Special City Council Mtg.: Mayoral Installation & Council Reorganization Meeting — February 20, 2024

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

I'm gonna go ahead and get the first one.

Three, two, one, slide up. Oh, that's fine, that's fine, that's right there.

So I'm gonna go ahead and sit here.

All right, three, two, one, slide up. Three, two, one, slide up. One more. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm going to be mentioning tonight so. I'm glad you're here.

If we can please start taking our seats, thank you. We will get started in one more minute. Let's start taking our seats. ! Let's start taking our seats.

Hi, how are you? Good to see you. Hi, how are you? Good to see you. Yes. Oh, yes. Thomas will do a great job here.

If we can please start taking our seats, thank you. We're going to go ahead and get started.

All right. All right.

Start raising my hand, right? Let's start taking our seats, please. Thank you. Let's take our seats. ! Let's take our seats. ! Hello, Chief. I know. It's Iran. It's just they're so loud. Hello, Chief. I know. It's Iran. It's just they're so loud.

Say hi to the Mayor.

She's going to sit up here with me. Yeah.

Wow. We have a full house here.

Thank you so much for coming out tonight. If we could please take our seats so we can get started.

Are they just going to stand?

We don't have any more seats. I'm here to look at you.

We have two. We have a national anthem and the Pledge of Regence. And then so if you want to call them up and then let them do both of their items, then

we can do presentations after to pull them up. Okay, that's fine.

I was just, yeah.

Yeah, because you have a question. Thank you.

Thank you. If we can please take your seats. If we can please take your seats. We're going to go ahead and get started.

I have to do that.

By nature, I'm a teacher, and some of my students are actually here. Thank you so much for coming out tonight. We're still waiting for the man of the hour, Mr. Thomas Wong.

Thank you so much for coming out tonight. We're still waiting for the man of the hour, Mr. Thomas Wong.

! Good evening and welcome to our Monterey Park City.

Actually, not your typical city council meeting. It's probably why it's so full tonight. Thank you so much for coming in tonight.

We'll go ahead and call the meeting to order at 6.09 PM.

And I want to welcome everyone for coming out tonight on such a momentous day and occasion. And I wanted to go ahead and start by reading our mission statement as a city. The mission of the City of Monterey Park is to provide excellent services to enhance the quality of life for our entire community. And I also wanted to read our land acknowledgement. We would like to acknowledge that the land we inhabit today was once known as the Taubongar, home of the Gabriolino Tongva people. We show our respect to the Gabriolino Tongva people as well as all Indigenous people past, present and future and honour their labour as original caretakers of this land. We commit to uplifting the Gabriolino Tongli people, and we invite you to acknowledge their history and join us in caring for this land.

So thank you so much for being here, and I'm going to go ahead and ask you to stand for the flag salute.

But I'm also going to invite Imari Campbell and Sophia-An Ye-Chung up here.

And I'd also like to invite our color guard to come in and post colors.

If you could just wait a minute, sorry.

Just wait till the reply comes in. Thank you.

Thank you.

Left, water guard, halt. Left, pace. Present, halt.

And Imari, if you can leave us in the flag salute.

Imari, the microphone's up here in the front. Thank you.

Put your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

and to the republic for which it stands,

one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Please stay standing for the national anthem.

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Honor Guard, Order, March! Outward, Face! Forward, March!

Honor Guard, Post, Hullet. Present, Hullet.

Order, Hullet.

Outward, Hullet. Honor Guard, Dismissed.

You may take your seats.

And I'd like to invite the council to join me down here for certificate presentations for our two students.

For our guests, I wanted to share that the City of Monterey Park this past year made civic engagement a one of our goals as a city. Monterey Park. And one of the ways that we celebrate civic engagement in Monterey Park is we invite students from any school in Monterey Park to lead us in the flag salute at every city council meeting. And so our mission this year has been and will continue to be to promote civic engagement in our youth because we know that that's how you sustain democracies. So I wanted to thank Amari for being here today from Inez Elementary School to lead us in the flag salute. So if we can give her a round of applause.

and Amari on behalf of the city of Monterey Park and its residents we would

like to present you with a certificate and from now on you'll be a civic

superstar thank you so much for leading us in the flex loop.

Oh, and let's do one more. Yes.

We also have a certificate for Sophia. And Sophia, what school do you go to?

She goes to Mark Keppel. Let's give her a round of applause.

And thank you for being here tonight and leading us in the national anthem with your beautiful voice.

And we have a certificate, Sophia, for you on behalf of the City of Monterey Park as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's give them a round of applause.

By the way, this is my daughter, Mia. She was also a civic superstar. And we'll go ahead and continue. City Clerk, if you could please do a

And we'll go ahead and continue. City Clerk, if you could please do a roll call. Councilmember Lo. Here.

Councilmember Yu. Here. Councilmember Ngo. Present. Mayor Pro Tem Wong. I'm here.

Mayor Sanchez. Mayor Sanchez.

Here, thank you.

I'm here.

And do we have any public comments?

Yes, we have two public comments. First up, our Honorable Judy Chu.

Well, what an honor it is to say good words about our outgoing mayor, Jose Sanchez, and also to congratulate our incoming mayor, Thomas Wong, and our mayor pro tem, Ben Ngo. As somebody who was on the city council and served as mayor, I know what a big job it is, but I also know what an incredible city this is and how wonderful it is to serve it.

And Jose Sanchez did such an incredible job as mayor. And he did it during a very difficult time.

It was just four days after Montre Park was devastated by the Lunar New Year shooting at Stardent Studio. We'd never seen such a situation where 11 people were killed and nine were wounded. And so at the most difficult time in this city's history, Jose took over as mayor. and he immediately began working to help the city heal by collaborating with his city council colleagues, city staff, and federal officials to secure an SBA disaster declaration for one thing, and that was so that our local small businesses could be eligible for federal loans that could help them survive and recover from the tragedy. And under his leadership, various federal and local initiatives were launched, including the Monterey Park Healing Fund and the Monterey Park Resiliency Center. And there were mental health and wellness fairs and the ratification of new ordinances that were combating gun violence in this city. But actually, I have to tell you, I know him as a teacher at Alhambra High School. Yes.

