Candidate for
Councilmember; City of Torrance

We live in the greatest country in the world, where everyone has the right to pursue happiness. The best guarantee to achieving success is through education, whether in the academics and/or vocational trades. Education is the best route out of poverty. Governor Brown is determined to erase all funding for regional occupation centers (ROCs). This means that SoCalROC will close soon. We must not allow this to happen. I am a candidate with a plan for Torrance to take control of SoCalROC, keep the doors open, and even make a small profit while maintaining its programs. I take this issue very seriously, because I was a nontraditional student who went into the vocational trades at a young age. I am now a doctor of education who helps students achieve success, whether in the academics and/or vocational trades.

I am fighting to keep Torrance on the right path to prosperity, while keeping our small town feel. This requires sounding the alarm against the installation of parking meters. Torrance removed its parking meters from Old Torrance in 1960 and there is a possibility that they may return. I am vehemently opposed to the installation of parking meters and have adopted an anti-parking meter logo to represent my campaign. You may have seen me walking around the city wearing an anti-parking meter shirt and hat while distributing my door hanger. Many believe that the issue only pertains to the business district of Old Torrance. I believe that the reintroduction of parking meters will spread to other parts of the city, including our parks. Imagine feeding a parking meter at Wilson Park at a rate of $1.25 just like Redondo Beach. We need to maintain our small town feel and not morph into another overdeveloped city.

Torrance is one of the richest cities per capita in the state of California, yet there is consistent talk of bankruptcy and how it will affect "Generation X" and "Generation Millennium." I am 37 years old and fall into the category of "Generation X." As one of the richest cities in the state, multiple interest groups are funding campaigns specifically to take control of our city. We are not a social experiment. Torrance is our home. I do not want my city to become another over-developed, over-taxed, under-serving community.

Special interest groups are planning to destroy our quality of life by injecting large amounts of money to take control of our local government. I am running for City Council to defend Torrance against interest groups that do not care about our community. I have not met one resident in Torrance who is looking forward to having a convention center built near their home. I doubt anyone wants a convention center in their backyard with large spot lights shooting into the sky.

I am running to make a difference. This statement may sound cliché, but it is the truth. My entire career in the public and private sector is to help people achieve success. Please contact me directly if you have any questions or would like to meet.

-John Paul Tabakian, Ed.D.