Citizen About Town

By Nancy C Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

Email: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

I watched the June 17th Monterey Park City Council Meeting on the Monterey Park TV channel.

I heard a phone call from Mayshell Yee, a supporter of the infamous Recall Committee, that fail to get enough signatures for the March 2020 Ballot to recall Mayor Hans Liang and Mayor Pro Tem Peter Chan.

She was again slandering Hans Liang, Peter Chan and new Councilmember Henry Lo with her lies about what they are planning to do in our hometown.

One of their major sins is that Congressmember Judy Chu and former Mayor Mike Eng support them.

I have not always agreed with Judy Chu or Mike Eng on several issues. I still respect their leadership abilities.

Is Mayshell Yee planning to run for City Council in District 5 in 2022?

I will never support Mayshell Yee, as I do not trust her since she has been telling lies about other Monterey Park residents because she does not agree with their opinions.

Another speaker, a young woman, demanded that we defund our police department. She stated that “Black Lives Matter”.

The City Clerk’s office has her name and her phone number for our public records since she was a public speaker.

I strongly believe that “all lives matter” since we are all children of God. We are all created in His love. God assigned us to our race, to our sex, to our families, to our location on His earth and “to our time to live and our time to die”.

Maybe this young woman wasn’t raised in a religious household and wasn’t educated on the World History and on our United States History.

Our U S Constitution guarantees her free speech so she has a right to express her opinion.

I think she just wants attention from her peers or her family.

Most of our residents or business owners may not be armed to defend their family, their friends, their homes or their businesses so we call 911 for Emergency Services.

I think she needs to be reminded without our police officers to respond to us in our time of need (a kidnaping, a carjacking, a car accident, a purse snatching, a sexual assault, a robbery, a home invasion or any other violent crime) we ask for help from our police and fire departments.

Perhaps we should place her name, address and phone number on a Special List for people who want to defund our police department and not respond to her emergency. Then she can call one of her like-minded followers to help rescue her from danger.

Hans Liang, Peter Chan, Henry Lo, Yvonne Yiu and Fred Sornoso are duly elected Councilmember whose jobs are to bring in new businesses and new projects for additional sales tax and property tax into Monterey Park.

They are also expected to support our residents, our businesses, our employees and each other.

Our city and many other cities across our United States are suffering from sales tax shortfalls due to the COVID-19 virus that caused our cities to be shut down.

The City Council approved our new “2020-2021 Annual Budget continues to stress the importance of financial stability to ensure efficient and effective core City services to meet our high-quality community standards. The spending plan is $108.4 million for all funds with the General Fund appropriations totaling $43.9 million. The preliminary budget continues reflecting the Successor/Agency (SA) budget of $2.3 million for enforceable obligations and administrative costs for winding down procedures of the former Monterey Park redevelopment agency”. The City’s Budget can be reviewed on the City’s website.

The City Council will review our finances in October and make any deletions or changes at that time.

The City is trying to help our businesses recover from their financial losses due to the COVID-19 virus.

Agenda item 5-B CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING IMPLEMENTING A BUSINESS RECOVERY PROGRAM FOR RESTARTING THE LOCAL ECONOMY

The Council was provided a Staff Report that suggested that the City help to implement a Business Recovery Program that would allow business owners to extend their tables for outside dining or allow them to place tables for outside shopping in their parking lots.

Our City staff and some of our business owners decided that this is a very good idea since the new COVID-19 laws only allow for 50% occupancy in each restaurant or store to help prevent the spread of the virus.

This Emergency Ordinance would allow the City Planner and City Council to approve these temporary measures without the approval of the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission.

When it is approved it would have a “Sunset Clause” from 7/1/2020 until 6/30/2021, which is one year to help the business owner save their businesses and save our Monterey Park with their sales taxes.

The Council discussed this agenda item but they could not agree to approve this Emergency Ordinance that needs 4/5s of their votes to pass.

Misinformed residents and Councilmembers believed that the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission would be dissolved.

This Emergency Ordinance would help cut the “Red Tape” for the businesses owners to begin with their plans for expanding their businesses in their parking lots.

The Design Review Board and the Planning Commission would still work on new projects.

Councilmember Fred Sornoso stated the some of the residents believe that this Emergency Ordinance would give our City Council too much power.

Monterey Park voters have elected our residents to serve on our City Council to pass laws and ordinances that effect our hometown.

Our City Council election in 2020 only allowed registered voters to vote in their districts. Some of us registered voters were not allowed by this new law to vote for Councilmembers Yvonne Yiu, Fred Sornoso and Henry Lo.

Remember that voters voted you new Councilmembers into office in your districts but as Councilmembers you serve all of the Monterey Park residents, our business owners and our city staff.

Because some of you Councilmembers did not understand this Emergence Ordinance that you wasted precious time to save our local businesses and endangered our sales tax base.

I watched the July 1st City Council Meeting on the Monterey Park TV channel.

During Oral Communications several Monterey Park residents called in to support Police Chief Kelly Gordon and our police officers for protecting our hometown. We will not defund our Police Department.