It was back before 2018 when his students were so shocked by the shooting at Marjorie Douglas Stoneman in Florida that his students began to work on a resolution to combat gun violence.

And so they presented it to me. They invited me to his class.

That's how I was able to see the magic of this incredible teacher who's so dedicated to his students. And, yes, I was so moved by the resolution that they presented to me that I actually introduced it as a resolution in Congress. How about that?

But just to tell you how extraordinary Jose is as a teacher, he's been a mayor all this time, and guess what?

He coached his Alhambra High School team in the Decathlon

and guess what? On top of being mayor,

he was able to get them to win the L.A. County competition.

How about that? Thank you.

I just think it's incredibly extraordinary.

So I want to thank Jose Sanchez

for everything that he's done in his devotion to the city

and to Alhambra High School and to the education of our students.

And I am also looking forward to our new mayor, Thomas Wong. He, yes, how about that?

Thomas Wong is actually the first elected official of Burmese heritage in the United States.

As the child of immigrants who spent his life in Monterey Park, Thomas knows better than most families what it takes to succeed, and he's played a critical role in helping Monterey Park rebuild after the shooting, giving his input at every roundtable, listening sessions that we've organized with federal officials, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Javier Becerra, SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman, and even the President of the United States, Joe Biden. But over the years, Thomas has really shown what a remarkable leader he is. He has been a board member of the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, where he spearheaded the approval of half a million dollars in emergency assistance to cities in order to support water bill forgiveness and repayment programs that helped hundreds of families struggling during the pandemic. To combat the years-long mega drought, he directed millions of dollars in grants, rebates, and support for critical local infrastructure investment in water-efficient technologies. So I know that as mayor of Monterey Park, he's well-equipped to lead this city in any challenges that it faces. And he will make it flourish. And the best part, he will not be alone because he has an incredible partner in our mayor pro tem, our VIN GO, who will be there to help lead this city. He is a homegrown champion, deep roots in Monterey Park, and has made amazing contributions when he was previously on the Garvey School Board and also president of the Garvey Education Foundation and also, of course, a board president of the Chinatown Service Center. And as he steps into the role of Mayor Pro Tem, I know that he will show his proven leadership in the public and private sector and bring them together to benefit this city. So thank you to our city council. Thank you to our Mayor, Jose Sanchez. And congratulations to our incoming Mayor, Thomas Wong, and Mayor Pro Tem, Vin Go. So please come forward so I can present these certificates of congressional recognition to you.

Thank you.

Next up, I'd like to call Mike Ng for public comment.

usually they have to Lor it for me well good evening isn't this a wonderful feeling to be here how many of you are so happy to be here aren't we proud of our

City Monterey Park. Well listen I also wanted to join my wife Judy. I got in under the two for one sale so I'll be presenting along with her. Actually I have a plane to catch early tomorrow morning so thank you for letting me go ahead. First of all I'm going to touch on the three individuals that are the reason we're here tonight outgoing mayor Jose Sanchez I sat there

when the city the state of the city was presented and all of the accomplishments and this mayor talked about how the city came together he gave credit to fellow council members to the amazing staff that we have here and the amazing residents and he talked as a teacher did without notes with great enthusiasm and and he really lifted my spirit and made me proud to be a resident of Monterey Park because that's what he does. He is the biggest cheerleader I've ever seen in our city,

and we're going to have more to come.

I met him when he was working with the Dreamer students, students that had challenges. He worked with students to give them a sense of direction. And as Judy pointed out, he presided over the academic decathlon. Was there another school that you beat?

Many others. Was it the Mark Keppel school? How is it that we rigged the decathlon so we couldn't lose? We had Alhambra High versus Mark Keppel. Isn't that great? And Alhambra High won this time. Give them a round of applause. And next time it'll be another. But that is amazing.

So our mayor, our outgoing mayor, wears several hats. He is an amazing role model.

for other elected officials like myself. He's an amazing counselor to the teachers.

He's an amazing team player with the city council and with the entire city staff. And he's also a family man. You notice that every time he appears, he always brings up Natalie or one of his three children.

Isn't that amazing? He's grooming the next mayor to be the city of Monterey Park. I take it back. Maybe the next president of the United States. Who knows? So give him a round of applause. our outgoing mayor Jose Sanchez and our incoming mayor Thomas Wong I've been so fortunate to work with incoming mayor Thomas Wong at several times I'm proud to say he was part of my assembly district team headed by Daisy Mount or district director when I served in Sacramento and he also after we initiated the Monterey Park Commission on the environment when I was a mayor here a few years ago. Thomas was appointed that commission and he initiated several programs including planning the Earth Day for the entire city and also represented the Office of State Comptroller Betty Yee. Later on, as you know, he was elected to the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District in 2012. He was elected by his colleagues to be president in 2015 and he's led efforts to provide water and grants and other helpful aides and real money to the cities of Monterey Park as well as Sierra Madre and Azusa. It was my pleasure to be appointed to take his place after he got sworn in here in the city council and now I serve in his seat and every

time I appear there they say why didn't we have Thomas Wong here? I said well I took his place.

But anyway, incoming Mayor Thomas Wong, congratulations. I know your past will be amazing.

which brought many, many resources to Monterey Park after the tragedy and continuing before that and after that. And he also has a very keen sense of business because he is one of the leaders of Bank of America, and thank God they loaned him out to us to be our Mayor Pro Tem. So give them a round of applause. I'd like to lend certificates to them. I'd like to have them come down. I have certificates of commendation.

Would you mind coming down? I know that I might have to buy you dinner to come down. And can we have the other council members come down as well, Yvonne and Henry?

This is a team. They're all so humble that they never want any one person to stand out. So Jose, where is Jose Sanchez, our outgoing mayor? The last time I can call you mayor. Incoming Mayor Thomas Wong. And then go. so we'll stand over here.

Let's Lor it.

