Cerritos Republican Club News

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2020

General Meeting
December 8, 2020

Mark Dameron started the Club's December general meeting via Zoom. Usually this is our annual Holiday dinner meeting, but COVID-19 precautions forced us to forgo the dinner meeting. Everyone pledged allegiance to the flag. This is a screen shot taken near the beginning of this meeting.

The guest speaker was newly elected United States House of Representative Member Young Kim for the 39th California's Congressional District. For those who don't know, her husband Charles, her children, and she used to live in Cerritos before moving to Orange County. She started by recognizing the many members that she was acquainted with.

Joining from Washington, D.C., Young Kim talked about her running for the House of Representative and the closeness of the race which was called ten days after Election Day. Campaign phone calls indicated that most Republicans did not trust the post office to deliver their ballots in time and wanted to vote at the polls. Her campaign sent out over 1.5 million text messages and knocked on over 150 thousand doors. On November 13 she received a call from her opponent who conceded. Immediately Young booked a flight for Washington for freshman orientation. In 2018 she had gone for freshman orientation and returned only to find out that she had lost the election. This time she will be sworn in on January 3 and she could take only one guest.

She said happily that she got the number one lottery pick for an office. She picked the Longworth House Office Building with a nice view. She hopes to be on the Financial Services and Foreign Affairs Committees. While Young served for former Congressman Ed Royce, she gained a lot of relevant experience for these two Committees.

Young Kim was proud that she was one of four Republicans to flip seats in California. Her campaign raised its own funds and she isn't beholden to anyone.

Her number one goal is to reach out to not only her supporters but also those who did not support her. She will be an independent voter. She thanked our Club for supporting her campaign.

Her talk was followed by a Q&A session.

Mark Rizk asked about the location of her office in southern California. She cannot announce that until January 3.

Matt Kauble asked if Young had any legislation in mind to bring to the floor on your first day of office. She responded that she doesn't have anything at the moment. She noted that there's still a lot of bills on the table that have to be cleared. The first item should be the COVID-19 Stimulus bill. Nancy Pelosi is holding on to it and waiting until the next President. This is the kind of leadership we must contend with. The COVID-19 Stimulus bill has a lot of add-on's that have nothing to do with COVID-19.

Matt Kauble asked if any freshman colleagues have discussed election fraud. Young said that there was some mention of a couple races wherein Republicans were ahead by six and twelve votes. Guess what? More votes were found for Democrats to change the "winner." She also mentioned the importance of the two Georgia U.S. Senate races.

Tracy Winkler asked if she found a place to live. Young found a place on Pennsylvania Avenue overlooking the White House and the National Archives.

Jim Yee asked about potential legislation a National Registry so that people cannot vote in two different states. She replied that she hadn't heard anything about this but that it sounded good.

Here are screen captures of most of the members who were in attendance with their video turned on.

After Young Kim left the Zoom meeting, the business portion of the meeting began.

Mayor Pro Tem Chuong Vo began by swearing in the newly elected and appointed 2021 Board members.

Mark Dameron made some comments about the successes of the Republican Party even though we lost the White House. Joe Biden will have a tough time.

Matt Kauble presented the Treasurer's report.

Lew Gentiluomo made a motion to donate $500 each to Republicans David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler for their respective U.S. Senate campaigns in Georgia for the runoff elections in January. Mark Rizk seconded the motion. Candy Yee proposed a substitute motion to lower the amount to $250 each to keep more money for local elections. A vote on the substitute motion was taken and it did not pass. The original motion was passed.

Mark Dameron said that it is time to review the By-Laws. Bruce Barrows, Joan Pylman, Mark Rizk, and Mark Dameron are on the Committee to work on the By-Laws with Bruce heading the group. Bruce said that he was concerned about protection of the Club against possible litigation. Other Clubs will be consulted.

Joan Pylman requested that Board members review their responsibilies to make sure that they are up-to-date.

Mark Dameron mentioned that the Board still needs a Secretary.

Mark Dameron announced that Brad Beach is now a Member of the ABC USD School Board. Brad has told Mark that he will vacate the position of Communications Chair.

