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Thursday, August 28-September 03, 2025
Arcadia City Council censures mayor By Joe Taglieri
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Mayor Sharon Kwan. | Photo courtesy of the city of Arcadia
reducing the conduct of City Council meetings to political exercises and grandstanding, and abused her office for personal gain, by engaging in the following types of misconduct, and when confronted, fails to accept responsibility and denies wrongdoing." Council members' 10 grievances spelled out in the resolution include: "Weaponizing and exploiting children, induced to give false and uninformed statements, and giving false names to conceal their identities "Demeaning the military service of veterans; "Knowingly falsely alleging financial impropriety; "Disparaging first responders, and council colleagues; "Making unfounded accusations of sexism and sexual harassment
"Discouraging public participation by mocking and belittling constituents; "Misusing council procedures and engaging in 'ambush techniques'; "Engaging in un-collegial behavior, unprofessional temperament, and unfounded accusations; "Relying on ChatGPT to conduct City Council meetings;" and "Abdicating her sworn elected responsibilities and duties by being manipulated and controlled by third party unelected persons, and concealing and denying that conduct and practice, informing city staff that (former Councilwoman) April Verlato must accompany her to all events, and by politicizing
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Rabbis rally for peace in front of Israeli consulate in Brentwood By City News Service
joet@beaconmedianews.com rcadia City Council members voted 4-1 Tuesday to censure Mayor Sharon Kwan. The vote was somewhat of a forgone conclusion after an equally emotional regular council meeting Aug. 19. A lot of hurt feelings as a result of months of ill will ranging from personal attacks to charges of financial mismanagement and sexual harassment were on full display on the Council Chamber dais. At the conclusion of the more than six-hour meeting that featured video presentations and many public comments, council members voted to censure Kwan but stopped short of OK'ing specific penalties. City Attorney Michael Maurer, City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto and staff members are now tasked with defining censure penalties that comply with the city charter. The council was expected to vote on censure penalties at a future regular meeting. Fu said Kwan, the city's first female Asian American mayor, should retain the title but lose charter-mandated mayoral abilities of presiding over meetings and representing the city at public events. "Members of the City Council are expected to uphold the highest standards of honesty, integrity, respect, professionalism, and accountability in their interactions with colleagues, city staff, first responders, and the public," according to the censure resolution approved Tuesday. "Mayor Kwan has repeatedly engaged in conduct inconsistent with these standards,
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Coffee With the Mayor to malign other councilmembers and give Ms. Verlato a platform to air her grievances, rather than conduct the actual business of the Office of the Mayor." Kwan, the four council members, Lazzaretto and Maurer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In a statement to HeySoCal.com prior to the censure hearing Tuesday, Kwan said, "I do want to be very clear: This is a smear campaign against me because I reported Councilmember David Fu to (the city's Human Resources Division) for sexual harassment and discrimination. 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. "This is part of the broader problem that women in office face everywhere," Kwan added. Verlato, who served on the council from 2016 to 2024, said the censure was about speech rather than misconduct. "Her crime? She filed a sexual harassment and discrimination complaint against Councilman Fu," Verlato wrote in a social media post. "The 3 men on council want to censor Mayor Kwan because they don’t like the way she talks. They don’t like that she uses ChatGPT. They don’t like that
See Arcadia censure Page 35
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ozens of rabbis and cantors prayed, sang and blew rams' horns Monday outside the Israeli Consulate General in Brentwood, calling for immediate food aid to Gazans, an end to the war in Gaza and the safe return home for hostages in Hamas captivity. Outside the consulate, a group of about 30 people led by a coalition of rabbis urged for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The event was independently organized by dozens of rabbis across denominations in the Jewish community in Los Angeles County. Similar actions have taken place with rabbis throughout the nation as part of a growing resistance movement of Israelis in opposition to the war, according to the LA group. "We will not let you be until all of the hostages are returned," said Rabbi Kerry Chaplin, who previously worked as a spiritual counselor for Beit T'Shuvah in West Los Angeles. "You have forgotten God, and God has sent us here as messengers to say this High Holy Day season is the time to return to our reverence for God. "When we forget reverence for God, we forget we are human, and I worry for us when we forget we are human. I worry for us when our hearts can no longer break," Chaplin added. "May we remember God in all our actions, for the lives of starving Gazans, for the lives of the hostages, for their families and friends around the world." Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, director emeritus of UCLA Hillel, criticized Israel's leadership and the aggressive tactics used against the Palestinian people. He led the blowing of the shofar, a ram's horn, which is used to mark the month of Elul. The shofar is blown every morning from the first day of Elul until Rosh Hashanah except on Shabbat. The month is a time of repentance in preparation for the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The blast of sound is intended to awaken one's spirits and inspire soul searching, according to Seidler-Feller. "We sound the shofar today to wake up the Jewish community. Our community has been asleep. Our leaders have been absent. The shofar sound is the inner groan of anguish of our people for what we have done," SeidlerFeller said. "This is the time for repentance, for return, for acknowledgement, for a reversal of our ways, and for the embrace of peace." Israel announced its military would begin an operation known as Gideon's Chariots B in mid-September, which is intended to capture Gaza City from Hamas with aid from thousands of Israeli reservists. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will end the war if Hamas puts down their weapons and releases the remaining 50 hostages. Hamas has in turn See Rabbis rally Page 19