Redondo Beach will have a new steward of taxpayer money come March 7 after voters choose between two candidates for city treasurer.
The March 7 race — part of Redondo’s all mail-in municipal election — pits seasoned municipal servant and retired teacher Matt Kilroy, a former City Council member, against business owner Eugene Solomon, who has been volunteering for city commissions for the last several years.
The city treasurer position pays $2,083 per month. In Redondo, there are no term limits for treasurer, according to the City Charter. The new treasurer will serve a four-year term that ends in 2027.
Besides school board, this is the only competitive citywide race, with City Clerk Eleanor Manzano running unopposed for reelection to the post she’s held for the last 16 years.
Here’s a look at the treasurer candidates and where they stand on the issues.
Background
It’s Solomon’s second time running for city treasurer. In 2019, he challenged and lost to longtime Treasurer Steve Diels, who recently announced his retirement.
Kilroy, a 39-year Redondo Beach resident, served two-terms as District 5’s councilmember — from 2007 to 2015. After hitting the limit of two four-year terms, he was replaced by Laura Emdee.
Besides serving on several city commissions, including public safety, planning and budget and finance, Kilroy has kept busy as a 30-year board member of American Youth Soccer Organization, specifically in Region 17.
Solomon is an independent insurance broker who has lived and worked in Redondo Beach for the last three decades. He came to the South Bay by way of Miami. After making his way to California in the early 1980s, it was Sunday hangs at Beachbum Burt’s, on the site of the current Cheesecake Factory in King Harbor, that had him “immediately thinking that this was home.”
In addition to his insurance business — which Solomon calls “itself a financial practice—” the candidate said he spent 1994 to 2009 as a licensed financial advisor.
Why they’re running
Both candidates said their motivation to earn voters’ trust, vis-a-vis the city’s finances, comes from a passion for serving the community.
Kilroy, who emphasized he never really left public office, said he was prompted to run for treasurer when his good friend Diels decided not to run again. It didn’t take too much persuasion, he said. Redondo needed someone with experience and integrity to run for the position, Kilroy added.
It’s also the drive to public service that propels him.
“It’s the idea that you can make a positive change to your community and see the results of your efforts,” Kilroy said. “I wouldn’t have done it if the people I was working with on city staff and on the commissions weren’t good people to work with.”
Solomon, for his part, is also a consummate volunteer.
He became interested in Redondo Beach boards and commissions in 2016 and began lobbying then-Mayor Steve Aspel, hoping for an appointment. At the time, the city was grappling with how to decouple its Chamber of Commerce from its tourism board, a cause Solomon said he was instrumental in bringing to light via many trips to the lectern during public comment at City Council meetings.
“I firmly believe we can accomplish big things,” Solomon said. “I’m task oriented and proactive and I (will) bring that to (the role of treasurer.)”
Solomon’s biggest accomplishment for Redondo, he said, was jump starting a process for restructuring the city’s debt for the California Public Employee’s Retirement System. Redondo was paying a 7% interest rate for its portion of the state’s large pension fund. Solomon helped get that down to 2.8%.
“That shows the power of boards and commissions,” Solomon said. “We can make changes in the city and not just sit on the sidelines just complaining about it.”
Kilroy, similarly, said his qualifications for managing the city’s money stem from a UCLA engineering degree, his years as an AYSO treasurer and a PTA auditor. He is analytical by nature, Kilroy said, and he has experience creating and revising financial statements. His decades of tenure on city commission also gives him an edge, he said.
“I am very familiar with the different pots of money and the revenue sources of Redondo Beach,” Kilroy said.
Working on the budget and finance commission after sitting on City Council, Kilroy said, was anti-climatic because on the latter panel, “you actually make the policies” that dictate how the treasurer will invest the city’s money.
Candidates’ priorities
Both Kilroy and Solomon said safeguarding public trust with taxpayer dollars is paramount.
And, they both stressed transparency — but how to communicate fiscal health differed for each.
For Solomon, that open reporting would be done by making the treasurer’s office “more efficient” and more “modernized.”
Solomon said he would not only attend City Council meetings, but he would also harness the power of social media, putting up Facebook posts with “financial fun facts” to educate the public on the various buckets of revenue streams the city receives.
Kilroy, for his part, focused the transparency issue on the city’s difficult-to-navigate website.
“I want to make it much easier for the community to access the information they are looking for,” Kilroy said.
He advocated for detailing revenues and expenses on easy-to-understand graphs and charts, using percentages to convey the importance of each category.
Another priority for Kilroy, he said, is ensuring city money is protected. And, he said, you don’t need an investment junkie to do that — you just need someone who is analytical.
“You don’t need to be Warren Buffet to be treasurer,” Kilroy said. “In fact, I’d go a step further: You don’t want a Warren Buffett at all. You shouldn’t be investing in risky (ventures). It’s all about protecting the money.”
Endorsements and last words
Solomon has the endorsement of Mayor Bill Brand, and Councilmembers Nils Nehrenheim, Todd Loewenstein and Zein Obagi, Jr., as well as all six members on the budget and finance committee, he said.
If elected, Solomon said, the first thing he would do is thank voters and his supporters. He would also reach out to those who didn’t support him to appeal for collaboration. Then, he would meet with the deputy city treasurer and the new finance director, then the city manager.
“I often hear, the city is going broke, the city has financial problems,” said Solomon, adding that’s not true.
The city has challenges, he said, but it also has a AA+ credit rating and a $110 million investment portfolio, something, he said, not many people realize.
“Is everything rainbows and unicorns? No,” Solomon said, but it’s important to clarify some of those misconceptions.
Kilroy, meanwhile, has been endorsed by Diels, former Treasurer Tom Gaian, and former Mayors Steve Aspel, Greg Hill and Mike Gin.
While he knocked on doors to rally support recently, Kilroy said, someone suggested the city implement a fraud hotline. So, besides updating the city website, the candidate said he’d like to consider implementing a way for residents to ask questions specifically about the city’s finances — and to do so anonymously.
