City Attorney, 57, Says He Will Retire From Simi Post in 6 Months

Most folks know City Atty. John Torrance as the button-down, tight-lipped crafter of municipal ordinances. The bearded, silver-haired man who can tell reporters “no comment” faster than they can blurt out a question. The guy who ducks the spotlight so that his council-member bosses can shine.

But on Tuesday--when the 57-year-old Torrance announced his resignation effective in six months--the taciturn city attorney took center stage for once.

Suddenly his bosses were singing the praises of the humanitarian Torrance, frugal with his salary but a generous donor to the Holocaust Museum. They touted the baker Torrance, who brings sweet chocolate chip cookies and banana bread for his co-workers. And they regaled the ornery Torrance, who carefully crafts mud-wrestling moratoriums that ban physical contests of two or more people who apply foreign substances to each others’ bodies while standing on nonsolid surfaces.

City Councilman Bill Davis led the chorus of commendations for Torrance, who has been the city’s chief legal counsel since December, 1983.

“What you see is not what you get with John Torrance,” said Davis, who added that he will miss the attorney’s wit and macaroni-and-cheese dinners. “Do I look at him as a great city attorney? Yes indeedy. Do I look at him as a great personal friend? Absolutely.”

True to form, Torrance would reveal little about his retirement, which will begin April 1 to give City Manager Mike Sedell time to find a high-caliber replacement. Sedell is recommending the use of a headhunter firm to fill the vacancy.

Known about City Hall for his frugality, Torrance did disclose that he has saved enough money from his $120,000-a-year salary to have a little fun.

Perhaps he will build a little house in New Mexico.

“A lot of people like to work until they need help walking across the room,” the typically blunt Torrance said Tuesday. “Then they retire to enjoy their advancing age and declining health. I’d rather retire before my health goes down the toilet.”

Before coming to Simi Valley, where he also lives, Torrance worked for the city of Hawthorne for eight years as an assistant city attorney, personnel manager and risk manager.

The Manhattan Beach native holds a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in business from Cal State Long Beach and a law degree from the South Bay University of Law.

Modestly, Torrance said his greatest accomplishments in Simi Valley were avoiding dismissal and helping the city craft laws that protected the area’s natural beauty without strangling growth.

He will leave behind many projects, including an ongoing battle to keep pornography from intruding into the city.

“Any time you leave a job, you’ll have stuff pending that you’d like to see through,” said Torrance, who is divorced, but very close with his adult stepdaughter. “There will always be more things to complete.”

Mayor Greg Stratton said the attorney’s tenacity has been most evident in battles in which the desire to protect children from salacious materials has clashed with the 1st Amendment.

Torrance has written laws that keep pornographic magazines out of news racks in Simi Valley and limit where adult businesses can locate. A federal court judge recently deemed the adult businesses ordinance unconstitutional.

“He’s a pretty conservative lawyer,” Stratton said. “A lot of city attorneys, if a councilman says ‘We want a law about this,’ will write it, if it’s constitutional or not. John won’t do that. He’ll find the line and write the law there.”