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This newspaper does not take the choice lightly but believes Yokoyama is the best candidate to battle the Cerritos Old Guard that has had a grip on the City for years.
Ask yourself if you see any of the other candidates, except for Ernie Nishii, anytime or anywhere in the City.
Yokoyama’s goals are not that of the Old Guard; he wants to protect the full-service Cerritos Sheriff’s Station from being closed or downgraded, as Chen and Barrows wanted to do, and who is endorsing Lynda Johnson.
Keeping Cerritos safe, once again unlike the Old Guard when Bruce Barrows threatened to cut the SkyKnight helicopter if the City Council did not cut advertising from this newspaper.
Yokoyama is fighting for that helicopter; the Old Guard puts other personal priorities ahead of the helicopter.
He also continues to lead burglary suppression efforts, working hard the past five years in partnership with the Cerritos Captain and Deputy Sheriffs to prevent residential burglaries.
As a result, crime has dropped by 81% from 2017 to 2020. He wants to keep Cerritos safe, unlike the Old Guard and their clones.
Yokoyama has worked hard to bring Cerritos residents together to keep Cerritos safe.
He has supported and fully funded the City’s Neighborhood Watch, Volunteers on Patrol (VOP), and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) programs.
And, if residents want more safety, the City must fund vital equipment and technology, unlike the Old Guard and their clones, who cut the capital improvement budget to balance the budget to gain political points.
It’s time to start changing Cerritos, elect youth onto the Council, not Old Guard clones who are registered Democrats but are taking endorsements from Old Guard Republicans, just to get a seat on Bloomfield.
The choice is clear; elect Old Guard endorsed candidates who want to keep cutting services, who vote no against using the City library for the education of others, and who will take an anti-city stance to pander for votes and garner thousands of dollars in campaign donations.
Or elect those who are more open-minded and inclusive of residents, who advocate for safety, infrastructure, program improvements, and Senior services while keeping an eye on the City’s finances.
Whatever your choice is, please exercise your right as an American and vote on April 12.
