__________________
______________________________
__________________
______________________________
Controversial Cerritos Mayor Pro Tem Carol Chen coordinated private meeting with other elected officials to talk about upcoming ABC School Board Bond worth $235 Million,
By Brian Hews
At least seven current and former local elected officials met in private on Wednesday night under the behest of Cerritos Mayor Pro-Tem Carol Chen to begin mapping out a strategy that could derail a $235 million dollar general improvement bond for the ABC School District.
Chen, a successful real estate executive, set up the meeting by sending out a private email to several key area officials and influential decision makers urging them to attend.
Hews Media Group-Community Newspaper obtained a copy of that email and published it on line just hours prior to the commencement of the 8 p.m. meeting in a third floor conference room at 183rd Street and Gridley Road real estate office owned by Chen.
Cerrito’s Mayor pro tem Carol Chen sent a personal email with addresses obscured from her individual Yahoo email account on Monday June 30 calling it an “urgent meeting” to seek input on the proposed ABCUSD $680 million Facilities Master Plan and $235 million Bond Measure.
When asked, Chen indicated she did not want the press at the meeting.
HMG-CN confronted Chen at the meeting and was repeatedly denied access. Chen on several occasion during the heated interview denied sending out the email or deflecting any and all questions surrounding the meeting.
The ABC School Board will be discussing both of these issues at the July 8 meeting and voting on them at the July 15 meeting.
In her email Mayor pro tem Chen said, “Given the facts I know of current(ly), if the bond passes it will impact/increase your property tax bill hundreds of dollars annually. ABCUSD School Board members Lynda Johnson and Soo Yoo both have reached out to me to get this information out to the public.”
She asked email recipients “to share their viewpoints with Johnson and Yoo tonight 8 PM at 11306 E. 183rd St., third floor in Cerritos. It is an office building between Big Five Sporting Goods and Sears Automotive.”
Chen ended the email by saying I do appreciate your reply by email if you can attend this important meeting.”
Based on the statement by Chen in the email where she said, “I wanted to get this information out to the public,” HMG-CN contacted Chen by email to attend the meeting.
Chen’s terse one-line reply was, “no media, invited guests only.”
Chen Confronts HMG-CN Reporter
Cerritos City Manager Art Gallucci, who was not in attendance, was informed about Chen’s meeting on Wednesday in an email from HMG-CN. Gallucci said, “The city was not aware of the meeting until you (HMG-CN) emailed the information to me. This is not a city meeting therefore the city will not be participating in any official capacity.”
Attending the meeting with Chen and nearly 20 other individuals was Cerritos City Councilman Bruce Barrows, as well as former Cerritos Mayor Grace Hu. Hu is running for city council in 2015 and is expected to have Chen and Barrow’s full support.
With a cell phone video rolling, HMG-CN captured both Yoo and Johnson arriving at the meeting at the same time. Chen greeted the two ABC School Board Members with open arms and hugs before they went into a private elevator that took them to the third floor meeting in the Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate office.
Johnson, when asked if members of the media could attend, responded that she was there as a “guest.”
Earlier in the afternoon, Johnson told the newspaper that she was attending. “I am attending and will take input from attendees, but I am there as an observer only.”
One Cerritos resident who wanted to remain anonymous and who sent the email to HMG-CN said, “I’m guessing she (Chen) and the city probably doesn’t want it (the Bond Measure) because the city has wanted to raise water rates and maybe a utility tax. This could cause conflict between the district and city hall. If she is against it, in my opinion this meeting is an attempt to sabotage funding for schools, while considering taxing residents to pay for council perks and lifetime benefits for her and her colleagues. We rank 46th in the nation in education, this is absolutely wrong, secret meetings are undemocratic.”
HMG-CN Online Editor Randy Economy attempted to enter the meeting and was personally blocked by Chen and her longtime supporter Gordon Hom, who is a key member of the Cerritos Republican Club.
Several other residents of Cerritos wanted to attend the meeting and were turned away including former California Assemblywoman Sally Havice.
Havice made her way into the third floor meeting and was asked to leave the room immediately. Havice is a former ABC School Board member and outspoken critic of several past policies and project by both Cerritos city officials and ABC School Board members. Also turned away was Cerritos residents Jay Gray, and Jim McMahon. At least 10 other local residents gathered outside the meeting in the parking lot after been denied as well.
Also attending the meeting was Cerritos Public Safety Committee Member Matt Kauble, Cerritos Republican Club Member Joan Plyman as well as Cecy Groom a former ABC School Board member who was censured in the past for make racially charged remarks to former school board member Louise Dotson who is an African American. Sources tell HMG-CN that Groom is contemplating a run in next year’s ABC School board campaign for a seat on the Cerritos City Council.
It appears Carrol Chen takes the position she is acting as a private citizen and can do what ever she wants.
It also appears Carol Chen takes the position she is an elected official and can do what ever she wants.
Technically, she’s not a private citizen. She is an elected official 24/7. That why a private citizen can meet with two other council members and she can’t.
Was Sally Havice tossed out because she is not White, Chinese, or Republican?
How many African Americans were there? How many Latinos were represented? Koreans? Indians? Filipino?
Were these Cerritos officials only at the meeting?
As suggested by the other poster, can you post comments from other city leaders (non-Cerritos) who are part of the ABC school district? What do they think about this backroom deal that affects their constituents and non-white non-Chinese children?
Evidently, residents in Cerritos allow this so, maybe you should take this outside the city line and bring in all ABC constituents.
42,000 Cerritos Residents, please write our mayor pro temp.It got bleached out on my above post.
To: Carol Chen 金凱莉
Randy
Your video feed speaks million words. Look at Councilperson Carol Chen naked blue toes, true blue liar, blue coward and blue trader, as Mayor Pro Temp of Cerritos.
Residents, please view this video feed, she would not allow me, Handicap in wheelchair, as handicap and RV owners are embarrassment to the realtors and her franchise branding. Look at all of the Cerritos (USA Vets), TURNED AWAY in the parking lot, she would not allow entrance.
