By Ray Hamaguchi

As Monterey Park moves into the future, the ability to mirror the essence of the population will be important.  The elected officials should be held accountable for making the city government operate in the best and common interests of all residents, no matter their ethnicity, age, gender or citizen status.  What has to be insured?

MP has a population that is 66+% Asian and 25% Latino/Hispanic, so what is the percentage of police and fire personnel that can speak the various dialects of Chinese and Spanish?  It is not just language but also a matter of cultural sensitivity that leads to harmony within a community.    Ethnic profiling have been tolerated for decades and must end.  Our streets and properties have to be patrolled by police and fire that understand the language and culture of its residents.  Nothing is immediate but also nothing will change unless the effort is started.

Within MP are residents and businesses, and decisions by the government should consider these interests first as an important part of their decision.  Projects, especially those involving the government, should mandate a percentage of the goods and services for the project be supplied by local businesses, as well as a percentage of the workers be residents of MP.  We are a literate and skilled community that should benefit from projects within the community.  The days of outside interests coming into MP to financially benefit from projects within the City has to stop.

The goal should be to have a totally integrated community that is vibrant and self-enterprising.  People will come to MP to live work and start their businesses because it is a true community. Our elected officials should be elected on a platform that prioritizes the community and be held accountable for decisions that do you have MP’s best interests in mind.