One mic will be Lored and the other mic will stand up.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mike and Judy, for those presentations. We truly appreciate your not just being here tonight, but your also dedication and sense of commitment to our Monterey Park, but also our community at large. So thank you so much, and it's always been a pleasure being a friend, and always great having Judy in my classroom visit almost every year. So thank you. We look forward to a visit this year.

And we'll go ahead and continue.

And I'm going to share some final just remarks before we do the passing of the gavel. As you, as Congresswoman Chu has already shared, I am a classroom teacher. In fact, some of my students are here from the academic decathlon team who said they wanted to be here tonight. I want them to stand because they should be recognized also for their accomplishments, but I'm very proud that they're here because they're part of my family. So if you guys can stand wherever you're at.

You see some more back there. Back there. Thank you so much.

After one year as your mayor, what I've come to truly appreciate is the sense of community and teamwork that we've developed in the last year. Many of you guys might know that this was actually the first time that I became an elected official. My only experience was being a civics teacher and a parent. And in some ways, I think many people told me, maybe that's probably the best preparation you could have had. But if you remember in January of 2023, Monterey Park suffered a mass shooting that left our community in grief. and it was our job as a city and as a council to help with the aftermath of that shooting, including starting our healing fund, which I wish to thank our city treasurer, Amy Lee, who's here for helping spearhead that and for all the work that you did to ensure that the victims were tended to. If we can give her a round of applause.

Thank you, Amy.

We are also thankful to our first responders, our police, our fire, and our paramedics, who on that fateful night saved countless lives and tried to preserve the safety of our community. I know that there's, I see our police chief somewhere out there, and I'm not sure if our fire chief is here as well. But if we can please give them a round of applause.

My wife loves boasting to people that we have the best police department here in Monterey Park. So I appreciate all that you do to keep Monterey Park safe.

We thank you.

In those moments of hardship, our community in Monterey Park came together in ways we had not seen. And it alLod us to forge relationships with many community organizations like the Chinatown Service Center.

We are thankful for the partnership, but also the friendship and the Monterey Park Hope Resiliency Center that they have started at Sierra Vista Park.

And I think I saw Peter in here.

If you can please stand. Thank you, Peter. And thank you to the Chinatown Service Center.

I can't imagine if we didn't have the Chinatown Service Center. And so we are very appreciative of all the work that you've done.

Thank you. And I also wanted to mention the countless organizations, both local and national,

our elected officials who came to help us, including our very own Congresswoman Judy Chu, who lives in Monterey Park.

We couldn't have had a much better Congresswoman representing the needs of Monterey Park at that moment

than we did in Judy.

And I was so proud, and I'm still very proud, to call her my Congresswoman, And I'm so grateful that she was there for us because she did so much for our community.

Let's give her a round of applause, please.

And I also wanted to thank our Assemblymember, Mike Fong. I'm not sure if he's here, but I know that Jennifer Tang, district director, is here. Because he used this moment to be able to pass and lead the way in terms of passing gun prevention laws in our state. So I appreciate him leading that effort in our state assembly, and I wanted to make sure that he heard and that he knows that we are grateful for his work.

Let's give him a round of applause, because he's actually in our state assembly right now doing that work. Looking back after a year in office, it's hard to believe what we have also accomplished, despite what we went through.

Earlier, I mentioned the importance of teamwork, and I wish to thank our Monterey Park employees, not just for your leadership and your teamwork, but also your patience and all of the amazing work that you did to not just move our city forward, but pass so many things and do so many things for our city.

Everything that we accomplished this year is because we worked as a team.

In the last year, we responded to the shooting as a team.

We updated our parks, including Sequoia, Bella Vista, Edison Trails, and many others to come, and we did that as a team. It's hard to find a Parks and Rec team anywhere that matches the amazing programming that our Parks and Recreation Department does in our city. So I know I saw Robert Aguirre out there.

I wanted to thank you for always making our events more epic. Let's give him a round of applause, please.

We were also able to engage our community and gather input for our environmental sustainability plan.

There is one thing that really scares me as a parent, and it's just our planet. I want to be able, when my daughters grow up and they tell me, what did you do, Dad?

You knew this was happening.

What did you do to make sure that we were preserving our planet, that we were doing everything in our power to make sure that we were preserving our environment? And I want to make sure that our city does everything within its power and capacity to ensure that we are being not just sustainable, but that we are leading efforts to make sure that our environment is preserved and that we are doing everything within our power to leave a much better planet than we inherited. So I want to thank Ms. Serrano, and I think Ms. Williams is out there as well, for all of your work and all of your dedication to our environmental sustainability plan,

and still a lot more to come.

And like most cities across America, we're also working to update our infrastructure. So I wanted to thank our public works department, not just for putting out those fires, because I know for those of us who live in Monterey Park every once in a while, that happens, right? but also for working to update our streets, our sidewalks, and our parks. And I think, I'm not sure if Sean is here.

Sean, I see you back here. Thank you, Sean, for everything that you're doing for our community and keep us going.

And I also wish to thank our library. I always boast that we have the best library in the San Gabriel Valley, and I truly mean it.

As a parent, it makes it easier for me because of all their amazing programming to just go to the library to check out books.

But the library also talk about teamwork.

They adapted during the pandemic to serve the needs of residents. They adapted after the shooting that happened in Monterey Park to make sure that they were providing the services that our community and that our victims needed in terms of mental health.

So I appreciate all that the library has done. And I know our former head librarian, Diana Garcia, is somewhere in here.

And our new librarian, Kristen Olivares, is here.

Thank you so much for all that you do.

And lastly, I'd like to thank our new city manager, Inez Alvarez,

for filling the role of city manager at such a short notice. Your leadership and sense of teamwork has really helped to build Monterey Park in such a short time. I'm especially grateful for all of the hard work that Inez and her team out of the city manager's office has done to promote civic engagement at all levels,

and the relationships that we have been forging with all of the schools

and all of the school districts within our community.

