Jeff Schwartz, President of the Monterey Park Democratic Club welcomed the guests to their annual awards dinner held on March 23rd at the Empress Harbor Restaurant.

He introduced Daisy Ma and Rod Garcia as the 2016 honorees of this non-partisan award first established by the United Democratic Club to honor a woman and a man who live or work in Monterey Park. They are honored for their quiet service to the community.

In  2013 the two clubs merged and this club tradition continues to honor these special people.

Delario Robinson was honor by the club for his many years of service.

He thanked them for this honor and putting Democrats in office to do what the Americans want.

Special guests included Assemblymember Ed Chau, former Mayor David Lau, former City Clerk Theresa Amador, former City Clerk Dave Barron, Trustee Mike Eng, Interim City Manager Ron Bow, Fire Chief Scott Haberle, School Boardmember Henry Lo, Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Lam, City Councilmember Peter Chan and Carol Sullivan, a runner-up for this award.

Assemblymember Ed Chau thanked everyone for being here tonight. He gave a brief history on some of his bills for affordable housing and transportation that will be voted on in April. He welcomes the input from his constituents.

Ed Chau honored Rod Garcia as a long time member of the community who helped to establish The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE). SHPE is an organization developed to promote Hispanic Engineers.  He called him an unsung hero.

Ed Chau honored Daisy Ma for her longtime service to the community. She has a big heart. She does work for him but she is always helping people who need her assistance with their problems. She is an energetic volunteer for our community.

He thanked them both for their friendship.

Kathy Wills introduced Mike Eng to the 40 guests at the dinner.

Trustee Mike Eng thanked Kathy Wills and Rosemary Riedy for chairing this special event.

Mike Eng presented the award to Daisy Ma. He said these awardees are humble and don’t tell us all that they have done for the community.

He called Daisy Ma “a woman of the valley”. She works for Ed Chau now and she also worked for him in the 49th Assembly District Office. She also worked for Los Angeles County helping many people. She always gives him an honest answer to any of his questions. He is honored to present this award to Daisy Ma. She deserves it.

Daisy Ma said she is humbled to honored on the same level as Carol Sullivan and Rod Garcia. She thanked them for their service to the community. She thanked Ron Bow for his assistance when she applied for a Commissioner’s seat in the city. She volunteers for the Chinese community who need assistance in translation of health and safety issues. She is U S born but her parents are from Hong Kong so she helps immigrant parents. She began to volunteer at the age of 16 to help students from Hong Kong to prosper.

She also helped people become homeowners when she worked for the county. She was grateful to see them buy a home. She said she began working for Mike Eng for a salary. She thanked him for his assistance to help solve problems with their Open Door Policy.  She thanked the club members for their support.

Mayor Pro Tem Stephen Lam and Councilmember Peter Chan presented proclamations to Daisy Ma and Rod Garcia for their service to the community.

Stephen Lam said he met Daisy Ma 15 years ago. She spoke perfect Cantonese but was born in San Francisco. She helped him and offers to help everyone. She worked for Mike Eng and now she works for Ed Chau in the 49th Assembly District Office. They always work together.

Stephen Lam said Rod Garcia is a Planning Commissioner with an engineering degree. He enjoys working together on the commission. He thanked Rod Garcia for his dedication to the city.

Peter Chan thanked everyone for their support in the March election. He is happy and honored by the results. We all work together for the city.

He first met Daisy Ma in Chinatown. She is a hard worker.

He called Rod Garcia a quite and humble person. He is the son-in-law of Larry Wong, who is a very important person in Chinatown. Rod Garcia is a very smart person and was President of the Planning Commission. He works with Larry Sullivan. They approved the hotels. They are building the city up to what it is today.

Daisy Ma is also a Commissioner. She said that she is also related to Larry Wong as he is her husband’s godfather.

Rob Garcia said he was glad to be in a city where leaders inspire him. He was born in East Los Angeles and now he lives in Monterey Park. He said that leadership and role models helped him to succeed. They gave back to the community. He is honored to receive this award.

Rod Garcia was the first founding president of the SHPE organization that was established in 1974 by five engineers working for the City of Los Angeles. Today SHPE is a nation wide organization with over 50 professional and 200 student chapters.

He enjoys helping people become involved in the community. He enjoys it.

Kathy Wills presents the award to Rod Garcia.

She thanked all of the guests and volunteers for attending this special event.

All of the honorees are listed by year on two fabric scrolls located at the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library.