel 8 (Century); repeated at 3 p.m. Wednesday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Torrance: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd. (310) 618-5880. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon), and replayed at 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.