Temple City Voice

Temple City residents will get a chance tomorrow to listen to what the candidates have to say at a forum being co-sponsored by two civic organizations, the Junior State of America (JSA) and the Temple City Voice.

The forum is stated to take place at the Civic Community Center at City Hall on January 31, 2009. The doors for the special event will open around 6:45 to the general public. It will begin at 7 p.m. and end at 9 p.m.

“The City Council candidates’ forum will give them [Temple City residents] an opportunity to pose questions concerning the issues they want the candidates to address” comments Matthew Wong, founder of the Temple City Voice.

There are six candidates running for two positions on the City Council. It appears that the six, incumbents Ken Gillanders and Cathé Wilson, Planning commissioner Vincent Yu, Parks and Recreation commissioner Edward Thomas Chavez, former City Councilman Chuck Souder, and Silenus Ong will attend.

JSA Vice-President Jason Wu says, “[The forum] will be an excellent opportunity for the community to engage our future city officials.”

Both the JSA and the Temple City Voice hope to have a successful event that will encourage neighbors to recognize the importance of city affairs.

In September 2007, both organizations held their first candidates’ forum for those running for the School Board.

“The staff has worked strenuously to bring forth this forum,” adds Wong, “I truly hope we will have a strong attendance tomorrow evening.”

The City Council election is scheduled for March 3, 2009.

City Clerk Mary Flandrick has indicated that vote-by-mail ballots, formerly known as absentee ballots, will be available next Monday, February 2. The last day to register for the election is February 16, 2009.

This article was written by Melanie Thi. It was published in the Temple City Voice on January 30, 2009.

Silenus Ong

The Temple City Voice is featuring a series of interviews with those running for City Council. This is the second interview we have planned for the March 2009 election.

 

Like the rest of the nation, the city of Temple City is feeling the effects of the recession. Shops on Las Tunas Drive are closing and larger cities like Arcadia are starting to take over.

Political newcomer Silenus Ong, a support of growth and business, hopes to change the downturn of events if he is elected to the City Council in March.

Since 1978, Ong has run a small business. He has been a contract licenser, a redevelopment consultant and representative on many occasions.

“Temple City is like a corporation,” says city council hopeful Silenus Ong, “and if the city is not on the right track, things will fall apart.”

In 2007, Ong sat as a volunteer on the Planning Commission’s Commercial Task Force subcommittee.

If chosen to represent Temple City, he proposes a twenty-year plan to help the city grow in order to have a promising future.

Ong also wants a more transparent City Council with more elected positions.

His strongest belief is that Temple City must be more pro-business. Ong believes the local businesses will help Temple City grow and flourish. He also wants the city to become more resistant to the pressure of larger cities like Arcadia.

“We cannot keep our heads in the sand, “adds Ong.

This article was written by Chris Du. It was published in the Temple City Voice on January 23, 2009.

The Temple City Chamber of Commerce is hosting an open, community-wide forum on Monday, February 9, 2009.

The forum, held in Room 601 at Temple City High School, will be moderated by the non-partisan League of Women Voters. The city council candidates, after briefly introducing themselves, will respond to questions posed by Temple City residents.

“[The forum] is a great way for community residents to get to meet and hear what the council candidates are all about,” Chamber of Commerce President Linda Payne said, “Otherwise all you see of these candidates are signs on yards; you don’t even really get to know the person. This way, though, you can hear what these people are about right from the person’s mouth.”

There are six candidates running for two positions on the City Council. They are current councilmembers Cathé Wilson and Ken Gillanders, former councilman Chuck Souder, Planning Commissioner Vincent Yu, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Tom Chavez, and Silenus Ong.

Payne stressed the importance of community involvement and the advantages of attending the forum.

However, she understood that a language barrier for some potential voters may hinder their attendance by not completely understanding what the candidates have to say.

“We have a lot of people in Temple City who may have communication problems due to a language barrier,” Payne explained, “and we would love it if students at the high school could come to the forum and possibly help translate for their parents. If not with their parents, they could instead go by themselves and tell them a summary later on. She later added, “That would be great because a lot of residents can vote, but have a hard time understanding what people are telling them when they don’t understand the language.”

In addition to the Chamber sponsored forum, the Temple City Voice and the Temple City High School Junior State of America (JSA) will host their own candidates’ forum on Saturday, January 31, 2009 in the Civic Community Center at City Hall. The event will last from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The Chamber of Commerce sponsored forum will take place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

The City Council election is scheduled for March 3, 2009.

Along with the events surrounding the community forum, the Chamber of Commerce has other pressing city matters at hand.

“One priority we have right now is stabilizing businesses that are in town,” Payne added. “We’re trying to find viable, sales-tax producing businesses to come to Temple City, since sales tax is what a city runs on.”

Payne also envisioned a “greener” community for Temple City.

“We’re looking into going green- helping businesses go green,” Payne said. “We’d like to start out with the Edison Company, maybe start a program with them and do electrical audits.”

