Citizen About Town

By Nancy C. Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

E-mail address: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

Fax number: 626-307-9081

Do you remember the old expression that “History repeats itself” and we should learn from our mistakes?

I don’t believe that three members of the Monterey Park City Council Betty Tom Chu, Benjamin “Frank” Venti and Mitchell Stanley Ing believe in that expression. They seem to believe that they can make history without any fallout from their mistakes.

Their most current historical event happen during the May 19 Council Meeting when they were discussing Item 19 on the agenda (Atlantic Times Square DDA – Tenant Mix).  Mayor Anthony Wong Inflatable Water Slide recused himself from the discussion to prevent a possible conflict of interest.  Mr. Wong has a real estate firm in the city.

Mayor Pro Tem Chu proceeded to list into the record seven possible conflicts of interest that she and her two associates charged Mayor Wong with possible wrong doing.

This is not the first time these elected officials have used their office to slander, harass and intimidate other elected officials, city employees, business owners and residents of Monterey Park.

Over the years Chu, Ing and Venti have used their political powers to slander, harass and intimidate Francisco Alonso, Fred Balderrama, Judy Chu, Betty Couch, Mike Eng, Kelvin Tanatongo, Chris Jeffers, Tony Canzoneri, June Yotsuya, David Dong, Matthew Lin, Stephan Lam, members of RAMP and The Concerned Citizens, Victoria Chavez and myself.

These three bullies don’t care that each time they use their elected office to slander, harass and intimidate they put our city at risk for lawsuits and Brown Act violations.

Many residents will not participate in our local government because they are afraid to speak up for fear of being slandered, harassed, intimidated or sued by these elected officials.

Our city is facing a $4 million budget deficit. Yet Mrs. Chu, Mr. Ing and Mr. Venti are more interested in destroying the reputations of possible candidates in our Council election scheduled in March 2011.

Their actions remind me of another old saying “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones”.

My all time favorite expressions from the 1960s are “What comes around goes around” and “Karma – The quality of people’s current and future lives is determined by their behavior in this and in their previous lives”.

Will the Chu, Ing and Venti bully team continue to destroy our hometown with their abuse of power?

How many more good and experienced employees will our city lose because of these three bullies?

Monterey Park is no longer one of the best cities to work for as the Council bullies’ nasty reputations are well known in the industry.

Will taxpaying voters have the backbone to say “No more” to them?

Although Mark Hensley, our city attorney, stated at the May 19 meeting that he represents the city, he and Donald McIntyre, our interim city manager, did nothing to stop the three bullies from reading their alleged charges against Mayor Wong into the record.

Anthony Wong responded to their allegations at the June 2 Council Meeting.  His response is published as an open letter to the Monterey Park residents in this issue. He also had a press conference that afternoon to explain his side of the issues.

Ruth Willner, Rita Miller, Stephan Lam, myself and another resident used our five minutes at Oral Communications to support Anthony Wong at the meeting.

In fact Mr. McIntyre was absent from the June 2 meeting.  I left a message with staff to be sure that Mr. McIntyre reviewed the meeting so he would hear Mayor Wong’s statement and the remarks from the residents.

I am very disappointed that it is still “bullies as usual” at City Hall.  Our interim city manager and city attorney work for us the taxpaying voters. Yet, it is apparent that Mr. Hensley and Mr. McIntyre are more interested in working with the three Council bullies then protecting our city.

Monterey Park residents need to remove these three power hungry bullies from office before our hometown is destroyed.

Join us at the City Council Meetings held at City Hall on the first and third Wednesdays of the month.  Speak up for your rights as taxpaying voters during Oral Communications or send your letters to the City Clerk Office to be read into the record.

Save our hometown!