Citizen About Town

By Nancy C Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

Email: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

During Oral Communications on October 2nd Miyochelle Yee complained that I called her a public figure, who could be criticized by the public.  She is one of the faces of the Recall Committee and speaks in favor of recalling Hans Liang and Peter Chan during our televised Council Meetings. People who watch her speak may call her the Recall Lady.

Teresa Real Sebastian should have told her that always speaking during our Council Meetings in favor of their recall makes her a public figure.

Mitch Ing, your buddy, Paul Isozaki, the other public face of the Recall Committee, lost his cool when he expressed his thoughts that these Recall Petitions are against Hans Liang, Peter Chan, Judy Chu, Mike Eng, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. He said by signing the recall petitions you are recalling all of these elected officials who stole the 2016 Democratic Election from Bernie Sanders.

Monterey Park residents know that our Monterey Park ballot could not recall our sitting Congressmember Judy Chu; California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Boardmember Mike Eng; Hillary Clinton, former 2016 Democratic Candidate for President and sitting President Donald Trump.

What Paul Isozaki did was to inform all of those Monterey Park voters who signed their recall petitions that they should support Bernie Sanders, the Millionaire Socialist, who is one of the many Democratic candidates running for President in the 2020 Election.

If you signed their recall petitions you should consider having your name removed from it before you find your name on Bernie Sander’s list of Socialist supporters.

Our City Clerk’s office has the documentation you can sign to have your name removed from their petitions.

Monterey Park voters want to know why Mitch Ing and Teresa Real Sebastian who shouted the loudest that we must meet the demands of Kevin Shenkman to redistrict our city or be sued?

Now Mitch Ing and Teresa Real Sebastian want to spend our hard-earned tax dollars to pay for their recall of Hans Liang and Peter Chan.

Because of the changes in Monterey Park’s election laws in 2019 the voters will no longer elect our Councilmembers At-Large as we have done since 1916.

Do Mitch Ing and Teresa Real Sebastian realize that if they run for Council again they can only have registered voters in their district sign their nomination papers and only these registered voters can vote for them?

Most Monterey Park voters are not happy with their recall efforts and may never vote for them again.

Why do Mitch Ing, Teresa Real Sebastian and their recall supporters want to destroy our hometown with their nasty rumors and lies?

After all our City Councilmembers only get paid $500 a month and $600 a month if you are a sitting mayor.

Is it the political powers with its many benefits that they crave?

We should demand that Mitch Ing and Teresa Real Sebastian resign from office now for trying to destroy our hometown of Monterey Park.

I spoke during the November 6th meeting on March 3, 2020 Election Matters issue.

At the October 16th Council Meeting Mitch Ing and Teresa Real Sebastian packed the chambers with their supporters wearing “Red Shirts” demanding Hans Liang and Peter Chan quit their Council seat because of the Redistricting issue.

Did the Recall Committee contacted Kevin Shenkman and pay his $715 an hour fee for him write a new letter dated September 23, 2019 that was send EMAIL to all five Councilmembers declaring the city has again violated the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 because the Council did not asked the voters about the sequence of the 2020 election and the 2022 election when they voted on the Redistricting Map?

I remember that most of the Recall people did not attend the April 17th meeting or any other the Map meetings over the discussion period.  The residents were not allowed to vote on the map or the sequence since our City Council had to approve the map and sequence before Mr. Shenkman sued us for not complying with his demands.

He now said the Council did not consider Measure EE that would allow Teresa Real Sebastian, the only Hispanic woman on the Council to run in 2020.

I remember that Measure EE is a law about term limits for all of our elected officials. This law is not about anyone’s ancestry.

He also claimed that the Council violated the Brown Act when they voted for the Redistricting Map that they did not disclose that the Council would vote on the sequencing order at the same time.

The Mapmaker proposed the Election Sequence at the bottom of his map for the 2020 Election as Districts 1(Ing & Liang), District 2 (Lam) and District 5 (Real Sebastian & Chan). For the 2022 Election should be District 3 (vacant) and District 4 (vacant).

The Mapmaker only used the current Councilmembers on his map. He was only suggesting the sequence based of the current Council history. He could not provide a legal opinion on the sequencing of the districts.

All five of the Councilmembers voted the map into law. Mark Hensley, the city attorney, reminded the Council that now they had to vote on the sequencing of the 2020 Election. He reminded them to abide by Mr. Shenkman’s demands to have us vote by districts. District 3 with the majority of our 28% Hispanics residents has no sitting Councilmember and District 4 has no sitting Councilmember.

He suggested saving us from being sued that Council should vote for seats in Districts 2, 3 & 4 be opened on our 2020 City Ballot.

Councilmembers Hans Liang, Peter Chan and Stephen Lam voted for the sequence.