This article was written by Katie Brown. It was published in the January 23, 2009 issue of the Temple City Voice.

In a surprising and unexpected move, the City Council of Temple City voted to kill a business moratorium on Tuesday, September 16.

The moratorium on non-sales tax producing businesses was enacted by the City Council in April 2008.

Supported by four of five members on the City Council, the emergency city law prevented businesses whose services did not provide at least 50% in sales tax to the City from moving into Temple City. Councilman Fernando Vizcarra was the only opposition to the idea.

“Is it helping?” asked Councilwoman Judy Wong. In April, Wong provided the fourth vote required for the emergency ordinance to pass.

In the approximately six months the moratorium has been in effect, the local economy in Temple City has not improved as desired. According to business community, there are currently forty-six empty buildings on Las Tunas Drive.

Wong, who had once supported extending the moratorium until 2009, then asked, “…why don’t we stop this?”

The issue of amending the business moratorium was placed on the agenda by Mayor Cathé Wilson on September 2. Wilson had wanted to reduce the boundaries of the moratorium from Kauffman Avenue to Oak Avenue. Councilman Ken Gillanders concurred with the Mayor’s plan.

With the economy worsening on national and state levels, and with heavy opposition from the Chamber of Commerce, it became clear that the moratorium would be severely languished or eliminated.

Councilwoman Wong made a motion to rescind the emergency ordinance. It was passed by a 4-1 vote margin. Councilman Gillanders was the only individual to vote to continue supporting the moratorium.

After the vote, Councilman Vizcarra made a motion to immediately cease enforcement of the ordinance. His motion was seconded by Mayor Pro Tempore Dave Capra; therefore, effectively canceling the unpopular law.

This article was written by Randy Shun. It was published in the Temple City Voice on January 23, 2009.

As the harrowing economic turmoil in California continues to take its toll on schools, younger educators find some relief in the Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) induction program.

BTSA, first formed in 1997 by former California Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni, is designed to aid newly-credentialed teachers by pairing them with more experienced teachers. The support providers serve as advisors to inexperienced teachers.

Ever since the Temple City Unified School District (TCUSD) became involved in BTSA, schools have retained an impressive 96% of participating teachers. The immediately evident results have received praise from city officials.

“I can’t think of anything more powerful when you’re new to a job,” says Temple City School Board President, Bob Ridley, “than to have a mentor.”

Tina Cunningham, the coordinator of the Duarte/Temple City BTSA Consortium and a teacher at Emperor Elementary School, has been working to with both the Duarte and Temple City school districts in order to optimize the benefits of the program.

Nonetheless, she believes that the commendations should be given to the educators who are willing to devote their time to teaching teachers.

“Support providers have decided to build bridges, make connections, impact beginning teachers, and help students succeed,” Cunningham praises.

Uncertainty has run rampant, as the school board will be forced to dig into the district’s reserve funds in future years in order to maintain a high standard of education for students. Fortunately, BTSA has provided some much-needed stability for younger teachers.

This article was written by Jason Wu. It is being published today in the Temple City Voice.

Photo Courtesy of City of Temple City

The Temple City Voice is featuring a series of interviews with those running for City Council. This is the first interview we have planned for the March 2009 election.

Advocating frugality, prudence, and pragmatism, current Councilman Ken Gillanders plans to take his experience as he runs for a second four-year term in March 2009.

As a resident of Temple City for fifty-four years, Gillanders has always envisioned the city as a cozy, small town. He has worked as both a police officer and a Farmer’s Insurance executive, citing managerial familiarity.

In addition to his work experience, Gillanders brings to the plate thirty years of City Council service and plans to continue his vision of a tranquil town if re-elected.

His plan, to promote frugality.

“Instead of always trying to extend ways to make money, we like to watch our money,” says Gillanders.

Under his tenure on the Council, Gillanders remarks that city funds have risen to $36 million. He plans to preserve the town’s economic keepsake by continuing to oppose any utility and/or other city tax.

Still, Gillanders supports expenditures to re-energize the Temple City business community, primarily Las Tunas Drive. He cites inadequate parking, gross rents, and clumps of non-retail and offices as detrimental to the local economy.

Temple City will always be his “hometown city.” While Temple City may be emerging from its cocoon, Gillanders jokes, “We have lots of people with lots of ideas coming in. And we old-timers just laugh about it.”

This interview was conducted by Randy Shun. It was published in the Temple City Voice on January 16, 2009.

As you all may know, our economy is in a great slump.

Stocks prices are tumbling down, foreclosures are rising significantly, and with every minute, more people are getting laid off from their jobs.

Without their jobs, more and more people lose their homes because of foreclosure. Without excessive money, nobody invests in stocks, which makes the stock market lose more points every minute.

And without the stock traders, businesses fail everyday.

Homeowners are losing their houses due to foreclosure and failure to pay their mortgage off. Records show that millions of American has lost their jobs due to the downfall economy.

