CITY HALL ROUNDUP : SWAT teams and smoke light up Torrance’s El Roi Tan one last time.

LAST HURRAH: The old El Roi Tan in downtown Torrance once housed a hotel and billiard parlor. More recently, the rooms were rented to scores of restaurant workers.

This summer, the city began moving the residents out to make way for a $35-million redevelopment project of upscale condominiums and shops. A snafu ensued when people were told to leave weeks before the arrival of the relocation firm hired to help them move. The schedule was speeded up, and residents found new homes.

But the El Roi Tan--due to be torn down this autumn--still had one more role to play. Last Wednesday, grenades belched green smoke outside the 1912 building. Gun-wielding police officers stormed the stairs, rappelled down the stucco walls and rescued a young hostage.

The occasion: a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) training session for more than 100 officers from eight South Bay police agencies. The El Roi Tan was chosen because of its decrepit condition, said Torrance Police Sgt. Ronald Traber. “In order to do realistic training, you just can’t go into someone’s home and kick in a door,” Traber said.

City officials were quick to point out that all residents were moved before the SWAT teams arrived.

DOUBTING THOMAS: Inglewood Councilman Daniel Tabor has sent a strongly worded letter to U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), telling the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman that Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas is “the epitome of symbolism and not substance.”

Tabor, as president of the 1,400-member National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, called Thomas arrogant and ill-prepared. “This is a statement that a black face is not enough” to merit appointment to the Supreme Court, the letter said.

The board of directors of Tabor’s group--which includes Mayor Tom Bradley of Los Angeles and Mayor David Dinkins of New York--voted to officially oppose the Thomas nomination.

DECLINING ASSETS: Officials in Manhattan Beach were appalled to learn that former City Manager David J. Thompson was receiving more than $139,000 a year in retirement benefits from the city and state.

They slashed his city benefits by nearly $60,000 last month and ordered him to repay nearly $79,000 he had received since retiring in 1990. That left Thompson with a city pension of about $22,000 a year.

The first of the slimmed-down checks was mailed to Thompson last week--on Friday the 13th. After tax deductions and a payment toward the money he owes the city, his two-week check amounted to $75.

City officials say they have not heard from Thompson since the check went out.

FLAWED VISION: The “vision thing” just wasn’t working in Hermosa Beach. The city’s vision statements--printed on the first page of every council agenda--didn’t reflect the true nature of this beachside city, Mayor Kathleen Midstokke argued at a recent council meeting.

“It says we want a less dense city, but we continue to have one of the densest cities in the county. It says we should be family oriented, but three of us here on council are single,” she said. “Actions we take here every week contradict this statement. It’s a joke.”

So the city will delete the statement, replacing it with the all-encompassing phrase: “Where there is no vision, people perish.”

TOTALLY TORRANCE: City Council members in Torrance, in search of their own vision, held a workshop last week to ponder how the South Bay’s largest city should evolve in the years until 2010.

Only three residents showed up to speak.

It was a far cry from planning efforts in nearby San Pedro, where 200 residents recently turned out to demand growth limits and the protection of single-family neighborhoods.

In Torrance, no radical changes are in the works as the city revises its General Plan for the first time since 1974. The plan will still emphasize single-family, owner-occupied homes, “high-quality” commercial and industrial development, and landscaping and signs to improve the looks of local businesses.

The status-quo plan--and the sparse turnout--suggest that residents want the city to stay just the way it is.

As City Manager LeRoy J. Jackson observed, without a hint of sarcasm: “Torrance is as Torrance is.”

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

* Inglewood: The City Council accepted a $5-million grant from the Federal Aviation Administration for the redevelopment of properties beneath the flight path of Los Angeles International Airport. With the grant, the federal government will have given the city $21 million for noise abatement since 1986.

* Manhattan Beach: The City Council unanimously approved 4% rate increase for the city’s street-sweeping services, which means $496 more a month for contractor R. F. Dickson. The annual rate hike, based on the Consumer Price Index, brings the monthly fee paid to keep the streets clean to $12,908.

* Rancho Palos Verdes: Despite pleas from students and parents, the City Council held firm on a decision to ban parking on Hawthorne Boulevard between Blackhorse Drive and Silverspur Road near Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. The council also upheld its recent decision to require parking permits in the Basswood neighborhood near the school.

* Redondo Beach: Fearing storm damage this winter, the City Council approved tearing down the remaining portion of the horseshoe pier, which was destroyed during a 1988 fire. The cost is estimated at $40,000.

* Torrance: The City Council endorsed using automated trucks to pick up residents’ trash. The trucks--which use a mechanized claw to empty curbside garbage cans--will serve nearly half the city by February, 1992.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Hawthorne: The City Council will consider paying the Hawthorne Chamber of Commerce $10,000 to promote civic affairs and public events for the city during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1992. The meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall, 4455 W. 126th St., Hawthorne. 970-7902. Televised on Channel 22 (Paragon) at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and 6 p.m. Saturday.

Hermosa Beach: The Hermosa Beach Coordinating Council will hold a lunchtime forum on Thursday for the 11 candidates seeking two City Council seats and the three candidates seeking school board seats in the Hermosa Beach City School District. The forum takes place at Scotty’s Restaurant, 1100 The Strand. The cost is $8 for lunch and parking. For information, call 372-7674 or 374-3426.

Torrance: The City Council will discuss whether to change the city’s guidelines for the height of ham radio antennas. A council committee has recommended no changes in the rules, which now limit the antennas to heights that vary according to the zoning of an area. The meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 3031 Torrance Blvd., Torrance. 618-5880. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon), and replayed at 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

OTHER COUNCIL MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Gardena: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1700 W. 162nd St., Gardena. 217-9565. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated 7 p.m. on the two following Sundays.

Hermosa Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1315 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach. 318-0239. Televised live on Channel 3 (Multivision).

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. In San Pedro, 548-7637; in Wilmington, 548-7586; in Harbor City/Harbor Gateway, 548-7664; in Westchester, 641-4717. Televised live on Channel 35; meetings repeated individually at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and collectively on Sunday starting at 10 a.m.

Palos Verdes Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 340 Palos Verdes Drive West, Palos Verdes Estates. 378-0383. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills: 7:30 p.m. Monday, 2 Portuguese Bend Road, Rolling Hills. 377-1521. No cable telecast.

Rolling Hills Estates: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 4045 Palos Verdes Drive North, Rolling Hills Estates. 377-1577. Televised live on Channel 3 (Dimension).