Citizen About Town

By Nancy C. Arcuri

Editor and Publisher

E-mail: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

Fax: 626-307-9081

January marks the first month of the year 2010.  The New Year promises us a new beginning in our lives. Some people make resolutions to improve their life styles and reduce their vices.

This year we begin a new decade in our history. We will all be called upon to make some major decisions that will affect the future of our country and our families.

We will have local, state and federal elections this year.  Will we follow the party lines or vote for the best people for the jobs?

We do have time to educate ourselves on the candidates.  The future of our America lay in the hands of us, the voters. Please use your votes wisely.

I received an early Christmas present during the Monterey Park City Council Meeting held on December 16.  Councilmembers Frank Venti and Betty Tom Chu both advised our new City Attorney Mark Hensley that the city does have an ordinance requiring our business signs to be in English.

The issue was raised when Mrs. Chu had asked Council to extend the time frame for temporary banners to be used by our local businesses. Mayor Mitch Ing expressed concern that the banners are printed in Chinese characters only. He stated that he could not read Chinese. He asked that the city require English on these banners.

Mr. Hensley stated that it was unconstitutional to require English on the business signs. He recalled riding buses through parts of Los Angeles with signs in foreign languages that he could not read. He used an example of the business sign for El Pollo Loco (The Crazy Chicken). The sign is easy to read since it is more of a brand name in Spanish.

Mr. Venti and Mrs. Chu quickly educated Mr. Hensley that we have an ordinance that requires English on the business signs for health and safety. This requirement allows anyone to call in an emergency to 911 and give the exact location of the store.

The ordinance requires the name and address of the business is be displayed in Roman letters for easy identification. This also gives longtime residents a clue on the type of business located at that address.

Since my husband, Frank and I worked with many other local residents to require English on the business signs in our hometown in the 1980s. We wanted to be able to shop in our local businesses. It is wonderful to know that Councilmembers Venti and Chu defend this ordinance.

I did agree with Mrs. Chu that this law only extends to the business signs and not to the temporary banners.

I understand Mr. Ing’s frustrations that he cannot read all the signs in our local businesses since he is a second or third generation North American.  It is good business practice for merchants to be able to conduct business with everyone in town not just those residents who read Chinese.

Another longtime resident expressed her frustration to me about her not being able to read the signs in downtown Los Angeles. They are in Korean without any English translations. She reads and speaks Chinese and English.  I told her now you know how I feel about the Chinese signs in our hometown.

Our America is becoming more and more divided by race, ethnicity, religion and political affiliations.

We need to stay united to defend our country from people who want to destroy our America and us.

2010 begins a difficult year for us. We must be strong. Terrorists wish to destroy our country and us. We must defend our Constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic.

Our forefathers and their families sacrificed to create a free country for their children’s future. We have been given a very special gift to live in the United States of America.

We are responsible to keep our country free and safe for future generations.  The future of our country lay in our hands. We must protect our America. We must vote to elect good people to serve us in government. We must support our military troops stationed around the world to protect us. We must pray that God will continue to bless our United States of America.

Wishing your and yours a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year!