Joan Pylman announced that 29 members have renewed, five at Patron level, and one at Patriot level.

Lew Gentiluomo reported that a letter was sent to our members to donate in lieu of the Holiday dinner. He reported the amounts that were raised so far. The toy drive ended well and Janet Beach and the Crocketts would drive them to Camp Pendleton tomorrow. Non-member Oscar Perez donated $200 in toys and a $100 check.

Dixie Primosch announced that CRC coffee cups were available at ten dollars each for gifting.

Chuong Vo announced that the Santa float came to fruition. Response has been great. When the float went by Dixie Primosch's home, it had only one reindeer. A second reindeer had flown away but was relocated. The float was made by Fiesta Parade Floats which makes Rose Bowl floats.

Jim Yee asked Chuong Vo about water and sewar rates which were raised seven years ago in order to have sufficient funds for water costs and capital monies for sewer maintenance. Jim was under the impression that sewer replacements were completed and paid for and that the increased sewer rates were not needed anymore. Bruce said that it's a good idea to review the sewer rates that appear on our property tax bills. Chuong pointed out that the sewer rates on our water bills is very small. Bruce said that the City should review the sewer maintenance costs.

Matt Kauble asked if there were any discussion about breaking away from the County Public Health Department. Bruce Barrows responded, "No. Who would pay for it?"

Matt Kauble asked about Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon being sworn in. Chuong Vo contacted the City Attorney Mark Steres about this. Mark responded that all misdemeanor cases in Cerritos would be referred to the County DA and they would not be prosecuted. Chuong said that this should scare our citizens. Chuong asked Mark what can Cerritos do about this. Mark said that he would come up with some alternatives.

Dean Grose proposed sending CRC cups to Michelle Steel and Janet Nguyen. Dean would cover the costs. This was approved.

Bruce Barrows said that a committee is updating the "Policies and Procedures" manual for City Employees. It hadn't been updated since 1975.

Bruce Barrows has a committee to review the City Charter. George Ray and Sherman Kappe are citizen members. Chuong Vo, ?, and Vida Barone are also on the committee. Whatever is produced has to be voted on by the citizens of Cerritos.

Joan Pylman reported that the application for A status has been submitted to the City.

General Meeting
November 10, 2020

Mark Dameron started the Club's November general meeting via Zoom. Originally Janet Nguyen was supposed to be our guest speaker, but unfortunately she had the wrong date for our meeting and could not make our meeting. In lieu of Janet Nguyen, Matt Kauble discussed the pending results of the Presidential election paying particular attention to Janet Nguyen's race for California Assembly District 72 and candidates for House of Representatives in the southern California area. Michelle Steel of the 48th District, Young Kim of the 39th District, and Mark Garcia of the 25th District. These races were very tight with Republicans having a small lead. Unfortunately I did not take enough notes to relate what Matt discussed.

In the busines part of the meeting, the slate of the 2021 Board officers was presented and approved by the members in attendance. Nothing was changed from the October meeting. Mark Dameron will remain as President, Mark Rizk will remain as Vice President, and Matt Kauble will remain as Treasurer. The Secretary position is still open.

General Meeting
October 13, 2020

Mark Dameron started the Club's October general meeting via Zoom.

For this meeting, Dr. Barbara Stone was the guest speaker. She talked about the upcoming Presidential election. Starting with the propositions, Dr. Stone recommended a Yes vote for Propositions 20 and 22 and a No vote on all other propositions. If Proposition 15 passes, she explained that business owners should know that their property taxes would be increased by three to ten times. Or, if they rent or lease, then the increased property taxes would be passed on to them. Proposition 20, if passed, would release people charged with misdemeanors.

Barbara thought that Jackie Lacey is perfectly fine as a district attorney to vote for. Though Dr. Stone wasn't enthusiastic about Jackie, the alternative is much worse.

County Measure J is a version of defunding the police. This would go into the County Charter and would make it harder to reverse.