Because we know that it takes a village,

I'm glad that the city of Monterey Park is doing its share to engage our youth and to ensure that our next voting populace is not only engaged, but that they're voting. Thank you so much, Inez.

and as Thomas comes on board Thomas Wong as our new mayor I am excited I know you might be thinking

mayor your mayorship is over why are you excited

it's not just because it's been a rough year

it's because I know the type of person that Thomas is. He is a very engaged and a very responsible person,

but I've had the privilege of working with him side by side here, and I know that we've worked as a team, not just Thomas, but our whole city council to make sure that Monterey Park is not just operating,

but moving forward, that perhaps we will be that example in the San Gabriel Valley, and in that state that will help lead us.

And I know that Thomas is going to be at the forefront of that.

So let's give Thomas a round of applause. I know we're all very excited.

And lastly, I'd like to thank my beautiful wife, Natalie, who's at home with our two other daughters.

Because I know that I wouldn't be here tonight if it wasn't for her.

not just because she gave me permission

but because it truly, as I said earlier

it takes a village, it takes a team

it takes a lot of teamwork to make things happen not just run families but also run cities there were a couple times, I'm not going to lie that I thought she might divorce me but I know that her sense of duty and responsibility and her love for Monterey Park runs deep and I know that every time we have hardships She knows her heart is in the right place,

and she's always pushing me forward. She is my rock. And I know she's watching, so I just want to say I love you. And lastly, I'd like to thank my daughter, Mia,

who's sitting next to me. We jokingly call her the mini-mayor.

And my daughters, Dolly and Bella, who are at home

and eager to have their dad come home. So I love you girls.

and I'd like to just recognize one more individual. During this time period of hardship, many of us find different venues to be able to cope and I know that there was one particular man,

Abner, who's here,

who helped me spiritually and I appreciate not just appreciate you being my pastor, but also appreciate all that you did for our community. Abner and his church, the River of Life, did an amazing thing where they did a prayer walk throughout our city.

Where there is darkness, light, and where there is sadness, joy.

Thank you, and God bless our city.

And at this moment, we're going to do quick presentations to outgoing mayor. And because in the interest of time, I do want to make sure that you do have a chance to present certificates, But also I do want to remind you to keep it short so we can get through our program. So thank you

Okay, first presenter Alex from there Susan Rubio office

Next next presenter will be Jennifer Tang and after that LA County Assessor Jeff Prang's office

Good evening, Mayor, members, City Council, members of the public. I'd just like to thank Mayor Sanchez for, you know, all the work that he's done during the difficult time that Monterey Park was going through. And I'd like to congratulate Mayor Pro Tem Thomas Wong, well, now Mayor Thomas Wong, and Mayor Pro Tem Vingo.

and I'm sure that they'll continue the success that Mary Sanchez has left. So thank you for your time.

And I also have certificates to present for...

Thank you.

Thank you, Michelle. Good evening, Monterey Park. Good evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Jennifer Tang. I'm the District Director for Assemblymember Mike Fong. It's really a privilege to be here this evening to share a few words about our outgoing mayor as well as our incoming mayor and mayor pro tem.

I'll keep this as brief as I can, but I really could talk about these three for like half an hour or an hour. Mayor Sanchez, you can really tell from his remarks this evening, if you notice, he didn't talk about himself at all.

He talked about the staff. He talked about the community and other leaders in the community. And that's because he is a true public servant. It's not about him. It's about the people he serves. And that's the case with our incoming mayor and mayor pro tem as well.

Mayor Sanchez has been a huge proponent of gun safety. He talked a little bit about that, but he really doesn't give himself enough credit because he would fly up to Sacramento with Moms Demand Action to advocate for gun safety bills, including Assemblymember Mike Fong's bills. And he was a key part in getting that legislation passed, so we should really give him a hand for all of that hard work.

To our incoming Mayor Thomas Wong, you really are an inspiration for many of us, especially those of us who are younger and trying to get into civic engagement. Mayor Thomas, or incoming Mayor Thomas Wong, you know, if you watch the city council meetings, he asks really amazing questions of every item, and we know that he's going to do an amazing job as mayor. To our Mayor Pro Tem Vingo, you know, when he was running for office, one of the things he and I talked about was pedestrian safety, and within like a year of him being elected to city council, So he got a stop sign installed at this really key intersection in his district. And my parents live in that district, and it really made such a difference. So these are the people who deliver for Monterey Park.

So as a resident, thank you. And on behalf of Assemblymember Mike Fong, I'd like to present certificates of recognition to all of you. Congratulations. Congratulations.

Frank Liu of the Board of Supervisors, you'll be next. And then after that it will be Sasha Renee Perez and Jeff Maloney.

You're just getting a mic.

Yes.

Uh-huh. The county assessor? The county assessor, Jeff?

I thought I got bumped. but it's thank you Madam Clerk I'm here to add a little bit of excitement into this proceedings in a way that can only be accomplished by the county property tax assessor but it's a pleasure to be here I think the last time I was here I think I was being sworn in myself as assessor when you were kind enough to open this facility to me but it's a pleasure to be back with Mr. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem incoming Mayor Pro Tem and council members

you know as assessor of LA County I represent 88 cities 10 million people and there's a lot of fine

cities in LA County but I know them all pretty well and I'll tell you that Monterey Park is one of the best managed cities in this in this county it has outstanding leadership in City Hall they

provide extremely high quality of services and a quality of life which is safe community which is engaged and that is due in no small part due to the leadership of the people you see up here on

this stage right now. And over the course of the last year, Mayor Sanchez has been an inspired leader. He leads with his heart. He's extremely smart. He understands municipal government. And he puts the interest of the people of this city before everything else. And it's been a real pleasure to watch you work this past year, Mayor. It's nice that we could be here to thank and honor you for your service, but regrettably, you're yesterday's news.

Because today we're welcoming the new leadership, Mayor Thomas Wong and Vin Go.

I've known Thomas for years. When I first met him, he was like the youngest guy in politics, and now he's the mayor, and he's still the youngest guy in politics. and it's hard to imagine but it's been really inspiring to watch you grow over the years. Thomas, I'm looking forward to your own special brand of leadership that you're going to bring to the city over the course of the next year and put your thumbprint on that legacy following so many outstanding mayors that preceded you. And then for Vin, you're just the mayor pro tem. You're the wingman waiting for this guy to get done.

