W i n a B r a n d N e w A p p l e i P a d 2 ! - S e e p a g e 2 !

Serving Cerritos, Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens, Norwalk, Lakewood, Pico Rivera, and La Palma • 45,000 homes every Friday • April 29, 2011 • Volume 21, No. 51 • www.loscerritosnews.net

L C C N M e d i a G r o u p

COMMUNITYNEWSL C C N M e d i a G r o u p

COMMUNITYNEWSCerritos Council Votes To End Negotiations With Union In Heated Marathon Meeting By Jerry Bernstein and Randy Economy

In a heated meeting the Cerritos City Council voted 3-2 to end formal negotia-tions with the Cerritos Public Employee Union (AFSME Local 619). The vote was split with Mayor Carol Chen, Mayor Pro Tem Jim Edwards and Councilman Bruce Barrows voting to end negotia-tions and declare an impasse.

Councilmember’s Joseph Cho and Mark Pulido voted to continue negotia-tions.

The standing room crowd included a few hundred outspoken members of AFSME International, longtime Cerritos well as many current city union employ-ees.

[See UNION Page 12] [See CAREMORE Page 13]

By Larry Caballero

La Palma Mayor Ralph Rodriguez thanked the Chamber of Commerce for hosting the State of the City Address Apr. 21 at the La Palma Community Center. He stated sales tax generates

La Palma Mayor Presents State of the City

Welcoming everyone to the 2011 State of the City event Apr. 21 hosted by the La Palma Chamber of Commerce at the Community Center were (l-r) Police Chief Eric Nunez, Councilmember Steve Hwangbo, City Manager Dominic Lazaretto, Mayor Ralph Rodriguez, Chamber Executive Director Esther DeLeon Hernandez, Councilmembers Mark Waldman and Steve Shanahan.

32.4% of the City’s revenues, and La Palma is 188 of the 538 cities in the state of California in sales tax per capita generated. Rodriguez is proud of corporate support for City projects and events from La Palma Intercommunity

CareMore Launches New Foundation to Help Support Local Non-Profit Senior Based GroupsBy Brian Hews

A little under two years ago, a few employees from CareMore entered into the CEO’s office with an idea.

“We love our seniors, we love the community, but we need to figure out a way to mobilize money and our staff equally to serve others in the areas we serve” they said.

With that, the CareMore Foundation was established with one sole mission, to give back to those truly in need.

“The CareMore Foundation was an idea of our employees, management only facilitated its formation”, said Leeba Lessin, CEO of CareMore Health Plan.

[See POST OFFICE Page 13]

Hawaiian Gardens Post Office Seeks New City LocationBy Jerry Bernstein

The Hawaiian Gardens Post Office is looking for a new location in the city and is asking residents for their input.

Speaking before the city council this week, John Fraher said the Post Office plans to move to a smaller location and be open for business by Oct. 1.

He said the new Post Office would offer residents the same service they now receive, including post office mailboxes, the mailing of letters and packages, sell-ing Stamps etc. “The only difference is all outgoing mail will be sorted at the Los Alamitos Post Office for distribu-tion. Mail will be delivered in Hawaiian Gardens the same as it is now, and resi-dents should not notice any difference in service.

Fraher said they would like com-ments from the residents on the selection of a new location. Comment sheets are available at city hall and the Post Office

[See CANDIDATES Page 8][See LA PALMA Page 12]

By Larry Caballero

Artesia Mayor Victor Manalo pre-sented the State of the City Address Apr. 27 at a luncheon sponsored by the Arte-sia Chamber of Commerce at the DES Portuguese Hall in Artesia.

“I am excited to share with you my overall vision for the city, which in-cludes our upcoming Capital Projects, our budget health and outlook, and our

plans to improve the quality of life for all Artesians,” said Manalo.

“We’re proud of our Capital Projects that will be funded mostly by Redevelop-ment money that include $1,160,703 for our Historical District, almost $4 million for a Parking Structure in our Downtown area, more than $2 million for upgrad-ing our Maintenance Yard, an additional

[See ARTESIA Page 9]

Thirteen Candidates to be Interviewed for Vacant ABC School Board Seat

Thirteen candidates have filed for the ABC School Board seat vacated by Mark Pulido who was recently elected to the Cerritos City Council.

The candidates are Adarsh Sunak, Mansour Meisami, Louise Dodson, Anna Titus, Harunobu Ernie Nishi, Cindy Chen, David Montgomery, Ehan Robinson, Olga Rios, Kiran Rami, Lyn-da Johnson and Helen Lee.

Interviews will be held Sat., Apr. 30, in the Board Room in the District Administrative Building on Norwalk Boulevard starting at 8:30 a.m. through 9:40 a.m. when there will be a 10 minute break. At 9:50 a.m. the interviews will continue with the last one scheduled for 10:40 a.m. This will be followed by pub-lic comments beginning at 10:50 a.m. and ending at 11:30 a.m. at which time the Board Members will take a lunch break at Whitney High School. Fol-lowing lunch the members will meet to

Artesia:State of the City

"Artesia is a city with a huge heart, together we will overcome these hard economic times."