8H
Date: December 2, 2025
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Rebecca Poirier, City Clerk | [email protected] Subject: City Clerk – Discuss and Consider Combining or Dissolving Commissions.
Expenditure: None.
RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation of the City Clerk that City Council discuss and consider amending the Torrance Municipal Code to consider changes to City Commissions by combining Commissions, disbanding them, or changing how often they meet.
FUNDING
None required.
DISCUSSION
At the City Council meeting date of July 8, 2025, Councilmember Mattucci received concurrence for the City Clerk to bring back an item to discuss combining or dissolving Commissions.
Additional consideration could be made to alter how often commissions meet.
The City of Torrance currently has 13 Commissions, as shown below. Airport Commission
Civil Service Commission
Commission on Aging
Cultural Arts Commission
Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation Commission Historic Preservation Commission
Library Commission
Parks and Recreation Commission
Planning Commission
Social Services Commission
Traffic Commission
Water Commission
Youth Council
City Council
December 2, 2025
7 8
0 The City Clerk collaborated with Commission Liaisons to discuss possible combinations. City Council could also review commission duties and decide whether to dissolve the commission or change the frequency of meetings, if they desire. Budgetary savings would be realized by combining commissions from the amount of staff time and minutes secretary. A natural attrition would occur, whereby no new commissioners would be appointed as commissioners’ term out, until the commission was back down to a total of seven members. If the City Council chose to combine commissions, the recommendation of the City Clerk would be to start the combined commissions at the start of the new fiscal year, July 1, 2026.
For awareness, the City is not currently a Certified Local Government (CLG) and, as a result, does not qualify for any special grants for historic preservation. Being a CLG would allow the City to apply for historic preservation grants for such things as community educational programs, staff trainings, and technical assistant activities through National Park Services, when available.
To qualify as a CLG, there are certain requirements that must be met including:
1. One member with a professional background in design or construction, with at least two years of experience with historic preservation; and
2. One member who meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards for History or Architectural History, or with a demonstrated background or experience in researching, writing, teaching, or interpreting history or historic materials.
As it is possible there may be future historic preservation grant opportunities, staff would recommend the above two criteria continue to apply if the Historic Preservation Commission is combined with another commission.
Based on discussions with Commission Liaisons, the changes below are being proposed for City Council’s consideration.
Combine the Planning and Historic Preservation Commissions. Combine the Library, Cultural Arts, and Parks and Recreation Commissions and change the name to the Community Services Commission.
Combine the Library and Cultural Arts Commissions.
Combine the Commission on Aging with the Parks and Recreation Commission. Convert the Commission on Aging to an advisory committee, meeting on a rotating basis at the three senior centers in Torrance.
Change the Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation Commission to meet at least once every quarter, additional meeting may be held at any time, if needed. Change the Water Commission to meet ten months out of the year, going dark in November and December.
The City Council may choose to make additional recommendations for changes.