But I'm not doing the tax thing this time. Remember the guy before me.

But it's a pleasure to be here to congratulate each of you, to thank you, Mayor, for your service.

I brought you... I do things a little bit differently than my colleagues. For the outgoing Mayor, I brought this proclamation. I'm not going to read it. suffice it to say, that says all types of nice things about you and the work that you've done as mayor and on behalf of the county.

For Thomas, you get a little smaller one because you haven't done anything yet.

And for Vin, yours is even smaller because...

I think we all know that there is a rank here, and I think the certificates should reflect that. But gentlemen, I served 18 years as a city council member and mayor in the city of West Hollywood. I know how hard the job is. I know that people will assault you in the grocery store,

and usually with a complaint about a stop sign or a pothole or something like that.

but I thank you very much for the leadership that you provide the city, the hard work, and it doesn't pay very much, I know,

so you do this, it's a labor of love on behalf of your community, so congratulations. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. To our outgoing mayor, Jose Sanchez, I just want to congratulate you on a job well done.

Personally, you're such an inspiration to me.

Your love for the city, your students, your family is so apparent. And, you know, just been proud to be able to work with you this past year. we know that you're still going to be on city council, so looking forward to that. To incoming Mayor Thomas Wong,

I've gotten to know you over the time that I've been with this office,

and I think you'll do a wonderful job. And to Mayor Pro Tem Vingo,

thank you for all the work that you've been doing in our community as well. I actually know someone that works with you, and he talks about how much of an inspiration you are. I'm not going to put him on the spot, but I just want you to know that.

So just really exciting to know that Monterey Park is going to be in good hands. And on behalf of Supervisor Solis and the county, I want to present you all with these certificates. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor Sasha Renee Perez and Jeff Maloney of the City of Alhambra, please come on up.

Thank you.

Good evening everyone. My name is Sasha Renee Perez and I'm the Vice Mayor of the City of Alhambra. It's really a pleasure to be here this evening because in many ways Alhambra and the City of Monterey Park worked together on just about everything. And all of the men you see standing here next to me are not just colleagues, but they are

incredibly close friends.

Mayor Jose Sanchez, before he was mayor a very long time ago, used to be my history teacher.

And he was incredible. and you've already heard from all the speakers tonight all of the incredible contributions that he makes to Alhambra High School through their academic decathlon, through the civic engagement programs that he runs. I mean, you are just so incredibly passionate in all of the work that you do, Jose, and whether it is the work you do here in the city of Monterey Park or serving students in Alhambra, I'm so grateful. You know, it's been said already, all of his leadership that he's had in promoting regulations against guns and stopping gun violence. This is work that he led even before he was elected to office. When he was a teacher, he taught his students about the importance of this type of legislation and encouraged them to write a resolution that was ultimately presented by our Congresswoman Judy Chu because that's the kind of leader that Mayor Jose Sanchez is, really somebody that lifts other people up and lifts up our students to understand the nuance of these issues. To Vice Mayor, now Mayor Thomas Wong, I'm very excited for you to come on board. I know you're incredibly passionate about sustainability issues, about active transportation issues as are myself and my colleague here. And Vin, as Mayor Pro Tem, I'm excited for you to come in. I know you've been so passionate about public safety, about making sure that our business community here in Monterey Park is really thriving and has the security that it needs, especially given all of the challenges we've faced over the last couple of years. So I just want to congratulate and thank you all.

Good. I told my vice mayor that I would just say me too, but I lied because I'm a politician. Give me a microphone. I have to talk a little bit. So to Mayor Sanchez, Thank you so much for your leadership this last year. It's been obviously a difficult time for the community here in Monterey Park and around the Singapore Valley, and you've led with such poise and vision for your community. I really appreciate that. Two things you said tonight that really struck me is, one, you're absolutely right about the support you need from your significant other in your life. My wife is at home right now eating with my children, and I've had some of the same discussions about the difficulty and the sacrifices you make to be in public service like this. So thank you for that. And then I think you couldn't have finished. Director of the City of St. Francis. Council Member Mary. St. Francis. So, so appreciate that. So, uh, great job and good luck getting to the back of the line again as a regular Council Member. Um, to my friend, uh, Thomas Wong, when I first decided to run for office years ago, probably eight years ago, eight, nine years ago, um, I asked Thomas, can we go out to lunch so I can learn from you? You know, the wise, um, elder, even though he's about 12 years younger than I am. Um, but true to form, Thomas gave me some great advice and he's remained a really good friend over the past. these years. I know you are in fantastic hands with him in the next few years. And Vin, you've heard about him. We'll be back for him again in the future. He's also a fantastic leader. I think the first time I met him, he was helping to build a playground in Alhambra at our Alhambra Park with a new Dodger playground. So from that day, you've led with great distinction as well. So we'll see you again very soon. So thank you very much. Thanks for allowing your friends in Alhambra to be here tonight.

Next up, Bob Jin and Kenneth Ting of the Alhambra Unified School District board members.

Bob Jin and Kenneth Ting.

After that, it will be Cindy Wu of the Mountain View School District.

My name is Bob Jim. I'm president of the Board of Education for the

Unified School District. And this is my colleague, Ken Tang.

He's the clerk of the board. And I don't know what I can say about Jose. He's such a, he's my mayor

right now.

But I'm his boss at work.

And I got to say this, I don't know who I should call Mayor, either Jose or Mia, because everywhere I go, I see Mia, and she's really enjoying this, and I'm really glad. But, you know, congratulations on the decathlon team at Alhambra High for the first year. Of course, Mark Keppel had had it four years before, but we're glad you kept it in the Alhambra Unified School District. and the Mark Keppel coaches back there attend Tran.

And we know we talk about civic engagement a lot, and our district has working with a program with the city of Alhambra and the city of Monterey Park on doing civic engagement. So we bring our students down here to City Hall so they can see what's going on, And that's because of Jose, because he's really civic-minded. And we wanted our students to be more aware of what's going on in our city and around their environment.