Most jobs come from failing companies like car industry and banks. The number of jobs lost met a record high since 1945 and will probably exceed past that record. If our economy does not improve, there will be more foreclosure signs on our properties.

The United States is not the only nation in trouble, countries overseas are in need of help also. Most of the foreign stock funds have declined because many U.S. investors have stopped trading their stocks.

Precious metals have lost over 30% and natural resources lost about a 49% profit. Gas has also dropped significantly. In the last few months, gas prices around the United States had dropped from $4 to about $2.

When gas prices were high and expensive, most car companies lost their profits. Well-known car companies, such as Chevy, Ford, and Chevrolet are asking the government for bailouts which may help their companies. But not only are car companies failing, so are banks.

Bad loans, which are what started this entire mess, are causing banks to merge or file for bankruptcy. Big bank companies like Countrywide, Indy Mac, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, Downey, Bear Stern and Merrill Lynch have already merged or filled for bankruptcy leading to laying off thousands of people.

Our economy is already in a huge debt, but our government cannot do anything about it, so they print more money in order to try to decrease the deficit.

However, some companies are taking advantage by asking for bailouts. They ask the government for money because they need to save their own companies. So the government gives money to car companies, big banks, and most importantly, AIG. This may not affect us now, but throughout the rest of our lives, we have to pay it back with tax increases.

Even thought our economy may be in a slump, we still have one hope. Newly elected president, Barack Obama, hopes to make a new change to our economy. Even though we are going through a recession, we can be glad it is not another depression.

This opinion was written by Vincent Wei. The views of this author do not reflect the views of the Temple City Voice or its staff. It will be published in the Temple City Voice on Friday, January 16, 2009.

Randy Wang, the developer and owner of the Piazza at Temple City project, has decided to sue the City of Temple City. Wang and his legal team, Monteleone and McCrory, LLC, launched a lawsuit against the City and the Temple City Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) on September 9, 2008.

In the lawsuit, Wang alleges that the “consent to the [Owner-Participatory Agreement/Developer's Agreement] was procured through duress, fraud, menace, and undue influence.”

“The public interest will be prejudiced by permitting the OPA/DA to stand” stated Wang in an effort to urge the judge to dismiss the Owner’s Participatory Agreement (OPA) and the Developer’s Agreement (DA).

With less than a year until a City-imposed and developer-agreed deadline, Wang and the Piazza team are running out of time.

Wang adds in his suit, “They [the City officials] knew the project deadline they set was unrealistic.”

According to the Developer’s Agreement, the Piazza at Temple City must be complete by August 23, 2009. If the project is not finished, the City will have the option of purchasing the parcel for $5 million.

The Piazza at Temple City, formerly known as the “Piazza Las Tunas” and “Temple City Galleria” once promised 52 one-bedroom condominiums and a complex shopping center at the site of the former Temple City Edwards cinema.

The controversial mixed-used project was approved by a previous City Council in May 2006. Its first major challenge came from a group of Temple City residents who launched a referendum drive to put the project to a city-wide vote.

Since its arrival, there have been two groundbreakings and two construction management firms hired to complete the Piazza. A & W Builders, the most recent firm hired by Wang, was discovered to have cut ties with the Piazza development in July 2008.

On September 16, 2008, the City Council of Temple City and Temple City CRA held a closed session meeting to discuss Wang’s suit and its allegations. The Piazza developer’s allegations also include a $3000 bribery case concerning a City official.

After emerging from the closed session, Joseph Buchanan, the City of Temple City’s legal counsel, acknowledged that serious allegations had been made. Buchanan added that both the City of Temple City and the Temple City CRA deny the allegations written in the lawsuit.

It remains unclear whether the $75 million Piazza development will move forward in light of recent circumstances.

This article was written by Matthew Wong. It will be published in the Temple City Voice on January 16, 2009.

Beginning January 16, 2009, the Temple City Voice will be publishing on Fridays. Thank you for your understanding and support.

As the March City Council election looms closer, Temple City residents will receive a chance to address key concerns, fears, and hopes for the city’s future.

The Temple City High School Junior State of America (JSA) and the Temple City Voice (TCV) will co-sponsor a City Council candidates’ forum in January. The JSA is a student-run organization geared toward motivating political participation among youth.

This will not be the first time both civic organizations have worked together. In September 2007, both the JSA and the Voice co-sponsored a School Board candidates’ forum.

“The goal,” says JSA president Evelyn Kessler, “is to expand community participation to all age groups while providing an opportunity to directly confront officials who will be leading the Temple City region.”

Similarly, the Temple City Voice staff envisions the forum to be both beneficial to the young and old. “While adults can address the speakers,” says Assistant Editor-In-Chief Melanie Thi, “students can experience participating in a city function, preparing them to be voters in their own cities in the future.”

The forum will take place on Saturday, January 31, 2008.

This article was written by Randy Shun. It was published in the Temple City Voice on January 9, 2008.