Special City Council Mtg.: Mayoral Installation & Council Reorganization Meeting — December 10, 2024

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Okay. Okay. And we got.

All right, we're going to get our meeting started.

Appreciate everyone joining us tonight for our special council meeting to reorganize our city council and welcome a new calling. Call the meeting to order. We'll start with the flag salute, if I can invite everyone to stand up, and the color guard will present the colors.

Basic !

Basic !

Underguard. Hold. Outward. Face. Present. Colors.

And if I can invite our civic superstars, Liliana and Alexander, to lead us in the flag salute.

Everybody, 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.

Order, colors. Outward, face. Forward, march.

exposed, exposed, exposed, exposed, exposed exposed exposed exposed exposed exposed

Please be seated.

And if I can invite the council to join me to present our civic superstars a certificate. Sorry.

Sorry.

Thank you.

few years we've been intentionally welcoming local students to help join us in leading the flag slew and also to help promote civic participation so we're honored to have our two local students who also happen to be related to a new incoming council member to join us today to help lead

our flag slew today but we can invite the parents to join us as we usually do

And Phil's going to have to sit much closer because I think he's going to get up and down

a lot. Okay. Everybody come in a little bit closer. There we go. Excellent. Right there. That's good.

One more right here.

One more here, please.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

All right.

We'll start meeting as well with what we have been doing and usually do with the land acknowledgement we'd like to acknowledge the land we inhabit today what's once known as the Tovangaar the home of the gabalino tongwa people we show our respect to the gabalino tongwa people as well as all indigenous people past present and future in honor of their labor as original caretakers of this land we commit to uplifting the gabalino tongwa people invite you to acknowledge the history and join us in caring for this land

All right. We will move on.

If I can ask the city clerk to do the roll call.

Council Member Sanchez.

Present. Council Member Lo. Present. Council Member Yu. Here.

Mayor Pro Temgo. Present. Mayor Wong. Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you.

We'll move to any agenda item additions, deletions, changes, adoptions.

I assume not. No changes. All right.

we'll open up to any public communications just a reminder that there is an opportunity to present certificates to members being sworn in and changing positions tonight so if you want to wait for that that would be the best opportunity but if you can't wait you're on a rush or anything we have an opportunity for public communication as we do every public meeting that is open now just get your card in or request into the city clerk sitting over here if not we can move on from Public communication no public comments. No public comments. We'll move on and let me acknowledge a number of dignitaries Everyone here is special but a number of elected officials that have

They are here tonight

Joining us. I want to recognize a few former council members from Monterey Park Peter Chan former mayor council member

Steven lamb as well former council member mayor

David Lau.

And, of course, former mayor and council member, former assembly member, Mike Ng, as well.

I also saw former city clerk, Teresa Amador.

From Arcadia, new council member, David Fu, and newly re-elected.

Councilmember Paul Chang, I believe, is here.

Yeah, right there.

From the city of Alhambra, new mayor and Councilmember Noya Wang.

From Temple City, William Mann.

From the neighboring city of San Gabriel, Denise Menchaca.

and Anthony Ding

also from Alhambra, Adele Andrade-Sadler, former mayor and councilman

from the Garvey School District we have Paul Duran, Maureen Chin

and Ronald Travanino and I believe also board member Andy Yam is here as well and board member Andy Yam, yes

And thank you to Superintendent Anita Chu from Garvey School of Shook Resolve for joining us.

We have L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

State Senator Sasa Renee Perez.

And Assemblymember Mike Fong.

and if I miss anyone Judge Linda Sun right here right next to my friend

if I miss anyone please

let the clerk from the entryway know so that they can let me know and then we can send you

your invoice

only Mike got that but thank you so much

appreciate everyone joining us today including members of the community

in the public, we'll move to our first item of business,

outgoing address by Councilmember Yvonne Yu. I believe we're going to start with a video, and then we'll have invite Councilmember Yu to provide some comments as well.

Today we bid farewell to Yvonne Yu, former mayor and outgoing councilmember of Monterey Park. Her time with us has been marked by challenges, triumphs, and a legacy of transformative leadership. Yvonne served as mayor in 2021 during the challenging pandemic era, a time when uncertainty loomed large. From safeguarding public health to stabilizing the city's economy, Yvonne's leadership provided clarity and hope when it was needed most. With 25 years of finance experience, Yvonne brought unparalleled expertise to Monterey Park. She led the city in issuing a $110 million pension obligation bond at the Lost interest rate of 2.66%, saving the city $55 million and earning Monterey Park an impressive AA credit rating from S&P. Yvonne also initiated and led the issuance of a $20 million street bond. This project accelerated street repairs and reduced future costs, fulfilling her promise to make the city's roads safer for residents. Under her guidance, Monterey Park's infrastructure was rebuilt for the future. Starting in 2020, Monterey Park's council experienced a period of teamwork and harmony. For those familiar with the city's history, this was no small feat. Yvonne's leadership fostered collaboration, turning challenges into opportunities and uniting the council for a common cause. As Yvonne bids farewell, she embarks on new missions, ready to face the next chapter with the same determination and vision that defined her time in office. She wishes everyone another great year and thanks the community for their unwavering support. Monterey Park will always remember Yvonne Yu as a leader who shaped its future, safeguarded its present, and brought people together in ways that will resonate for years to come. Thank you, Yvonne, for your dedication and leadership.

and we do have a second video so we'll tee that up right now as well

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And actually, before I invite Yvonne to make any outgoing comments, maybe we could have an opportunity for any council members who would like to provide some comments at this point.

Yes, thank you.

I've had the last two years an opportunity to work with Yvonne Yu, so I wanted to thank you for all your service to Monterey Park and to our community. I know that we run into each other quite often, actually. Our kids go to the same school, so we're always sharing notes with each other and are about the same age. So I wish you all the luck in your new adventures, Yvonne. And it was so great to work with you these last two years.

Congratulations.

Well, first let me say to my seatmate, my colleague of four years, what a journey it's been. It has been. We were both elected in 2020. and we've little did we know two weeks after our election the world will be changed forever when the COVID pandemic was declared

and we've certainly

seen ups and downs, good and bad

and I will definitely miss your council and also your pulse on what's happening not just in your district but also in the community as well and we know that you'll always be engaged with Monterey Park and we just are eternally grateful for your service to our community. Thank you.

Yvonne, as you know, I try to keep things simple. So leader, transparent, fair, listens intently.

And some things that you guys may not know, she is funny as heck behind the scenes.

And I'll keep it at that.

I JUST WANT VIN'S LIST FOR ME.

BUT I JUST ECHO THE SENTIMENTS FROM THE OTHER COUNSELORS AS WELL.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SERVICE, YVONNE. IT'S BEEN A PLEASURE SERVING WITH YOU. AND I THINK TO ECHO WHAT WAS SAID IN ONE OF THE VIDEOS, WE DO, WE MAY NOT AGREE ON EVERYTHING HERE ON THIS COUNCIL,

BUT WE GET ALONG REALLY, REALLY WELL.

AND WE ARE ALL ALIGNED AND WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE'RE ALL DOING EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN in the best interest of the community. I really appreciate being able to work with you.

for creating such an amazing video.

He's from St. Gabriel Valley, Cock.

So I wanted to recognize John. Would you like to stand up and be recognized? Thank you.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you

for your support and love.

And I especially wanted to thank my husband and my mom.

Yeah, without their love and support.

Without their encouragement and love, I won't be standing here serving the community in the way I have.

I also want to congratulate Elizabeth Yang for stepping into her new role as a councilwoman in District 2.

Actually, she joked with me and said, now I can travel around the world for her, and she had to attend all the council meetings for me. so um but actually for about six years ago i know elizabeth yank and um i really impressed with her education and accomplishments i knew she want to run but she told me that yvonne as long as you're running i will support you and that really touched me so um i wanted to say um i also in the you know the past five years, I have many conversations with Elizabeth and about various community issues, and we have a lot of similarities. So I've come to a point where I admire her independent thinking and also determination to what serves the best for the community. So I'm excited and thrilled to pass the torch to her and believe that she will serve the community with dedication and integrity. And next, actually, I would like to congratulate Sasha Perez for being our California state senator. Yes.

I want to say throughout the campaign, I start to realize how demanding a legislator role is. Oftentimes, I have to wake up at 4 a.m. in the middle of the night and try to catch the plane to attend meeting in Sacramento. and after long and intense meeting, I have to go back to the airport, cold and exhausted. And imagine their schedule is like every week like that or maybe every day like that. So really admire them and also thank you so much

for your sacrifices, especially all the legislators, Mike Fong, Mike Ng as well, and yeah, Sasha. And thank you so much. Salute to you. And thanks for all your sacrifice to the Californian. and next I wanted to express my appreciation to my council colleague and thank you for your friendship and professionalism

although we may not have opinions you know the same but then often time you know we have social mutual respect to each other we even in a closed door meeting we have a full of laughter and so we have independent thinking and I love you know the professional We'd never have any fight or argument.

