Carson Boulevard Improvements

Destination Torrance! The city that loses millions of dollars in bad investments, yet pays the investor while he’s on stress leave; pays millions out in bogus lawsuits its lawyers can’t defend; permits a former police chief to buy confiscated luxury cars at below wholesale prices; paid three times as much for mosquito abatement as the county and still couldn’t control them; buys an earthmover that it can’t use because it’s too big for city streets; gives hundreds of dollars yearly to already overpaid city officials for “leave of absence,” . . . the list goes on.

Add to this list of boondoggles the so-called Carson Boulevard Improvement Program. First started in May, 1990, it was supposed to be finished by October, 1990. This was to put utilities underground and update water mains, etc., between Madrona Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard. After spending 1990 digging up the same trench 15 times, they finally got the utilities done--we thought!

Then came 1991, and they decided to do it again. They dug the same trenches over and over, with all the dirt, dust and noise that entails, all through 1991. Add to this the water tankers loading up at the hydrant outside my window every 15 minutes, starting as early as 5 a.m., and this is during the drought, as well. However, around August I received a letter from Mr. (Richard) Burtt, the city engineer, saying how well-coordinated the job was and all would be finished in October. After October came and went, another letter stated his highly coordinated job would be done in December.

In January, 1992, another letter says his project will be finished in May; well, here it is June 19, and the water is still loading outside my window every 15 minutes, and Carson is still a two-lane road, but I guess the project is still well-planned, huh, Mr. Burtt?

Now Torrance wants to raise our taxes for school maintenance and facilities improvement. Give the job to the Torrance Engineering Department. We know they’ll use the money efficiently, don’t we? We can put out 600 Kuwaiti oil fires in six months, but Torrance can’t put in a half-mile of pipe and pavement in three years!

JIM FOY

Torrance