What You Need to Know About Margaret Estrada
 www.savelomita.org

Dear fellow Lomita residents: It is with great sadness that we send you this letter about Margaret Estrada. We value deeply Lomita’s warm and close community spirit and we are heartbroken at the need we see to take this action. Over the years, Margaret has done many good things for individuals in Lomita. Furthermore, she was instrumental in convincing every sitting Lomita City Councilmember to run for office and she worked hard to help us get elected, something we are all grateful for.

However, we simply cannot remain silent any longer. By our own observations and those of other citizens, it is now apparent that Margaret Estrada is bad for Lomita’s city government. Some of the incidents detailed below come close to disqualifying her from serving, and taken together, they show a picture of someone who believes that she can do whatever she wants – the law and common courtesy notwithstanding. Please take a moment to read this letter and be an informed voter on November 3.

Interferes with day to day operations of the city 

·       Margaret comes to city hall daily to micromanage the city. She argues over which staff members should or should not attend meetings, how a parking lot is paved and how much people should be paid even though she has no related background or training.

·       Although only the city manager, city attorney and city clerk report directly to the council, Margaret regularly gives orders directly to staff. She goes around city management and the City Council and gets in the way of the day-to-day business of the city.

·       Margaret berates city management and staff until she gets her way. This is not a rare occurrence but is part of her attempt to coerce people to get what she wants.

No long term vision for city 

·       Margaret claims to oppose the Ponte Vista development although she stated in the 2005 council debates that she did not think it would have a significant impact on Lomita.

·       Margaret makes up her mind ahead of time on matters on the city council agenda. This is a clear violation of the law requiring council members to come to meetings with an open mind. Dissenting views are dismissed and the public is often treated rudely by her if they say something she does not like.

·       When the city was discussing a possible high school, Margaret falsely told residents around Lomita Park that the park was going to be replaced with a high school and then completely denied it. Margaret and her allies packed the council chambers with mostly Torrance residents and voted three to two to not even discuss a high school anywhere in Lomita in spite of a citywide survey showing that residents strongly backed a high school for Lomita's kids.

·       At the insistence of Margaret Estrada, the scheduled paving of one street was moved well ahead of others that were rated a higher priority by the city’s pavement management consultant. Is your street one of the ones being skipped to please Margaret's friends instead?

·       Margaret’s own campaign literature lists no plans for the city’s future or any policies the city should undertake for the future.

Bad for business 

·       Margaret has tried time and again to kill off the Lomita Chamber of Commerce even in these tough times when the city needs the Chamber more than ever. Her reason? She doesn’t like members of the Chamber leadership.

·       Margaret strong arms city vendors to contribute to her causes and then pushes city staff to stop using Lomita businesses who don’t contribute.

·       Margaret directed city staff to use a particular vendor who was a friend of a city employee.

Creates divisiveness in city government and the community

·       Margaret has created a hostile environment for city employees. They feel Margaret’s wrath on a regular basis and fear retribution if they do not comply with her wishes – be they appropriate or not.

·       Margaret makes humiliating and disparaging comments about the physical appearance of city employees.

·       Margaret tried with other council members to have a particular person appointed captain of the Lomita Sheriff Station because of that person’s race.

·       Margaret may have violated the civil rights of city employees based on race and sexual preference by making ongoing attacks on these employees, potentially exposing the city to expensive legal attacks.

·       Margaret and her council allies conspired to keep the pay of one employee from being raised because Margaret did not like her. She continued harassing the employee until the person quit the city.

·       During the current election, residents in the Rolling Ranchos neighborhood report Margaret has been telling them one of her election opponents is on the board of Ponte Vista, which is entirely untrue.

Sadly, there are many more incidents like these. In spite of the many good things Margaret has done in our community over the years, her behavior at City Hall is increasingly harmful to the city. More than what is best for Lomita, she is pursuing a personal agenda of control and over-involvement in city business. It is time for her to step aside. We are not running for reelection but felt compelled to share this information with you. Please vote for three candidates on November 3, and do not vote for Margaret Estrada.

Susan Dever, Mayor               Barry Waite, Councilman

 See www.savelomita.org for more information

Paid for by Barry Waite’s city council campaign fund