And Thomas, I'm known for so many years because we talked maybe about 10 years ago about possibly running for office. Oh, longer than that. I'm sorry.

And then working with them, it's been really terrific. And let me tell you, Ben, when he went campaigning, he would talk about, we're going to fix the streets.

We're going to fix the streets. Thank you, Ben. We love it, you know.

But on behalf of the Alhambra Unified School District, Jose, we just want to recognize your dedication to the community

and to the students of the city of Monterey Park and the Alhambra Unified School District.

I just wanted to add with so many remarks already made with regards to our outgoing Mayor Sanchez. Being a teacher, being a dad, being a mayor,

I don't know how he has time to even go out in the community and participate in rallies and strikes. He was there with the nurses' strike. He was there with the teachers' strike. I mean, I think he has a clone somewhere or something. But just to re-innovate how incredibly dedicated this man is and a dedicated teacher, there is nothing he wouldn't do for his students. And that's what I wanted to really emphasize, that he's an amazing teacher, very dedicated. Thomas, we've been just getting to know him and working with him on a number of things. But we thank you for helping us with the grants on the gardening. And, of course, Vin, you know, we go way back when we were playing ball in high school at Markeppel. So looking forward to both of your leadership on the city council and your partnership with the Elhambra School District.

applause applause applause applause applause applause After this speaker

it will be Pedro Pizarro Caroline Choi Larry Chung and Zaku Armenian

if you don't mind coming down please applause

Thank you.

All right. so I think you guys know me Cindy Wu first Taiwanese Chinese elected in the 150 year old school board in the city of Amante and South Amante just want to say Mayor Sanchez that I really appreciate you being at every event I think I we see each other everywhere but most incredibly you don't just show up and leave you actually stay there the whole time I think we just saw each other on Sunday at the Tzuji Lunar New Year celebration and I know there's some Tzuji

Sijia here as well. Yes, yes. It was a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful

event. And so I think I said it to you at that time. Thank you for really bridging the gap and bridging the culture gap. And to Councilman Thomas that I really appreciate that you're in the water space and so few Asians are in the environmental space. Thank you so much for all you have done and especially leading the ways in Monterey Park and also as well with Councilman Venn as well. And I know it's going to be amazing things, and I look forward to your leadership. So thank you. Thank you.

Well, I'm Pedro Pizarro. I'm CEO of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, and I'm accompanied by a number of my fellow executives here, Caroline Choi, Larry Zankor Benian, and Cody as well. You know us all, Thomas. And so first I want to start, though, by saying thank you to Mayor Sanchez. We are down the street in Rosemead. I personally live up the street in Pasadena. We're part of your community. And sometimes life asks you to step up as a leader, and that you did so very well. We will always be grateful for your leadership. To incoming Mayor Pro Tem Vingo, thank you so much for stepping up, and I know you're going to have a fantastic partner and our good friend Thomas. And I want to spend just a minute here on my very good friend, Thomas Wong. Thomas, congratulations on stepping up to mayor.

We have known you at Edison for five and a half years now.

It's been a very full five and a half years, and you have grown. You have done amazing work for our communities, and you've shown the care for our customers and for your colleagues. And when all of you had to step up because of what happened last year, last January, it was a difficult time for this city, and I'm, again, so proud and grateful for what you did. But, Thomas, you didn't just do that for Monterey Park. You did that for Edison because we had a number of our teammates who are residents of Monterey Park affected by the tragedy here. And so you not only took action in this community, but you took action at Edison as well, helping to provide a safe place for our employees to come together and to process that loss.

So thank you for that. and I'm glad that it's been over a year and we're not here to mourn, we're here to celebrate. So thank you to all of you for your leadership.

Thomas, we're so proud of you back at home down the street in Rosemead and we're here to support you any way you need Mayor Wong and Mayor Patemgo. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yay!

That's coming.

We'd also like to recognize some additional dignitaries in our audience,

including former mayors David Lau, Anthony Wong, Lillian Chen.

Yay!

Peter Chan, Hans Leung, Stephen Lam. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, former mayor Lillian Chen.

Former city manager Ron Bo.

And South Pasadena, council member Michael Cacciotti.

And our former city clerk, Vincent Chang.

No other speakers.

Thank you for all of the mayors who are here and all the elected officials. And thank everyone for being here tonight. It means a lot to us. We're going to go ahead and jump to item 1C, which is the reorganization of the Monterey Park City Council. Is there a motion?

Yes. Motion to approve item 1C,

reorganization of Monterey Park City Council.

Second.

Seconded by Council Member Yu.

If we can please take a vote.

Approved unanimously. Yay!

All right, are you moving? Are you moving? All right, all right. Are you moving? I'm gonna have a comment.

Comment take over.

Right here.

All right, we're gonna move to the next item. I know we're all getting antsy. We're gonna try to get going. The next item is the swearing in of our Mayor Pro Tem. Let me welcome up Judge Ed Chow, the Honorable Ed Chow, to do the swearing in, and I'll invite Councilman Clark, Mayor Pro Tem Go, to go down.

And if the council wants to stand on the side, that would be ideal. So we're not in the back.

Good evening, everyone. It is truly an honor and privilege for me to be here to administer the office to our

incoming mayor, pro tem.

That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States

and the Constitution of the State of California

against all enemies, foreign and domestic,

that I will bear true faith and allegiance

to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion,

and that I will

well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

Congratulations, Mayor Pro Temp.

Congratulations. Congratulations. Let me invite, let's take a picture and then let me invite Evan Ngo and Maddie Ngo up to the stage to present the Mayor Pro Tem's new badge and business cards.

Thank you.

If I can bring the council back to the days for Mayor Pro Tem Ngo's comments.

Yes, thank you very much.

We'll have to stand up here and do this. So I'll try to keep it simple by quoting Shakespeare.

Brevity is the soul of wit.

So with that, I'll keep it to three topics tonight.

Passion bucket, results, tagline. You can start guessing.

