West Valley Journal September 2012 : Page 1
Journal The NEW Monterey Park & West Valley Serving Monterey Park, Rosemead, Alhambra, San Gabriel & Neighboring Communities www.sgvjournal.com INSIDE Manibog -Page 7 Beachcomber -Page 2 Editorials -Page 2 Classified Ads -Page 7 Friend Us at Facebook.com West Valley Journal Who Is Running Our Cities? WEST SAN GABRIEL VALLEY -To run a local city you have to be tough, demanding and a visionary -and possibly have political skills. Local cities in California usually operate with a city manager form of government. The city manager is the chief executive and the city council serves as the board of directors. Citizens elect council members who make policy-related issues. The city council appoints a city manager, who is essentially the chief executive officer of the city to carry out those policies and hire all the department heads to ensure that the entire community is being served. The city manager serves as the city council’s chief advisor, directs and oversees the day-to-day operations of city departments and staff . One of the biggest jobs of a city manager is preparing a city’s an-nual budget with the assistance of department heads. The city council and the public depend on the city manager for keeping on top of city functions that range from filling potholes to planning new community developments. Key departments under city managers are planning, public safety and parks and recreation, to name a few. Here is a look at some of our local city managers: SAN GABRIEL -Steven Preston Steven Preston started with San Gabriel as deputy city manager in January 1999. During his tenure the city has received several awards for its planning and redevelopment programs. Prior to joining San Ga-briel he served in the communities of La Verne and Glendale, as well as in the private sector. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in planning from Cal Poly Pomona with an emphasis in policy administration and communica-tions. He has served as president of the Asian Youth Center, a regional organization serving youth and families, and of La Casa de San Ga-briel Community Center. He also serves on the board of Pasadena Heritage. September 2012 Harmony Festival -Sat. Oct. 6 -Barnes Park Rosemead Fall Fiesta-Oct. 6 -Rosemead Park MONTEREY PARK -What’s it like being the queen of a modern city when you are already busy attending college and trying to develop a singing career? Just ask Veronica Summer, Miss Monterey Park Since being selected as Miss Monterey Park from more than a half-dozen other candidates, it has been a whirlwind of activity. She has made numerous appearances, ranging from dinners, receptions and the Monterey Park Farmer’s Market. The Pasadena City College co-ed broke the hearts of several other contestants when she performed Otis Redding’s “On the Dock of the Bay” as she strummed her guitar performing before an audience of 150 city officials and supporters of Miss Monterey Park candidates. She began singing as a child, first with the Children’s Tabernacle Choir, performing several times at the Los Angeles Music Center during the holidays. She has been singing ever since at weddings, churches and city events. Her resume shows her singing at benefit performances in Chicago and the Apollo Theater in New York. What’s It Like Being City Queen? (Continued on Page 6) ROSEMEAD -Jeff Allred Before becoming the Rosemead City Manager, Jeff Allred was the city manager of Norco for five and a half years and assistant city man -ager of La Verne for 15 years before that. As a native of Salt Lake City, Allred, 56, came to Southern Cali-fornia as a child and grew up in Glendora, where he still has family. Allred received his bachelor’s degree from University of La Verne and his master’s degree from Cal State Los Angeles. He contends he has the best job in the world. He was appointed city manager after a decade of controversy in Rosemead that involved recalls and battles over the then proposed Wal-Mart Super Store. “There’s nothing more rewarding than improving the quality of life in a community,” said Allred, who has been married for 35 years and has five children and 10 grandchildren. “In doing so there’s never a dull day. I really love what I do.” MONTEREY PARK -Paul Talbot Paul Talbot was appointed city manager by the Monterey Park City Council at in November 2010. Talbot is a former elected official, serving as three-term mayor and city council member in the neighboring city of Alhambra from 1994 to 2006. Talbot has had a variety of business enterprises and possesses a distinguished record of community service throughout the San Gabriel Valley. This is his first stint in managing a city agency. Since coming to Monterey Park, Talbot has been chal-lenged by a reduction in forces and is credited with bring-ing the city budget under control. With timely retirements and resignations, Talbot has built a new staff of department heads Talbot and his wife Regina run a successful State Farm Insurance Agency in the San Gabriel Valley and he was a founding partner of Gateway Consultants, a development group. He was also a founding director of California General Bank in Pasadena. Talbot ended his rela-Veronica Summer As a freshman at Mark Keppel High School, she performed in the Aztec Choir and is proud of two short solos she recently sang at school concerts. Most recently, she has had a regular gig performing at the Monterey Park Farmer’s Market on alternate Fridays. Although she was born in Beverly Hills, she considers herself a local girl and graduated from Keppel. If you want to know her stats, here they are. She was born in 1993, so that makes here still a teenager.. She is 5 feet, 6 inches tall and barely weighs 108 lbs. Her parents are Nida and Mo Ramirez. Does she have a love of her life? Yes, and it is Disneyland. She has visited Mickey’s house more than 100 times and normally buys an annual pass. But this year, the high prices for the amusement park may cause her to forgo her visits. What’s in the future for Veronica? She hopes to transfer to UCLA next year to study art, dance and culture. She will also minor in speech pathology.
Publication List
Using a screen reader? Click Here