So actually, I remember when I first campaigned these positions, I promised the community that I wouldn't lean left or right, but I wanted to move forward. According to our city staff, I don't want to finger point,

but they said the honeymoon period started five years ago when we first joined. And the longstanding issues that we've resolved in six months, actually, it takes six years before. So I'm very confident that with Elizabeth joining the council, the honeymoon period will continue.

And a lot of people ask me about my next step. Actually, throughout my life, I deeply passionate about educating people on financial literacy. with guidance from Fiona Ma our California state treasurer I decided to start my own non-profits organization it's called Financial Literacy to the American Dreams Foundation so because I wanted to empower underserved populations especially women and minorities through financial education so with that I want to again thank you so much for your love and support I look forward to working with continue to serving the community with all of you in different capacity in the future thank you

as a small token of our appreciation from the city and from the city council we have actually two plaques to present to you one because you were became mayor and served as mayor during the pandemic and did not get to have a ceremony to become mayor and to to leave so we we have a plaque with the mayor's gavel to present to you and then we also have for your service your years of service on the city council uh a key to the city that might work on a door or two i'm not sure but we'll find out but if the council can join me in front of the days to present this

I have to tell Dr. Young to make a door that fits this key in the house. Thank you. Thank you so much. Wow. One more right here. Oh, okay.

Here we go. Look at him right here.

Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Congratulations, Yvonne. Thank you so much for your service. I guess I will give an outgoing address as mayor, but I will still be running the meeting for a little while, so you'll have to bear with me. But I'm very appreciative as well for being able to serve as mayor of my hometown here in Monterey Park for the last nine and a half months or so. and so grateful to be able to do this with and alongside so many dedicated and committed colleagues. And we really do get along really well and really look forward to continuing that spirit of togetherness and mutual support for each other with our new council members as well in the years to come. But I want to thank my family members for their support over not just my term as mayor, but the last two years as well on council.

Travis, I'm not sure if he's here,

but has had to put up with a lot of my,

I have to be patient here,

and then I become impatient when I get home. So thank him for putting up with a lot of that. And I have to buy him dinner tonight too, probably. But thank you to my council colleagues again for making this a really fun experience. I know that not every council member can say this, and not every mayor can say this, but really our ability to get along, I think helps the city get along and get moving forward on a lot of issues and tackling challenges with a unified front. So really appreciate being able to serve with people who are just as dedicated to getting things done in the city as as the rest of us. I want to thank the city staff who have been instrumental right. We we had a city staff holiday appreciation lunch earlier today. I said this then I'll say this now again because it's absolutely true and I 100 percent believe it. we get to sit up here as elected officials and talk about things, ask questions decide things, but nothing gets done unless the city staff actually get it done day in, day out so appreciation to the peanut gallery over there where the staff usually sit. Thank you so much for all that you do day in, day out, police, fire, public works, planning recreation, community services now I'm going to miss the department, but all of you

HR, everyone

that come in every day to help provide and make sure that the services the city provide essentially for all of our community, both residents and visitors to the city. None of this would get done and the city would not succeed and thrive without your dedicated work and your leadership. So thank you so much to the city staff, the community as well for engaging with us over these last two years and the last nine months as well, and many of our neighbors who are here tonight and watching as well at home. Thank you for for engaging with your city as I look back on the past year. We've accomplished a lot together Adopting our sustainability plan and economic development strategic plan. We've continued to deploy critical infrastructure investments repaving streets replacing water and sewer pipes Officially opening our new consolidated groundwater treatment system, which I'm very proud of because this was years in the works and back going back to when I was on the water district board revitalizing playgrounds and park spaces and engage the community and visiting the future of our parks and open spaces with our ongoing park system master plan, which we hope to finalize next year.

We've balanced our budget, our rebuilding our reserves,

conservatively managed taxpayer dollars, and invested in our workforce to ensure the delivery of high-quality city services our community needs and deserves, including ensuring we have best-in-class police and fire departments and the basic infrastructure like streets, sidewalks, water, sewer, trash that our residents and businesses need to do what they do every day. In my installation marks nine and a half months ago, I noted how Monterey Park welcomed my own immigrant family decades ago to this area and to the United States and alLod us to achieve our dreams, including the promise of housing that was affordable, supportive business environment for my parents and many other families like my own to be able to succeed and pay their bills. Great schools and a close-knit community that provided

support for each other. My focus and our focus will continue to be making sure the

city continues to be a place of opportunity and a welcoming place for all trying to pursue their dreams including immigrants and their families. I want to highlight our particular focus on supporting our city's small businesses over the past year including the launch of the Marley Park Business Alliance and this Council's decision to set aside funding as well for business support grant program which I'm looking forward to launching the applications for soon, providing resources to businesses on how to grow and thrive and making it easier for businesses to open in the city, and promoting our amazing local businesses to residents inside and outside

of the city. With the approval of voters a few weeks ago, I'm proud to announce that we've achieved

one of our other major priorities as well, reforming our business license tax structure to be more equitable and fair. And particularly, I'm proud of being able to give a break to smaller businesses that operate in our city.

And we continue to work hard with property owners to fill vacant storefronts

and support redevelopment of underutilized properties. And there's a lot more work to do, as all of us can attest to.

We've made tremendous progress,

and I want to thank my colleagues on the council again, the amazing hard-working city staff,

and the community for coming together

to make all of this happen. There's much more to do and serious challenges loom ahead, not least of which an incoming federal administration that's been very vocally hostile to California and our values and to immigrants that make up our community. But I know that our city is ready to tackle these challenges head on together. With pride in the past and tremendous faith in our future, I'm humbled and honored to have had the privilege of serving as mayor, and I'm excited to pass the gavel to Mayor Vingo and look forward to his leadership in the year ahead. After a few more minutes at least.

So thank you so much for all your support

and look forward to many more years of continued success together and really appreciate this opportunity to be able to lead my hometown as mayor and soon we'll pass over

the gavel. With that,

it says the council will present a plaque to Thomas, so I don't know what that is. We can skip that.

We have one.

Thank you.

Very nice. Right here. One more right here.

One more. All right. Thank you. Thank you.

All right.

With that, we will move to item three, adopting a resolution certifying the results of a November 5th general municipal election. I believe the staff report's in the packet. If there's a motion to adopt the resolution.

I move.

and a second. Second by Yvonne Yute, Council Member Yute. Any further discussion? Hearing none, we'll call for the vote.

Try again.

Council Member All right.

Approved unanimously.

All right. The results of the election are adopted. We'll give, we'll call for a quick five-minute recess to adjust some of our seating arrangements. And please come back because we have more of the meeting to do and a lot more formally to acknowledge as well. But we'll have a very quick break. Feel free to use the restroom outside and chat. But don't chat too much because we got to be

back. . . .

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Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, if everyone can grab their seats, we're going to get the meeting going again.

Everyone can grab their seats, please.

. . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

All right, if everyone can grab their seats, please, if everyone can go back to their seats.

Are we switching over?

Are we switching over? Am I yet?

If everyone can return to their seats.

Hi, everyone. If you could return to your seats, we're going to get going with the meeting again.

Everyone listens to the teacher, not the mayor.

All right, we're going to get going again.

Thank you for indulging us for the brief recess. We had to conduct some very formal business on the side, but appreciate it. And we'll move now to item four, oath of office to our newly elected officials. We'll start first with Council District number two, our newest council member, Elizabeth Yang. If I can invite her to the front of the day.

She will be sworn in by our state assembly member, Mike Fong.

All right, this is an amazing moment to celebrate the amazing Councilman Elizabeth Yang. Congratulations, and we're so grateful for your leadership.

Please raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your name. I, Elizabeth Yang. Do solemnly swear. That I will support. And defend. And defend. The Constitution of the United States.

against all enemies,

foreign and domestic,

that I will bear true faith, and allegiance, 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 that I will well and faithfully and faithfully

discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter upon which I am about to enter congratulations councilmember

And then on behalf of the 49th Assembly District, we have a certificate to recognize and congratulate you. So grateful for your lease.

Let's give her another round of applause. Congratulations.

Thank you.

Let me invite up newly re-elected Councilmember Jose Sanchez to receive his swearing in.

