FREE
Rosemead Reader
La Cañada Flintridge celebrates its 50th anniversary PG 23
VISIT HEYSOCAL.COM
MONDAY, MAY 18-MAY 24, 2026
Expanded CalAssist program assists LA County fire survivors PG 24
NO. 276
VOL. 15,
Arcadia officials respond to mayor’s resignation, ties to China spy op By Joe Taglieri joet@civicnewsgroup.com
A
rcadia Mayor Pro Tem Paul Cheng on Wednesday warned of a potentially divisive “political firestorm” that may be brewing in the wake of Mayor Eileen Wang’s resignation earlier this week, following the announcement of a plea deal with federal authorities who charged her with secretly acting as an agent of the Chinese government. Wang, the former 3rd District councilwoman who also was the most recent occupant of the city’s rotating mayoral post, has agreed to plead guilty to one felony count that has a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, according to an April 1 plea agreement unsealed Monday. “Any federal investigation is serious, and the public deserves transparency, accountability and professionalism from all elected officials,” Cheng said in an email to HeySoCal.com. “No one is above the law, and the legal process should be allowed to move forward independently without political interference.
Mayor Eileen Wang, fifth from left, adjourns the May 5 City Council meeting, her last meeting prior to her resignation Monday following the announcement of a federal plea deal in which she admitted acting as an agent of the Chinese government. | Photo courtesy of the city of Arcadia
“But I also want to caution against something equally dangerous, turning a difficult moment into a political firestorm that tears apart an entire community,” Cheng said in response to recent comments by 2nd District Councilwoman Sharon Kwan. “Council members are not federal investigators,” Cheng said. “We do not have access to confidential federal files, sealed evidence or privileged investigative materials. Pretending we do feeds
rumors, online speculation and political assumptions.” The mayor pro tem and 4th District councilman added, “As an immigrant and person of color, I understand the emotions many families are feeling. There is disappointment. There is frustration. There is even shame. But we cannot allow one person or event to define an entire community with one brush or weaponize ethnicity for political gain.” Following the announce-
ment of Wang’s resignation on Monday, Kwan recalled her requests for nearly a year that the council publicly address concerns surfacing in the community over the now former mayor’s connections to the Chinese military. “For more than a year, I publicly raised concerns about transparency, accountability, and the dangers of foreign influence in local government,” Kwan said in a statement to HeySoCal.com. “During my mayoral swear-
ing-in speech on April 15, 2025, I warned that foreign influence and political intimidation against public officials should never be ignored and that protecting democratic institutions must remain a priority.” At the March 3 council meeting, Kwan asked her colleagues to “place an item on a future agenda to discuss whether Mayor Wang should
resign or step down.” Wang, Cheng and Councilmen David Fu and Dr. Michael Cao opposed the request. “What was especially troubling to me was the reaction that followed. Instead of treating the request as a legitimate question of leadership accountability, I experienced hostility and political attacks for even asking that the discussion be placed on a future agenda.” Kwan said Fu in particular “became extremely defensive and confrontational toward me after I raised the issue publicly.” Fu and Kwan have carried on a very public feud that has included allegations by the District 2 councilwoman of sexual harassment and quid pro quos with city employee unions and a Fu-led censure action against then-Mayor Kwan last year. Kwan said in March when she asked the council for a public hearing to air out residents’ concerns about Wang, she “felt that raising
See Mayor’s resignation Page 23
He was fired for sexually harassing students. California allowed him to keep teaching anyway. By Holly McDede, KQED, and Mollie Simon, ProPublica This story was originally published by ProPublica. This article was produced for ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network in partnership with KQED. Sign up for Dispatches to get stories like this one as soon as they are published.
J
ason Agan was impossible to miss at Angelo Rodriguez High School. The San Francisco Bay Area teacher was loud and gregarious, a fixture on campus since the Fairfield school opened in 2001. He ran the student government and called himself the man behind the curtain, organiz-
ing pep rallies and prom. He taught AP calculus, so advanced math students ended up in his classroom, jostling for his approval and letters of recommendation. Some considered him a mentor who inspired a love of math — and even a second father. But for years students
also whispered about Agan’s behavior, according to interviews with 14 Rodriguez High graduates, most of whom he had taught. He touched some of them in public in ways that made them uncomfortable, they said, including hugging students and massaging their shoulders. And he
seemed fixated on enforcing the dress code, calling out girls whose shorts were too short. Nearly two decades into Agan’s tenure, and on the heels of the #MeToo movement, students had enough. At least 11 students and one parent submitted written complaints about his
behavior to school administrators in 2018, drawing at least two warnings to stop, a KQED and ProPublica investigation found. By January 2019, the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District had taken steps to fire him,
suspending him without pay. Agan pushed back, and nearly a year later an independent panel convened by the state to hear his case deemed him “unfit to teach.” The panel’s decision meant
See Sexual harassment Page 03