Listen to one attendee, stated she represented realtor MLS, where is E/O?
Carol, walking streets, listening to all residents complain about breached – fractured PUBLIC WORKS, would better serve the community. Our home values are way below our neighbors : Cerritos is hovering around $300 Per Sq Ft , while other cities are around $400-$500 Per Sq Foot. Whats up Carol, HOMELAND OF AMERICA, is boycotting Cerritos and ABC.
http://cerritospublicworks.blogspot.com/
I even received a phone call from one of her male staffers for invite. Maybe this email, will rattle carol Chen dementia:
—————–email—————————–
From: Carol Chen
Subject: Urgent meeting, 7/2, 8 pm- ABCUSD Facilities Master Plan and Proposed Bond Measure
Date: June 30, 2014 at 5:34:16 PM PDT
To: Carol Chen 金凱莉
Dear all,
I am calling an urgent meeting to seek your input on the proposed ABCUSD $680 Million Facilities Plan and $235 Million Bond Measure the Board of Education will be voting on at the July 8th Board meeting.
Given the facts I know of current, if the Bond passes, it Will impact/increase your property tax bill hundreds of dollars annually. ABC School Board Members, Lynda Johnson and Soo Yoo both have reached out to me to get this information out to the public.
Please come to share your viewpoints with them on Wed., July 2, 8pm at 11306 E. 183rd Street, 3rd floor, Cerritos ((office building between Big 5 Sporting Goods and Sear’s Automotive). I’d appreciate your reply by email if you can attend this important meeting.
Thanks,
Carol
—————end of email————————
Vote NO, on following.
• ABC School Bond
• CERRITOS Sheriff Tax
• CERRITOS Street Light Tax
• CERRITOS Water Bonds and tax
• CERRITOS Utility Tax
• CERRITOS Street Tree tax.
As an ABC parent I am outraged at what I just read and saw on the video.
The city council is hosting a ‘private’ meeting with school board members and other city officials to talk about a 1/4 billion dollar bond and the public is left in the parking lot?
If Ms. Johnson was there only as an observer, what were the stacks of papers and booklets she and Ms. Yoo were bringing into the meeting? Why did she need to bring papers and booklets? What was she presenting?
Ms. Chen, Ms. Johnson, Ms. Yoo – This reeks of a backroom deal at our our children’s expense.
Brian and Randy, I hope you can answer this for me:
My question is about the Cerritos City Council members and their spouses (past and present) who receive the city’s health insurance benefits (lifetime-forever). Do they collect a premium cash value each month if their health insurance is not needed?
This is tax payers money the council is wasting and we have the right to know how much money this perk is costing us.
CCC and their spouse, both receive Medical Ins until death of both spouses. Recently, most recent CCC to die, was in his 80’s., died <decade ago. City Councilman was divorced and remarried much younger. Younger spouse, plus former wife; will receive medical insurance until ea. Death. City of Cerritos will be paying medical insurance until death of both living spouses.
Recently, few Ret. CCC have cashed in on their medical Ins, if they have an existing policy to cover them. Cash value of the sold medical Ins. Policy is <$500,000, which I have been told by administration.
Unconfirmed, ( but per budget) one Cer staff retiree is receiving <$400, 000 per yr.
Please send Letters of Protest:
bbarr90703 at a o l dot c o m ;
carolkchen at y a h o o dot c o m ;
josephjcho at earth link dot n e t ;
gray at lefiell dot c o m ;
markpulido at y a h o o dot c o m
I was on the Council in Bellflower. Although I was able to cancel the health benefits for Councilmembers, apparently I was grandfathered in. I have never used the benefit nor am I entitled to a premium cash value that I am aware of. I believe the City Council reinstated the benefit after I left the Council in 1999.
Thanks, Art for your comment! BTW! We are looking forward to EXPANDING our coverage area into Bellflower in the next few weeks! Let’s grab lunch soon.
Randy Economy
OK, give me a call.
First, I agree this smells like an undemocratic backroom deal. Next, the article mentions former disgraced city council member Grace Hu making another run for city council and goes on to say she has the full support of Carol Chen and Bruce Barrows.
Is this for real? She left under a cloud of ethics and two siting members are overlooking that and supporting her? Are there any honest people left in Cerritos?
After reading the Carol Chen email I too got the impression that all interested persons were invited to attend. Some residents did show up only to be treated with unexplainable rudeness.
This woman needs to learn some manners. Thank you for sharing the video, I finally got to see the real Carol and she isn’t a pretty picture, just another phoney rude bitch politician who thinks the world owes them everything. No worries, she is self destructing fast, I’ll never trust her again.
MCMAHON’S EXCULSIVE NEWS:
Today had an exclusive talk w/ 2 of Barrows commissioners. Barrows, for many yrs, has been against (AT) AKA: Artificial Turf and is on record. Why? Barrows supports the water company, as Barrows has wanted to find ways to tax our water consumption. AT would take less water, so Barrows has been against this.
Spoke w/ 3 of Carol Chen realtor employees from Prudential now Berkshire. They too confirmed Carol Chen has been against AT, as she wants the water to be more of a source for generating revenue.
Both Carol and Barrows have voted in past against installation of AT. Now we are seeing the light, as present CCC, Carol Chen wants to raise our city’s water rate, plus tax utilities.
http://www.cerritos.us/RESIDENTS/tv3/video_archive.php
Use control F, so search Cerritos PDF files.
Per OCR records/data. Aprox 30-40% of properties in county, per (Data Core) have underwater loans, plus are under Harp-Loan Modifications for balance of the mortgage term. How does CCC expect the residential economical landscape, to support bonds and additional property taxes, when county and city are not out of the 2005 recession?
