by Mona Raskin

The month of August has arrived along with a heat wave. However,   it isn’t only the increase in temperature  that has Californians on edge. Cities throughout the state are having a tough time trying to  balance their budgets.

Example, cities such as Stockton. Vallejo and now San Bernardino are now facing bankruptcy!

Our own city of Monterey Park has obviously been feeling the pinch this past year! Several months ago, 19 city employees were laid off. Regular hours were decreased at city hall, as well as our library! All these steps were taken to reduce the strain on the city budget! The city council believes the next step is to entice more business ventures to our city. One small effort has been the new farmer’s market which now occupies the library lot on Friday afternoons at 4 p.m.

Unfortunately, at the same time, our city has been hounded by the Ad Hoc study which concerns whether we should seriously allow our fire department to go County?

It has truly been nothing but a continuous headache for our community especially at this time when our city is trying to stay intact!

Yes, the heat is on, which also means the fire season is as well! This is not the time for our fire dept. to even consider to leave our city to fend for ourselves! We are the ones who financed your training, etc you belong to us!