Torrance Ca Finances

Torrance Police Chief Joseph DeLadurantey has taken an administrative leave only days after a former police clerk embarrassed the department by acknowledging the embezzlement of $72,000 from its property room. While city officials declined comment on DeLadurantey's leave, sources said the 53-year-old chief asked for time off because the embezzlement caused a number of city officials to question his supervision of the county's fourth-largest police force.

Patients who are treated by Fire Department paramedics at an accident or injury scene and then transferred by ambulance to the hospital will have to pay a flat $23 medical supplies fee. Previously, hospitals restocked the Fire Department's supplies in kind and then charged the patients for the cost, said Capt. Raleigh Harris, the department's paramedic coordinator.

The Madrona Marsh wildlife preserve, a combination of wetlands and sand dunes in Torrance, is the home to warblers, ducks, egrets and blue herons. But soon there will be an addition. The 43-acre marsh will be getting a natural history center after the City Council this week unanimously approved spending $1.8 million for a building that will house an exhibit hall, laboratory, natural history shop, meeting room and library. The structure will not exceed 8,000 square feet.

A street light tax has been approved by Torrance property owners who voted by mail-in ballots on reinstituting the levy that expired at the end of June. The deadline for receipt of ballots was Tuesday. The original assessment was passed 20 years ago by the City Council. But Proposition 218, approved by voters in November, states that no local government may impose, increase or extend any general tax after Jan. 1, 1995.

The 37th annual Armed Forces Parade, the oldest in California, will roll down the street Saturday in Torrance. It is a shorter and more condensed version than last year's parade because the city is trying to save money. There will be 56 groups in this year's parade instead of more than 90. The parade route is shorter. The 2 p.m. parade will start at Crenshaw Boulevard, instead of downtown Torrance, and head down Torrance Boulevard to Madrona Avenue.

The city of Torrance is going to the well once again. City officials last week raised residents' water rates by 14.7% to help finance renovations to the city's crumbling water system. "The water infrastructure is 40 to 50 years old and unfortunately our predecessors did not take an aggressive approach to maintain it," said Nazir Qureshi, division engineer for water resources. "We need to replace about 100 miles of water mains. We still have electrical panels on plywood boards."

Long before the Orange County debacle, another investment scandal shook the Southland, draining millions from the coffers of Torrance and other cities. Now, frustrated Torrance officials have abandoned a fruitless--and pricey--bid to win back some of their $6 million by suing their former auditors. The millions disappeared in 1991, when cities lost a hefty $100 million in an investment scheme involving Steven Wymer, a Newport Beach financial adviser.

City officials are spending a gloomy holiday week tracking $6.2 million that disappeared about two weeks ago after proceeds from the sale of a U.S. Treasury note handled by an allegedly fraudulent Newport Beach investment adviser never reached city accounts. The $6.2 million--one-eighth of the city's investment portfolio--is part of millions of dollars that appears to be missing in a financial scandal involving investment adviser Steven D. Wymer.

Torrance's Redevelopment Agency has tentatively agreed to give a development firm $1.95 million to purchase and renovate an apartment building that officials say is a blighting influence on a neighboring downtown redevelopment project. Under the accord, developer Gascon Mar Ltd. would acquire the El Prado Apartments in an effort to make the three-story building compatible with its adjacent Historic Downtown Project, Gascon Mar partner Allan Mackenzie said.

A street light tax has been approved by Torrance property owners who voted by mail-in ballots on reinstituting the levy that expired at the end of June. The deadline for receipt of ballots was Tuesday. The original assessment was passed 20 years ago by the City Council. But Proposition 218, approved by voters in November, states that no local government may impose, increase or extend any general tax after Jan. 1, 1995.

The Madrona Marsh wildlife preserve, a combination of wetlands and sand dunes in Torrance, is the home to warblers, ducks, egrets and blue herons. But soon there will be an addition. The 43-acre marsh will be getting a natural history center after the City Council this week unanimously approved spending $1.8 million for a building that will house an exhibit hall, laboratory, natural history shop, meeting room and library. The structure will not exceed 8,000 square feet.

Torrance Police Chief Joseph DeLadurantey has taken an administrative leave only days after a former police clerk embarrassed the department by acknowledging the embezzlement of $72,000 from its property room. While city officials declined comment on DeLadurantey's leave, sources said the 53-year-old chief asked for time off because the embezzlement caused a number of city officials to question his supervision of the county's fourth-largest police force.

Seeking to boost the reach and revenues of its Cultural Arts Center, the Torrance City Council has approved a plan to reorganize the Department of Parks and Recreation. The city plans to create a new cultural arts division within the Department of Parks and Recreation, which operates the Cultural Arts Center. In addition, an arts administrator will be hired to oversee the division. The reorganization is expected to help the department increase the number of classes offered at the center.

The cost to remove an impounded vehicle from the Torrance tow lot is now more than triple what it used to be and higher than any other city in the South Bay. Torrance city officials raised the flat fee last week from $21 to $72 so that those whose cars have been seized incur the cost of impounding the vehicle. The city has been losing about $100,000 a year because more than 40% of the cars impounded are never claimed.

The 37th annual Armed Forces Parade, the oldest in California, will roll down the street Saturday in Torrance. It is a shorter and more condensed version than last year's parade because the city is trying to save money. There will be 56 groups in this year's parade instead of more than 90. The parade route is shorter. The 2 p.m. parade will start at Crenshaw Boulevard, instead of downtown Torrance, and head down Torrance Boulevard to Madrona Avenue.

The city of Torrance is going to the well once again. City officials last week raised residents' water rates by 14.7% to help finance renovations to the city's crumbling water system. "The water infrastructure is 40 to 50 years old and unfortunately our predecessors did not take an aggressive approach to maintain it," said Nazir Qureshi, division engineer for water resources. "We need to replace about 100 miles of water mains. We still have electrical panels on plywood boards."

Seeking to boost the reach and revenues of its Cultural Arts Center, the Torrance City Council has approved a plan to reorganize the Department of Parks and Recreation. The city plans to create a new cultural arts division within the Department of Parks and Recreation, which operates the Cultural Arts Center. In addition, an arts administrator will be hired to oversee the division. The reorganization is expected to help the department increase the number of classes offered at the center.

Long before the Orange County debacle, another investment scandal shook the Southland, draining millions from the coffers of Torrance and other cities. Now, frustrated Torrance officials have abandoned a fruitless--and pricey--bid to win back some of their $6 million by suing their former auditors. The millions disappeared in 1991, when cities lost a hefty $100 million in an investment scheme involving Steven Wymer, a Newport Beach financial adviser.