In 2006, The Torrance Blue Ribbon Committee on Ethics and Integrity was appointed by City Council and assigned the task of developing recommendations to establish a sustainable ethics program for the City. The Committee submitted their report to City Council on January 15, 2008, and the report included a Preamble to the Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct, Values, and Standards. City Council accepted the report and assigned the review and study of the report to the City Council Ad Hoc Ethics Committee.

Subsequently, the Ad Hoc Ethics Committee recommended adoption of the Preamble, Code of Conduct, Values, and Standards as submitted by the Blue Ribbon Committee on Ethics and Integrity. In addition, the Committee developed an Integrity Statement to be signed by appointed and elected officials. City Council concurred with the recommendation and adopted the Code of Ethics for Elected and Appointed Officials and the Commitment to Integrity Statement.

In 2011, City Council created the Torrance Election and Candidates Ethics Committee and charged the Committee with producing materials to support ethical conduct of candidates in their campaigns for elective office. The Committee developed a candidate’s ethics policy statement, ethical guidelines for clarifying roles when running for office, and a voluntary training program for candidates that City Council adopted on October 18, 2011.

On December 3, 2013, with the concurrence of City Council, the City Clerk’s Office integrated elements of the ethics programs developed by the three committees into the municipal election process, and created the Torrance Votes program.

Torrance Votes is the City of Torrance’s official program to offer the tools to more effectively assess candidates and their campaigns during municipal elections. Torrance Votes provides neutral and impartial information on how the public can be more educated about candidates and local politics, while respecting the right of each voter to their unique political, ethical and moral ideology.

The State of California enacted AB 1234, Chapter 700, Stats. of 2005 which requires cities, counties, and special districts in California to provide ethics training to their local officials. The law also provides that if an entity develops criteria for the ethics training required by AB 1234, the Fair Political Practices Commission and the Attorney General must be consulted regarding any proposed course content.

The Ethics AB 1234 training requirement may be met by taking the FPPC Local Officials Ethics Training Course online at http://www.fppc.ca.gov/learn/public-officials-and-employees-rules-/ethics-training.html.

The training must last two hours and the participate is required to print their certificate at the end of the training and provide it to the Office of the City Clerk.