Citizen About Town

By Nancy C. Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

E-mail: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

Fax: 626-307-9081

March 3rd is Election Day for most of the General Law cities that include Monterey Park, Rosemead and San Gabriel.

I suggested that you meet all of your candidates and attend “Meet the Candidates Forums” to learn about their visions for your hometown.

The newly elected Councilmembers will serve for a term of four years and approve new laws and developments.

There is a new law approved by Sacramento that has not been recognized by the Los Angeles County Register / Recorder as it is too new to affect this March 3rd election.

Assemblymember Cristina Garcia introduced AB 1596 (AB 1596 – Vote by Mail:  require all vote-by-mail applications, when completed, to be mailed directly to the county registrar’s office and not to middlemen or political campaign organizations) which passed and is in effect.

This law was enacted to help prevent vote by mail fraud.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) was created by the Political Reform Act of 1974 (Act), a ballot initiative passed by California voters in 1974 as Proposition 9.

To meet its responsibilities under the Act, the Commission adopts and amends regulations. It also develops required forms, prepares manuals and instructions, aids agencies and public officials with record keeping and reporting, and maintains a central file of statements of economic interests (SEI) for certain state and local officials.

The Commission also investigates alleged violations of the Political Reform Act, imposes penalties when appropriate, and assists state and local agencies in the development and enforcement of conflict-of-interest codes.

I reviewed the rules on Filing Deadlines: Deadlines are extended when they fall on a Saturday, Sunday, or an official state holiday. Such reports must be filed within 24 hours regardless of the day of the week. Statements filed after the deadline are subject to a $10 per day late fine.

Per FPPC rules, candidates must file their first pre-election campaign disclosure statements covering January 1, 2015 – January 17, 2015, with Monterey Park’s city clerk’s office no later than January 22, 2015.

I also checked with the city clerk’s website to review the candidates’ first pre-election campaign disclosure statements.

I noticed that candidate Anthony Wong filed his Form 460 on January 23 and his amended copy on January 28. He was one day late.

I also noticed that Delario Robinson filed his Form 460 on January 26. He was four days late.

I also noticed that Stephen Lam filed his Form 460 on January 28. He was six days late.

Has the city clerk’s office collected their late penalties yet?

I am concerned that their failure to meet the FPPC’ s rules may cause legal and ethical issues for our hometown.

According to the Monterey Park’s City Clerk’s Office these candidates will not have to pay a late penalty since the custom is to allow for late filings before their office sends out reminder letters.

If a candidates fails to respond to the city clerk’s request to file their campaign statements then they report them to the FPPC.

All elections are very important to make your voice heard by voting for the best candidates and / or laws that will affect the future of yourself, your family, your neighbors and your hometown.

I have attended the Monterey Park City Council Meetings for the last 18 1/2 years and closely watch our elected officials, city managers, city attorneys and staff in action.

I am supporting Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing for re-election to Monterey Park’s City Council on March 3rd.

They study all of the agenda issues and make their own decisions base on their legal, financial and banking expertise.

They support commercial development in our city to provide sales taxes to support our hometown.

They were very outspoken against the Olson Project that required a vote of the residents to change the zoning from Commercial to Residential on 2015 Potrero Grande Drive, the site of a commercial nursery.  It was the last undeveloped large commercial lot in town.

Olson Company spent $188,581.94 on this election. The received 2,268 yes votes to the tune of $83.15 each vote per the latest Campaign Statement filed with the City Clerk’s office on January 29, 2005.

I was one of the 2,081 residents who voted no because we wanted more commercial development to pay the sales taxes since we receive 1% of the 9% taxes charge by Los Angeles County to support our hometown.

The residential project will only yield property taxes twice a year while the sales taxes are received more frequently by the city.

Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing voted against selling our city owned parking lot located at 236 S. Ramona Avenue to LINC Community Development Corporation along with 25 low-income housing units already owned by the city.

LINC needed to purchase our parking lot to build another six low-income housing units to make their profit.

Meetings with LINC went on and on for many months as LINC kept changing their development and financial plans with the city.

The Council majority (Anthony Wong, Peter Chan and Hans Liang) approved the sweetheart deal giving LINC a $2,080,000 real estate loan at an interest rate of 3% for a term of 55 years with a balloon payment.

Based on today’s rate of inflation our final payment will be approximately $157,000.

The $540,000 funds received from the sale of our parking lot must be used in our civic center.  The city will be purchasing another house and tear it down to build another parking lot.

Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing did not follow the leader, City Manager Paul Talbot, who wanted this deal since he did not want to manage the other 25 units.

I agree with Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing that the staff should have provided more options on the 25 units. I also did not want to lose a parking lot in our civic center where parking is precious and wait 55 years to see if LINC pays their debt to the city as agreed.

Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing spoke up when our Assistant City Attorney Karl Berger decided in his legal opinion that the city could not longer require the English language be added to the foreign language business signs. It may be un-Constitutional.

The voters have already approved “English is the Official Language of California” in 1986 and many local cities require English on their foreign language business signs.

The city attorney worked with the Council to change our current law to require all foreign business signs have a translation of the business name and/or services written in Latin letters (ABCs).

The Council majority (Anthony Wong, Peter Chan and Hans Liang) declined to approve this new law so currently business owners can install their business signs in their native language that may exclude the people who do not read Chinese.

These Councilmembers are relying on the staff to suggest the Latin ABCs be used on all foreign language business signs to declare the business name or type of business.

I agree with Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing that many people will not shop and /or dine in our city if they cannot read the business signs. It is also a matter of public safety to be able to call 911to report an emergency and provide the location of the incident.

Residents who do not read Chinese are being subject to discrimination, which is un-Constructional.

Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing voted against the city purchasing 2000 S. Isabella to expand Fire Station 62 as it would change the residential neighborhood forever.  The appraised value was $450,000 and the seller wanted $500,000 for the property. The city plans to build the station up to two stories in the same footprint but adding a parking lot and use the current house for storage.

The Council majority (Anthony Wong, Peter Chan and Hans Liang) voted to pay the seller’s $500,000 purchase price on this property.

I agree with Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing that we need to upgrade Station 62 but not at the price of a longtime residential neighborhood and overpaying $50,000 for this property in a private sale.

Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing have proven to me that they do their homework and review each and every agenda issue to protect the residents, business owners, employees and guests of Monterey Park.

I will be voting for Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitchell Ing in the March 3rd election so they can continue to serve us and improve our hometown of Monterey Park.

Please vote on March 3rd.