Citizen About Town

By Nancy C. Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

E-mail: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

Fax: 626-307-9081

Happy Lunar New Year! The Year of the Monkey!

I attended Monterey Park’s Lunar New Year celebration with thousands of my friends, neighbors and guests.

On Saturday, January 30th the event was very crowded and the weather was cool but dry.

On Sunday, January 31st the event was cut short by rain and heavy winds.

I know we have been praying for rain and doing our rain dances so we have been blessed with some rain and snow in the mountains.

Of course the wet stuff has not been enough to bring our water tables up so our drought will last for some time to come.

Governor Brown was stated in the local newspapers that we still have to reduce our water usage under drought conditions for eight more months.

It is not easy to save water when you wash several full loads of clothes, wash your dirty dishes by hand, make your morning coffee, cook meals, brush your teeth, wash your face and hands, take a shower or bath, wash your hair and flush your toilet several times a day in a week’s time.

Most of us don’t water our grass, trees or flowers so we depend on rain and the morning dampness to help keep our yards brown or maybe green.

Monterey Park has created a new water bill that tracks the customers’ water usage to help us save water.

The SFR customers have been able to save 19.8%, just short of our 20% goal.

The multi-family, commercial and institutional customers have not be saving as much water so the staff wanted to implement the Stage 3 Drought guidelines but the Council said NO.  They wanted to see if the customers reduced their water usage after reviewing their new water bill.

The Councilmembers have stated that people can only reduce their water usage so much as we all need water to live our daily lives.

They also said that the Water Masters are losing money so they are increasing the cost of water to their clients.

The end result is the less water you use the more money it will cost you in the long run.

No wonder the Hippies in the 1960s had water usage rules in their communes. “If it is yellow…let it mellow but, if is brown…flush it down”.  “Save water…shower with a friend”.

If and when we have collected tons of water in our reservoirs and water is plentiful will the cost go down?

Probably not, as long as someone is making money on one of our most valuable resources required to sustain life on our planet.

Monterey Park residents received some very good news at the January 20th Council Meeting when City Manager Paul Talbot announced that M & M Development LLC from New Jersey is finally the owner of the Market Place site.  The escrow finally closed on January 20th after 20 some years. The shopping center is scheduled to be completed in 2017.

Council proudly announced that Home Depot would be our first tenant in our long awaited shopping next door to the 60 Freeway.

Yes, this shopping center will cater to the needs of everybody in Monterey Park and our surrounding neighbor cities.

This is a great event to help celebrate Monterey Park’s 100th Anniversary.

Another wonderful birthday surprise is Sing Poli, the developer of the Garvey and Garfield site, has pledged $250,000 to support our Rose Parade float in the 2017 Rose Parade.

If you are interested in helping plan and support our 100th celebration the Centennial Events Committee meets on the second Wednesday of each month at the Richard Garvey Community Room located at Garvey Ranch Park.

For more information please call the Recreation & Community Services Office at 626-307-1388 or e-mail them at MPK100@montereypark.ca.gov.

This is an election year so we are all bombarded with political ads on TV and the radio.

All of the presidential candidates have participated in debates with members of their party.

Some of the debates have been informative but most of the time the candidates have been attacking each other.

Some of the candidates have already dropped out of the race and more will drop out after the various state caucuses.

Since California comes late to the party most of the other states will already decide who is best suited for the job as President.

Will our country be true to our Constitution and our Judeo-Christian values or will our country rewrite our Constitution and our history to be politically correct?

In our future will “We the People” be safe and secure or will “We the People” be victims of the forfeiture of our personal freedoms?

These are very important questions to answer for yourself, your families, your friends, your fellow Americans and your country.

Please study all of the candidates and issues before you vote in the Primaries and the November Election.

This is a very important election, as it will decide the fate of our United States of America.

I am a very proud American. I am always thankful that my ancestors decided to travel across the Atlantic Ocean to find their new lives in the United States of America.

Their decisions and sacrifices have allowed my family members and myself to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Remember that old expression “God helps those who help themselves”.

Our new expression should be “O God please guide me to vote for the best persons to keep our America strong”.

Happy Valentines Day to you and yours!

Please remember to thank George Washington and Abe Lincoln for their service to our country.