He'll be sworn in by L.A. County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

Well, before I get started, I have to say a few things about our newly re-elected Councilmember. First of all, what a great privilege and honor for you to ask me to do this. It's been a delight for me to know you for the years that you've been serving, and also with your colleagues and outgoing members of the City Council, Yvonne, and wanting to thank also Thomas. You guys have been incredible friends for many years. We've been through so much here in Monterey Park, and I've seen the political will and the values of this entire council and feel so proud to know that for many years I've had the privilege of representing Monterey Park. And it has gone through so many changes. And we're blessed that Monterey Park is still a beacon of hope for many people, especially through all that this city has been through. And I am quite fond of the fact that we have been partners with the city and with many of you. And recently, we were here at your city council celebrating, not celebrating, but rallying support for Measure G for L.A. County to expand our board. Can you imagine that? There are a few members here, but our board will now be, thanks to the support of the voters in Los Angeles, we will be expanding the board from five members to nine. And our desire is to have better representation. And, of course, this city has done a great job with that, and we hope to have soon on that board, when that convenes, to have an AAPI representative, because that's something that I heard loud and clear from this community, but also the fact that we want to have more localized control. so there won't be chances and opportunity for a board member to represent two million people anymore it'll be one million divided by nine members and i hope there will still be more women on the board we have to fight for that i want to again just say how proud i am to be here what an honor um and to be asked to uh swear you into office today to administer the oath of office to Council Member Jose Sanchez, who to me is a great example of the American dream. The son of Mexican immigrants who migrated to the United States for better jobs and educational opportunities. For the past 18 years, Jose has served as a civics teacher in Alhambra, our neighbor, right? serving over 4,000 students and their families in Alhambra and Monterey Park. What an honor. Jose has been recognized for his work as a civics educator by local elected officials such as our friend, Congresswoman Judy Chu. Let's give her a big round of applause. You have been named Educator of the Year in 2018 and by former Assemblymember Ed Chow, who we all know, right? So we want to thank him, who made a big difference also in this community. Jose, you've been recognized by the California Department of Education and the California Supreme Court as a champion of civics in 2021. Wow. The California Council for Social Studies named Jose the Civics Educator of the Year in 2022. He deserves a round of applause for that. As a longtime educator, he looks too young to be a teacher, to be honest. Jose understands firsthand the struggles that our communities and our students face in accessing higher education and opportunities. and he has made it his life's mission to ensure that our students are well-equipped and motivated and are able to thrive. As a council member, we saw Jose, in partnership with his city council colleagues, lead the city of Monterey Park with integrity, compassion, empathy during the tragic mass shooting. Jose, you are a true testament to the leadership we need throughout the San Gabriel Valley, and you represent a generation of talented young people.

your right hand and to repeat after me as I administer the oath. And you'll repeat after me Jose. I, state your name, 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, and I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the state of California, and 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 which I am about to enter yes congratulations council member thank you

we have a scroll

I should say this with the mic I want to present this scroll on behalf of the County of Los Angeles,

representing 10 million people, but more importantly,

the 2 million people that I represent in the 1st District,

which includes the glorious city of Monterey Park. Thank you for your service, Jose Sanchez, our council member. Thank you.

And I want to invite my wife, who's here, to come and take a picture with us as well.

And my students who are over here.

who are all part of the academic decathlon team and our LA County champions. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much.

Congratulations again, re-elected Councilmember Jose Sanchez.

Next up, we will invite newly re-elected Councilmember Henry Lo, who will be sworn in who will be sworn in by new California State Senator Sasha Renee Perez.

Well, I'm sure all of you know Council Member Henry Lo. A few of us don't. He is one of the longest serving staff in the state legislature.

This is a man that is more committed to public service, I think, than I'd argue almost anybody in this room, Henry. It is really quite incredible.

You are probably the first openly LGBT elected official to be elected in the entire San Gabriel Valley, which is an incredible feat.

and you always represent this community with such pride Henry there are a few people that know just as much about the SGV and its history and the elected officials who have represented this area I've told Henry many times he has so much information it's almost deadly he could write a book one day. And, you know, it is just so incredible. You know, during the Monterey Park mass shooting, I think all of us really saw you, you know, step up in that moment and truly represent Monterey Park, you know, with such pride and such integrity to make it clear that, you know, this, that what happened was not going to define this community, that we were going to move forward stronger and together. And, you know, just seeing you on TV, doing those interviews, you know, with such grace and composure during such a difficult period. I was just so proud to not only call you a colleague on the council, but to call you a friend, Henry. And I know so many of us in this room just deeply admire you and value your service. So thank you for everything that you do for Monterey Park. I'm so excited that I get to work with you in this capacity and excited to spare you into office today. Okay. So raise your right hand. So I state your name. I, Henry Lo. 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, Council Member.

Henry, I want to present to you one of my first certificates here that I've printed.

On behalf of the California State Senate, I congratulate you on your re-election to the Monterey Park City Council.

Your commitment to enhancing the quality of life in our city is truly appreciated.

I look forward to working with you and wish you the best of luck on all of your future endeavors. Thank you so much.

Congratulations to Henry Lo.

If I can ask council to take their seats, we will ask the city clerk to do the roll call of the new council.

Council Member Sanchez

Present Council Member Lo Present Council Member Yi Yang Present Mayor Pro Tem Go Present Mayor Wong Present We have a quorum Thank you

We'll move on to item 6

Reorganization of the Monterey Park City Council The recommendation is For Council to consider Appointing the Mayor And the Mayor Pro Tem In accordance with City Council Policy Established by Resolution

Number 11507 is there a motion to adopt?

Motion to approve. Is there a second? I'll second.

Moved and seconded. Any further discussion?

Just to be clear, that means Vin will become mayor.

Liz will become mayor pro tem.

If there's no further discussion, we'll call for the vote.

Approved unanimously.

All right. Congratulations, yes.

I will hand it over to the city clerk to do our installations for our new officers.

Then I'll proceed with the installation.

Actually, really quick, sorry.

I don't know if I acknowledged a new council member from San Gabriel George Herrera, who is in the room.

Thank you.

Let me ask the council to stand.

They have to adjust our seats again, but no recess. Please stay here and we'll rearrange ourselves.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, let's begin.

Please join me as we now proceed with the installation of Mayor Pro Tem, Elizabeth Yang. Joining us will be Kelly Yang, her mother, Philip Chang, her husband, Liliana Karachka, her daughter, and Alexander Karachki, her son.

Please join us. Come on up.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Congratulations. don't get too comfortable

thank you everyone so much for being here today

I'm Elizabeth Yang and I'm so deeply honored and humbled

to be representing Monterey Park District 2

as the

in the seats many times wearing a different hat. So this is not unfamiliar to me, but very excited to be serving in this new role. My family and I, we've been longtime residents of the city of Monterey Park for over 15 years. So I've lived in so many other cities in my life, but once we moved to Monterey Park, we fell in love with the city and we are deeply committed to making it a safer and better city. During my campaign for two months before the election, it was an honor to walk close to 5,000 homes and get to speak with majority of the residents and hear their different concerns and different issues that they want to see improved in the city. So I have a list of all the different things residents have told me. I am committed to making the improvements that everyone has shared with me. And I wanted to acknowledge some of my volunteers that really supported me during my campaign. First of all, I wanted to recognize Victoria Nunez, who walked almost 40 to 50 days with me during the campaign. Victoria, if you can stand up.

And I also wanted to acknowledge other volunteers that walked many days with me, including Carol Sullivan, Betty Kwong, Ivana Xu, Nelson King, even my cousins, Angus Yang, Albert Yang, Victoria Yang, who are students at Markeppel.

everyone who walked at least one day or even you know a day or a week please stand up to be recognized right now alice shu as well

and my kids liliana and alexander of course thank you victoria

deeply deeply acknowledge and appreciate all of the support also i wanted to acknowledge our Police Officer Association President, Izzy Flores, and the police department for their support. Many of you guys might have heard we actually experienced a burglary during my campaign. And as I'm talking to residents, you know, crime is pretty high in our city right now. So I want to acknowledge our police department for having a response rate on average less than five minutes. so police department thank you so much for your service to our city

very lucky to have our own police department as well as a fire captain dan klein and the fire department as well as or public works department as well how many of you guys are familiar with our go mpk app raise your hands if you guys have put in a request or know about the go mpk app and Raise your head if you've never heard of the GoMPK app.

So many as well. The GoMPK app is an app that I use a lot during the campaign.

It's a free app that can be downloaded on the App Store. You just take a picture of any issue that you might see in the city, such as a pothole or a sidewalk that needs repair, a bulky item pickup, graffiti, tree trimming, tree planting. During the campaign, we put in a total of 230 requests with the city for different sidewalk repairs, different bulky item pickups. So thank you to our city and the Public Works Department for being right on our heels and getting so many requests fixed.

