Citizen About Town

By Nancy C. Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

Email: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

Fax: 626-307-9081

During the June 17th Monterey Park City Council Meeting the 2015-2016 budget was discussed.

Staff disclosed that in the 2014-2015 budget the Council had approved expenses up to $66,000 to cover the cost to attend various government agencies’ conferences in the United States of America. The costs include airfare, hotels, gas allowances and a stipend for meals. $8,000 is dedicated to printing up new stationary and business cards as they rotate into the mayor ship.

Councilmember Teresa Real Sebastian said the Council did not need an allowance since they are paid a stipend by the taxpayers for attending the meetings and special events. (Councilmembers receive $500 a month and the Mayor receives $600 a month.)  She wants to be transparent on the expenses of these conferences.

She read into the record the conference costs for 2014-2015: Hans Liang spent $8,356.89; Peter Chan spent $6,927.19; Mitch Ing spent $3,285.13; Teresa Real Sebastian spent $2,021.65 and Stephen Lam spent $1,429.54.

Mayor Liang attended two meetings in Washington, DC and Mayor Pro Tem Chan attended one meeting in Washington, DC.

Councilmember Mitch Ing reminded the residents that any trips outside of the United States taken by elected officials must be paid by the individuals themselves.

Mayor Hans Liang and Mayor Pro Tem Peter Chan both traveled to Asia and stated for the record that they paid for their travels.  Not the taxpayers of Monterey Park.

The Council had a lively discussion on capping their travel expenses at $5,000 or $6,000 or $7,000 per year.

The Council voted to cap their travel expenses at $7,000 a year and they could amend this amount in the future.

During the July 1st Council Meeting I asked the Councilmembers and staff during Oral Communications: Why does our hometown suffer from selfish decisions made by current and former Councilmembers at the expense of Monterey Park’s financial future?

Do you know that earlier Councilmembers made life-changing decisions over their morning coffee at the Paris Restaurant before the Brown Act?

Do you know why all of the commercial lots are Garvey Avenue are so shallow?

Do you know why the long-time residents cannot shop in our city?

Do you know why we spent a young fortune to build our library up with restricted parking?

Do you know why our civic center is over built with low-income residential projects and lacks customer parking?

Do you know why the city over paid $50,000 to purchase a property appraised at $450,000?

Do you know why homeowners located near commercial areas fear the government’s eminent domain policies?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions then you do not know the history of Monterey Park.

Residents and business owners have seen the commercial lots reduced in size to keep out Sears, the evil big box store, who wanted to locate on Garvey Avenue in the late 1950s or early 1960s.

When Overseas Chinese purchased most of our downtown they insisted that their business signs be in their native language. Some of our elected officials and their supporters did not stand up and require English subtitles on the signs. Most of us were excluded from shopping and dining in our hometown.

Some former and current Councilmembers voted to sell some of our civic center to developers like TELACU and LINC reducing our lot size for our library so we had to buildup and now we suffer from lack of parking at the library and City Hall.

Some former and current Councilmembers voted to over pay for a property located on Isabella behind Fire Station 62 since the station will be remodeled and needs additional parking.  Maybe the additional $50,000 was an incentive for the seller to make additional money on her grandfather’s estate.

During a Special Council Meeting on June 23rd regarding the enhancement of the South Garfield Special Plan our newly elected Councilmember Stephen Lam stated that the city should use eminent domain to take some homes located on Isabella for additional sales tax.  The audience is still angry with this Councilmember. The Assistance City Attorney Karl Berger stated that this project does not fit the criteria for the eminent domain policy.

Our elected officials and city staff need to remember the history of Monterey Park and not to repeat the same mistakes that have crippled our hometown.

During this meeting the Council voted to approve the second reading and adoption of a new ordinances enacting water conservation measures and requirements in accordance with emergency regulations promulgated by the California State Water Resources Control Board during the state declared Stage Two Drought Emergency.

The state has required Monterey Park reduce its water usage by 20% or face fines up to $10,000 a day.

Our Water Department staff stated that the city has reduced their overall water usage by 18% during the month of June.

The Councilmembers were excited to hear this wonderful news.  They stated how they and their families are reducing their water usage by removing their lawn and replacing it with California plants that are drought friendly, collection gray water in buckets from their washing machines and collecting cold water in buckets while waiting for the hot water to heat up in their showers. They used these buckets to water their plants.  They are taking shorter showers and not washing their cars at home.

Monterey Park as well as other cities and counties in California will be notifying their residents and businesses on the current water restrictions mandated by the state.

Mother Nature has her own agenda for our planet, Earth.  She is pouring down rain on areas of the world that are flooded. She is causing massive heat waves on other areas of the world that are so hot that people are dying. She watches, as our planet is flooded with water or burning up in wild fires.

Some people blame these changes in nature on Global Warming.  Other people state that Mother Nature is just cycling through her normal routine that has been established for many centuries.

Mother Nature can cause us many concerns but I am more worried about Human Nature.

Have we forgotten the Golden Rule? “The Golden Rule is the idea that people should treat others in the same way that they themselves would like to be treated”.

Various religions and philosophies have a slightly different theme but they all agree that we should respect each other and treat each other, as we want to be treated.

Watching the daily news I see and hear about man’s inhumanity to man. People are being killed for their religious beliefs in some parts of our world. Other people are being robbed and killed by people who just want their material goods. And some people are not tolerant of other people who are from a different race, religion or have different philosophies about life.

We may not be able to control Mother Nature but we can control our Human Nature.

Please take the time to smile and greet another person you see on the street. Your smile may make their day.  And their smile and greeting will make you feel happier and connected to your fellow man.

As the old expression goes “ Smile and the world smiles with you!”

Keep those smiles coming to add sparkle on our hot summer days!