Members of Cerritos Chambers have confided in me. Past and Present, CCC are against solar manufacturing or sales in Cerritos, as Cerritos wants to tax our utilities, so more is better, so the CCC have not been proactive in seeking solar outlets for Cerritos. Examine other cities, solar collectors are all over the city. Recently, OCR published cost for plan check for roof top solar collectors, as some cities are free, well, Cerritos is comparatively higher for Permits fees, to discourage solar installs. Hmmm, Cerritos is overstaffed, after absorbing the Cerritos RDA team from lay-offs. Planning Depart is over staffed, per recent interview w/ Knabes secretary, who paid Cerritos Planning Depart., unexpected field visit in June 2014, and witnessed the fluff in Cerritos Planning Department.
http://cerritos.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=15&clip_id=3265
Past CCC, Crawly would not eliminate street light tax, but is dormant. Now CCC wants to activate the doormat tax, in order to tax the residents. Readers can research the archive and read about the street light tax.
Barrows- Chen-Crawley-Hu are all (R)
June 17, 2014, I put in public records request for water subsidization by Cerritos. July 3, 2014, still no reply by city clerk nor ACM Vince Brarr. If 15,000 Cerritos homes are subsidized down, 300 Cerritos properties are not being subsidized, as use La Palma Water District. Well from 1975 to present, the 300 homes that have not been subsidized are entitled to rebate and interest for (40 Yrs) of subsidizing by city of Cerritos. Why? 300 homes are taxed and represented by Cerritos, but not entitled to rebates.
Well it sounds like per Carol Chen’s meeting, CCC wants to sabotage School Bond, in order to promote CCC utilities winning in Nov 2014 city ballot proposition. Gov Brown has sent a citywide memo, refrain from city bonds and propositions, as main goal of Nov 2014 election, is bonds to promote Calif water supplies etc. Well food chain of commands remains ghost or until now.
http://gov.ca.gov/home.php
Updates: Cerritos USPO Hrs, because of break ins and robberies. No desk assaults
Closed from 7pm to 7am, all day on Sunday. This is why the city is being patrolled by (5) collective helicopters, as us taxpayers are paying the bills.
Our children in Hawaiian Gardens will be left behind if this bond does not pass.
It is not fair the the greedy rich Cerritos crowd is taking away from our children. This is shameful. We need to protest this at the school district meeting.
We will fight for our children and teach them democracy does not work this way.
It is not true that Hawaiian Gardens will benefit most from the bond. The needs assessment for Hawaiian Gardens Elementary is 9.7 Million. This is a lower than most Elementary schools. (Gonsalves has 15 M in Need) This does not mean that HG will receive the least amount from the bond either.
Mr. Hews and Mr. Economy,
Would you be kind enough to publish the public cell phone numbers for those civic leaders attending? Johnson and Yoo and Chen in particular.
I believe many of us would like to call and ask what was discussed in the meeting. If there is nothing to hide I am sure they will be happy to talk to us.
I am not sure I understand the outrage. Certainly just become someone is an elected official it does not prevent them from meeting and discussing issues which affect the region. It appears a majority of the Council was not present therefore there is no Brown Act violation. Now I do agree that Chen displayed poor judgment in not allowing the press to attend, but then again she is under no obligation to do so. Just my 2 cents…
REPLY TO GILMANS:
Elected official takes oath to represent the public 24/7. Officials can hold private meetings. Sworn in official have higher responsibility of being role models.
Carol Chen violated this by sending invites and then declining access to her private property. She could have allowed accessed to her party, to everyone she sent invites too. Carol also advertised this in the Long Beach Press Telegram.
ABC trustees violated this by removing public documents from ABC Corp Office, in order to provide privilege entertainment to private party, without being first introduced to the public, via agenda.
This was posted July 4, 2014, after Chens Private Party on July 2, 2014.
http://www.abcusd.k12.ca.us/pages/ABC_Unified_School_District/News/Facility_and_Technology_Bond_-
Taxpayers have no certification records of attendance to Chens Party. We do have photographed copies of all the DMV Lic Plates from cars, which will be released by authorities, after due diligence investigation.
This is not the first time this has happened, we had the same shenanigans in the 60’-80’s during the demo of Dairy Valley and the birth of Cerritos-La Palma. Diary men of our region were not angels. Lot of back door goodies was dispersed at stables and dairy barns parties. Prostitution was the key in arranging school district boundaries, as sexual favors for local brothels help set the boundary guideline. Even as late as the development of the Towne Center, politicians were given financial rewards, (shopping cards by vendors) in order to pursued politicians during these private parties. Free cars were given to certain few, during the birth of Auto Square, camouflaged as Demo Units.
May town favorites received $9500 Shopping cards, or usage of free demo car for year. Law states, no politicians should be bought. Freebies should be avail to all public not certain few.
Future anchors for Cerritos Town Center and from Lakewood Mall and Stonewood Mall, distributed thousand of dollars in gift cards and bonuses to staff employees and elected politicians, to buy votes.
Here are 2 public emails which were batched prior to the party. Remember, state law: schools and cities are 2 separate businesses. They shall not merge nor mix; our forefathers knew what they were doing decades ago.
————–email ——————————
To the ABC Community,
ABC Unified School District believes that supporting academic programs and expanding, upgrading, repairing and better equipping the educational facilities within the District are required to enable the District to maintain its outstanding student achievement. We have recently conducted a thorough facility needs assessment to identify the most urgent projects at each school site. We invite you to come or tune in to the following Board Meetings held at 16700 Norwalk Blvd, Cerritos that will focus on the completed Facilities Master Plan and a discussion of a Bond Measure:
The Facilities Master Plan will be available on the District’s Website on Friday, July 4, 2014 for the public to view.
Thank you very much.
Dr. Mary Sieu
Superintendent
—————-email—————————–
Dear all,
I am calling an urgent meeting to seek your input on the proposed ABCUSD $680 Million Facilities Plan and $235 Million Bond Measure the Board of Education will be voting on at the July 8th Board meeting.
Given the facts I know of current, if the Bond passes, it Will impact/increase your property tax bill hundreds of dollars annually. ABC School Board Members, Lynda Johnson and Soo Yoo both have reached out to me to get this information out to the public.
Please come to share your viewpoints with them on Wed., July 2, 8pm at 11306 E. 183rd Street, 3rd floor, Cerritos ((office building between Big 5 Sporting Goods and Sear’s Automotive). I’d appreciate your reply by email if you can attend this important meeting.
