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MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 01-SEPTEMBER 07, 2025
Arcadia mayor, city respond to council’s censure By Joe Taglieri
VOL. 14,
NO. 239
Border czar: Immigration enforcement to ramp up in LA, other cities
joet@beaconmedianews.com
By City News Service
M
ayor Sharon Kwan and officials responded Wednesday to the Arcadia City Council’s vote to censure her, the first such action in city history. “I am so grateful for my neighbors and friends who came (Tuesday) night in support of me,” Kwan said in a statement to HeySoCal. com. “The City Council was not at its best. I heard the residents and the overwhelming majority of the speakers last night said they want to see City Council stop this bickering and get back to the business of the City of Arcadia.” Kwan, who is the city’s first female Asian American mayor, added that she is “ready to put this behind us and move forward serving the community that elected us to keep our streets safe, our water flowing and the lights on. If censuring me is what helps the other Councilmen get over this bitter feud, then so be it. Tomorrow, I will wake up, forgive my colleagues and get to work.” City Attorney Michael Maurer, Mayor Pro Tem Eileen Wang and Councilmen Paul Cheng, Michael Cao and David Fu did not respond to requests for comment. The Arcadia City Manager’s Office issued a statement to HeySoCal.com: “The work of the City Council is essential, and we respect the diverse roles and perspectives of our elected leaders, which can occasionally result in friction among members. However, the current events of the City Council do not diminish Arcadia’s commitment to delivering transparent, responsible, and high-quality services to the entire community.” In a previous statement, Kwan said the censure action was “a smear campaign” designed to counter her recent allegations of sexual
Arcadia’s government center. | Photo courtesy of Arcadia City Hall/Facebook
harassment and discrimination by Fu. “He does not like being challenged by a woman, and now these three Asian men on City Council are sending a dangerous message that Chinese women need to be submissive, obedient, and silent — or else face punishment.” At the regular council meeting Aug. 19, Fu, Cao and Cheng voted for a censure hearing. City law requires three council members to advance a censure action. Wang did not vote after her three colleagues moved the censure forward, but she was the fourth vote in favor of censure on Tuesday. Arcadia officials were mum on Kwan’s report to the city’s Human Resources Division accusing Fu of sexual harassment and discrimination. “As a matter of practice, the City does not comment on personnel-related investigations,” according to the statement. “Any such allegations raised by a Council Member are referred to an independent third-party
investigator for review.” Fu’s council-approved censure resolution accuses Kwan of “making unfounded accusations of sexism and sexual harassment against councilmembers and staff whenever disagreements arise to deflect argument against her ill-conceived and unfounded positions on substantive issues.” Kwan in recent months has questioned the city’s projected balanced budget and small surplus after former Councilwoman April Verlato raised the issue in June. Verlato spoke during the public comments portion of the censure hearing Tuesday. “I thought this was about the conduct of our Mayor Kwan, but actually it has nothing to do with her conduct, it has nothing to do with what she’s said or done here on the dais,” Verlato said. “What it has to do with is the contracts. We’re still here about the contracts.” Verlato then referenced See Council’s censure Page 28
members of city employee unions in attendance and a 20% increase in employee compensation. “They’re all here because they’re mad. They’re mad that Mayor Kwan voted against their contracts last year,” Verlato said. “They’re mad that I voted against it. They still got their raises, but they hate that she continues to talk about the budget and how we are spending more money than we have on these contracts. It was a 20% increase in employee costs last year. That’s what the contracts did to us.” In a statement, city officials responded, “When the labor contracts were approved in 2024 for Arcadia’s five employee associations, a $2.3 million budgetary imbalance was projected at that time. Due to a combination of strong revenues from local spending, reduced discretionary expenses, and refined employee benefit estimates, the City ended Fiscal Year 2024-25 with
Tom Homan, White House border czar. | Photo courtesy of U.S. Secretary of Defense/Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
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hite House border czar Tom Homan has said federal officials will “ramp up” immigration enforcement actions in so-called sanctuary cities across the country, including Los Angeles, but did not provide details. “You’re going to see a ramp-up of operations in New York,” Homan told reporters at the White House. “You’re going to see a ramp-up of operations continue in LA, Portland, Seattle, all these sanctuary cities that refuse to work with (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).” The comments were made just before immigration agents carried out another raid outside a Home Depot store in the Westlake area Thursday morning. ABC7 reported that eight people were arrested during the action, carried out by masked and armed agents who were seen on video emerging from unmarked vans. “Three of those arrested had extensive rap sheets for crimes including visa overstay, possession of a controlled substance and grand theft,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to ABC7. “One individual also had a final order of deportation from an immigration judge.” ICE has been conducting stepped-up enforcement in the Los Angeles area since early June. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media Tuesday that the agency had made its 5,000th arrest in the area. “That’s 5,000 criminal illegal aliens, gang members, child predators, and murderers taken off our streets,” Noem wrote. “Precious lives saved. Families protected. American taxpayers spared the cost of their crimes AND the burden of their benefits. THANK YOU to our brave law enforcement officers. Make no mistake: if you are here illegally, we will find you, arrest you, and send you back.” She added, “This is just the beginning.”