Councilmembers Mitch Ing and Teresa Real Sebastian stormed off the dais in anger. Did they believe that by voting for the map they were also voting for the sequence?

Kevin Shenkman has now changed his made about giving the other Hispanic residents a chance to run for City Council. The cost for running in an At-Large Election is very expensive. Most of our residents cannot afford to spend thousands of dollars for a Council seat.

Mr. Shenkman is causing financial hardships for Monterey Park residents as well as destroying the harmony of our hometown.

Now Mitch Ing and Teresa Real Sebastian wanted an Emergency Ordinance to change the 2020 Election to an At-Large Election and have the Redistricting done in the 2022 Election.

Karl Berger, the Assistant City Attorney, said he would have to research the legal issues and have the Council call for a Special Meeting for a vote on the ordinance that will require four Yes votes to pass.

Will Mr. Shenkman sue us if Teresa Real Sebastian is not reelected to our City Council in 2020 or 2022?

Teresa Real Sebastian has burned her bridges with many of the Monterey Park voters.

I have lost respect for Teresa Real Sebastian and Mitch Ing for causing Monterey Park financial hardship and destroying the harmony in our hometown.

At the November 6th Council Meeting the Recall people were very loud and rude to Hans Liang, Peter Chan, Mark Hensley and Karl Berger.

They were out of order and should have removed from the chambers by the police officers. Maybe they should have been arrested for disrupting our Council meeting.

Our city attorneys did a great job explaining the Redistrict Map issue on the Staff Report. You can read it and print it out by going to the Agenda Section on our city’s website for the November 6th meeting. It is Agenda Item 2-B.

Mitch Ing, Teresa Real Sebastian with their supporters and Stephen Lam tried to demand an Emergency Ordinance to cancel the Redistricting map for the March 3,2020 Election. They failed to meet the qualifications: “To be adopted, a super majority (4 votes) of the City Council must find that the urgency ordinance is required for “the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety.”

“The facts supporting such a finding must be included within the ordinance and be supported with substantial evidence. “Substantial evidence” generally means enough relevant information and reasonable inferences from information gathered during a public hearing that a fair argument can be made to support a conclusion, even though other conclusions might also be reached. Argument, speculation, unsubstantiated opinion or narrative, evidence which is clearly erroneous or inaccurate, or evidence of social or economic impacts does not constitute substantial evidence. Substantial evidence includes facts, reasonable assumptions predicated upon facts, and expert opinion supported by facts”.

Hans Liang and Peter Chan voted NO so their motion failed.

Mitch Ing, Teresa Real Sebastian and their followers want to fire our City Attorneys from Hensley Law Group because they did not get their way to overturn our new Election Law voted on by all five Councilmembers.

If you recall that Mitch Ing along with Betty Tom Chu and Frank Venti fired the Canzoneri Law firm and hired the Hensley Law Group. They decided that they did not like the lawyers because they did not jump for them.

Our city attorneys’ first duty is to protect our hometown of Monterey Park. They are to advise our Council, Commissioners and staff on legal issues that could cause our city harm.

Now Mitch Ing and Teresa Real Sebastian want to play that game again.

Maybe they should hire the Shenkman & Hughes Law Firm to give our city legal advice. NO they cannot since the Shenkman & Hughes Law Firm has already threatened us with lawsuits.

Monterey Park is not a “cash cow”, who can afford to pay their $715 an hour fee.

I hope that Stephen Lam does not fall into their new trap and vote with them to fire the Hensley Law Group.

I hope he realizes that they used him to try to overturn our new Election Law.

Stephen Lam has two or more residents who would like his Council seat.

The March 3,2020 Council Election will be held in Districts Two, Three and Four.

Candidates interest who have qualified to date to run for City Council in the March 3, 2020   Election: District Two are Stephen Lam, Jennifer Tang and Yvonne Yiu. District Three is Allen Shatkin. District Four is Henry Lo.

Many more interested candidates may decide to run for a seat on the Monterey Park City Council.

During this discussion Teresa Real Sebastian said the Map Four they approved was flawed because it did not take into consideration the will of the people.

I guess she did not remember that Robert McEntire, our consultant stated many times that to qualify the maps must be based on the 2010 census of Monterey Park. Our 62,000 plus residents must be equally divided into five districts and one district must include most of our 28% Hispanic residents.

Mr. McEntire said that after the 2020 census we may have to change the district boundaries based on the number of residents now living in Monterey Park.

He recalled that one city is Southern California had a large community of African-Americans so they had their own district. One of their residents was White. He was elected again and again because he was the best person for the job.

Mr. McEntire also said just because a district is set up for Hispanics that other residents in that district could also run for a Council seat.