I would say probably 90% of the requests got fixed within a week. So the city is very amazing for that. I also want to acknowledge our outgoing Councilwoman Yvonne Yu. Thank you for all your years of service, for your leadership, for your inspiration, for being a role model. The city is going to miss you very much, but we're very grateful for all your close to five years of leadership.

Thank you, Yvonne.

I'd like to also acknowledge my opponent, Dawn Rock, for running a professional campaign and smooth campaign

and her heart for the city as a long-term resident of Monterey Park.

I hope you will continue serving our city and work alongside me so we can better our community.

Thank you, Dawn.

Last but not least, I want to thank my family. My mom, who single-handedly raised me and my brother our entire childhood. My husband, who is my rock and who spends a lot of time putting up yard signs,

taking down the 800-some yard signs after the election. A lot of work, getting his hands dirty.

my kids Liliana and Alexander who are currently a 10th grader and 9th grader in high school

for door knocking with me for handing out flyers thank you so much for Grandpa George who is here from Atlanta my aunt Christine and her three children who also door knocked I'm very proud to say all of the door knocking volunteers are all friends family friends of friends children of friends. We had no paid volunteers, so thank you so much to my family for contributing and all your

support and love all these years. And last but not least, I'm very excited to be working alongside

my friends and colleagues, Mayor Vinno, Henry Lo, Jose Sanchez, Thomas Wan. We've been friends for a

long time and very excited to be working alongside you guys to Better Our City in the next few years. We've got a lot of work to do and I'm very excited to work alongside these amazing leaders.

And of course, thank you to Mike Ng, Mike Fon, Sasha Perez, Linda Sun, all the elected officials here. You guys will be presenting certificates

so I'm not going to go through every name.

But thank you so much for your leadership, your inspiration, and being role models in this community.

All right.

And now on to the moment that Thomas has been counting down to. Please join me as we proceed with the installation of Mayor Vingo.

Joining us to administer the oath of office is Assemblymember Mike Fong.

Thank you so much to everyone for being here today. As you heard from our mayor pro tem, our newly elected councilor, it takes a village, and

that village is Monterey Park and San Diego Valley and Southern California. and standing before me as an amazing leader here in Monterey Park, Singapore Valley, and Southern California, somebody I've known for many, many years.

And you heard from Marigo, if you look at his website, his motto is give back and pay it forward. My mission is to lead, serve, and improve the quality of life for Monterey Park residents. And that's what Council Member, now Incoming Mayor Vingo, does each and every day and has served as Board President the Chinatown Service Center, Garvey Education Foundation, and as a proud product of Monterey Park, and as a distinct honor and privilege to swear you in to the oath of office for mayor of the great city of Monterey Park.

You can raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your name. I, Ving Ngo, 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, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation, without any mental reservation, or purpose of evasion, or purpose of evasion, and that I will well, and that I will well, and faithfully, and faithfully, discharge the duties, discharge the duties, upon which I am about to enter, upon which I am about to enter. Congratulations, Mr. Mayor. Thank God.

And on behalf of the 49th Assembly District,

we have a certificate to honor your leadership and efforts here on a great city of Monterey Park.

Let's give it up for our Mayor, Vingo!

Please welcome Mayor Ngo's family, his fiancée, Ann Vong, and his father, Khoi Ngo, to present

the gavel.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, if I can request a quick picture of the new council.

is

Thank you.

Okay, now we'll move on to presentations. First speaker, Mike King, representing Congresswoman Judy Chu.

Well, thank you very much. This is quite an honor for me. This is one of the few times that I can get up here and not have PTSD. Because there was a time when Judy Chu, my wife and I, served, when there was not the unity and the love that we feel on the stage, but there was a lot of disagreement about how the city can move forward. So this is really a special, special moment. Let's give this council and the outgoing a round of applause for portraying the unity. Even though we install them as the new leaders of the council and say farewell to Ivan, every single council member as well as members of the elected official and the staff and the first responders, the governmental agencies, the non-profits, and all of you that were here during the shootings, this will be a moment that will be forever noted, footnoted, on these leaders that they served with compassion, with love, with distinction during that time and now. are Promoting Healing. Um, I'm sorry to be the first one up here, but as Yvonne said, I have to get up at four o'clock and take that flight tomorrow morning, so please pardon me. And um, it's I'm very nervous because um, before I campaigned, I was uh, six feet four inches. But after I had to walk to every neighborhood, we didn't have districts then, to walk the entire Monterey Park twice, I lost a good foot. So we want to honor them tonight and I'll be presenting certificates of congressional recognition on behalf of my wife Judy Chu. Judy and I served here on this city council and we have a lot of memories. First of all I'm not going to talk about each of you individually but Thomas Wong the outgoing mayor the first elected official in the United States of America that celebrates his Burmese American history on his father's side. He's the first one ever to serve with his background. Give him a round of applause for that. That is really amazing.

He's a major advocate for the environment and recently won an award from the,

excuse me, I've got too many certificates here.

You start losing your muscles as you age.

I won a leadership award from the LA League of Conservation Voters, and my claim to fame is that Thomas Wong also served when I was in the California State Assembly. He was my boss. Thank you, Thomas. Van Gogh, our incoming mayor, has a long history in banking. And it's the president of the board of the Chinatown Service Center that has grown to, it used to be six, now it's seven, I believe, seven offices. They just dedicated resiliency center serving the underserved and the needy. Give him a round of applause. These leaders did not just start serving when they got elected. Every single one of them has a history of loving and serving their community. and that's what motivated them to run because they wanted to do that for the city. Yvonne Yu, our outgoing council member for District 2, has a background in financial services and we know that that nonprofit is a result of that and has also served various charitable organizations and nonprofits, including the Morning Light Foundation, the West St. Gabriel Boys and Girls Club, and the Greater Monterey Park Chamber. Yvonne, thank you for your service. Give her a round of applause for that. And Elizabeth Yang, our incoming council member from District 2, brings also a diverse and rich history of experience. She has a background in law and engineering. I believe Council Member Mann said there's a conspiracy to install at least one engineer in every city council, and I believe you are possibly the first in Monterey Park. And you also served on the city's design review board, parks and recreation, community participation commissions, and was the chair of our business advisory council, and has also provided leadership to several nonprofits, including the Asian Youth Center. Give her a round of applause.

And Jose Sanchez was reelected to Council District 3 just now, recently by a landslide.

and took over as mayor a year after the shootings

and has widely been known as one of the most inspirational teachers

in the San Gabriel Valley

and has guided the Alhambra decathlon team, I think, to two major victories. I'm going to go back to school just so I can learn from this guy.

And as was pointed out by Sylvester Solis,

was honored as Educator of the Year by Congresswoman Judy Chu. and

last but not least I'm going in order of their councilmanic district numbers Henry Lo was reelected to council district

number 4 and as was pointed out earlier as our senator pointed out Henry Lo was really the face and the voice of the tragedy and the response and the hope during the tragic shootings and he is one of the longest serving members of the Garvey School District and also one of the longest serving staff members to the legislature and hopefully we can change

that term limit so that you can be also a longer serving person on the City

Council as well and I also want to point out that Henry Lo also worked in my

Assembly and he worked for a state senator and also two Assembly members and he was my boss when I was in the 49th Assembly to give him a round of applause.

So I'd like to ask if we could have all six of you come up and I'm going to give you certificates and as I said last night in Alhambra, please take a picture of me so that Judy doesn't think that I was at the gambling casino tonight.

Thank you. Thank you. Thomas Wong. Okay, here we go.

Right here.

My neck is frozen.

Great. Thank you. Everybody say we love Monterey Park. We love Monterey Park.

Say it loud and say it proud. We love Monterey Park. We love Monterey Park.

Thank you. Good job.

Next speaker, Senator Sasha Rene Perez.

