Photo Gallery

My office held our 5th Annual Operation Gobble yesterday! Thank you to Golden State Water and Young Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow for contributing and making this event happen. A special thanks to Wanda Love for helping organize this event on her birthday.

Thank you to all who attended.

I participated, alongside several of my colleagues, in a Joint Oversight Hearing on the Orange County Oil Spill today in Costa Mesa in Orange County. We discussed why this happened and what we can do to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

We need to shut down all offshore oil drilling to protect California's beautiful coast. The Orange County oil spill caused undue damage to our ocean, our coast, our marine life, and economy. In 2018, I authored AB 1775, which prohibits new oil leases in state waters needed to support new federal oil and gas development to fight Trump's plans for new offshore oil drilling, but we were not able to shut down existing oil leases in state waters.

Shutting down offshore drilling will prevent disasters such as the spill in Orange County, which is why we need to keep fighting to shut down each and every oil rig to continue to protect our ocean, our wildlife and our coasts from the damage of further oil spills.

Working hard representing California at United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Met with representatives from Australia, France, Germany, India, Scotland, and others to learn and share what we need to do to fight the global climate crisis. Governments and private industry coming together to save our planet.

#COP26

Had a great Torrance Virtual Community Coffee last night. Torrance Mayor Pat Furey and City Manager Aram Chaparyan joined me.

We discussed a wide range of issues impacting Torrance residents including 405 freeway construction, noise from the Torrance Airport, and the fight for local control over housing.

I toured a floating offshore wind farm during the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference in Scotland. Scotland is among the world's leaders in wind energy, with almost 100 percent of all national electricity generation coming from clean, renewable energy. These windmills are located 30 miles from land, so local residents can't see or hear them. I will work to bring floating offshore wind to California to fight climate change.

Grand opening of new Mira Costa High School athletic center, thanks to Measure EE $39 million bond measure passed in 2016. Costa and Redondo High now have the nicest athletic facilities in the South Bay because of their local bond measures and strong community support. Whirlpools, massage tables, and team meeting rooms look like pro sports training facilities. Thanks to the student ambassadors for the tour!

Thank you longtime Manhattan Beach educator Chuck Currier and Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD) for today's unveiling of the Francis Miyosaku Uyematsu monument at Mira Costa High School. The Uyematsu family owned 120 acres of land in Manhattan Beach before World War II, including all of the land that is Mira Costa High School today. However, because of the wartime mass incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans by the US Government, the Uyematsus eventually had to sell the land to then Redondo Beach Unified School District. Longtime activist Mary Uyematsu Kao gave a powerful speech weaving together the history of the South Bay from the Gabrielino Tongva indigenous people to Bruce’s Beach to the Japanese American mass incarceration and the ongoing struggle for social justice for all. The monument will help teach current and future generations of students of this South Bay history, in hopes that this injustice will never happen again.

South Bay Economic Forecast presented by Cal State University Dominguez Hills. As Chair of Assembly Select Committee on Aerospace, spoke on panel focusing on future of South Bay aerospace industry. According to economists, South Bay economy looking good, with supply trying to catch up to strong demand. Housing prices up 22 percent(!) in past year and no sign of an unsustainable bubble.

We hosted a free private screening with Disney of the blockbuster movie SHANG-CHI last night at the Torrance AMC Del Amo theater! This is the first Marvel action movie with an Asian American superhero and mostly Asian cast. Asians and Pacific Islanders are underrepresented in Hollywood so we invited mostly families with children to celebrate progress. Representation matters.

And we had a great time! This was my first time back in a movie theater since the pandemic. Everyone wore masks (except for our brief welcome) and we limited attendance to 50 percent capacity.

Thank you to Jane Poleshek of Disney, AMC Del Amo, and my staff for making this happen!

Today I participated in a press conference with California Governor announcing new oil and gas wells setback requirements for California. These requirements include a statewide 3,200-foot buffer zone to separate homes, schools, hospitals and other populated areas from new oil and gas wells as well as strengthened emission controls on existing wells.

Neighborhood oils drilling needs to stop. In 2019, I introduced AB 345 which would have established a 2500 foot buffer zone for oil and gas wells from homes, schools, playgrounds and other neighborhood areas. But it failed in the face of opposition from the oil industry and the building and construction unions.

I thank Governor Newsom for this historic announcement. But the fight isn't over. We need to continue to fight to protect all Californians from the health hazards from oil well pollutants, which includes asthma, cancers and others diseases.