Barbara then said she enjoyed the Supreme Court hearings. She said that Amy Coney Barrett is so much smarter than the Democratic Senators. She mentioned how Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono is a joke who babbled. She ridiculously asked if Judge Barrett had ever been accused of sexual assaulting somebody. She praised Lousiana Senator John Kennedy. The lovely Kamala, the most junior, was the last and incredibly boring. The Republican Senators made it clear that Judge Barrett is very nice, very accomplished, and smarter than they are.

We elected President Donald Trump in order to get more conservative Supreme Court Justices and circumstances allowed him to exceed expectations. Senator Mitch McConnell did a great job of keeping the Republicans together.

Barbara believes that the Democrats want to make Kamala Harris President.

Nancy Pelosi wants to form a Commission to review the implementation of the 25th Amendment. It's not about Donald Trump. It's about Joe Biden. Joe Biden hardly knows who he is. A Commission with the Vice President and whatever group Congress chooses would decide if the President is healthy enough to continue service. It could be the cabinet. Don't you think that Kamala Harris would go along with declaring that Joe Biden is unable to do his job?

In the first Presidential debate, President Trump bailed Joe Biden too often. He should have let Joe Biden talk more and get himself into trouble. Joe Biden has a real problem and shouldn't be President. That's why they're hiding him.

Democratic Convention: Trump bad! American racist! Trump bad! American racist! That's all they have.

What about the polls? Recall how most polls got it all wrong in 2016. This is because phone polling is not working anymore. Democrat-oriented polls use more Democrats and hence predict a Joe Biden victory. The best case for Republican poll is Trafalgar out of Georgia. They seek the silent voters by not asking for whom they are going to vote. They ask who are their neighbors voting for. Trafalgar got it right in 2016.

Then Dr. Stone took questions. Dean Grose asked, if Kamala Harris became President, then who would be Vice President? Her response was that Kamala would make an appointment. Dean responded,"Oh, my God!"

Chuong Vo said that he heard a rumor that Kamala Harris's parents were not U.S. citizens until she was six years old. Would that prevent her from becoming President? Dr. Stone's response was that Kamala's parents were on student visas when they came to the United States. It would depend on whether they were on permanent resident visas when Kamala was born. It would be hard to research this and would require litigation which would probably lead nowhere.

Lew Gentiluomo asked for more clarification on Proposition 13. You can vote either way. For some, Yes would be advantageous. For others, No would be better. It depends on your situation. Proposition 13 would allow older adults to move to any place in California up to three times while keeping your current property assessment base. However, assuming you bequeathe your property to your child, unless the child lives in your home as a primary residence, then the property would be assessed at current value upon your death.

Tracy Winkler asked about Trump saying that, if he loses, then he would not accept the results. Dr. Stone said to listen carefully to what he said in 2016 and also now. He is saying that, if they cheat and steal the election, then he wouldn't leave the White House. The ones who have never accepted the results are Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party. Trump is using statements like this to stir up the media. He is good at misdirection.

Barbara praised Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and former Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker. She also mentioned that Telemundo was one of the first networks that declared that Trump had won in 2016.

Dr. Stone then talked about the rioters and the people who brought down statues. These rioters are not Democrats but people who want to bring down the country. Colin Kaepernick said to get rid of the police. She was cheering against the Lakers, especially LeBron James. The NBA television ratings were the lowest ever.

Roger Garrett asked about Congressional races in California. Barbara Stone said that the Democrats are spending a lot of money against Michelle Steel and Young Kim. Watch the Santa Clarita Congressional district race with Republican Mike Garcia running. Also watch Republican David Valadao running in the Central Valley's Congressional district 21.

Barbara's last great thought had to do with persuasion. Two of her former students asked her how the election was going. She advised, "I told both of them to not vote on the personalities of the candidates. This time the parties are very different. Look at what the parties stand for. Then vote for the world you would like your children to live in."

Don Knabe asked, "What's the difference between a conservative and a liberal?" An inside joke, this is a question that Barbara had asked him in 1978 during a Congressional race. She then told us the story about this. Barbara said that she had never before met this character (meaning Don). She had seen all the candidates, and Don seemed to be the only one intelligent enough to deal with anything important. She asked Don, "What's the difference between a conservative and a liberal?" He has never forgiven me for asking this. With this, Barbara said, "Goodby."

