Cerritos Residents Blast Mayor pro tem Naresh Solanki and Councilwoman Carol Chen for Trying to Close Cerritos Sheriff’s Station

(l-r) Cerritos Mayor pro tem Naresh Solanki, Councilwoman Carol Chen and former Cerritos Mayor Bruce Barrows. Solanki and Chen voted to close the Cerritos Sheriff’s station at a Council meeting last week and sources have told HMG-CN that Barrows is in favor of the closing. Photo courtesy trojancandy.com

By Brian Hews

The HMG-CN article published in print and online Friday pertaining to Cerritos Mayor pro tem Naresh Solanki and Councilwoman Carol Chen closing the Cerritos Sheriff’s Station has prompted outrage and anger from Cerritos residents.

Councilman Mark Pulido, a strong supporter of Cerritos Public Safety, posted a picture of the print article on his Facebook page; also many residents have emailed HMG-CN completely outraged about what Chen and Solanki attempted to accomplish using approval of the budget as a bargaining chip.

Many have called for the recall of both City officials.

When Pulido posted the article he asked residents for comments, which released a flood of anger in the form of Facebook posts.

Some of the posts are below:

This is completely unacceptable! There was already a 5-0 vote on this issue at the previous meeting. I don’t understand the motive here. After this and the disclosure of the Summary of Travel Expenses, I’m starting to worry about the actions and behaviors of some members of the Cerritos City Council. I think it behooves all Cerritos residents to pay much closer attention to Council business! Perhaps attending some Council meetings and independent investigations are in order.

This is nuts – can we have a referendum to recall these officials?

One only needs to look at some groups here, like the Cerritos Neighborhood Group, to see that safety and crime is a concern in the area. Seems that more due diligence is prudent before making a sweeping act, and certainly in the right order agreed upon. Further, seems that the council (recently, this year) committed $3 million toward the new museum via the Redevelopment Property Tax Trust Fund, right? Are those funds earmarked for things other than the general budget? Is it (the fund) limited in ways it can contribute on things the budget currently pays for? If not, it seems a misjudgment in allocation of resources.

Wow. Has there been any talk of recalling Chen and Solanki?

Very disappointed!!!

Very curious looks like someone was paid off!‬

Thanks for always staying on the side of Cerritos residents’ best interests Mark. To hear that this happened is quite worrisome.‬

This is very disturbing considering most people that I speak with cite having a local Sheriff’s station as a necessity. To remain a city that is both business & family friendly, you have to have adequate security in place. Cutting the Sheriff’s station would be a step towards dismantling what draws most people to live and work here.

A Sheriff Station is essential to keep crime low. It’s absurd to propose closing a Sheriff’s station.

Bro, they need a Sheriff’s station as I got my car broken into once already at the Walmart…. Did not take them long to come and make a report…. More safety patrols needs to be at that shopping center…. One of the Walmart workers mentioned that it does happen a lot at that area…

I was shocked when I read the article yesterday. Who does that? Especially when crime is on the rise nationwide and we are impacted more due to the addition of more businesses at the Mall bringing in more people to our city. Our sheriffs department is very unique for a city our size. Check out their response time. I’m sure if the residents of Cerritos were given the opportunity they would vote a big fat no! What were their real intentions to bring this matter up & in the manner that they did. Beverly Porter, Community Safety Committee member

Wake up Cerritos, we can no longer live in the “bubble”, times have changed. Thanks Mark, for looking out on many occasions. We stay abreast of what’s going on in our City by attending Council meetings or watching the council videos, first hand knowledge rules; secondhand knowledge may come too late.

‪Mark Pulido ‪thank you for your continued efforts to support our city, our families, our schools, and our recreational facilities. However, without your conscientious, protective endeavors to strengthen the support of our local law enforcement, the aforementioned would not be able to flourish and successfully sustain as they have and continue to do. Please let me know as a parent, Teacher, and taxpayer how our family can help to stand by you and with you.‬

Mark how does getting rid of our sheriffs make any sense? What about all the latest crimes being committed in our city lately? It’s only going to get worse with out the presence of our own sheriffs. That was one of the main reasons we moved here was because of safety. Cerritos has always been known to be a city that doesn’t mess around when it come to our safety due to our involved community working along with our sheriffs.

The plan or motion to close the Cerritos Sheriff’s station without due diligence and without consultation and/or feedback from the same residents that elected them to the office is a violation of public trust, a manifestation of their arrogance and abuse of authority. Shame on them!!

In situations where seconds may count, its interesting, probably more appalling that elected officials, that are supposed to look after the well being of the people, are choosing to add minutes to the average response times of the sheriffs department. Do city officials need to travel far and wide, spending large sums of money to possibly award city contracts to some outside company? Is there some other way to deal with the budget deficit? Businesses operate on deficits as long as they are able to cover their short term and variable costs, but eventually need to have a plan of true revenue growth to help cover those deficits as the market has already dictated the price it will tolerate for any given product or service.

Agree with Emmanuel Aguirre – Some Council members are abusive with the expenses using the City’s funds. It’s obvious. Eating foods at expensive restaurants, staying in expensive hotels, and unnecessary traveling to other states or cities. Come on ……

With all of the crime notifications in Cerritos we hear just on FB alone, it would seem to me that Cerritos needs to maintain the Sheriff substation here in Cerritos. Wouldn’t the city need to continue providing funds to the Lakewood station if it were to close the Cerritos substation? There are other services that the Cerritos station provides and it’s comforting to know we have officers in our city to maintain the peace and protect our property. I have never trusted Council member Chen. I don’t feel her actions in the past have benefited all citizens of Cerritos. Council member Solanki is new to the council and I gave him the benefit of the doubt to see what he would bring to the city. So far, I have not been very impressed. Either these two need to be voted out of office at the next election or there needs to be a recall election in the very near future.

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