Torrance City Council
May 23, 2025

3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS #1 (Limited up to a 15 minute period) This portion of the meeting is reserved for comment
on items under the Consent Calendar or items that are not on the agenda . Under
the Ralph M. Brown Act, City Council cannot act on items raised during public comment but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed; request clarification; or refer the item to staff. Speakers will have no longer than 1 minute to provide comment to the CIty Council. If presenting handout material to Council, please provide 11 copies to the City Clerk before speaking.

Name
Marian Eskander
Comment ­ 05/23/2025 09:06 AM : (Against)
Dear Mayor and council members,
Thank you for bringing this up and holding this meeting.

This is a very crucial matter that would affect my family, community and I.

Our church is a block away from the property considered. Our church is our second home. That’s where we meet almost daily, for services, Sunday school, youth groups, senior citizen meetings, weddings, baptisms, showers and even funerals. My teenagers hang out there with their friends freely, playing basketball and just having a safe place to be.

We fear that converting the Extended Stay would threaten the safety of ‘our second home’. We’ve had incidents before where transients did come in and roam the property and steal or vandalize it. There’s been multiple times where we had to call TPD for assistance. As a house of worship, we want to welcome guests, but that backfires in these cases.

Please, I ask you to do whatever is in your power to prevent this from happening!! Thank you.
1 Public Comment Report
for Agenda Item 3A

3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS #1 (Limited up to a 15 minute period) This portion of the meeting is reserved for comment
on items under the Consent Calendar or items that are not on the agenda . Under
the Ralph M. Brown Act, City Council cannot act on items raised during public comment but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed; request clarification; or refer the item to staff. Speakers will have no longer than 1 minute to provide comment to the CIty Council. If presenting handout material to Council, please provide 11 copies to the City Clerk before speaking.

Name
Judy Emerson
Comment ­ 05/23/2025 12:23 PM : (Against)
Please do not allow the county to dictate to Torrance and fight for your community.

These type of decisions will change Torrance forever and not for the better. We are counting on you to protect your citizens. I cannot stress enough how I am against this. 2 3.

ORAL COMMUNICATIONS #1 (Limited up to a 15 minute period) This portion of the meeting is reserved for comment
on items under the Consent Calendar or items that are not on the agenda . Under
the Ralph M. Brown Act, City Council cannot act on items raised during public comment but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed; request clarification; or refer the item to staff. Speakers will have no longer than 1 minute to provide comment to the CIty Council. If presenting handout material to Council, please provide 11 copies to the City Clerk before speaking.

Name
Ben Allen
Comment ­ 05/23/2025 02:17 PM : (No Vote)
Dear Members of the Torrance City Council,
It has come to my attention that a proposal for a 120­unit permanent supportive housing project through the Homekey+ Program is up for discussion at tonight’s scheduled Special City Council meeting. As you may be aware, Homekey is a program designed to allow local and regional public entities to convert existing buildings into permanent or interim housing for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness in our community. As of August 2024, Homekey has provided grant funding to develop over 15,000 housing units, and is expected to serve over 100,000 households over the program’s lifetime.

The proposed site located at 3525 Torrance Blvd. is currently a hotel, and its owner approached the county to offer the facility for use by the Homekey Program. The 120 units available at this location would enhance the City of Torrance’s continuum of care for at risk populations in our community, and would represent meaningful progress towards local, regional, and state goals to reduce homelessness.

I appreciate your commitment to providing care and services to the homeless population in Torrance and respectfully urge your favorable consideration of this location for supportive housing. Should you have any questions regarding my support, please contact my office at (310) 414­8190.

Sincerely,
BEN ALLEN
Senator, 24th District
3 May 23, 2025
Torrance City Council
3031 Torrance Blvd.

Torrance, CA 90503
Dear Members of the Torrance City Council,
It has come to my attention that a proposal for a 120-unit permanent supportive housing project through the Homekey+ Program is up for discussion at tonight’s scheduled Special City Council meeting. As you may be aware, Homekey is a program designed to allow local and regional public entities to convert existing buildings into permanent or interim housing for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness in our community. As of August 2024, Homekey has provided grant funding to develop over 15,000 housing units, and is expected to serve over 100,000 households over the program’s lifetime.

The proposed site located at 3525 Torrance Blvd. is currently a hotel, and its owner approached the county to offer the facility for use by the Homekey Program. The 120 units available at this location would enhance the City of Torrance’s continuum of care for at risk populations in our community, and would represent meaningful progress towards local, regional, and state goals to reduce homelessness.

I appreciate your commitment to providing care and services to the homeless population in Torrance and respectfully urge your favorable consideration of this location for supportive housing. Should you have any questions regarding my support, please contact my office at (310) 414-8190.

Sincerely,

BEN ALLEN
Senator, 24th District
4 3.ORAL COMMUNICATIONS #1 (Limited up to a 15 minute period) This portion of the meeting is reserved for comment  on items under the Consent Calendar or items that are not on the agenda . Under
the Ralph M. Brown Act, City Council cannot act on items raised during public comment but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed; request clarification; or refer the item to staff. Speakers will have no longer than 1 minute to provide comment to the CIty Council. If presenting handout material to Council, please provide 11 copies to the City Clerk before speaking.

Name
Mark Ragins
Comment ­ 05/23/2025 02:59 PM : (For)
Comments on Agenda Item 4A: Proposed Home Key Plus Program:

Mark Ragins

5/23/2025
The proposed permanent supported housing project would address a need for permanent housing to help get people off the street and also to move on from the 3290 shelter.  This need has existed ever since the last low cost housing in Old Town Torrance was redeveloped into Senior housing. The need has never been seriously addressed.

There are always serious concerns and objections to programs like this, especially from neighbors.  Nonetheless, judging from other cities like Norwalk, Torrance city can obstruct the process, but not stop it entirely.