On with the meeting for members only.

For the City, Chuong Vo wants to start a new tradition of having a Santa's float go around the City. In Torrance the police pull their float around Torrance for 22 days. He has already gotten $10,000 from Janice Hahn's office and is trying to get more donations.

Roger Garrett asked about the status of part-timers. Chuong said that over 300 part-timers have been furloughed. Not sure when they will be recalled. When they are called back, per a Union agreement, they will be called back by seniority. Each person will have one week to respond to a callback notice.

Joan Pylman asked about mosquito control. The County's Vector Control is in charge of that. Mark Bollman is the Board Member for Cerritos. Vector Control has the data about the presence of mosquitoes.

Janice Dawson reminded everyone of Janice Hawkins' Celebration of Life on Saturday, October 17.

Tracy Winkler asked Chuong what is going into the old Toys R Us building. City doesn't know yet because of a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) between the owner of the building and the developer. The building permit indicates that it will be a grocery store. Chuong is guessing that it will be an Amazon store.

Dean Grose said that Orange County is proceeding faster than Los Angeles County with regard to opening up. They are going to return to council chambers for their Council meetings this month.

Brad Beach, newly elected ABCUSD Board member, thanked the Club for supporting him and will be sworn in on December 15. The District is contemplating offering a hybrid option in January. Half the students would be going to class on Mondays and Tuesdays while the rest are asynchronous (learning from home). On Wednesdays all students will be asynchornous. Then the other half will be in class on Thursdays and Fridays being taught the same lessons as the first group. Dixie Primosch asked whether parents can choose between all virtual or hybrid. Brad responded affirmatively.

The subject of By-Laws review for changes was brought up. Jim Yee will email original Word files to Mark Dameron.

Mark reported on the slate of Board officers. Mark Dameron will remain as President, Mark Rizk will remain as Vice President, and Matt Kauble will remain as Treasurer. The Secretary position is still open.

Joan Pylman reported 21 people in attendance for this meeting. She sent an application to Andreia Menezes who had requested membership.

Lew Gentiluomo reported that Nancy Crockett and he are working on a letter about an alternative with regard to the cancelled Christmas fundraiser.

Dixie Primosch reported that she has ordered the flowers for Janice Hawkins' Celebration of Life. It is a beautiful bouquet on a tripod easel.

Lew Gentiluomo reported that Melinda Kimsey, a prominent Club member, had passed away. A memorial will be on November 7 by invitation only.

General Meeting
January 14, 2020

For the January general meeting, all six Republican candidates for the three Cerritos City Council openings were invited to participate in a Candidates Forum. All six accepted the invitation and were present at this meeting.

For the Forum the candidates were seated in alphabetical order by their first names. They were Chuong Vo, Jim Edwards, Naresh Solanki, Rocky Pavone, Rusty Chiang and Sophie Tse.

Starting with Chuong Vo, each candidate introduced himself/herself. Joan Pylman kept time for each speaker. Then questions were presented from the Board with a rotation of the first person to respond to each question. Then questions from the audience were presented to the candidates. Finally, each candidate made closing remarks about his/her candidacy and why he/she should be supported for one of the three openings.

After the Forum, the six candidates posed for a picture.

Then the candidates were asked to leave the room so that the business part of the meeting could begin.

First, it was moved, seconded, discussed, and approved that, since there were only three openings, then only three candidates would be endorsed by the Club.

Then each Club Member was given a ballot to select up to three of the six candidates to endorse.

After all the ballots were collected, an election committed tallied the votes.

The top three candidates were Chuong Vo, Naresh Solanki, and Jim Edwards.

Then it was moved, seconded, discussed, and approved to support the three candidates with a donation to each of their campaigns and a Club mailer supporting all three candidates.

It was moved, seconded, discussed, and not approved to support the remaining three candidates with a smaller donation to each of their campaigns.

The candidates who stayed outside the room were allowed back into the room and apprised of the results of the meeting.

Various announcements were made, and the meeting was adjourned.