LETTER’S: Barrowsgate, Crime, Cover-up and Conspiracy at Cerritos City Hall

Note: Los Cerritos Community Newspaper welcomes letters and opinion pieces from residents and community leaders. All opinions expressed in this letter are of the author, not LCCN.

By Chris Fuentes
Resident of Cerritos for 42 years

“I don’t give a sh** what happens. I want you all to stonewall it, let them plead the Fifth Amendment, cover up or anything else, if it’ll save it—save this plan. That’s the whole point. We’re going to protect our people if we can.”
The previous quote is the words of Richard Nixon back in the days of the infamous Watergate crimes and cover-up that eventually forced Nixon from the White House. They were probably the words of Acting Mayor Bruce Barrows with regard to Barrows’ admitted battery of Cerritos resident Jay Gray.
What did he do and when did he do it? The facts are plain; Bruce Barrows admits to committing battery upon Cerritos resident Jay Gray. Barrows’ own account of the incident to the Cerritos Sherriff’s Office states that Barrows initially profaned Gray, calling him an a**hole BEFORE Barrows says Gray responded “Your wife doesn’t think so” which then resulted in Barrows’ actions, in Barrows own words “I LOST CONTROL” resulting in a clear case of BATTERY; grabbing and pushing Gray in a threatening manner, indicating a threat of bodily harm.
Gray withdrew pressing legal charges against Barrows in order to give Barrows the opportunity to do the right thing; apologize publicly, tell the truth and own up for his actions, instead Barrows has engaged himself and the City of Cerritos in a shameless cover-up. At a recent city council meeting from up on the dais, Barrows contradicted his own account by claiming that he was “Defending the honor of my wife” A cowardly and patently false obfuscation of what really happened.
The District Attorney brought Barrows in to the Los Cerritos Municipal Courthouse DA’s Office and reportedly asked Barrows to take Anger Management and/or Psychological Therapy to deal with his erratic behavior. Barrows counter claims against Gray (Barrows claimed Gray “Disturbed my peace”) were dismissed by the DA’s representative out of hand.
Council Cover-up and conspiracy? The entire city council was silent on the issue of Barrow’s altercation and assault upon Gray, they neither commented on this nor responded to community members asking that they condemn this behavior in the strongest terms. Barrows should be censured and/or removed from office. Barrows himself along with Mayor Jim Edwards and the full city council voted to Censure former City Councilmember John Crawley for sending an email under Edwards name, Crawley eventually resigned from office. How long will it take Barrows to own up to his actions?
Curiously, the Cerritos City Council went on the attack, cutting their print advertising from the Los Cerritos Community News after LCCN printed the Barrows story and demanded answers from the silent city council and city management.
Why all of a sudden, after MILLIONS of lost revenue on the Performing Arts Center, is it necessary to cut PRINT advertising in LCCN? This is an obvious attempt at taking punitive measures against Publisher Brian Hews to silence the paper that exposed ousted L.A. County Tax Assessor Noguez under a corruption scandal. Will ‘Barrowsgate’ be the downfall of a Cerritos City Council that appears to be in collusion with Barrows to lie, deny and get by’?
Losing Control in Public Office: Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is reportedly undergoing treatment for a “Mood Disorder” but his office only came forward with this revelation, months after he took a leave from his elected duties and under pressure from congressional colleagues. Unlike Barrows, Congressman Jackson, never assaulted a constituent but the stigma of mental illness was apparently too great to come forward in a forthright manner and admit his problem. Barrows has not only not been forthright he has devised a delusional version that contradicts his own testimony and that of eye witnesses. Barrows may in fact have a psychological problem and definitely has displayed out-of-control anger issues but his latent maniacal tendencies go unattended while Barrows drags the city of Cerritos deeper into his cover-up.

Chris Fuentes
42 year Cerritos Resident