Friends and families and honorable guests, thank you for embracing the weather to be here tonight. I want to thank you, in particular, all my friends and family for believing in me, supporting me and giving me guidance. Special shout-out to my brother and his family, my daughter and son.

My son's actually in college.

To my CSC family who are here tonight, the board directors. To my Garvey family, my bank family, and, of course, to my dad and Amy.

Without them and without allowing them time for me

to fulfill all the things I need to do, I would not accomplish my passion bucket. And my passion bucket really is to serve this great community.

Results.

2023, as you heard before, was a heck of a challenging year. But we accomplished so many positive things, as you heard from the mayor. Special shout out to our public works.

Is Sean out here somewhere?

We repave and resurface at least 50% of all our streets in the city,

despite the torrential rainfall last year. And of course, our first responders, police and fire, for keeping our community safe.

Then shout out to Parks and Rec.

Look at the new playgrounds we have for the city. Amazing stuff.

I say that because everything in the city starts from the ground up.

That's because we have great city staff who work hard for the city in order for us to enjoy it. Secondarily, I'm blessed that among our leaders here, and of course to our Mayor Sanchez, let's give him a round of applause.

Dedicated, always around, and Mia too. And I know Nat will see the mayor home for dinner more often now. And of course, our pro-tem or new mayor, Thomas Wong.

So intelligent, so amazing.

Heads up, continue the great leadership. And I'm blessed to also work with Council Member Lo and you. Because at the end of the day, it's about results. We're here to get things done for the city.

tagline

no way you guys will figure this one out

what is the tagline? anyone know? it's right on top

pride in the past, faith in the future

I'm so honored to be here tonight 45 years ago I arrived

in the city of Monterey Park as an immigrant attended Mari Vista School in first grade

I'm Chinese I speak Chinese

I have a Vietnamese last name because I came from Vietnam the teachers automatically put me with other Vietnamese students and says you start translating to them

well I don't speak Vietnamese but guess what

you learn to fly and you learn

and you learn to translate

so that's how I learned some Vietnamese along with my Chinese over time

as a 5th grader through 8th grade

I actually did two paper routes right outside my neighborhood, which is Martin Vista School. And then in high school, I worked for Capo through the summer programs. Worked at the Career Center and then here at City Hall. And then when I entered college at USC, I bused tables at a local cafe here.

Over time, I raised two young, smart kids who are now in college.

joined the school board, joined CSC,

and also was part of the school board at Garvey. Really, all that's to say that you can call it paying back or giving it forward. It doesn't matter.

It's basically making our community better.

And when I say the tagline, Pride in the Past,

I want to just point out a couple of folks over here.

former council members Do Li Chen

Congresswoman Chu and Mike

Ng who I think

they just left past mayors Peter Chan

David Lau and I thought I saw Stephen Lamb

back here. Oh right here

move to the front. Okay. And also Ron Bo because you guys represent the pride

in the past. And for us, we are the faith in the future. And I'm blessed to carry that because at the end of the day, we are here to make Monterey Park the best place to live, to work, and to play. Thank you.

thank you thank you mr. mayor pro tem I'll invite former speaker current Assemblymember Anthony Rendon to swear me in.

Thank you. Jennifer and I are very pleased to represent Mike Fong tonight.

Mike, we're here. He would tell you you're all awesome and you all make it happen. I first met Thomas 10 years ago. I was the chair of the Assembly Committee on Water. He was a candidate for Water Board. He had this ridiculous idea that I knew something about water. And we sat down and talked for about an hour. I learned a lot. Thomas and I continue to have lunch or coffee or breakfast. Or sometimes when I'm feeling a little pudgy, we go for a walk.

but we meet at least once a month and we talk through things he's going through things I'm going through

his friendship means an incredible amount to me his leadership means a lot to us Monterey Park means a lot to me means a lot to my family and over the course of the past year we know that it's come to mean a lot to our country and to the world because of the leadership and the strength and the courage that this city showed so thank you to the entire council and to the residents and let's swear in your new mayor

I didn't bring my glasses. You'll have to... This is really bad.

All right. Well, your name isn't bold. That makes it easy. Okay, I know who I'm swearing in. I, Thomas Wong, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter. Congratulations.

I'd like to call up Mr. and Mrs.

Wong to do the presentation of the gavel, name badge, and business cards.

If you could please come forward.

Thank you.

Just stay there, stay there.

This way, this way. Hold on, hold on.

In the middle. And left side.

And right. Right.

Thank you. Thank you.

Oh, okay. Yeah, we can bring the boys and girls club real quick.

of our wonderful city of Monterey Park. These kids are from the Monterey Park Boys and Girls Club, and we are so honored to be here tonight. And we want to make sure that this is an extremely special year for us because we have a most amazing new mayor.

And so we want to make sure that we start this new year off to a blast.

So if we can come on on this side kiddos, I want to just say that we're going to count to three and then we have a special announcement that we'll share.

So on the count of three, ready, one, two, three, it's going to be loud.

Mayor Thomas Wong, we are so proud.

Congratulations on behalf of the Boys and Girls Club.

The only way we know how to celebrate. Great.

The first order of business, clean up.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you guys.

Thank you. Thank you to the Boys and Girls Club.

And JR's going to make a donation for the cleaning staff after.

But thank you. We're about at the end of our program, and there will be refreshments outside. So I hope you'll join us after, and I'll stick around. Would love to take pictures and say hi to everyone that's come. But really, I want to just share a few remarks to close out the program, the formal program. Thank you so much for being here. I'd like to start with just some very important thank yous to Mayor Sanchez for your incredible service over the last year and your leadership. We owe you and your family a debt of gratitude for the sacrifice and the support that you've had and the service that you've had for our community in this very tough last year. and also since this is our first in-person mayoral installation since before the pandemic

I just really want to quickly yeah I want to quickly acknowledge some of our preceding mayors

who were not able to celebrate in person Mayor Lo and Mayor Yu former Mayor Lo former mayor Liu for your service as well.

