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It was so nice to meet and honor Chadwick School junior Mateus Edwards. Mateus gave his time to organize a soccer equipment donation drive to support an orphanage in Uganda. It was inspiring to hear him talk about his passion for serving others. I am so proud of Mateus and hope that his work inspires others.
I was honored to join the Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce and my colleagues Senator Ben Allen and Senator Steven Bradford at another successful State of the State Breakfast. I shared my work advocating for the Aerospace community, small businesses, expediting the METRO Green Line to Torrance, and supporting public education. As a former Torrance School Board Member I have always prioritized public education and I am proud to have secured $10 million in funding for the Southern California Regional Occupational Center (SoCal ROC) and to author legislation this year to significantly increase K-12 funding for our public schools. Thank you again to Laurie Brandt and the Torrance Chamber Board of Directors as well as Donna Duperron and the hardworking Torrance Chamber staff!
I was deeply honored to speak on behalf of the California State Assembly at Secretary March Fong Eu’s Celebration of Life in Los Angeles. In so many ways, I believe March Fong Eu represents the American dream – a daughter of Chinese immigrants born behind a Chinese laundry. Hearing all the stores, it reminds me how far California has come and how far we have to go.
March preceded the #MeToo movement that is inspiring a record number of women across the country to run for office, so let’s not forget that she was winning statewide offices well before our time. We now have 27 women in the California State Legislature and 16 Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Members. All of us have this privilege to serve because of her. Last week was a historic week where we installed Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins. The gavel was being handed from the son of a Mexican housekeeper to a daughter of a West Virginia coal miner and from today’s ceremony, I am being reminded that so much of this progress was started by a daughter born behind a Chinese laundry.
On March 29th I hosted another fantastic Senior Scam Stopper Seminar in conjunction with the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) and the State Controller’s Office. Jane Kreidler from CSLB discussed home repair fraud. Jennifer Sakamoto from the State Controller’s office spoke about unclaimed property and also provided searches for attendees. Other panelists were John Gettys from the Cemetary and Funeral Bureau, Renee Rose from the office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, and Levi Jacobe from the Bureau of Electronic and Appliance Repair. Thank you to these agencies for providing very helpful information to seniors in the South Bay and a special thank you to Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute for allowing us to use their facility for this event.
The South Bay is home to a growing number of craft breweries who brew one of a kind beers that draw many individuals in from various parts of Southern California. I enjoyed meeting with Jason Kolb, Scholb Premium Ales, Inc., Laurie Porter, Smog City, Nigel Heath, Absolution Brewing Company, and Jorge Delgado, Hermosa Beach Brewing Company. We discussed the challenges and successes craft brewers are facing in the booming industry of craft beers. Thank you to Scholb Premium Ales, Inc. for hosting this meeting at their brewery. I am excited to see the culture and community that craft brewers have brought to the South Bay and especially to Torrance. I look forward to continuing the dialogue on supporting these growing small businesses.
I joined South Bay students, educators, parents, and elected officials at the March For Our Lives in the South Bay. We must continue to strengthen California’s gun control laws and fight back against a Congressional Majority that will not protect our children. Our thoughts and prayers are not enough. Now is the time for action.
I hosted my monthly community coffee at Gardena City Hall today. We discussed bail reform policy, public transportation improvements, small business regulations, and much more. I look forward to working with the people of Gardena to tackle these challenging issues, improving the South Bay and the entire State of California.
As part of the upcoming annual Pilgrimage to Manzanar, one of 10 concentration camps in which Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II, Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi spoke to the congregation at Temple Menorah in Redondo Beach about the shared historical experiences in World War II of both the Jewish and the Japanese American community. Assemblymember Muratsuchi, who, along with members of the Temple, will participate in this year’s pilgrimage, spoke about how Japanese American families in Torrance and throughout California were forced to leave their homes and businesses to live in concentration camps solely because they were of Japanese descent.
He also called for the need for education to ensure that history does not repeat itself. Last year, Governor Brown signed the Assemblymember’s Assembly Bill 491 which provides $3 million in education grants, through the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program, over the next three years on the incarceration of over 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. It expands the scope of the grant program to include content linking the Japanese American mass incarceration with current civil liberties challenges, including President Trump’s Muslim travel ban as well as his calls for a national Muslim registry.
Shared an informative afternoon with The Nature Conservancy, Heal the Bay, LAANE, Friends of Madrona Marsh and Senator Diane Feinstein’s office learning about multi-benefit ecosystem like the Henrietta Basin in Torrance. In addition to collecting and naturally filtering storm water, the site acts as a haven for birds and native plants, and as a natural classroom for students. Multi-benefit sites like the Henrietta Basin are excellent examples of how we can use public spaces to address concerns like storm water treatment in sustainable ways while educating the next generation of conservationists and creating much needed habitat in the south bay.
I presented Ann Garten with an Assembly Resolution, commending her immense contributions to the South Bay Community. Garten recently retired as the Director of Community Relations for El Camino College after 17 years of service. Even in retirement, Garten continues to volunteer her time with the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce, South Bay Association of Chambers of Commerce, and South Bay Aerospace Alliance.