Agenda Item 2-A CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING IMPLEMENTING A BUSINESS RECOVERY PROGRAM FOR RESTARTING THE LOCAL ECONOMY

The Council received an updated Staff Report that this Emergency Ordinance would allow the City Planner and City Council to approve these temporary measures without the approval of the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission.

When it is approved it would have a “Sunset Clause” from 7/1/2020 until 12/31/2020, which is six months to help the business owner save their businesses and save our Monterey Park with their sales taxes.

Seven speakers supported of this Emergency Ordinance. They asked the City Council to approve it.

After a lengthy discussion the Council approved the Planning Agency Restructure and Business Recovery Program Phase 1.

The Council also voted to have a Public Hearing at the July 15th City Council Meeting on Business Recovery Program Phase 2 that would choose a temporary land use regulations to be considered based on the Staff Report and the City Council.

The City Council and staff want to hear from the residents and business owners on their ideas to save our local businesses and our hometown.

Public Hearing on Agenda Item 4-A APPEAL OF PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 20-01, ADOPTED ON MAY 12, 2020, APPROVING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT (CUP-19-13) TO ALLOW A RETAIL EATING ESTABLISHMENT WITH A DRIVE-THROUGH IN THE S-C (SHOPPING CENTER) ZONE – 1970 SOUTH ATLANTIC BOULEVARD

“Raising Cane’s Drive Thru Restaurant” would be located on 1970 South Atlantic Blvd.

This project will be located just up the street from Atlantic Square, which was built in 1977. Which is one of Monterey Park’s first shopping centers.

City Manager Ron Bow announced that City Hall had received 800 pages of documents on 3:00PM before this 6:30 PM meeting on July 1st. Staff has not had enough time to review these documents so the Public Hearing was rescheduled until September 2nd.

You can read the Staff Report on the City’s Agenda website for the July 1st City Council Meeting.

On July 6th I verified with the City Clerk’s office that the documentation was sent on behalf of Appellants Rafael and Gina Casillas.

Included in the Staff Report is a letter from their attorney, Maria J Mejia date May 12, 2020 the Appellants Rafael and Gina Casillas have lived in Monterey Park for over 29 years.

Gina Casillas stated in her documentation that she has lived in Monterey Park for 48 years.

Rafael Casillas stated in his documentation that he has lived in Monterey Park for 29 years.

I found that was very interesting that Gina Casillas moved into her home over looking South Atlantic Blvd. in 1972. I guess she did not consider the Atlantic Square Shopping Center that was built in 1977 just down the street as an issue. It was one of Monterey Park’s first shopping center.

Now 48 years later a new restaurant “Raising Cane’s Drive Thru Restaurant” is becoming an issue for her and her family members.

I have lived in Monterey Park since 1971 and have always shopped in my hometown for food, gas, great restaurants, delicious bakery goods and in the old days at JC Penney located in Atlantic Square.

In the 1980s we became the “First Suburban Chinatown” and many American businesses fled out hometown.

We lost sales tax because some of the new merchants were not educated on doing business in our United States of America.

It has taken our Monterey Park residents many years to convince American or Brand name businesses to return to our hometown.

Our Market Place is proof that American or Brand Name businesses can be financial successful in our Monterey Park.

Now we are facing another financial crisis since March 2020 when the COVID-19 virus closed down our American economy.

Most Monterey Park residents and business owners want to see our business community survive so we can enjoy shopping and dinning in our hometown.

Please pay attention to the City Council Meetings and offer your support for our Business Recovery Program Public Hearing at the July 15th meeting and the September 2nd Public Hearing for “Raising Cane’s “restaurant.

Monterey Park like all of the cities and counties across our America need sales tax and property tax to pay their bills.

Monterey Park belongs to all of our residents and business owners.

Please help to save our hometown.

The current violence reported across our United States is a result of some people who do not value human life, personal property or public property.

They have been led to believe that their right to kill, to rob, to rape, to destroy and other any other acts of violence are guaranteed by certain Elected Officials or Political groups.

It seems that some our children have not been taught “right from wrong” by their parents, their teachers and other family members.

I guess that some people no longer believe in God or the “Golden Rule” so they are   currently following the Devil right into Hell.

Their violent actions have been causing other people to suffer the pain of the loss of their loved ones, destruction of their personal property and our public property.

Each and every one of these violent people should be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extend of the law.

Killers should be sentenced to 25 years to life and be made to work to earn money to pay for their victims’ funeral costs and financial lost to their families.

Have you noticed that many mayors of those cities who first supported their violence now have their own private security forces? Do the taxpayers pay for them?

They are trying to defund their police departments but who will protect their residents?

I support our Monterey Park Police Department and our Monterey Park Fire Department.

I support all of the Police Departments and Fire Departments in our United States.

Some of these violent people think they can change our history by destroying our statues, our public building and threaten Americans who do not have the same political believes or religious believes.

These violent people must not have been educated in the World History or our America History.

Human beings have a long history of killing and destroying other humans who are different from them.

World History and our American History need to teach everyone that we should respect each other as an individual and support our differences.

All lives matter in the eyes of God.