I, too, have certificates for everyone, so I'm going to follow what our former Assemblymember Mike Ng just did and go ahead and speak to everyone, and then we'll have everyone come up and receive certificates. First of all, I want to congratulate you all for being sworn in. You ran great re-election campaigns and election campaigns. as you know I represented the city of Alhambra for the last four years and in many ways I feel like our cities do everything together which is always really lovely Alhambra and Monterey Park have an incredible partnership and it's been really wonderful because I've really gotten to know each and every one of you on a very personal level then I'm always so impressed with all of your work not just in the banking community but then is very active with Garvey Unified School district and is a regularly fundraising for the students there to make sure that that school district is supported it's something that he does in his free time to give back and it makes such a huge impact I know for all of those students foundations like that really help to serve our students in the community so thank you Vin for all of the service that you do not just here in Monterey Park but you know in the school district and with the business community

as well as the Chinatown Service Center as well. Thank you. But really excited to have you coming in as mayor. You know, I know that you love this community and you lead with such integrity, so I look forward to working with you and to partnering in whatever you may need. Incoming Mayor Pro Tem, Elizabeth Yang, congratulations on your election. You ran an excellent campaign. Those of you who know Elizabeth know that she's very much a renaissance woman. An engineer, a lawyer, a business owner, it is quite impressive. There are a few things that you do not do. And now you're a mayor pro tem as well. I'm always so impressed with you and just the inspiration that you provide, especially to young women. I know that you intern and you mentor so many students. and I know in this role you're going to continue to inspire them to seek you know higher positions and to know that you know we can hold multiple roles in our lives both you know being mothers and also still running a business and being public servants as well so I look forward to working with you and partnering with you. Henry oh my goodness Council Member Lo I know I already spoke to this but you're such a wonderful friend and wonderful partner I look forward to getting to work with you in this capacity and you know just appreciate all of the service that you do with assembly

democrats as a council member here and just for the lgbt community throughout the san gabriel valley

council member jose sanchez as was said before by mike ing is one of the best teachers i think

in i would argue the state of california and i'm probably a little biased because i was once one of his students. He is truly incredible, has won so many awards, and has really focused his teaching

not just simply on educating, but really on inspiring his students to seek out public service.

And that's what I think is so incredible. If you see he has so many of his students here in this

room, they get to not just be inspired by him and the role that he has here on council, but he helps to connect the work that happens here as legislators.

You know, many years ago, Council Member Sanchez actually worked with his students to bring forward some gun control legislation with Congresswoman Judy Chu. His students were so proud to get to participate in that work and how powerful that is to get to work with students and for them to see their idea become real legislation in Congress. Really incredible. And finally, our outgoing mayor, Thomas Rong, and now council member. I'm so excited to continue working with you, Thomas. You know, Thomas is not just someone that is a leader in the business community, but is the proud environmentalist. You know, the work that he does at CellCal Edison really focuses, you know, not just on electrifying our community, which is so incredibly important, but he's also very involved with the groups like Nature for All that really focus on promoting environmentalism, encouraging our young people to get outside. It is something that is so critical and so

important. And I just appreciate your balanced perspective. You are always so incredibly calm,

which is so lovely. And also, fun fact, Thomas has a twin brother. I don't know if he's here

tonight but um i did not know that until um i started spending time with thomas but um always just so fun to get to spend time with you thomas and you are an incredible friend and a wonderful

public servant so um last but not least i wanted to take a moment to also um recognize our outgoing council member um yvonne you you know yvonne i know you are so committed to this community of Monterey Park and you have contributed so much as a council member here. You know, I know that we had an opportunity, obviously, as we were running both for state senate, and I really got to see just how incredibly competitive you are. You ran a tough race, and I mean that with all honesty. I mean, it was really impressive, and you bring such business acumen and expertise, I think, to this role. I'm so excited to hear that you're going to be starting a non-profit. If you've met Yvonne, She talks very proudly about the fact that she has inspired so many women to really take leadership in their lives financially. And I am so excited to see you do that in this way. And I look forward to working with you on whatever you need as you expand your nonprofit work. So thank you for your time on this council and look forward to seeing how you're going to continue to serve the community. Great.

Go ahead, Henry. if you want to bring your certificate up here so we can get a photo.

Okay, right here.

Next speaker, Assemblymember Mike Fung.

it's been truly an amazing evening so far and thank you so much to all of you for being here today to upload Monterey Park City Council. To our Mayor Vinh T. Ngo. We look forward to your leadership as mayor. You've done a tremendous job. Just with everything in the community. You are just everywhere. You're a spark of light for the community and somebody who has a heart of gold in serving the community. And whether it's at the Chinatown Service Center. Your work and efforts at the Garvey Education Foundation. Everywhere. You know the importance of education, the importance of civic engagement. And I look forward to your leadership and looking forward to partnering with you going forward. And to our Mayor Vinh T. Ngo. Mayor Pro Tem, Elizabeth Yang, congratulations.

As you hear from our senator, from the Honorable Mike Yang, from all the speakers,

you've run a tremendous campaign. You've done so much great work in the community for so many years. Your leadership and efforts on four different commissions here in Monterey Park, with the Business Advisory Committee, with the Recreation and Parks Committee, with the commissions here to serve the great city of Monterey Park, and also having your law firm and just being so engaged with so many groups here in Southern California and the San Gabriel Valley. I look forward to your leadership as Mayor Pro Tem and look forward to working with you as well.

And to our really elected Council Member Henry Lo, somebody who has led here in the Singapore Valley for over two decades, from the Garvey School Board, Monterey Park City Council. For a fun fact out here, I just got to say it, Henry and I went to elementary school together in L.A., Chinatown, at Castle Elementary School. So we used to be colleagues back then and friends back then. It was playing the sandbox. but really, Councilman Henry Lo, thank you for your leadership and efforts.

During the tragic mass shooting here at Monteiro Park, you were the face of really the community, of the response, of the healing,

and really with all of you here and all the council members, you've done tremendous work to continue to heal the community.

And thank you for your leadership and efforts at the Assembly of Democrats, with DCO.

You've served many, many members for so many years. You do such a great job. And I was just asking Councilman Henry Lo the other day. he's got 10 offices that he's working with and he's done tremendous work always for district 49 as well and so thank you for your service for your leadership to monterey park and to the san gabor valley and to southern california and to councilman jose sanchez you heard from our supervisor from all the folks an amazing educator and if anybody hasn't had a chance yet please visit his classroom at a visit i've had a chance of visiting twice now but the classroom is just an amazing space for civic engagement. It's so wonderful to see the students here today as well, the next generation of leaders here in our community. And it's your leadership and efforts in Alhambra and Monterey Park and throughout the West Nicaragua Valley. Really proud of your leadership and efforts. And I also was very honored to have nominated. I'm not honored. We had nominations from the community, but to have honored Council Member Jose Sanchez as our Educator of the Year as well. And so thank you for your service and leadership. and to outgoing to Councilman Thomas Wong but outgoing Mayor Thomas Wong thank you for your leadership and efforts this past year you've done a tremendous job in serving as mayor of the great city of Monterey Park somebody who's done town hall meetings across the city somebody's worked on a strategic plan somebody who's done tremendous work in uplifting the community for so many years and I first met Councilman Thomas Wong probably 15 years ago as well and his leadership and efforts on the water district and serving as board president there for seven years and his leadership and efforts at Edison and the community. He's a council member and Mayor Emeritus, Thomas Wong, everywhere in the community. He's done a tremendous job in serving the residents of Monterey Park, serving in San Gabriel Valley in Southern California and everywhere. He's in Sacramento a lot as well, and I'm so grateful for your service and leadership here in Monterey Park and the community. Thank you so much to the entire Monterey Park City Council for your tremendous service and leadership. And outgoing council member Yvonne Yu, thank you so much for your service and leadership here as well. with the Monterey Park City Council in the aftermath of the tragic mass shooting. We partnered on gun control legislation. We partnered on collaboration between Department of Justice and local cities. We partnered on language translation, and it's the work and efforts of the outgoing council member and the city council here to really partner with the state on issues to address the quality of life here in Monterey Park and the San Gabriel Valley. So thank you so much for your service, for your leadership here. As you heard from many of our speakers, it takes a village to really have folks put themselves out there and to run and to really serve. And so really grateful for your service and leadership. Let's give the whole city council a big round of applause.

And I'd like to present this resolution to the Honorable Thomas Wong. Born and raised in Monterey Park, Thomas has been a tireless advocate for the great city of Monterey Park and has compiled an impressive record of personal and civic achievements. and he's done such an amazing job here. I'll read a couple of the whereases. Whereas, elected to the Monterey Park City Council in November 2022 and named by his colleagues as Mayor Pro Tem in January 2023, Mayor Thomas Wong was sworn in as mayor in February 2024, the son of immigrants from Taiwan and Burma and Myanmar. He has enjoyed a singular distinction as the first person of Burmese heritage to be elected to office in the nation. During his term as mayor, Thomas led the city of Monterey Park to adopt its first comprehensive sustainability plan to chart a course toward net zero climate emissions by 2045, as well as adopting new economic development strategic plan and engaging the community. If you follow his social media, he has so many town hall meetings across the city, and he's got so much tremendous leadership and so grateful for your leadership. So this resolution is signed by Speaker Emeritus Anthony Rendon and by myself. I'd like to present this to the outgoing mayor, the Honorable Thomas Wong.

Thank you. And we'd like to present a certificate to Honorable Yvonne Yu. Come on up.

Thank you so much for your leadership and efforts here in the city of Monterey Park.

And to the Honorable Jose Sanchez, congratulations on your re-election to the Monterey Park City Council.