Thanks,
Carol
——-end of email ——————————
https://www.loscerritosnews.net/2014/07/03/cerritos-mayor-pro-tem-chen-holds-private-meeting-that-could-derail-abcusd-bond-measure
Gilman, do you live in Cerritos? I think not, you obviously haven’t a clue of whats going on in our city.
No I don’t reside in Cerritos and may not have a clue as to what is taking place there….of course, my comment was directed at the “secret” meeting which occurred not the goings on of the City. If the place is a mess, then vote in new officials. However, claiming outrage over a perfectly legal meeting seems a bit odd.
Mr. Gilman: Candidates spend 250K to get a seat on Cerritos City Council, not being from Cerritos you would not know that. So the current city council just spends spends spends and wins, so Cerritos can’t vote them out.The average spent on city council seat is 10-20K for other cities. WHY? They do that b/c they get lifetime benefits and many other perks. So why are you commenting on something that you know nothing about on a city you do not live in? That is called talking OUT OF YOUR ASS. So friend of Chen, Barrows, Ray, Cho, Pulido, pull your head out of your ass and stay in your own city.
So it is not that you are outraged over a meeting, you simply dislike the current officials and how they were elected. You might work on changing that instead of simply attacking anyone that disagrees with your opinion.
Some observations on Gilman….
1. you are the only one who is in favor of Carol’s meeting within all the comments. If you read this site there are always haters leaving messages to Randy and Brian, never has it been this one-sided.
2.You have said you do not live in the city so why do you care? Logic says Carol or Bruce are friends of yours or family member which makes your comments rather hypocritical don’t ya think?
3.Maybe you ought to pay attention to your own city and leave ours alone.
Sorry to disappoint, no relationship to Chen or any of the other players. Just an observation, the meeting was perfectly legal.
When you see this much slim gathered in one room you know the mess will be there for years to come.
Deferred maintenance on trees, roads, and sidewalks – Cerritos city council has it’s own troubles with financing and DEBT. Globetrotters Chen and Barrows are in no legitimate position to team up with ABC regarding money matters.
This isn’t the first time either government has been questioned about a coverup or questionable actions. A quick google search shows some of the more recent events.
Just who is leading California’s ABC Unified School District?
“An eye opening look at California’s ABC Unified School District officials in the wake of a brewing scandal involving a mass cover-up…”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ruku2JM1UAY
“OpEd: ABCUSD reaches new low with denying media access to public meeting ”
http://reformabc.blogspot.com/2012/07/oped-abcusd-reaches-new-low-with.html
“Transparency at Cerritos City Hall: All Talk, No Walk”
http://www.citywatchla.com/8box-left/5438-transparency-at-cerritos-city-hall-all-talk-no-walk
“LETTER’S: Barrowsgate, Crime, Cover-up and Conspiracy at Cerritos City Hall”
https://www.loscerritosnews.net/2012/07/13/letters-barrowsgate-crime-cover-up-and-conspiracy-at-cerritos-city-hall/
“…Councilman Joseph Cho attempted to craft a deal with rival candidate K.Y. Ma last December in an attempt to manipulate the Cerritos March 5th election,…”
http://greaterlongbeach.com/06/02/2013/cerritos-councilman-cho-council-candidates-kang-and-ma-tried-to-manipulate-2013-city-election
“He [Pulido] doesn’t believe it was an improper situation,”
http://www.caclean.org/problem/latimes_2006-02-24.php
“STATE BAR SUSPENDS CERRITOS COUNCIL CANDIDATE FRANK YOKOHAMA”
http://greaterlongbeach.com/01/02/2013/state-bar-suspends-cerritos-city-council-candidate-frank-yokohama
For years frequent Communist China visitor Carol Chen has talked about raising taxes and implementing new fees on Cerritos.
If she is hosting a private meeting with her Comrades on bond issues it will not be good for Cerritos.
Carol Chen is only part if the problem. In order to rid the City of Cerritos the ideal of corruption or any speculation of corruption, one must start by getting rid of “The Puppet Master”,- The City Manager Art Gallucci. We need to get a petition going to Recall Carol Chen, and another petition to fir the useless, overpaid City Manager.
One influence here may be the millionaire individual and billionaire corporate property owners. This includes the auto mall dealerships, Los Cerritos Center and many other commercial properties in addition to residential rentals. (Councilman George Ray was head of the Chamber of Commerce. Former council member Jim Edwards is a civic member of the board.)
Also, it is no coincidence that many former and current elected officials and appointees are linked to real estate and property management industry (like Carol Chen and Joseph Cho, the list goes on-and-on).
One poster above claims the video has a visitor saying she is representing the MLS.
While residents would painfully have to fork out a few hundred dollars, Those Above (many not living in Cerritos) could end up paying tens-of-thousands-of-dollars on their multimillion dollar properties.
With the city unable to abuse and misuse redevelopment dollars (per the State of California), the power elite will have to help their business friends in other creative ways. Maybe one way is helping them avoid a school bond?? Food for thought…
Open Meeting laws like the Brown Act probably violate the 1st Amendment Freedom of Association.
The only reason they apply to local governments officials and not the State or Federal Elected Officials is that they would prevent Party Caucuses from Meeting and plotting in private.
Hell if open meeting laws were in effect the American Revolution would never have happened because the British would have stumped it out of existence before it would have a chance to be effective.
Gay Rights Activists, some of whom were elected to public office at the time, would not have made the gains they made if they had not violated open meeting laws. Instead they would have been arrested and separated for violating some public decency laws as they were routinely in the 1960s and 1970s.
The media does not push for the California Legislature or the U.S. Congress to apply open meeting laws to themselves because they know leaders like Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Nancy Pelosi, John Perez, Connie Conway, Darrell Steinberg and Bob Huff would in a bi-partisan manner bring a lawsuit and take that suit all the way to the Supreme Court and that ruling might also go farther and impact City Councils and School Boards, which do not have the same level of resources as the partisan office holders.
