Citizen About Town

By Nancy C, Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

E-mail: nancyarcuri @the citizensvoice.net

Fax: 626-307-9081

One of the favorite words of Monterey Park Councilmembers Frank Venti, Mitch Ing and Betty Tom Chu is transparency.

Council watchers don’t believe that these elected officials know the true meaning of the word.

Mr. Venti and Mrs. Chu enjoy their freedom of speech but try to shut up their critics with veiled threats of “we will have to do something”.

They and their cohort Mitch Ing were back to their old tricks during the April 1st meeting.

They were upset with my remarks about Frank Venti using his web bouncy castle for sale page to blast our former city manager and city staff for their alleged treatment of George Torres and his Numero Uno supermarket.

You may recall that Mr. Venti was telling everyone within reach that the city forced Mr. Torres’ market from the city because of the corporate colors of their building.

We saw and made a screen print of Mr. Venti’s web site where he was supporting Mr. Torres’ supermarket and blaming the city for the market moving out of town.

In reality Mr. Torres’ son told the City Council and the residents that they were not making their bottom line so they were closing down the Monterey Park location.

When they closed down their market there was an auditable sigh of relief from the city manager, city attorney and police chief because the Feds were investigating Mr. Torres and his operations.

The Feds were wire tapping Mr. Torres’ phones and recording all his business calls.

Council watchers were wondering if our Mr. Venti was caught on the wiretaps.

The local newspapers have been covering Mr. Torres’ trial in the Federal courts. He was charged with racketeering as well as murder and bribing a city official from Los Angeles.

On April 21 the local newspapers published the story that the jury convicted George Torres on 55 felony counts that included racketeering, “honest services” mail fraud and wire fraud, conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants and tax charges. The jury also found that Mr. Torres solicited the 1994 murder of a gang member who demanded a “tax” from a Numero Uno market. He was acquitted of one wire fraud count.

Mr. Venti, Mr. Ing and Mrs. Chu were also upset with me when I questioned having Mr. Venti and Mrs. Chu appointing themselves as the sub committee of the Cascades Marketplace.

Mr. Venti and Mrs. Chu’s husband were business partners in the Monterey Views housing project on North Atlantic.

Mr. Venti’s real estate license hung at the office of his late brother, Anthony Venti’s Real Estate. A check of the Department of Real Estate records show that Mr. Venti’s license is no longer active.

However, Mark Paulson is still an active realtor at the office of Anthony Venti Realty. Mr. Paulson and Paul Talbot, former Alhambra Councilmembers, are the founders of Gateway Consultants.

Gateway Consultants located the latest developer of the Cascades Marketplace.

According to newspaper reports The Trust, current property owners, has signed preliminary documents with East Coast Developers Edgewood Properties, Inc. and JMP Holdings, who now call themselves Monterey Park Retail Partners, LLC.

Council watchers are concerned about possible conflicts on interest. They are asking who benefits from this arraignment?

Mr. Venti and Mr. Ing pulled out old copies of “The Voice” written and published by my late husband, Frank Arcuri. They tried to imply that I wrote the front pages stories criticizing former Councilmember Judy Chu.

I responded to them that my husband style was if he disagreed with you then you were front-page news. If I disagreed with you then I write about you in my editorial opinion.

Have you noticed that I have stopped covering the “Local Newsmakers” as I no longer have to fill 16 pages in newsprint.

Council watchers are tired of the “101 Proclamations” being presented before each Council Meeting. This 6:00 PM event has been known to take up valuable time from the 7:00 PM meeting and some residents leave the meetings earlt because they are just too long.

Council watchers have watched the “Name Game” over the years as some candidates use their opponents’ good names to steal votes in Council elections.

Mitch Ing used Mike Eng’s good name to slide into his Council seat. He even joked that people asked him about his wife Judy Chu.

Mitch Ing’s wife’s name is Gloria.

Councilmember David Lau had another candidate on the ballot with the same last name, Lau, who tried to win a Council seat. However she was not successful.

Councilmember AnthonyWong has had several candidates with the same last name, Wong on the ballot; trying to win a seat on Council. They were not successful because they were the wrong Wong for the job.

Now the “Name Game” has moved in the Congressional election as Betty Tom Chu entered the race using the name of Betty Chu.

Is she hoping to pull votes from her husband’s niece, Judy Chu, one of the 12 candidates vying for Hilda Solis’ seat in the 32nd District so that Gil Cedillo has a better chance of winning?

Council watches have heard from many voters who were tricked into voting for candidates with the same or similar last names.

Be sure to check your candidates’ names before you vote so you are not a victim of the “Name Game.”

Voters in the 32nd Congressional District have a vacant seat to fill now. All California voters must decide the financial fate of our tarnished “Golden State”.

Please vote on May 19th!