A former candidate looks for a commission but finds himself out in the cold.

OUT OF COMMISSION: Attorney Burton Fletcher acknowledges he ran a hard-hitting campaign last year in an unsuccessful bid for a Torrance City Council seat. The campaign was critical of various City Hall practices and was the most expensive in Torrance history.

Nevertheless, he hoped that he could leave the campaign in the past when he applied for seats on 11 city commissions. Last Tuesday the council filled the seats--and Fletcher didn’t get one nomination.

“I’m disappointed but the outcome was predictable because, unfortunately, a couple of council members intimidated the others to not vote for me,” Fletcher said.

One of those council members, according to Fletcher, is Maureen O’Donnell, the top vote-getter in the last election. O’Donnell denies any vindictiveness toward Fletcher, and noted that the council appointed another unsuccessful council candidate, William Cook, to a commission seat.

“Mr. Burton Fletcher feels that he was the most qualified candidate, above and beyond all others who applied, and seven council members did not agree with him,” O’Donnell said.

Fletcher, meanwhile, said he plans to run for the council again in 1994.

JUST REWARDS: The Rancho Palos Verdes City Council this week stepped up the war against graffiti by offering up to $250 for information leading to the arrest of outlaw taggers.

City officials acknowledge the reward isn’t likely to stop out-of-town taggers, but they hope that local kids who spray their tags on walls or road signs will be spotted and turned in. The city spends up to $15,000 a year cleaning up graffiti, not much compared to other cities.

“We don’t have a big problem, but it’s a matter of community standards. We don’t want it to get started,” said City Manager Paul Bussey.

LANDMARK DECISION: A move to bestow historical landmark status on Tony’s on the Pier of Redondo Beach crashed onto the rocks this week.

The building’s owner, Stephen Shoemaker of the Redondo Horseshoe Pier Co., said he applied to have the 42-year-old restaurant designated as one of the city’s official historical sites as a marketing ploy for drawing customers to the pier. But restaurant proprietor Tony Trutanich wasn’t so thrilled. He was concerned that the regulations accompanying a landmark designation might interfere with a future sale--and he wasn’t exactly sure what historical site status would mean.

“Ask me about the food and the booze and I’ll tell you about it,” Trutanich said. “But a historical monument? What the hell is that? That’s some kind of a big tree isn’t it?”

After learning of Trutanich’s hesitancy, the city’s Harbor Commission voted down the request Monday night. Shoemaker said he would probably drop the application instead of battling Trutanich, the City Council and the local preservation commission.

Perhaps the application withdrawal was for the best. While complimenting the restaurant’s second-story turret, a city staff report tersely observed the establishment’s architectural style “is not particularly significant or noteworthy.”

HELP FOR THE HUNGRY: Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, a private nonprofit group that collects surplus food from grocery stores and food companies and then distributes it to charities, has opened a food distribution center in Torrance.

The 11,335-square-foot warehouse, which initially will serve 10 local charities, “will enable us to better serve the South Bay,” said executive director Doris Bloch, who estimates that there are 40 charities in the area who could use the organization’s services.

Before this week, the 20-year-old anti-hunger group operated out of a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles. But to make food pickups easier on local charities, the group’s board of directors decided to open distribution centers in Torrance, the San Gabriel Valley and the San Fernando Valley.

“Transportation, believe it or not, is a big problem for charities,” Bloch said. “Sometimes they don’t have the vehicle or someone to drive it or even . . . the gas money. We’re trying to make it as practical and as (inexpensive) as possible for charities to get to the food bank.”

Last year’s riots were also a factor in the decision to open branch centers, she said.

“It was evident throughout the civil disorders of 1992 that the food bank needed a better means of reaching all of Los Angeles County,” Bloch said. “Opening branch facilities . . . helps ensure that in an emergency we can reach every area of the county.”

LAST WEEK’S CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Rancho Palos Verdes: The City Council will impose a user tax of some kind at the county-owned Los Verdes Country Club to raise needed revenue. The exact amount hasn’t been set yet, but the council made it clear Monday night that a 5% or 10% tax is coming, probably in February.

Torrance: To improve the flow of traffic along Hawthorne Boulevard, the City Council on Tuesday approved a plan to synchronize traffic lights on the thoroughfare between 244th Street and Rolling Hills Road. Funding for the project will be provided by the County of Los Angeles at no cost to Torrance.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Los Angeles: The City Council will be asked to consider supporting state legislation that would allow gaming activity on cruise ships. The action is aimed at a new state law that prohibits shipboard gambling on vessels traveling between two California ports. The law, aimed at cruises that are organized solely for gaming purposes, will hurt the port’s cruise ship industry, according to Harbor Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores.

Wilmington: Labor/Community Watchdog Inc. will have a meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Banning High School, 1527 Lakme St., to discuss emergency evacuation procedures in case of industrial accidents. The featured speaker is Fred Millar of the Washington, D.C.-based Friends of the Earth.

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) 325-7110. 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, (310) 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 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.