Last note, the ABC School District just posted a summary document that would not have been published had this meeting not taken place. Their July 8th Meeting probably violates some open meeting law given that they did not properly notice the public. Looking at the document it is a wish list and the district did not do any seismic study on the buildings some having been constructed back before the more recent seismic codes. Imagine them passing the general plan they will try to railroad through on Tuesday and the bond they will try to railroad through later and then the bond passes and is spent and then a major earthquake happens and the kids are injured. Who is at fault for not holding the School Boards feet to the fire before they rubber stamp something the staff and unions are trying to push through in the dead of the night?
FACEBOOK???
TWITTER???
Please Post Twitter and Facebook, share these –events, instantly. Latino gangs, lowriders, social media is faster then news traveling here in Cerritos/ABC Networking.
Main issue, Chinese are ruling this Portuguese –Dairy town & bedfellows are screwing the hell out of one another. How blind are the packs of local Chinese politicians for allowing this? We here in SPHOA sit back /chuckle.
2 yrs is more then long enough, to any elected position is this city.
Art G is in bed w/ his secretary, Kathy for decades.
Barrows and Chen are hot-lips jointed at hips. Crawley dumped Chen, now Barrows is in Honeymoon phase.
Kappes-Knobe wives have bedded every dude which has 401K and investments in the city & valley.
Spitzer and Knappe, 30 Yr G&L, lover triangle. City politics and ABC are so twined, like afro-braids. Knobe wife and son, landed every Long Beach sportsman since the 60’s. Every yacht in marina is a motel.
Wong-Hu have been long time sweethearts and gravy train all the way to Hong Kong and beyond the iron curtains. Hu has given more back door loans, then BOA/WFB combined.
Chamber Matson & Mary Sieu bedded every remodel and construction job in town, including the Paddlefords corrupt money chain on Summerland. Sieu pushes for build build build, to get remodeling tax in to ABC. and lets Matson design.
George Ray has courage of placing his local mistress on his board, to protect his wife from suing his business assets, then had courage to show- off his diversified family of –inlaws- like television viewers are blind of Negros and Mexicans in laws.
Edwards post as council and chamber, just another cheap shot, to get more medical nurse meat, to sell to his war buddies.
Between Hughlett and Cho, which one has dated more CJC freshman, as the wives are so desperate for Cerritos Medical for Life benefits, they dont dump them or are alcoholics?
Least Rabbits wife had enough courage to walk away from Mr./Mrs . Rabbit had decade long affair with city accountant, Mrs. R tossed the I do contract and took off.
How many love children have been born in this city, from the above water cooler romances?? Chinese will have more closed door sessions, communism is in their Blood and cheaters like Toyota recall.
If council members Chen and Barrows support Grace Hu for city council (as mentioned in the article) and Johnson and Yoo are working with her on this bond then maybe it’s true, “Birds of a Feather Flock Together.”
It is my opinion and hope all of Cerritos, Grace Hu is not welcome in city or district policy discussions or decisions. And any elected or appointed official who conspires with her should be immediately removed from office.
The Department of Corporations of the State of California’s case against Grace Hu.
“ACCUSATION TO REVOKE ESCROW AGENT LICENSE AND TO BAR FROM EMPLOYMENT, MANAGEMENT OR CONTROL OF ANY ESCROW AGENT”
“Grace Hu is the President and owner of Fairway, and was also a member of the Cerritos City Council (“Council”), and has served as the mayor of Cerritos, at all relevant times herein. ”
http://www.dbo.ca.gov/ENF/pdf/f/fe_accusation.pdf
http://www.dbo.ca.gov/ENF/pdf/f/fe_stipulation.pdf
http://www.dbo.ca.gov/ENF/pdf/f/fe_Hu.pdf
Can someone confirm if this deal was the ABC-Cerritos joint venture known as Cuesta Villas? If so, this might be Daja Vu
* * * * * CERRITOS – POLITICAL – INCEST-(most Republicans too boot)
• Next generations, Cerritos Proposition No: No Realtors-No Teachers on CCC nor appointees.
• Many crocked elected Cerritos Politicians, background as realtors, creating business conflict of interest:
• Many of the attendees to Carol Chen private lock-out party, were realtors, or Ret. Teachers/ CCC/appointees. One big incest. LEAST HOA PRESIDENTS WERE NOT PRESENT, HOPE THEY HAVE BEEN FOREVER MORE FLUSHED DOWN TOILET FOR BROWN ART.
1. ABC Baldwin & Realtor Olympia Chen-Remax & La Cuesta Village + ABC Overlay Project.
2. Realtor- CCC Laura Lee & La Cuesta Villas.
3. Realtor –CCC Kappes and Las Vegas.
4. Realtor-CCC Diana Needman and Encore.
5. Realtor CCC Grace Hu and CCC Crawley- Affordable Housing.
6. Realtor –CCC Grace Hu and CCC/ABC Ann Joynt.
7. Realtor- CCC Wong & Granada Park.
8. Realtor -CCC Carol Chen- Los Cerritos Mall
9. CCC –LA Supervisor Knabe and Cer Auto Mall and Cal trans.
10. CCC Rabbit: Cal Trans
11. CCC Hughlett- Pres of Cer Jun College & wife teacher union.
12. CCC Carol Chen- Block Wall Rehab and sits on board for manufacturing of block wall in OC..
13. Barrows Wife and Greg Berg Wife, both retired from ABC + CCC Edwards, another retiree from ABC. CCC sits on Board for Aero Manufact for Meglev counsel.
14. CCC Kappe, retired teacher + Hughlett retired teacher.
15. CCC Don Knabe: LA Supervisore:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Knabe
Realtor -property mgr.
Mr Vu
You may want to look at Pioneer Villas (Sr. Housing) Grace Hu and her Chinese building friends were very involved in this project.
Carol Privatized Guest List:
After talking with immediate neighbors, during tonight’s Fireworks, few guests of Carol, should not been invited & or representing the ABC /City:
Pylmans’: they have isolated themselves from our hood. Mrs. hardly will speak and Mr. states their home is Republican home, which city politics should be bi partisan. Mr. P will not speak to anyone. They refuse to talk to democratic households, including their immediate neighbors. Pylman’s are not representing all parties.
Grace Hu- besides being thrown out from city appointee for escrow corruption, she also withdrew her $750K donation to Whitney, when Ret. Smutts/ABC would not rename the school in her name. She lost her license, not for La Cuesta, but for Emerald Villas Senior Homes, plus lied to the Cerritos Residents, as she was going to put the Cerritos Islands communities in Cerritos water, and failed.
Trustees: Lady Bird Johnson and YoYo were confronted in parking lots of Carols private party, ( by doz Cer Representatives) and Ret Assemblyperson, they stated there were only attending as guests. How many guests bring full battalion of ABC Trustees Props to mere non-formal party, without getting full approval by trustees, to bring private Trustee records for advertisement at function of political lynching.
Barrows appointee Matt: If my memory is correct, Matt went public for the broadcasting of Cerritos Safety Committee. Matt does not want the committee hearing broadcasted, as whatever is talked about at Safety committee, should not make public. Out w/ this concept, as this one of the reasons Bell Politics ruined city of Bell. Matt, we need transparancy and stop the hide-go-seek styles.
Carol Chen- was sanctioned by District Attorney for not allowing the public to speak during public comments, during the which hunt over the RV Storage. Carol wanted to rid the city of RV’s, so more properties would come on to the market, to increase sales. One of her appointees to her commissions, was sanctioned to out of Sacramento.
Mr. Gilman: Candidates spend 250K to get a seat on Cerritos City Council, not being from Cerritos you would not know that. So the current city council just spends spends spends and wins, so Cerritos can’t vote them out.The average spent on city council seat is 10-20K for other cities. WHY? They do that b/c they get lifetime benefits and many other perks. So why are you commenting on something that you know nothing about on a city you do not live in? That is called talking OUT OF YOUR ASS. So friend of Chen, Barrows, Ray, Cho, Pulido, pull your head out of your ass and stay in your own city.
Actually I am pretty familiar with the laws regarding open meetings – but that isn’t really what you are upset about. You simply dislike the current officials and are unhappy that you haven’t been able to get your candidates elected. I would suggest to you that attacking anyone who disagrees with you is not a very smart campaign plan.
]http://i60.tinypic.com/317ayop.jpg
Who Knew? Carol Chen,Mary Sieu, Soo You, Grace Hu & Linda Too! …Deja Vu!
Back to the Secret Meetings, Back Room Deals & Corruption at ABC/Cerritos!
It seems very clear to me that Councilman Carol Chen called this meeting not as a private individual, as she claimed in the video, but as an elected official of the city Cerritos.
Sorry, but it appears the news article is incorrect in reporting she used her personal email address.
Furthermore, the city managers comment, “…the city was not aware of the meeting until you (HMG-CN) emailed the information to me. This is not a city meeting therefore the city will not be participating in any official capacity,” appears to now be in question.
The following link contains an official city document, on official city of Cerritos letterhead, signed by Mayor Carol K. Chen, addressed to another public official. The letter is linked on the lacounty.gov website, indicating it was sent and received by the addressee. Mayor Chen clearly and purposefully uses as her official city email address, [email protected] in the address heading.
http://redistricting.lacounty.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Ltr-City-of-Cerritos.pdf
Thus, the contents of email, as it relates to bonds, tax bills and specifically reaching out to the public, sent by councilman Chen, to me, appears to be addressed and worded in such a manner as to give the impression it is sent in an official capacity and not by private individual Carol K Chen, but by councilman Carol K Chen.
I believe the city attorney may now be legally bound to investigate this meeting and file a report. This would need to be verified with both the DA and Bar if failure to do so would result in an ethics violation, against his license.
This is a prime example why elected officials should use a government issued email address for all and only for official business. Shamefully, many sleazy officials attempt to circumvent public information request by setting up their own separate account or using an existing account.
I’ll leave it to the newspaper to research any email addresses from members of ABC and keep us posted.
Anyone disagree?
Carol Chen listed the city hall address and phone number in the city letterhead. So, one would assume the email is also a city email and not a personal email.
I will go one step further. The city may pay to have letterhead printed. If so, this would mean the email address was reviewed, confirmed, approved for printing and later the letterhead along with letter contents authorized for mailing.
I vote, the email address and context of the email appear to be coming form a Carol Chen acting as city official and not a regular resident.
http://tinypic.com/r/317ayop/8
Dear Gang of Four,
Why hide and meet in secret? If you are acting in the public interest as elected public officials, why shut out public scrutiny.
This sounds like a case for the Justice Department – The Realtors, Republicans and Fake Democrats who drove Cerritos into the ground have run a Shadow Government. Meeting in secret and lining their own pockets!
Wake Up Cerritos!
That is a freaking HILARIOUS PHOTO of CHEN, HU, YOO, and JOHNSON! EVERYONE NEEDS TO CLICK THIS LINK! OMG. BRILLIANT!
http://tinypic.com/r/317ayop/8
We keep hearing the Chinese are snapping up real estate all over the U.S. Little did anyone realize they were buying local governments too.
The only thing missing in the photo is the sold sign sitting atop city hall.
PUBLIC BIOS ON LINE………………
Read the bio treads from both attendees to Carols Private Party. Both are racists. Then read Carol bios, another true blood story about Asians and Chinese. Realtors are to be color blind and inclusive of everyone, well do not see everyone in her photos. Hmm, guess she does not want to spook her supports. Carol should of addressed the letter, disclosing this is a non-official meeting, as realtors know, world is about laws of disclosure.
If globals or heartland of americans, were to read these bios, buyers would not want to purchase in to the city or school district, as bios are very bias.
LCCN Video feed captured real underlining truth about the party, when person attending stated she was (proxy) substitute stand-in representing the MLS. Party was clear assembly of persons, chosen for representatives key players; in other words, pre meditative mob lynching party.
Lynda Johnson has to repeat Filipino-Philippine this and that. No one word abouts California, United States or North American.
Soo Yoo has only been in Cerritos mere 18 yrs, Over and over she repeats herself with identifying w/ Korea. Nothing about Los Angeles, California, USA nor America.
Carol Chen, has to talk about Chinese, when omits California, Los Angeles and USA. Not one word about South American nor European nor Mideast Ancestry.
http://www.carolchenforcitycouncil.com/Gallery.php
Photos do not lie: No handicaps, No redheads, no African Americans, no blonds.
Lynda Johnson, Vice President of the Board, was elected to the ABC Board in 2011. Lynda Johnson has been a resident of Cerritos since 1971 and is a product of the schools in the ABC district. She attended Cabrillo Lane Elementary, Nixon Elementary, Haskell Junior High and graduated from Artesia High. She valued the quality of education that ABC offered and therefore raised her three children in this community. All three of her children are also proud products of ABC and all graduated from Cerritos High School. Her daughter, Lauren, is a graduate of UCLA. Her son, Roy, is a graduate of Whittier College. Her youngest son, Ryan, is currently a Midshipman at the United States Naval Academy. Lynda was an active volunteer in the ABC classrooms and was part of the booster club for the Cerritos High School Model United Nations program and the Cerritos High School Cross Country Team. She also served as a three-term PTSA President at Cerritos High School. In the community, she has coached youth basketball, T-ball, and soccer through the City of Cerritos Parks and Recreation program. Lynda has visited all 30 schools in the district and has been in the classrooms of 19 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, 5 high schools and the adult school, which gives her a better understanding of the needs of ABC students, parents and the community. Lynda is proud of all the schools and students in the ABC community and that student achievement, closing the achievement gap and keeping our schools academically competitive is her foremost priority. Lynda is a member of the Southern California Philippine US-Veterans Association, the Philippine Society of Southeast Los Angeles and the Filipino-American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast Corridor. Lynda is currently the liaison to the ABCUSD Career Technical Education Committee.
Soo Yoo, Member of the Board, was elected to the ABC Board in 2013. She is the Founder and Director of an afterschool Tutoring and College preparatory academy since 1994. Soo earned her Bachelor Degree from University of California, Irvine and a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. Soo is fluent in English, Spanish, and Korean languages.
Soo has extensive experience as a College Admission Consultant, newspaper education columnist, speaker for PTA sponsored college prep seminars at ABC Schools, and Committee Member on the City of Cerritos’ Let Freedom Ring Committee.
She is also a member of PTA at Wittmann Elementary and served on the School Site Council at Gahr High School. Additionally, she served as a girl’s volunteer basketball coach for the City of Cerritos Park and Recreation.
In 2007, Soo founded the American Red Cross, Gateway Chapter. She is the Artesia/Cerritos Annual Team Sponsor for American Cancer Society-Relay for Life since 2008. Soo is an advisor to the Mid-City Korean Senior Association.
A Cerritos resident since1996, Soo is married to Sam, a Pastor, for 22 years. They have four children: Hannah, Amy, Rachel, and Abigail. They all attended, or attend ABC Schools at Wittmann Elementary, Carmenita Middle School and Gahr High School.
Soo is currently the Board liaison to the City of Hawaiian Gardens.
Mayor Pro Tem Carol Chen was elected to the Cerritos City Council in June 2008, re-elected in March 2009 and 2013, and served as mayor of Cerritos from 2011–2012. She is a member of the Business and Industry, Library and Performing Arts Committees. Mayor Pro Tem Chen is the alternate to the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority and the first alternate to Sanitation Districts 2, 3, 18 & 19/Waste Management. She is the Council’s delegate to the Workforce Investment Board – Policy Board.
A proud Cerritos resident for more than 20 years, Mayor Pro Tem Chen has actively served on a variety of Cerritos commissions, committees and professional organizations. Mayor Pro Tem Chen is a member of the Cerritos Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Cerritos Optimist Club. She is also a member of the Asian Pacific Congressional Advisory Council of the 40th Congressional District. Prior to being elected to the City Council, Mayor Pro Tem Chen served on the Cerritos Planning Commission for seven years, including two terms as Chair and Vice Chair. She also served as the Vice Chair of the Cerritos Property Preservation Commission for two years, and was a member of the Community Safety Committee for four years.
Mayor Pro Tem Chen’s community involvement also includes her service from 1992 to 2002 to CAUSE (Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment), a non-profit community-based organization that educates Asian Americans about civic participation and political processes. She served as a Director and Founding Member of the organization.
Mayor Pro Tem Chen’s leadership of professional organizations includes serving as Director of the California Association of Realtors from 2002–2006. She also served as President of the Rancho Southeast Association of Realtors in 2004, and as the organization’s Chair of the Local Government Relations and Political Affairs Committees in 1998 and 2006. Mayor Pro Tem Chen continues to be an active member of the Rancho Southeast Association of Realtors. She is also President of the Official California Apartment Journal (2008) and Director of the Apartment Association of Southern Cities (2003–Present).
Together with her husband, Tony Chen, she has owned and operated a Cerritos-based real estate investment and property management company since 1988. Mayor Pro Tem Chen has held a California Real Estate License since 1980 and is a Certified International Property Specialist. She and her husband have two daughters, Priscilla and Stephanie. Her daughters attended ABC Unified School District schools, including Cerritos Elementary School, Carmenita Middle School and Cerritos High School. They have since graduated from nationally acclaimed universities and hold promising professional careers.
Posters continue protesting at following meetings.
Cerritos CCC- Spec. Meeting, Monday, 7-7-2014.
http://cerritos.granicus.com/GeneratedAgendaViewer.php?view_id=15&event_id=192
ABC Trustee-Spec. Meeting, Tuesday, 7-8-2014.
http://www.abcusd.k12.ca.us/pages/ABC_Unified_School_District/News/Facility_and_Technology_Bond_-
Please attend, vent your concerns and demand the council & trustees censor:
Carol Chen, Johnson and Soo
Past following Cerritos council have been censored to my knowledge:
1. Diana Needham (D)-Censored from Sacramento.
2. Carol Chen (R)- hit by DA for non allowing public comments.
3. Crawley (R) –Censored and latter resigned.
4. 3x Council Person – Grace Hu ( R) received judgment, loss of license and resigned prior to be censored.
5. Pulido (D)- plea bargained to avoid jail sentence.
6. Pulido (D) appointee Frank Y (D) loss of BAR License and removed as appointee.
7. Kappes( D), loss of RE License for being slum lord. Litigation for financial records for Shadow Park HOA.
8. Jim Edwards (R) ongoing feud Crawley (R).
9. Barrows mandated to appear in Bellflower DA office for battery to Cerritos Resident and candidate for Water Board Race.
58 Seat to State Assembly:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cristina_Garcia_(politician)
Congresswoman
http://lindasanchez.house.gov/
Please send Letters of Protest:
bbarr90703 at a o l dot c o m ;
carolkchen at y a h o o dot c o m ;
josephjcho at earth link dot n e t ;
gray at lefiell dot c o m ;
markpulido at y a h o o dot c o m;
Contact entire CCC a t following address:
https://forms.cerritos.us/contact_city_council.php
This IS about corruption, and how the “power elite” in Cerritos operate hidden behind closed doors. Shame on Carol Chen. Didn’t she hold some public press conference last year attacking Los Cerritos Community News?
I hope LCCN can continue to expose Chen and Hu and little Dump Dupe Bruce Barrows….
I also think that the Los Angeles County District Attorney needs to start paying attention to the corruption in Cerritos.
Cerritos destroyed Redevelopment for ALL CALIFORNIA CITIES!
I hope that Councilman George Ray can stop the actions of Chen and Burrows.
Yes, CERRITOS!
George Ray won’t do a damn thing. If you thought Jim Edwards was bad, Ray is Edwards 2.0.
Ray may not need the money or benefits, but he wants the status of sitting on council and like Barrows enjoys hearing himself talk. Council is just another feather in his cap.
Like his buddy Edwards, he comes across as a likeable guy, but there is no substances, with either of them, to get anything done.
Mr. Hews & Mr. Economy, why are you giving Grace Hu a pass? Carol Chen and Bruce Barrows are her puppets, they don’t do anything with out first checking with Puppeteer Madame Hu.
Has she now added Soo Yoo and Linda Johnson to the string show? Looks that way, Soo Yoo is not much of a surprise but I am dismayed that HU has captured Johnson. The old political saying “Money $$ talks” is still ringing true in Cerritos today.
Too add a bit more…It is an open secret that Cerritos is pursuing Chinese investment money. Why do you think all the trips to China and overseas? Who has the Chinese contacts? Why else is Barrows almost always seen at Chen’s side? Why is ‘dis’Graced Hu still welcome in city political circles? Why do you think the travel budget was doubled for this year?
Edwards was a coward to stand up and stop it. Ray is turning out to be the same way. Pulido is too politically calculating and was already bitch slapped by Barrows with the Yokohama issue.
HU’s on First, Chen’s on Second, Yoo’s on Third… Johnson in the Bullpen.
Now that the Chinese, Korean, Filipino Triad has figured out how to buy their way into power (not so hard to do, see: Million Dollar Cho) they don’t give two chopstix for the American way because they never had any idea of what a democracy is or how it works. What they do know is how to stuff the ballot box by voting in both their Chinese/Korean/etc. name and their American name, just as Laura Lee did when she registered as both Fu Ching Lee and Laura Lee…DOUBLE the vote!! They also figured out that by claiming to be uncomfortable voting in neighborhood garages, the city would push for ‘neutral’ voting places like Laura Lee’s Real Estate office…less polling places and pushing Absentee Voting by Mail, that way Bing Bong, Ting Tang and Xie Xie, Chun Chow, Fu Chen and Bamby could all vote out of the Chow residence (even though they live someplace else like Koreatown! Voter Fraud, Dirty Money, Backroom Deals, that’s kids-play for this group of pirañha – they make their millions by defrauding the system, and on rare occasions are actually caught (see Grace Hu fraud case) But, like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes, Grace Hu will buy her way right back onto the now totally corrupt Cerritos City Council, both Democrats and Republicans are so fraudulent, political party makes no difference. As Cho used to say “First I vote Korean, then I vote Asian, then I vote party”. Bottom of the 9th in Cerritos.
Cerritos Special Council Meeting.
Tonite, 7/7/2014. 7pm
Cable TV or from your computer or smart phones.
Let see how (D)Cho+Pulido attack (R) Barrows+Chen (Private Party). Pulido was (Ret) ABC Trustee
Voice your opines about Carol Chen Private Party.
Tell CCC:
No Sheriff Tax
No Tree Tax
No Public Works Tax
No Street Light Tax
No Increase in Water Rates
No ABC School Bond Tax
Council meeting ends with Chen refusing to state she attended this private meeting, in her closing comments. Travel Buddy Barrows also keeps it on the down low. Wouldn’t this have been a great opportunity to notify residents of the impending bond tax?
Once again you both show your true color – Red. Communist Red.
Surprise of the night, Ray asked the council put on the agenda council benefits. Is Ray finally starting to set himself apart as the heir apparent to the cowardly lion Edwards?
Barrows, the leach of stipends committees, and soon to be termed out for a second time is a sure bet to make sure future councils can’t take his lifetime perks.
What the heck happened to Cho? Is that guy awake up there?
Hi, i feel that i saw you visited my site so i got here to go
back the prefer?.I’m trying to to find things to enhance my web site!I suppose its good enough to make use of some of your concepts!!
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an extremely long
comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear.
Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted
to say excellent blog!
What i don’t understood is in fact how you’re no longer really much more well-favored than you may be now.
You’re very intelligent. You realize therefore significantly in the case of this matter,
produced me in my view believe it from numerous various angles.
Its like men and women are not involved until it’s one thing to do with Lady gaga!
Your personal stuffs nice. At all times take care of it up!
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now
each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Many thanks!
I have read so many posts on the topic of the blogger lovers however
this paragraph is in fact a pleasant paragraph, keep
it up.