And thank you for your role in shaping the future of the city. Thank you.

And to the Honorable Henry Lo, congratulations on your re-election here to the city of Monterey Park City Council. I'm so proud of your leadership and efforts.

Congratulations. If we could have everyone bring their respective certificates up.

Thank you.

Let's get up here at Monmouth Park City Council.

Thank you.

Okay, right here. Right here.

Okay, right here. Three, two, one.

Thank you. You'll see.

Next speaker, Candy Yang of County Assessor, LA County Assessor Jeff Brang's office.

Hello, good evening everyone. My name is Kandi Ying and I am the field representative for LA County Assessor Jeff Prang and also representing Monterey Park. Everybody's resume is so impressive, but it all leads back to here and that is to serve the city of Monterey Park. And I applaud each and every one of you for your service. And today, on behalf of LA County Assessor Jeff Prang, I present each and every one of you a certificate for your service. Firstly, to a newly installed Mayor Ngo for your service. Thank you. and then newly elected and now Mayor Pro Tem, the Honorable Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Wang, as well as Councilmember Henry Lo and Councilmember Jose Sanchez for your re-election. And last but not least, thank you for your service, Councilmember now Thomas Wong, an outgoing mayor. and as well I forget you Council Member Yvonne thank you for your service and so I have certificates for each and every one of you and would like to take a photo and thank you

I got one more. Oh, look at the door. No, he won't be here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So what? That's good. That's good. It's right here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, ready, right here?

Right here? Everybody have me.

Three, two, four.

Thank you so much. Oh, my God.

Thank you.

Next speaker, Councilmember William Mann of Temple City.

Good evening, everyone. So the piece of paper that Honorable Miking had was actually my talking points and my jokes. So he took all of them, so I have nothing really left to say. And it's convenient that he left, so I can't really give him a hard time.

but in all seriousness it is an honor and pleasure to be here

with my friends in Monterey Park to congratulate each and every one of you Mayor Ngo I've had the pleasure of serving with him on the Chinese American Elected Officials Board

I've seen all the business acumen and expertise that you bring to that table so it is great to see you serve as mayor and council member in the city so congratulations to newly elected Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Yang. Once again, congratulations. And to echo Mike Yang's earlier comment, it is indeed my plan to have engineers in every city council.

So I'm going to concur with that.

And just yesterday, it was Mayor Noya Wang, also engineer, Sean Dang in Rosemead. I could keep going.

So it's really happening. So believe him when he says it. But I also have the distinct bond that we share as Berkeley engineers, so go Bears. And I'm very excited to see what you bring to Monterey Park and wish you the best. Council members Henry Lo and council members Jose Sanchez, congratulations on your landslide victories. I had my own landslide victory earlier this year, so I know how that feels. I will say this though for any city

especially local cities for anyone that doesn't have to run for re-election

that does say a lot about the work that they're doing and so what that tells me is that both Councilmember Lo and Councilmember Sanchez have done tremendous work where your community is very happy with you there's no one saying hey I want to come and challenge you guys so congratulations That is a tremendous, tremendous achievement.

Councilmember Lo, of course, has been said many times, he's a tremendous role model for anyone who's serving in the San Gabriel Valley. The knowledge and experience that you bring, I always look up to you as a role model.

Councilmember Sanchez, and I say this with great bias as an Alhambra School District alumni from Alhambra High School, that it is, I am not surprised at all that you have won so many accolades as being an educator

because you come from a great school district. So it's just, I've heard so many things and like Assemblymember Mike Fong said,

I now want to see what your classroom looks like. So we'll keep in touch, yeah. Outgoing mayor and Councilmember Thomas Wong, also a great friend and ally. When I was first elected, I know you were still serving on the water district. He offered a lot of advice, counsel and guidance.

and so I deeply appreciate the many years of friendship and support for you as well. And I will say one last thing is a lot of previous speakers alluded to the tragedy that Monarch Park suffered.

I think in times of crisis, how your leaders act and behave truly shows the nature of their character, and Monarch Park, you guys have a great council, and that includes outgoing Council Member Yvonne Yu, who I've had the pleasure of working with and knowing in the last four to five years, your passion and conviction, crystal clear. I mean, you talk about someone who speaks with a purpose, knowing what she wants. Congratulations on your nonprofit, and I look forward to seeing where you take that. Now, finally, I have...

certificates for the rest of the council including outgoing council member Yvonne Yu.

So as you come up here I'm going to hand you invisible certificates and an IOU for lunch

and yes I we will deliver on those so congratulations.

Yeah, folks, they're in it. Yeah. Oh, we're in it. Maybe they're not.

Maybe they're not.

Maybe they're not.

Maybe they're not.

Thank you.

Next speakers, City of Alhambra, Mayor Noya Wang and former Mayor and Councilmember Adele Andrade-Stadler.

Good evening, everyone. Noya Wang, mayor of Alhambra. I was just sworn in yesterday.

And I'm joined by my council colleague, council member Andrade Statler here today. It is really a special honor to be here and acknowledge, recognize our leadership here in the city of Monument Park. on my second day into office. So, you know, as our Senator Sacha-Rene Perez mentioned that Monterey Park and Alhambra share a very special relationship as we share a border along Hellman and Garvey and I actually live right on the border so Monterey Park is my second home. I really love this city and so yeah truly is a special honor to be here and I like to start by recognizing outgoing council member Yvonne Yu. Thank you so much for your leadership and service in the past couple years and you're very well loved and respected by the community. You brought so much from your professional experience to help the city solve problems. So thank you for being that inspiration and the work you have done will leave a lasting legacy here in the city of Monterey Park. So thank you. And to our outgoing mayor Thomas Wang Yu. During your term as a mayor, you really went out there and connected with our community. And I can tell that our community really loves you. My kids go to school in your district, so I know this community very well. And we all respect you. And thank you for being that inspiration as well. And Council Member Jose Sanchez and Council Member Henry Lo, congratulations for your re-election. Looking forward to your continued leadership here in the city of Barnes Park. And to our newly installed Mayor Van Gogh, congratulations. I look forward to working with you. You have always been so generous with your advice, supporting me in this campaign, and really appreciate that, and I look forward to working with you. And last but not least, to my friend, Mayor Pro-10 Elizabeth Yang. I've known you for over 10 years now. You have been such a friend. We have so much in common. We went to Berkeley together, got our engineering degree. But people, we all know that Elizabeth Yang got her engineering degree, but not many of us know that she finished her four years of bachelor's degree in two and a half years.

And you're known for your successful entrepreneurship, but I don't know a lot of people know that she's also a true leader and public servant here and

a lot of work that you have done serving on multiple non-profits you even started your own

non-profit after the mass shooting in Monterey Park it's called Asian Minds Matter and to promote

mental health awareness for the Asian population so you have been a friend and you are always

willing to lend a hand and always ready to help. And I'm very excited for you. I'm more excited for

the city of Monterey Park for what you will bring to the city. So congratulations.

Most of you know me who are in this room. I was raised in Monterey Park. And so, you know,

you guys on the dais, you are just wonderful. And I look forward to working with each and every one of you in every capacity in transportation, in housing, because we know that it's actual a regional

issue for all of us, and we look forward to working with all of you. Thank you for the long

friendship, and we too have only been given a few of these certificates. Somehow the taxpayers have

been fighting us, and so this is what we have for you, but we all want you to come down here to receive them. Yeah, was that one minute, Mayor?

Thank you.

Okay, here we go, right here.

Right here, please.

Thank you. Can you give a big round of applause for Osi, who is one of the most amazing photographers we have here.

Next speaker, Arcadia City Councilmember David Fu.

Good evening, everyone.

Ah, and Eileen's here, too.

I was going to say that I'm here with my younger, much more attractive brother, Paul Chang, much taller, too. But it's a wonderful pleasure to be here, and my beautiful sister, too, Eileen Wang. So all three of us are here on behalf of the city today. We're so proud of our friends in Montreux Park. We have such a wonderful relationship with the city.

