In Torrance, controversy arises over a retiree’s honorable mention.

TOUCHY TESTIMONIAL: Thomas C. Rupert, who recently retired as Torrance City Treasurer, drew fire during his final year in office for losing $6.2 million in city funds to an investment swindler. He was also criticized for making a $1 million long-term investment that violated city guidelines and is now worth about $450,000.

But such financial miscues didn’t keep six City Council members from approving a resolution last week honoring Rupert for “29 years of professional and dedicated service.”

Mayor Katy Geissert, a longtime Rupert supporter, pointed out that the embattled former treasurer has never been accused of criminal wrongdoing and that the resolution is routine for city employees with more than 20 years of service.

Councilwoman Maureen O’Donnell, however, refused to sign the resolution.

“I have more regard for the feelings of the taxpayer than the feelings of Tom Rupert,” O’Donnell said. “I believe that if there were an election today he would be voted out of office and that the taxpaying public . . . would not approve of a resolution honoring him as a jolly good fellow.”

THE PURSUIT OF ZZZZZ: Manhattan Beach residents who have been awakened at dawn by construction crews may soon rest a little easier knowing their right to a sound sleep could be protected by a proposed Neighborhood Bill of Rights.

The bill, an amendment to the city’s current building code, would require contractors to post a sign at every work site listing their obligations to neighbors on such matters as parking, clean-up, start-up and finishing times.

The sign, which would also include a phone number for complaints, is meant to educate not only neighbors but also workers, who can’t be expected to know all of the city’s building restrictions, said Councilman Steve Napolitano.

The Neighborhood Bill of Rights, expected to come before the council at the next regular meeting, may not establish a constitutional right to snooze but it sure would provide domestic tranquillity, said Napolitano, who authored the proposal.

Napolitano should know. His house was recently sandwiched between two construction projects.

HELP FOR THE HUNGRY: Members of the Hermosa Beach Church of Christ collected 230 boxes of food for hungry Croatian refugees displaced from Bosnia.

Each box includes enough dried beans, rice, canned meat, pasta, powdered milk, sugar and flour to feed a family of four for a month. The food was shipped this week to a Church of Christ missionary in Zagreb, the Croatian capital, who will distribute it to needy families.

“A lot of times you collect goods and you just kind of send them off into space because you don’t know how it will be distributed,” said Dale Gifford, the Hermosa Beach church’s minister. “But in this situation, we felt we had a direct pipeline and could feel good it would get to the right place.”

TICKET TO RIDE: Santa Ana attorney John R. Farris Jr. makes a living fighting traffic tickets. He and his partner, Mark Sutherland, have dubbed themselves the “Traffic Ticket Attorneys” and are known in Orange County as legal sharks when it comes to traffic matters.

Last November, Farris made headlines when he got a speeding ticket thrown out of court because police motorcycles in Laguna Beach violate a state code that says they must be black and white or plain white. The Laguna Beach motorcycles were white with blue trim.

But among Farris’ most unusual cases was one recently dismissed in South Bay Municipal Court. Farris represented Manhattan Beach real estate agent Kathleen Parsons, who was issued a citation with what appeared to be a fish-shaped Christian symbol drawn on it. A judge dismissed the ticket on an unrelated technicality.

“That is not something I’ve seen before,” said Farris, who has been fighting tickets full-time since 1990.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“It seems like I get more understanding out of my (son) than from my wife. It’s strange when some 12-year-old tells you that ‘It’s all right Daddy--you do the best you can,’ and the adults tell you you’re no good and you’re this and you’re that.”

--Robert, 40, a part-time window washer who has been homeless since 1991.

LAST WEEK’S CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Redondo Beach: City Engineer Desi Alvarez identified 19 projects that could qualify for federal funding under the President’s plan to jump-start the economy. Among them are projects to widen Inglewood Avenue and Marine Street and to resurface several other city streets.

THIS WEEK’S CITY HALL HIGHLIGHTS

Inglewood: The City Council will debate whether it should televise its regular Tuesday night meetings on cable television. The council will also discuss a proposal to borrow money from the city’s capital fund to cover the deficit; the loan would be paid off with future card club revenues.

Los Angeles: The Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Division will have a seminar Tuesday on how to stop graffiti at the LAPD’s pistol range, 2981 N. Gaffey. Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores will be among the guest speakers.