Torrance’s City Attorney Plans to Retire Later This Year : Government: Council members praise Kenneth L. Nelson, 55, for his work with Mobil Oil and other litigation. He cites ‘purely personal’ reasons for calling it quits.

Torrance City Atty. Kenneth L. Nelson, who helped guide the city in its legal battle with Mobil Oil, has announced he is retiring after four years on the job.

Nelson, who told council members of his decision in a closed meeting on Tuesday, says he plans to leave office later this year. He attributes the decision to “purely personal” reasons.

“I’ve reached a point in my life where I want to look for something different,” Nelson, 55, said Thursday. “I have worked for a city or county since 1961. During that time, I attended about 3,500 meetings of some sort. That’s a lot, especially when a lot of them are at night.”

The decision caught city leaders by surprise.

“I wasn’t expecting Ken to retire,” Councilman Mark Wirth said. “I think he did a very good job as city attorney, considering the tough issues we’ve faced during his time here.”

Nelson became Torrance’s top legal adviser in December, 1988, assuming management responsibility for a half-dozen attorneys. He had been hired away from Santa Barbara County, where he was the chief legal adviser to the County Board of Supervisors. Before that, he served for 10 years as city attorney in Hawthorne.

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He charted Torrance’s legal course in several high-profile lawsuits, including one that the city filed against Mobil over alleged safety problems at the oil company’s Torrance refinery. The case was settled last year, with Torrance and Mobil signing a consent decree that calls for changes in the refinery’s operations.

One of the decree’s chief features is a requirement that Mobil modify or phase out hydrofluoric acid, a highly toxic chemical used at the refinery, by the end of 1997. The agreement has also prompted the appointment of a safety adviser to monitor refinery safety.

“It’s gonna make our community a whole lot safer to live in,” Nelson said. “I regard that one (settlement) as very satisfying.”

Councilman Bill Applegate noted that Nelson’s tenure in Torrance was marked by tough legal cases, most of which were initiated before the city attorney had taken office.

In the past several years, Torrance has been hit by more than $10 million in large legal settlements, a significant amount of which has had to be paid from the city’s self-insurance reserves. In one case last year, the city paid $6.5 million to the family of a 19-year-old motorcyclist killed in a collision with an off-duty police officer.

“He came in at a very tough time,” Applegate said. “I’m not sure that there was a time in the city when he did not have a tough time. He was busy the day he walked through the door and probably will remain busy until the day he leaves.”