Your city council is so capable.

it's so collegial it really serves as a model for the entire valley I believe and and certainly we want to emulate that so Paul get to work okay and uh but for now then I'll thank you for this

this gracious invitation we wish you all the best of luck I want to say go bears by the way right and uh Elizabeth finished in two and a half years I got out in seven

my dad did not have the benefit of a college education he kept sending checks so I kept going

I'll now hand off to Eileen and then to Paul for a presentation

good evening everyone first of all I want to say congratulations to newly elected official in Montreux Park and also I want to appreciate Yvonne because why I think that everybody, some people know, some people don't know, why I just ran my election because Yvonne. First of all, Yvonne is my role model for women's power. And she asked me to run my election. So I really appreciate you because of you. Montauk Park, former mayor, and you just told me, Eileen, go ahead to run your election to serve the people, serve the community. That's why we're always together. And your contribution, your sacrifice for City of Montreux Park, we can never forget. And also I want to appreciate Elizabeth and your role model for community, for Montreux Park, for so many years, for San Gabriel Valley. I'm really proud of you. And also I want to say congratulations to Harry. Yeah, I think Harry, he always shows his funny, side to us. He always makes the funny side to me and he's my another role model for which is he interviewed me, I remember two years ago. He asked me Eileen, go to Rang and never forget to serve the community. So he's really good and also I want to congratulate you to win because I remember which is 2022 We both have ran election, right? So we are classmates. We are colleagues, City of Monterey Park and Acadia. So anyway, I want to keep short to our former Mayor Po Chen and our former Mayor Po Chen. Anyway, I'm looking forward to working with City of Monterey Park. I remember two years ago, the Monterey Park has something. It's very tragedy stuff here, which is shooting. I and Tony which is San Gabriel former mayor, council member Tony we've been here to work together to go through this strategy. So looking forward to working with you each of you. Thank you so much applause applause

applause applause applause So when I first came to America the Vietnam War just ended and you come to America and you're told, go back to Vietnam, right? Chink, gook, all the bad words that now we would think, God, who says those words? I was told that on a daily basis. My family and I, we eventually had to move to Los Angeles. Moved to Los Angeles because I was getting beat up too much. I was the kid in the inner tube by myself, no friends, and every time I'd come out, people would just beat me. Where did I land? I landed in Monterey Park. and suddenly I was surrounded by people that said that you could be a person of color and you can be an American. This first time in my life I actually realized I'm an American too. And that story that I have is not my story. It's many of the stories of people that come to Monterey Park. It is a place of new beginnings and in many ways it's a place of greatness. now that many of us live in different parts of the country our origin is in this city and i can be able to say that monterey park is still the special place of where i grew up and this city council that is here thomas wong vinh all the individuals that are here not only are they kind to the residents here but they go out through all the other cities to be encouraging and kind to others, to share the spirit of Monterey Park, of new beginnings. So I wanted to say thank you, Mayor Wong, for being a kind and gracious person, for being a leader, and for being my mentor, and letting other people know that kindness is free. And that is why it is the most precious thing that you have, because you give it away for free. wanted to welcome Mayor Vinn thank you so much just for being who you are and thank you very much Elizabeth you're going to be a great council member and thank you Mayor Lo with this coke

for being a person that always gives free hugs to me and Council Member Sanchez it is so great that people that are serving in other capacities come out and serve as council members and lastly I want to say this if there are any first responders in the room I wanted to remind us that in 2020 what did they tell us to do shelter in place when I got on council I said how can I serve they said shelter in place and so while government was closing down while all of the elected officials sheltered in place the people that could not were the first responders and you know what they were told they were told to expect to die because they didn't know what COVID was So I wanted to remind this community and I remind my community that we remain the best country in the world because of the first responders that serve. So with that being said, we have two certificates. Unfortunately, we don't have all certificates because we, unfortunately, our budget, we don't have enough money. So with that being said, we have two certificates and we hope all council can be able to come down and take a picture with us. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Okay, right here.

All right, perfect. Okay, here we go. We're ready. One, two, three.

One more.

And one more.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Next speakers, the City of San Gabriel,

Vice Mayor Denise Menchaca

and Council Member Elect Jorge Herrera Avila

and Council Member Tony Yang.

Oh, here it is. Hello. My name is Denise Menchaca, Vice Mayor for the City of San Gabriel. We, too, don't have certificates for everybody, but I think we didn't get the memo. I'm going to blame Monterey Park for that. We only have three certificates. But I do want to spend just a little bit of time. The mayor had told me weeks ago I only had a minute, but I'm going to take a little bit more time because I feel like Monterey Park, too, is my home. I was raised in Alhambra, went to Alhambra High, but a lot of my friends were in Monterey Park, So I was up in these hills a lot. And so I want to spend a little bit of time. I want to recognize, first of all, Mayor Ngo, congratulations. Go Trojans. I've only heard once. Only once called tonight, but there are several others. Vin has always been a wonderful friend, mentor. I thought he had already been mayor, but that's because he is so involved. some of the organizations have already been mentioned

but what I really appreciate about the mayor is he has never shied away on being a leader he takes charge he is always the chairperson or the Garvey Foundation president

and I really admire that and so I know you'll do very well as mayor your first time as mayor I want to recognize Elizabeth Yang congratulations on your election and one of the things that hasn't been mentioned yet is you are the only woman on the council and

I also have that distinction so if there's anything you ever need you know give me a call

we can have those little sister talks but you have some good guys on so you should be fine but I will always take your call. Henry we go back a long time I was on the school board and I remember

Henry was too, but for Garvey, I was on the San Gabriel Unified School District Board,

and you've always been a good friend, and you've always, I just like your spirit. You always have

a good spirit about you, and you just have so much knowledge working in public service for so long,

so congratulations on your re-election, and of course, Jose Sanchez. Wow, where do I start? First of all, I was not his student, but I did graduate from Alhambra High. Great, great teachers. I've

always, we've always had great teachers there, but you definitely are an inspiration, and I look forward to see what other things you do, because you are continuously inspiring the next generation with your students, evident by, you know, the Honorable Senator Sasha Perez. You know, that's is going to be the beginning. I know there are going to be many more there. So congratulations. Thomas Wong, again, you've always

been someone who is so calm. I mean, I can ask you any question and someone else might get all excited and you're just very relaxed about it. This is what we're going to do. And just

a matter of fact, but I really appreciate your friendship and all that you've done for the city of

Monterey Park. And so, and then of course, Yvonne, I will not forget you again, the only woman on the

council. And I remember when you got elected, we were both what we, what I affectionately called as the COVID mayors. We were both having to lead our cities in a very difficult time. We just didn't know. And I remember we, you and I just connected on a Zoom meeting one day, and we didn't know what zooms were in those days um it's not that long ago but we just connected and we had those really good conversations and i know you had some questions and it was my first time as mayor but i i did appreciate that you reached out to me and we had you know a good conversation about what was what we thought might be ahead of us and how we can continue to benefit our residents so i'll always remember that and i i know you're going to continue to serve and you're going to make a difference and you're going to do it your way and that's what I love about you you know if this road didn't work you're going to pick another one and that's the way it should be so congratulations to you and now I'm going to pass it to my colleague Tony Ding

okay congratulations on my colleague that's Murray Park the auto city council mayor vice mayor actually that's Maori Park it's my hometown where I landed 37 years ago coming to the United States so when I become the Maori Park I'm always Maori Park right it's for me also today I saw not just the Maori Park the rest of the city council and especially for the Chinese American actually four years ago before four years ago I never think I become some council member but I support a lot like that time Henry Road the Garvey School District and Thomas Wong and the Florida Water Ball that I really appreciate that through the public service so our organization IPAC it's in awesome and I'm glad four years ago get us out both of the indoors too yeah and it's you are both of you my role model to do the public servant and and thomas one also that just outgoing the mayor it's a good leadership and vingao i i know him at a long time for the chinese community especially for the chinatown service center it's really famous it's important organization for our Chinese community so thank you for your leadership also gave me like a lot of experience how to serve our community and Elizabeth Yan I know her it's on the Chinese yellow page always on the first cover advertising

and also So she did a lot of good job for the community service, for a lot of organizations, for the seminar,

educated our community members,

especially for the first-generation immigration. We need to know a lot of law, right?

Okay. And the council members, Sanchez. So actually, we are the same class. I can say the COVID-19 class,

including Henry Roe, right? We elected 2020. Oh, I cannot forget our Yvang Yu.

