Citizen About Town

By Nancy C. Arcuri, Editor and Publisher

E-mail: nancyarcuri@thecitizensvoice.net

Fax: 626-307-9081

The November elections results are counted and the voters have spoken.  The majority of the voters determined which candidates were best for the job. In California the voters decided which propositions would change our laws and raise our taxes.

Some of the propositions that won may not be in the best interest of the residents.  Only time will tell if the majority of the voters made the best decisions for the future of our state.

In Monterey Park the hot button issue is Fire Station No. 62 that needs to be rebuilt to meet the current health and safety standards of today.

At the November 5 meeting 13 speakers addressed the issue of purchasing a property at 2000 Isabella Avenue that backs up to the station across the alley.

This single-family property is in an R-1 zoning and is a corner lot that begins the tree-lined block of this neighborhood.

The purchase price is $500,000 and the Council majority already agreed to purchase the property from the seller’s estate.

I agreed that Fire Station No. 62 needs to be remodeled to meet all of the current health and safe standards of today.

I, as a taxpayer, am not willing to overpay $50,000 to purchase 2000 S. Isabella Avenue that was appraised in June of this year for $450,000.  The property values in Monterey Park have not increased by 10% in five months to justify the $500,000 purchase price.

I, as a long time resident, do not want to see this Council approve this sale that will destroy another neighborhood in our hometown. The current plans are to demolish the single family home and garage to build a storage unit and add additional parking for the fire station.

Two neighborhoods that were destroyed by previous Councils’ votes come to mind.  Lincoln Plaza Hotel, that towers over the homes on Lincoln Avenue, reducing the quality of life in that neighborhood.  TELACU that was built on civic center property that was purchased to build the Monterey Park Bruggemeyer Library out on one floor and add additional parking for the library and civic center. We paid more money to add the second story and still have a parking problem.

Now this Council is deciding to repeat history and destroy another neighborhood.

I suggested that the city plan to add storage space in the new fire station and assign parking spaces to the firefighters in the Elder Park parking lot.

Please do not spend our hard earned tax dollars to destroy another neighborhood in our city.

Eleven other residents of that neighborhood expressed their concerns and requested the Council find another location for this station.  They were upset that their neighborhood would be forever changed with a commercial storage building and parking lot constructed on the property.

A member of the Firefighters Union approved of the purchase of this lot for the expansion of the fire station.

The plan presented to the Council was to rebuild the fire station on the same footprint and use the residential property for parking and either storage or office space.

The final decision on the use of the property is still up in the air.

The fire department staff did research many vacant sites in the area to relocate Station No. 62. It was determined that this station’s location is the best one for quick emergency service in that part of town.

Councilmembers Mitch Ing and Teresa Real Sebastian objected to purchasing this property.

Councilmember Real Sebastian agreed that this station should be upgraded. She wanted the city to leave the Isabella property alone. She suggested that the staff keep looking for another location of another fire station to be built in the future. She was not in favor of over paying $50,000 for this property.

Councilmember Mitch Ing also agreed that this station should be upgraded. He wanted the residents to be able to preserve their own property. He was not in favor of buying the Isabella property and over paying for it.

Councilmember Anthony Wong said he is only acquiring the property to provide a better workstation for our firefighters. This is the best location for a fire station.

Mayor Pro Tem Peter Chan also agreed we need to upgrade this fire station that was built in 1949. No additional fire trucks will be added to this location, which is the best location to cover an area of our city.  He wants to purchase the property for storage and parking. $500,000 is not too expensive. The city will take the residents’ suggestion on the use of the lot.

Mayor Hans Liang also agreed that this fire station needs to be upgraded. The Council has already had discussions on the purchase of the property. They need to follow the law. Safety is number one. We need to keep the current location. We need to move forward to better serve the public and purchase this property.

The Council voted 3 (Liang, Chan and Wong) to 2 (Ing and Real Sebastian) to purchase 2000 S. Isabella for $500,000.

The taxpaying voters are not very happy to over pay $50,000 for this property when the $50,000 could repair the many potholes in our streets.

We must keep reminding our elected officials that they are spending our hard earned tax dollars.

If you have any ideas on how the Isabella property could be designed to the standards of the neighborhood please call your Councilmembers at 626-307-1255.

The neighborhood meetings will be opened to the public.

We have so many reasons to be grateful for living in our United States of America.

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!