I deeply appreciate my council colleagues for placing your trust in me. Of course, this is for the mayor. It's an election among the city council. It's not by the community. So appreciate your trust in me over the next few months. And I appreciate my parents as well. Thank you for presenting me the gavel, the name badge, and the cards. But thank you. I obviously physically would not be here without them, literally.

So thank you.

But also from my parents who are immigrants to the United States who settled here in Monterey Park, I learned from them the value of service and of community. So thank you so much for all that you continue to do for the community and for inspiring me and my service to the community in this way. I want to thank Anthony Rendon, former Speaker Anthony Rendon, who's been a friend and mentor for so long since before I got elected to the Water Board even, for his leadership and his mentorship and his service to our community and to the state. Thank you for flying down. I saw him last night, but I was in Sacramento earlier today for work and came back here. So I know Anthony and I were both on flights getting back and hoping to get back here on time. I think he flew in just for tonight, so I really appreciate him being here in person to be with us today and to swear me in. It means a lot. I want to thank my family. My brothers are here. I think they're standing in the back.

My sister-in-law, I don't know if my niece is still awake. My aunts and uncles who are here, some of us who are here celebrating with us tonight. My cousins are here as well in the back. Travis, my partner, for putting up with me and letting me do this. Really appreciate it. And for proofreading a lot of my stuff.

But I want to thank all my friends, colleagues, past and present. A special shout-out thank you to my Edison colleagues, our fearless leader, Pedro Pizarro, and many others who showed up tonight. Thank you all, my teammates from the local public affairs department, and many others, friends along the way as well that I've made at Edison and through Edison. Thank you so much for showing up tonight and joining me here in the ceremony. Neighbors and our dedicated city staff especially, thank you so much. I know the others have mentioned the work of our city staff and our departments. This city obviously would not function without what you do and your commitment to our community, so thank you so much. I'm honored by all of you, all of your presence, and grateful for your support. It truly means the world to me. I'm especially honored to follow in the footsteps of many trailblazers who have occupied this very seat. Lily Lee Chen, who's here in the front row, the first Chinese American woman mayor in the United States. Please stand.

Congresswoman Judy Chu, who, of course, before that was mayor and council member Judy Chu here in Monterey Park. We thank her for her leadership and her continued service to our community. Henry Lo as well, the first out Asian American elected official in the entire United States.

We thank them and we have them as examples for a service that we want to continue to see in our community. They've played such an important and crucial role in helping to shape Monterey Park into the special place that it is. As many of you know, Monterey Park is my hometown. I was born at Garfield Hospital just up the street from here. I went to elementary school and Chinese school, thanks, Mom and Dad, just a block away from here. And we used to come to Barnes Park every week for PE class. We'd run around the park and do stuff and pretend to exercise. But I also swam for the manta rays at the pool right across the way here at this park. And our team picture is still up at the pool lobby. I even had my first taste of boba at the Hong Kong supermarket up the street after a Kumon session that I promised I was paying attention to. But that was a real life-changing moment, having boba for the first time when it was starting to come to the United States. And now we have like 100 boba shops in the entire city. So it's great. And we'll have some outside. We will have some outside. Monterey Park is my home. I'm honored and privileged to serve as mayor. When my parents settled here almost four decades ago, I don't think they imagined that one of their sons would become mayor. but Monterey Park's history is filled with countless stories of dreamers and doers like my parents chasing the opportunity for a better life for their families from the early days of Alessandro Rapeto and Richard Garvey building some of the first homes here to the post-war two housing and population boom to the 1970s and 80s wave of Asian immigrants that included my own family and continues to bring new neighbors here today who are building successful small businesses and contributing to our community, including some of the best restaurants in the region. So all my Edison colleagues are going to come to Barnes Park for lunch. But stories of immigrants and settlers turning their dreams into reality here are commonplace. But lately, these dreams seem increasingly out of reach for many. Housing costs are soaring. Families are struggling. Businesses are facing increasing uncertainty. And the luster that drew so many over our city's history is shining just a little less bright. We must recommit ourselves to the work of keeping Monterey Park a place of opportunity and of hope. Let us train our attention and our efforts on addressing head-on the challenges of housing affordability, of aging infrastructure, including our aging city facilities, economic development, and environmental sustainability. Our small businesses in particular need support. Be on the lookout for new programs and resources to launch in the coming months, including initiatives to ease the challenges of starting a new business in the city, streamlining and modernizing our bureaucratic some of our bureaucratic city requirements and to promote our treasured small businesses including our amazing restaurants to the wider region. Monterey Park is well positioned thanks to the leadership vision and wise investments made by those that came before. We have tremendous assets from our geography our schools our parks and our people including an amazingly talented and dedicated city workforce and neighbors ready to ready to partner and to collaborate. Let us build upon this strong foundation. Let us aspire to be a vibrant place that draws dreamers and doers for generations to come. The past year has clearly shown us the importance of working together to overcome the challenges we face. Let us continue to come together to move Monterey Park forward into an even brighter future and ensure that our city continues to be a place that can turn dreams into reality. Thank you so much. I look forward to the year ahead serving alongside many of you. Thank you all for joining us tonight. I appreciate it. And you're more than welcome to come back tomorrow night for our actual city council meeting. We're going to head out to the reception and the line dance is going to escort us out there. And we are...

Is there a motion to adjourn?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm out.

MUSIC PLAYS

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. These are the immortal Lion Dance troupe.

They practice actually outside the street where I grew up every week,

so I'd hear them, so it's really special to have them here.

Thank you.

We're going to adjourn to light refreshments and reception in the atrium. Really quickly, I'd like to present this. One more time. Our new mayor.

I just want to, on behalf of the city council, to our outgoing mayor, Jose Sanchez, we want to present this plaque and this outgoing gavel, which he can use to rule his home. If Natalie lets him. but please join me in thanking Mayor

Jose Sanchez

but again thank you all so much for joining us tonight there are refreshments out in the lobby first come first serve so if we run out we can go out and go to our amazing restaurants to eat more but

we're going to the council members will stick around for some pictures up front but feel free

to go to the atrium I'll make my way out there eventually too thanks so much Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.