TORRANCE — The Fred Korematsu Day program committee in Torrance has announced that Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) will appear on the program on Saturday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. at the Katy Geissert Civic Center Library, 3301 Torrance Blvd., Torrance.
The program, co-sponsored by the South Bay, Torrance and Greater L.A. Singles JACL chapters, Japanese American Historical Society of Southern California and the Torrance Public Library, is free and open to the public. The keynote speaker will be Karen Korematsu, daughter of Fred and Kathryn Korematsu and co-founder of the Korematsu Institute in San Francisco.
For more information, contact Alayne Yonemoto at TorranceJACL@gmail.com or (310) 266-3398.
Muratsuchi was elected in November, sworn in during a ceremony on the Assembly floor in December, and received influential committee assignments earlier this month.
Appointed as the chair of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, he was also assigned to the Budget Committee and its Subcommittee on Education Financing, the Natural Resources Committee, and the Judiciary Committee.
“I’m very pleased with my committee assignments as they align closely with the priorities in my South Bay district and my background,” he said. “I’m especially proud to chair the Veterans Committee so that I can serve the men and women who have served our nation in the military.
“As a former school board member, I will fight to restore funding for our schools through the Budget Committee. As a former prosecutor, I will fight for laws to protect our families and neighborhoods through the Judiciary Committee. And as a surfer and committed environmentalist, I will protect our beaches and our environment through the Natural Resources Committee.”
Muratsuchi represents Gardena, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Torrance and the unincorporated communities of El Camino Village and West Carson.
Muratsuchi served as a prosecutor and deputy attorney general with the California Department of Justice for over 11 years. Previously, he was a prosecutor with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the Santa Ana City Attorney’s Office. As a prosecutor, he put gang members, sex offenders, and drug dealers behind bars, and cracked down on rogue doctors.
Muratsuchi also served as a Torrance Unified School Board member for over seven years. His leadership helped the district consistently deliver balanced budgets and a healthy rainy-day reserve fund despite huge state budget cuts, and he helped maintain Torrance’s reputation as a high-achieving school district, with test scores rising every year during his tenure on the board. As board president, he played a key role in initiating the largest school repair and modernization program in the district’s history.
An active volunteer in the South Bay and Los Angeles area for many years, Muratsuchi has served as chair of the Torrance Planning Commission and a member of the Torrance Environmental Quality and Energy Conservation Commission; president of the Torrance Sister City Association and South Bay JACL; and a board member of the Southern California Regional Occupation Center, Little Tokyo Service Center, and the League of Women Voters of Torrance.
Muratsuchi lives in Torrance with his wife and daughter. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and the UCLA School of Law, and an alumnus of the Coro Foundation Public Affairs Fellows Program.