Rather than using resources on both sides in combative legal suits, I’d recommend using the threat of suits to leverage concessions on the most important concerns:
1) Long term building maintenance funding should be included specifically in the contract with Weingart.  These buildings require heavy maintenance and we don’t want the city to be stuck dealing with a deteriorated property as time goes on.
2) Torrance – first enrollment in the project.  Though they can’t guarantee everyone is from Torrance, they can create a point system for admission that heavily weights Torrance residency and being at 3290 shelter.  It is important to get the gate keeping function away from the CES and it’s usage of vulnerability tools, and have it be done with the Torrance city housing department (which hasn’t been involved to this point) and the enrollment tool should be created specifically both to ensure Torrance residents usage and to ensure preference for people who are doing things to improve their lives rather than vulnerability.  This is not a housing­first program. 3) Building based security needs to be explicitly included in the proposal and funded.  This is essential for the protection and reassurance of the neighbors and to avoid an undue burden on Torrance police and fire departments.
4) Wrap­around services need to be specified as well and how they will be funded, especially under the shadow of Medicaid cuts.  These services should go beyond housing case management to include mental health, substance abuse, supported education and especially supported employment.  Services should be targeted at helping people grow and develop, not just to maintain stability out of sight.

I urge focusing on how to approach negotiating at this point, rather than focusing on how ot block the provision of what is a needed resource. 5 3.ORAL COMMUNICATIONS #1 (Limited up to a 15 minute period) This portion of the meeting is reserved for comment  on items under the Consent Calendar or items that are not on the agenda . Under
the Ralph M. Brown Act, City Council cannot act on items raised during public comment but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed; request clarification; or refer the item to staff. Speakers will have no longer than 1 minute to provide comment to the CIty Council. If presenting handout material to Council, please provide 11 copies to the City Clerk before speaking.

Name
Mark Ragins
Comment ­ 05/23/2025 02:59 PM : (For)
Comments on Agenda Item 4A: Proposed Home Key Plus Program:

Mark Ragins
3321 W 180th St.  Torrance 90504
[email protected]
5/23/2025
The proposed permanent supported housing project would address a need for permanent housing to help get people off the street and also to move on from the 3290 shelter.  This need has existed ever since the last low cost housing in Old Town Torrance was redeveloped into Senior housing. The need has never been seriously addressed.

There are always serious concerns and objections to programs like this, especially from neighbors.  Nonetheless, judging from other cities like Norwalk, Torrance city can obstruct the process, but not stop it entirely.

Rather than using resources on both sides in combative legal suits, I’d recommend using the threat of suits to leverage concessions on the most important concerns:
1) Long term building maintenance funding should be included specifically in the contract with Weingart.  These buildings require heavy maintenance and we don’t want the city to be stuck dealing with a deteriorated property as time goes on.
2) Torrance – first enrollment in the project.  Though they can’t guarantee everyone is from Torrance, they can create a point system for admission that heavily weights Torrance residency and being at 3290 shelter.  It is important to get the gate keeping function away from the CES and it’s usage of vulnerability tools, and have it be done with the Torrance city housing department (which hasn’t been involved to this point) and the enrollment tool should be created specifically both to ensure Torrance residents usage and to ensure preference for people who are doing things to improve their lives rather than vulnerability.  This is not a housing­first program. 3) Building based security needs to be explicitly included in the proposal and funded.  This is essential for the protection and reassurance of the neighbors and to avoid an undue burden on Torrance police and fire departments.
4) Wrap­around services need to be specified as well and how they will be funded, especially under the shadow of Medicaid cuts.  These services should go beyond housing case management to include mental health, substance abuse, supported education and especially supported employment.  Services should be targeted at helping people grow and develop, not just to maintain stability out of sight.

I urge focusing on how to approach negotiating at this point, rather than focusing on how ot block the provision of what is a needed resource. 6 Comments on Agenda Item 4A: Proposed Home Key Plus Program:

Mark Ragins

5/23/2025
The proposed permanent supported housing project would address a need for permanent housing to help get people off the street and also to move on from the 3290 shelter. This need has existed ever since the last low cost housing in Old Town Torrance was redeveloped into Senior housing. The need has never been seriously addressed.

There are always serious concerns and objections to programs like this, especially from neighbors. Nonetheless, judging from other cities like Norwalk, Torrance city can obstruct the process, but not stop it entirely. Rather than using resources on both sides in combative legal suits, I’d recommend using the threat of suits to leverage concessions on the most important concerns:
1) Long term building maintenance funding should be included specifically in the contract with Weingart. These buildings require heavy maintenance and we don’t want the city to be stuck dealing with a deteriorated property as time goes on.
2) Torrance – first enrollment in the project. Though they can’t guarantee everyone is from Torrance, they can create a point system for admission that heavily weights Torrance residency and being at 3290 shelter. It is important to get the gate keeping function away from the CES and it’s usage of vulnerability tools, and have it be done with the Torrance city housing department (which hasn’t been involved to this point) and the enrollment tool should be created specifically both to ensure Torrance residents usage and to ensure preference for people who are doing things to improve their lives rather than vulnerability. This is not a housing-first program.
3) Building based security needs to be explicitly included in the proposal and funded. This is essential for the protection and reassurance of the neighbors and to avoid an undue burden on Torrance police and fire departments. 4) Wrap-around services need to be specified as well and how they will be funded, especially under the shadow of Medicaid cuts. These services should go beyond housing case management to include mental health, substance abuse, supported 7 education and especially supported employment. Services should be targeted at helping people grow and develop, not just to maintain stability out of sight.

I urge focusing on how to approach negotiating at this point, rather than focusing on how ot block the provision of what is a needed resource. 8