Citizen About Town

By Nancy C. Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

E-mail: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

Fax: 626-307-9081

During the May 18th Monterey Park Council Meeting the Council approved Agenda Item 6-D New Fire Station #62

The Council voted to be rebuilt Station #62 on 2001 South Garfield with a traditional building that blends in with the neighborhood, to remodel our $500,000 house on Isabella Avenue and put the new parking lot between the two buildings.  They also voted to close the alley behind the station.

The plans call for a gate at either end of this property that will allow access for Athens trash pickup, utility services and emergency vehicles.  Local residents requested this action since many people were using the alley as a short cut to avoid the traffic light at Garfield and Elmgate.

The Council also requested the dead end be well marked with signs and better lighting provided in the alley for safety.

I took a visual tour of the plans for the new station at Station #62 and chose the traditional style building, with the parking lot between the two buildings and the house be remodeled so the firefighters can live there during the construction process.

I am excited that the new fire station will have a great room, a high tech kitchen, seven private bedrooms and four private bathrooms.

This new station will allow privacy for both male and female firefighters.

Judging from the number of young boys and girls who enjoyed their early firefighter training during the Open House it is time for our city to prepare for their future.

During the May 31 Budget Hearings Council debated on Agenda Item 6-F Entry into the 2017 Rose Parade

Council had heard from several residents and two employees on this issue during two meetings while it would be a great honor to have a float in the parade it is a matter of money.

Councilmember Stephen Lam had to recuse himself from the item since he recently sold his percent of the Hong Kong Supermarket.

Mayor Mitch Ing introduced James and Nelson from the Hong Kong Supermarket who made a generous donation of $75,000 towards our city’s float in the 2017 Rose Parade.  They offered to sign an agreement to cover any short falls in our fund raising.

City staff had stated that the Centennial committees have already raised $75,000 towards the float.  The total costs for a float would be $255,000 with a $150,000 balance due at signing of the agreement due June 1st based on information provided by the Tournament of Roses for an entry into their 2017 parade.

Mayor Ing said several corporations would also donate funds for our float but they needed an approval of the Council and the letter of agreement signed with the Tournament before these funds could be accepted.

He also had a car dealership, which would sell one of their cars at cost to another party.  Raffle tickets would be sold for $50 each for a chance to win this car.  These funds would also be used to pay for the float.

He stressed this would be a great honor for the residents of Monterey Park to end their 100th Birthday celebration with a float in the 2017 Rose Parade.

The Tournament committee was impressed with our city’s story of incorporation so they invited us to participate in their parade.

Vice Mayor Teresa Real Sebastian also thought that the committees could raise these funds before the deadline of November 30th.  She spoke about the memories that multi-generations could make decorating our float.

She agreed with Mayor Ing that the Council should approve the float and have the donors sign an agreement to cover any short falls. She also agreed to continue to fund raise for the celebration.

Councilmembers Hans Liang and Peter Chan stated the fact that the Council had already agreed that the funds to participate in the parade could not be taken from our General Funds.

They pointed out that many developers had made promises to the city but failed to deliver on their development promises.

They also stressed that these donors would honor their agreement but they could not take a chance of the city having to payoff the balance out of our General Funds.

The Council majority had a very heated discussion on the money issue and the agenda item died for a lack of a motion.

During the June 1st Council Meeting I spoke at Oral Communications:

I thanked James and Nelson from the Hong Kong Supermarket for offering their generous donation of $75,000 towards our city’s float in the 2017 Rose Parade.  They offered to sign an agreement to cover any short falls in our fund raising.

I thanked Mayor Mitch Ing and Vice Mayor Teresa Real Sebastian for their strong support of this generous offer and their various ideas for fundraising to payoff the balance of $255,000, which would be the cost of our float.

I thanked Councilmembers Hans Liang and Peter Chan for their honest opinions on this financial issue.

I know that many developers have promised Monterey Park to bring in developments over the years that would improve our sales tax base.  Unfortunately many of these developers failed to keep their promises.

I believe that James and Nelson would have honored their promise but history has proven otherwise.

I thanked Councilmember Stephen Lam for supporting the Council’s decision.

After a heated discussion on the financing matters surrounding the float the agenda item died for lack of a motion.

Monterey Park will not be participating in the 2017 Rose Parade.

This decision was based on money.  Our city needs more developments that will bring in much need sales tax to support our city services and our employees.

The residents and businesses in Monterey Park can still donate funds to celebrate our 100th Birthday.

Our future looks financially brighter and we will have a balanced budget for 2016-2017.

Money, it is always a matter of money!

I have been attending the Budget Hearings at City Hall. The City’s Budget is available on the City Website.

Each department states their Proposed Budget, Funding Sources, Major Program Expenditures for 2016-2017, their Major Accomplishment for 2015-2016 and Goals and Objective for 2016-2017.

The Council agreed with their budgets, which should be approved at the June 15th meeting.

Vice Mayor Real Sebastian asked Fire Chief Haberle about hiring women for his department and Human Resources Manager Cody about the number of women who are department heads. His response was currently two women are department heads in our city.

The Council thanked each department head for their reasonable budgets.

I hope that our sales tax base is increased by our major developments so we can increase the pay of each one of our city employees.

Money, it is always a matter of money!