Also, we support each other four years and ten months ago, right? So, yeah, and it's even we swear in, I think for me, it's by the phone. it's not like today this kind of ceremony right but a good experience so we have the opportunity to serve our community so yeah Yvonne I really sometimes I jealous you don't need to run again I'm still running but I hear that you you still continue to do our community service that's important actually council member or mayor where I think with just a title important that we serve the community right help our committee listen our committee so it's congratulation that you deserve it you you take the seed with with our even you okay so congratulating all of you to get elected okay re-elected two of them and the mayor and the outgoing vice mayor you got the elect okay thank you we hopefully for our community the district community we can help each other Murray Park is in St. Gabriel City we are all in the St. Gabriel Valley thank you

so since everybody decided to have their own monterey park story i'll share a quick brief one for me and how deep it goes and in my history with monterey park actually i used to come to monterey park every day to pick up my uh my girlfriend and have lunch with her about ex girlfriend, not Ting, not my wife. Don't tell anybody that I said this story. She used to work at a legal office here, and I remember Monterey Park fondly because of the great food and the great environment that you guys have here. Then shortly after I came and I worked here with SoCal Gas, I've been working with them for 15 years, and they have a facility, a large facility here and through SoCalGas I got the opportunity to become the vice president of the of the greater Monterey Park chamber of commerce and I see a lot of my great friends here you guys know me from there but that's when I met Yvonne she was a fierce board member of that chamber and I just remember her and Albert being there so dedicated and contributing to the community with the boys and Girls Club donating a bus, I believe. And just so your remarkable work and passion, and then you ran for city council with such integrity, and it's just something that I hold very dear, your friendship in Albert. So congratulations on your successful term here, and I wish you much success on your next endeavors. And also, that's also where I kind of met, well, I did meet Yvonne through SoCal, I mean, not Yvonne, Elizabeth through that. as well. And I also brought her on to the Chamber of Commerce as an advisor. And I got to meet you and Phil, and you invited me to your house. And it's just a remarkable family with a lot of passion and dedication. So congratulations to you. And Vin, you're always on the go. Vin, go. It's always on the go. I think that's a thing. I think that's a thing, competing with Mike Fongba. So thank you for your dedication. Now, Mayor, and then Henry, so hilarious, contagious laugh. You can't help it, but laugh with him. And Mr. Sanchez, Council Member Sanchez, very limited interactions, but I see your efforts and your contributions to education. Thank you so much. Looking forward to working with all of you. And, of course, my counterpart over here, because he worked for Edison. I work for gas company. They always tell me that I work for Edison, and I'm like, no, no, no, SoCal Gas. So, Thomas, your friendship has been tremendously appreciated. So all you guys, thank you. And, of course, to my colleagues here today, you know, ran a fierce campaign, but we're here working together and standing together. And your fight for city council seats, it just shows your commitment and your love for the city of San Gabriel, and we all share that same love and commitment to the city of san gibber so it's a hard thing to run for city council and i commend everybody here and let's continue working hard and for the residents of our cities thank you if we can have everyone come down even if you don't get a certificate we still want to give you a hug and all that good stuff

And then Yvonne, you want to get that tape on?

Very good. That's good. That's fine.

Right here.

What do you have for you? One more. Okay, okay.

Harder. Thank you.

saving the very best for last let's welcome the garvey school district paul duran of the board of education all right good evening my name is paul duran i'm the vice president of the garvey school district and it is my honor to be here tonight to uh to award some certificates to this amazing city council. I've never been here before. I must say I'm very impressed with, you know, just everything I've heard, everything I've seen, and, you know, it's just very, very inspirational to me. I'm pretty new to public service, and I must say you guys are inspiring me. I might want to run for city council in my own city of Rosemead. I live in Rosemead, so, but no, it's just an honor to be here tonight to award certificates. I don't know all of you personally. I know Henry and I know Vin. They're part of our Garvey family, but I look forward to partnering with each and every one of you as we have two schools in the city of Monterey Park. So I will keep it short. I know this has been a long evening, so I just want to, I have some certificates for most of you guys. Unfortunately, I was kind of nervous. I'm like, oh my gosh, we're missing a certificate, but I know we're not the only one now, so I'm feeling a little better about that so thomas wong we owe you a certificate all right so um i have them here just really quick uh vin no uh incoming mayor congratulations on your appointment as mayor as we continue our partnership in serving the garvey community bring the rest up yeah all right and i would like to invite the rest of my board up or our board along with our superintendent anita chu

All right, and my next certificate we have to award is to Elizabeth Yang, Mayor Pro Tem, incoming Mayor Pro Tem of City of Monterey Park. Congratulations on your appointment as Mayor Pro Tem as we continue our partnership in serving the Garvey community. There we go. Thank you. Thank you. And Henry Lo, Council Member, City of Monterey Park. Congratulations on your continuing service to the City of Monterey Park, City Council. You got it? Thank you, Andy. Thank you Jose Sanchez council member city of Monterey Park congratulations on your continuing services on the Monterey Park City Council thank you all right and finally Yvonne I'm sorry Yvonne you Monterey Park City Council and recognition of your dedicated services to the city of Monterey Park thank you congratulations each and every one of you

Let's see if we can walk through the camera. Here we go. All right, let's go. Get smaller, everybody. There we go. Look right over here. Okay, everybody look right here.

A little way at least.

Three, two, one.

In addition to our gracious speakers, we'd also like to thank the Alhambra Unified School District for recognizing Yvonne Yu,

the Montebello Unified School District for thanking outgoing Mayor Thomas Wong for his service,

as well as the City of Montebello for recognizing newly elected Council Members Elizabeth Yang, outgoing Council Member Yvonne Yu, and incoming Mayor Vingo.

So we'd like to thank and congratulate our new mayor and allow him some few words.

Thank you. Yay. All right, Mayor. Woo-hoo, Mayor.

I got this whole list of things to say.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to take out more than half of this

because quoting from a bill, poet, and playwright, Shakespeare, Brevity is the soul of wit. So with that, I'm going to keep it to three simple things. My thank yous for this journey, pride in the past, faith in the future. And then what I'm going to do or what we would like to do for the city and the city council. So first off, great journey so far. I want to thank Amy and my dad for just being there, my brother and his family, my kids, both of whom are in Korea through exchange program, for allowing me the time to serve the community, for me to chase my passion and to serve the community.

My grade school friends, Andy, you're the only one left because they all went home.

Known Andy since the second grade.

I had a couple more from Garvey, from Keppel. Tremendous friendship. I love them. In fact, we're going to have dim sum to catch up. good to have friends who are forever your friends from Sandlot days to where you are. Going on to the Garvey family.

Starting with the foundation to the school district.

Actually, I'm still on the foundation, so you still have to deal with me. Love the community. Thank you for all your service to the community, all the Garvey kids encompassing three schools.

Chinatown Service Center I am just impressed with the work

we have done in the community

all the board members were here

some of them actually went to another installation the only member who was not here from the board is Joseph who is actually being installed tonight is the board president of the San Marino School Unified this is his fifth installation So I think a couple of board members went over to support him.

But you are my family.

Thank you so much for your dedication and your support. Pride in the past, faith in the future.

My pride in the past started back walking to Monte Vista.

And when I was at Garvey, I had a paper route also around Monte Vista. And when I was at Keppel, I actually worked in City Hall in administration and the police department through the summer. Also worked in one of the cafes here growing up in high school. So that's my pride in this past in the city. And what made me realize is you have to give back or pay it forward,

whatever you want to call it,

because we have to ensure to be stewards of the present so that we can have faith in the future. Because without the present, there is no future.

And finally, my three things, what I'd like to do for this city.

It hasn't changed.

A couple of years ago, I was asked in the strategic meeting,

what are your goals? I said, very simple.

I want Monterey Park to be the best place to live, to work, and to play. to live means you have to have a community a community again I go back here where there's pride and there is faith and I am actually so honored to serve with council members who we may not see everything the same

but we always always agree to do

what is best for the city so thank you for being part of that

what did we do in the last couple of years

public safety we added people new staff to both

our first responders police and fire

critical

why because we hadn't increased staff to police and fire in the last 15 years what else did we do from a public

infrastructure standpoint

the last 12 months we spent $15 million in a water treatment system

as well as our sewer system.

And in the next 18 months, we're going to spend $25 million more. Why? Because our city's been around for 108 years.

Infrastructure needs a lot of improvement.

And also in the last two years, 50% of our cities had new paved streets. All those potholes through last season's rain, they're gone. And last but not least, downtown redevelopment. We're an old city.

We need to grow. We need to redevelop.

And we need to be a business-friendly city, which we are now currently doing. We're streamlining our permitting process so that it's easier for businesses to come into the city.

so I've been blessed everywhere I've been everywhere I worked

I've been blessed to work with people I call friendly

they're all my family including Bank of America

I have people here who remember me joining the bank 29 years ago to people now who I guess they call me mentors

because I've been around so long I love you all

and City of Murray Park staff and leaders,

you're now my family.

Because I always say this, I'm in the business of getting things done,

but I can't do it alone.

United, in collaboration,

we're going to get everything done.

So that's pressure on the Murray Park staff

and now family.

Because we're going to make Murray Park the best place to live,

to work, and to play.

Okay, so now we are going to adjourn the meeting,

but let me just give you something. There's two surprises.

One, we have something coming up behind you, and then two, there's going to be plenty of food around

for those of you who are here. Meetings adjourned.

I'm going to just sit there.

I'm going to...

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll be right back.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

kick

kick kick kick kick kick kick

kick kick kick kick kick kick

Thank you.

Congratulations!

. . . . .

.

Thank you.

Thank you.