The March Election will be very interesting for all voters in Los Angeles County. We still do not have any locations of the new Polling Places to be located throughout the county.

During Oral Communications at the November 6th meeting I read the following into the record: During the October 16th Meeting Margaret Leong asked Mitch Ing about his traffic accident that happen in 2013 and the lawsuit filed against him in 2017since it is all over social media.

Mitch Ing said he does not have social media and responded to his lawsuit filed by Li Fang Yu, a victim of his car accident that happen in 2013.

Mitch Ing said that Farmers Insurance’s attorneys handled the case and it was closed. His insurance rates were not increased since he said that Ms. Yu was jaywalking and was not in the crosswalk at the time of the accident.

He said on the day of the accident on October 10,2013 at 7:15 AM the traffic signal at Garvey and Atlantic was flashing red at the time and there were no police officers directing the traffic.

After the accident he called the Monterey Park Police and Fire Departments to render aid and direct the traffic. She suffered injuries to her elbow that hit his side mirror. She also had hurt her face. He said he translated for her and had the paramedics take her to Garfield Medical Center for treatment.

In 2017 Ms. Yu sued him for $13 million for her injuries she said she had to have surgery on her back. Her attorney was looking for deep pockets like his employer at the bank. Her lawsuit is filed as Case No. BC584790 in the Superior Court of the State of California for Los Angeles County.

Mitch Ing gave a deposition on February 14, 2017 about the accident.  Question1: He was asked “do you believe that that that the City of Monterey Park is responsible for each and every one of your action which occurred at the time of the collision, because you were in the course and scope of your employment with the city at the time of the collision?” He said “yes”.

Question 2: “And you have no hesitation about that?” “So you believe that if you are found to be potentially at fault for this collision, it’s your position that all the actions you did were within the course and scope of your employment with the City of Monterey in your official capacity as a council member, and, therefore, they are responsible for your actions?”

Question 3: Mitch Ing was asked that same question again. He answered again “That’s correct.”

Question 4: Mitch Ing was asked, “You’re very confident about the wording you’ve used on all of your answers?” He answered, “Yes.”

Question 5: Mitch Ing was asked again “Do you believe that the City of Monterey Park is responsible for your actions as they occurred, with regard to how this collision occurred on October 10, 2013?”

Mitch Ing said, “I think the city needs to take a look at why these intersection are having this type of issues.”

Question 6: Mitch Ing was asked again “So do you believe that the City of Monterey Park is responsible for your collision, your actions at the time of the collision?”

Mitch Ing said “I think there is, I think there, I mean, because of the situation, it caused this accident, and it would have caused other injuries if it wasn’t address.”

Mitch Ing said again the “he believed the City of Monterey Park is responsible for two reasons. Dangerous conditions of public property and the city is responsible since he was acting in the course and scope of employment at the time you struck a pedestrian your were working as an official capacity of a Councilmember.”

Question 7:  Mitch Ing was asked again “Why the city would be responsible for his collision.” “If the city is responsible for this collision because you were acting in the course and scope of employment at the time of the collision, in your official capacity as a council member; it the correct?”

Mitch Ing answered “Correct.”

Mitch Ing your traffic accident happened while you were driving to your job at the bank.

You were not working on any city business at 7:15 AM on October 10, 2013.

Why did you throw our hometown under the bus?

To date the City of Monterey Park has not paid any money to Li Fang Yu since the City of Monterey Park was not responsible for the October 10, 2013 traffic accident.

I reminded the Council when I took Drivers Education in Montgomery County, Maryland in 1963 that we were told if a traffic signal is blinking red or broken you treat the occurrence as a stop sign.

Mitch Ing said that Farmers Insurance paid $2,000 to settle the lawsuit.

If the Ing-Real Sebastian supporters don’t like your point of view they call you a name. They call me a Racist because I have told them time and time again that the California Voting Rights Act of 2001 was introduced by Assembly Members Alejo, Bonta, and Roger Hernández. (Coauthor: Assembly Member Calderon) and (Coauthor: Senator Hueso). Hispanic elected officials in Sacramento created this law to benefit Hispanics and help more of them to be elected to govern California.

I believe that voting age citizens of United States of America who want to run for an elected government office regardless of their sex, race, age, disability, color, creed, national origin, religion, or genetic information should be able to run for an office when they are qualified to serve the voters.

Candidates must be able to sell themselves to their voting public based on their qualifications.  If a candidate is not successful in winning a seat do not blame the voters for your failures based on your sex, race, age, disability, color, creed, national origin, religion, or genetic information.

I am proud of my Irish-German ancestry. My ancestors came to the United States of America in the late 1700s and the early 1800s for their personal and religious freedoms.

I am very happy that they chose the United States of America for their new home.

Wishing you and yours a Very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving!