By Cerritos Mayor Pro Tem Frank Aurelio Yokoyama, Esq.
October 2019
Last year I wrote a column about “Why Cerritos Is One of the Best Places to Live.” I will be pleased to update the residents and community on developments in the areas that I touched upon in my column regarding our great City of Cerritos.
Cerritos is home to two of the best school districts in the country: the ABC Unified and Bellflower Unified School Districts. This year, Cerritos and Whitney High Schools were named 2019 California Distinguished Schools, and Tracy High School was named a 2019 Model Continuation High School. Wittmann Elementary School, Carmenita Middle School and Tracy High School all received 2018-2019 Civic Learning Awards of Merit.
The new gymnasium building at Valley Christian High School is currently in the planning stages, and Cerritos College opened its new Health & Wellness Complex in April of this year.
The City offers residents and non-residents the best recreation opportunities possible. Cerritos has 25 parks and recreation facilities, including neighborhood parks, community centers, the Cerritos Swim & Fitness Center, the Cerritos Iron-Wood Nine Golf Course and the Cerritos Sports Complex. Last year the City added the beautiful new Vista at Heritage Park to this list.
The City introduced a new online registration system, RACER Powered by CivicRec, which offers improved service for those signing up for Recreation, Library and Senior Center activities, classes, excursions and services.
This past year, the Cerritos Library replaced and upgraded its radio frequency identification system (RFID), which includes new self-checkout stations and provides added security for the collection. The library also introduced a new digital book service, the cloudLibrary. The service is easy to use and allows patrons to borrow and download e-books and e-audiobooks with one click.
As always, the safety of Cerritos residents is my top priority. On the safety front, the City is grateful to the Picerne Family Foundation, which donated $18,000 to purchase nine high-performance ballistic vests for the Cerritos Sheriff’s Station.
The vests will be used by deputies assigned to the Special Assignment Team, which specializes in burglary suppression. The City augmented the contribution by purchasing additional safety equipment.
The Picerne Family Foundation also generously donated more than $11,000 to the Los Angeles County Fire Department to fund the purchase of two thermal imagers for Fire Stations 30 and 35, which serve the City of Cerritos. The equipment gives firefighters the ability to see heat sources through walls during a structure fire and also allows them to locate individuals who may be trapped inside a building.
The Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts kicked off its 2018-2019 Season last September with an unforgettable concert by country music superstar Martina McBride. More than 75,000 tickets were sold last season, totaling approximately $5.8 million in gross box office revenue.
The City welcomed Eureka! to the Plaza 183 shopping center last September, HomeGoods to the Cerritos Towne Center last August and several other new businesses, including State Bank of India, RiceString Noodle Shack and HealthCare Partners, just to name a few.
It is easy for me to share with you why Cerritos is the best place to live. I have been a Cerritos resident since 1976, and have benefitted greatly from all of the wonderful things that Cerritos has to offer. All of these things, and more, continue to make Cerritos the best place to live.
Frank:
There are two sides to every story, reality/ fiction. 100% agree with Frank, Cerritos when I moved here, (1970’s) was very promising city, that’s is why we moved here. Then in the 90’s, city was having issues and has never recovered.
Many residents do not like over night parking permit process, which should be on the ballot.
Many residents do not like the severe RV restrictions, just look around, vacant RV storage pads along side of many homes, when nearby cities, RV lots are being utilized as intended.
Many residents do not like the present condition, of the existing public landscape Holdings by the city.
Many residents do not like the street pine trees and all the inherited problems they are creating.
Many residents do not like the lack of diversity in restaurants. We are in dire need of chicken and steak house.
Many residents are tired of the money being thrown at the CCPA when they do not use it. Only 14% residents use CCPA.
Many residents are not happy with the non diversity programs being sponsored by the senior center, and not sharing the senior center with other senior centers in the area.
Many life long residents are upset of the menopausal housing, even tho city has PPC. Citywide Pride Contest has been abandoned, while La Palma, Downey, PV, Rossmoor, Long Beach and Lakewood have it.
Not everybody is on tune with the BB Bond and others are not happy with the stigma Whitney HS programs. Remember, many property owners are on fixed senior incomes. This passing, only brought long term injury to Prop 13 and other Props for inner city transfers for seniors.
Many residents are upset over the proposed sales tax increase and do not like the hi sales taxes charged by LA County, compared to OC. If Cerritos does vote to have new sales tax, there is no guarantees money will go in to PW.
Many residents are upset over the water service, as some island areas have to pay 2.5X the amount of water, compared to mainland Cerritos.
Our homes sales prices are considerably lower per Sq Ft, compared: WLA, So Bay and sections of OC.
If your home was burglarized, feelings toward the city, prob. is forevermore tarnished.
Many residents use the Los Cerritos Mall, but like Councilperson Grace Hu mentioned, many residents want a full mall, cheaper sales tax, so use South Coast Mall & Yorba Linda Home Depot. Then look at the increasing amount of DMV registrations being made out of Oregon, in order to not pay sales tax and lower annual fees. Oregon seems to be the new destiny for many new purchases.
Summary, 70-90’s, most residents loved-loved-loved Cerritos, but the past 30 yrs, city is not weathering ageism. Ex: Rossmoor, PV, Big Canyon, Yorba Linda, WLA are all going thru residential gentrification. Most of Cerritos Mall(s) look great, but our housing elements are not of the same gentrification caliber.