Torrance City Council recesses to closed session on litigation, real property and labor matters

The Torrance City Council recessed into a closed session at 5:02 p.m. to consult with the city manager and the city attorney on existing and anticipated litigation, real property negotiations and labor negotiations, the council announced.

The meeting began with an opening greeting and roll call. The city clerk recorded that Council members Gerson, Kaji, Galani, Lewis, Mateucci and Sheikh were present, along with Mayor Chen.

An unidentified speaker announced, "The council will now recess to closed session to confer with the city manager and city attorney on agenda matters listed under 13(a) existing litigation, 13(b) real property — conference with real property negotiator, 13(c) conference with labor negotiator, and 13(d) conference with legal counsel anticipated litigation." The speaker said the closed session was authorized by state law and that the council would return after closed session.

Closed sessions are permitted under the California Government Code for consultations on litigation and negotiations; the council cited the state provisions authorizing such meetings. The council did not take a public vote before recessing and provided no additional public detail about the subjects to be discussed in closed session.

The council indicated it would return to the public meeting after the closed session. No further public business was conducted before the recess.