Citizen About Town

By Nancy C. Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

e-mail: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

Fax number: 626-307-9081

Mark Hensley our city attorney made a statement at the January 5 Monterey Park Council meeting that no one could campaign during the meetings, as it would be a theft of public funds based on the Brown Act. Paul Talbot, our city manager agreed with him.

I had a parliamentarian review the Brown Act and we could not locate the book, chapter or verse to support his legal opinion.

We, the public, have rights under the Brown Act we can comment on or directly address the legislative body on any matter within the legislative body’s jurisdiction.

According to California law CA Code 54954.3 c the legislating body of a local agency shall not prohibit public criticism of policies, procedures, programs or services of the agency, or the acts or omissions of the legislative body.

Elections are within the body’s jurisdiction, but the Brown act really doesn’t address this particular matter.

The law and the first amendment provide citizens the right to address the Council.

My freedom of speech allows me to address this Council on the March 2011 election.

I can and will criticize this Council majority for spending over $100,000 to try to overturn our contract with Athens Services.  You have squandered our limited funds for your own personal gains. Now that is a theft of public funds.

The city attorney and city manager stated their concerns that we residents would steal public funds if we expressed support or disagreed with Council candidates and Measure BB during Council Meetings.

Yet they allowed Councilmembers Frank Venti and Betty Tom Chu to parque acuatico hinchable campaign against Councilmember Mitch Ing during the meeting. They used his support of the police rank and file’s contract to label him as a liability.

This Council spend another $200,000 to improve the city’s image.  We have to overcome our image as a sleepy bedroom community and the First Suburban Chinatown.

Previous Councilmembers and their friends violated the Brown Act by doing city business over coffee at the Paris Restaurant many years ago. They voted to reduce the size of our commercial lots to prevent big box stores from moving into our hometown.

Previous Councilmembers and their friends decided they could sell their property and businesses at a higher profit if they agreed to make Monterey Park, the First Suburban Chinatown.

Now we face a devastating financial downturn in our city.  We must reduce expenses and try to improve our sales tax base.

This is not going to be effortless. Our employees have agreed to a pay reduction of 10% through furloughs.  City Hall will be closing at Noon on Fridays starting on February 11.

We cannot attract large brand name stores as we have a limited amount of commercial property for their location.

We also have a very negative image in the local newspapers (The San Gabriel Valley Tribune and The Pasadena Star News) thanks to Councilmember Frank Venti. He has been feeding them articles that have severely damaged our hometown.

Soon Mr. Venti will not be an elected official so he can continue to be a stringer for these newspapers. Maybe he will get his own by-line.

Frank Venti as the Millennium Mayor. I have been sitting through the Council Meetings for all three of his terms and it been a thousand years to me.

We need a Council that will discuss the issues and solve the problems. We need to vote for candidates who put the city first. We need to save our hometown.

During the January 19 Council Meeting Betty Tom Chu wanted to have a resolution passed naming Frank Venti as the “Millennium Mayor” since he was mayor for 9 and 1/2 months during the end of 2000 and early 2001. It was Item 11 on the agenda.

The Council discussed the meaning of the millennium year and when it really began.

Finally after much discussion on the issue the Council voted. Three yes votes (Venti, Chu and Wong), one no vote (Ing) and one abstained vote (Lau).

The item passed. Council watchers believed that Mr. Venti should have abstained, as this vote would have benefited him with a resolution for a title that he could use in his personal endeavors.

Mr. Wong reopened the discussion so that former mayor Rita Valenzuela could speak on the issue. She believed after speaking with Betty Tom Chu that this item was pulled off the agenda.  She was upset that she was not notified about this issue.  She and former mayor Francisco Alonso also served as mayor during the millennium year.   All of Europe celebrated the Millennium in 2000. Mr. Venti was only the mayor for the last three months in 2000. She represented the city of Monterey Park for nine and 1/2 months in 2000. She requested honesty from the Council. She thanked Mitch Ing for righting a wrong and Anthony Wong for re-opening the issue. She asked what did the title and principal bring to the community? It is important to have leaders that bring housing and shopping to the community. She stated that the honor should go to people who worked to improve life in our city.

After more discussion Mr. Venti dropped the item from the agenda. However this issue wasted almost 1,000 minutes of our time and money.  This item was not about city business it was about honoring a man that has caused trouble in the city.

Frank Venti is known as a bully in the city.  He has used his position as a Councilmember to harass, intimidate and slander other Councilmembers, employees, business owners and residents.

He instigated the harassment of Athens Services. He and his cohorts spent $20,000 on an audit of the Athens residential services and spent another $80,000 on an audit of the multi-family and commercial services. After spending $100,000 of our money the auditors found no wrongdoing by Athens to terminate our contract.

As a last hurrah Mr. Venti and his cohorts created Measure BB for the residents to vote on if they wish that all future waste hauler/trash contracts to go out to open bid.  This measure is costing the taxpayers additional money in these hard economic times.

Measure BB if passed will not terminate our Athens contract. If fact our current contract with Athens states that the next waste hauler/trash contract must go out to open bid when it expires in 2017.

Ask Mr. Venti why he spent over $100,000 of our hard earned tax dollars on his own personal vendetta?

On the February 2 Council agenda was Item 12 a staff report on city funded elected officials’ health benefits. Two former Councilmembers Fred Balderrama and Francisco Alonso are currently collecting city paid health insurance benefits after leaving office. Current elected officials Dave Barron, Joseph Leon, David Lau and Frank Venti are eligible to collect them after leaving office. Anthony Wong and Mitch Ing would also be eligible if they serve for five years and are over the age of 50.

Elected officials would be eligible to receive the same benefits as the Executive Management Group up to $875 in health benefits and $97 on other health benefits (dental, vision and life insurance) while in office based on Government Code sections 53028.5 b and 53060.1 b. Upon retirement from their office they could receive up to $875 in health benefits per month. The legal opinion also stated that Council could not eliminate the city’s retiree health benefits for those vested in the system.

Currently these elected officials are collecting an unknown dollar amount for themselves and their families to cover medical, dental, vision care and life insurance.

Staff is going to recalculate the costs paid on their benefits by the city for the last three years, adjust their benefits and bill them for the difference.

This should save the taxpayers some money in the future.  How many part-time employees do you know that get paid benefits?

Item 13 another last hurrah for Frank Venti, as he desperately wants to leave his mark on Monterey Park. He wants to have the elected offices of the City Clerk and the City Treasurer eliminated so the Council majority could appoint their friends to these important positions. The item was pulled, as Betty Tom Chu was absent due to her husband’s illness.

I am asking the Council majority to please vote no to appointing people to the offices of the City Clerk and the City Treasurer.  It makes me shudder to think that a future Council majority could appoint Frank Venti and Betty Tom Chu to be our city clerk and /or our city treasurer.

We want to keep the city clerk and the city treasurer as elected officials of the city to protect the future of our hometown.

Remember to vote on Election Day, March 8 for the best people to govern our hometown.