LCCN Endorses Pulido, Surti, and Patnaik for City Council. Vote No on Measures J and K

March 3, 2025

The choices are clear for Cerritos residents.

Los Cerritos Community News strongly endorses former Mayor Mark Pulido and former Economic Development Commissioners Riaz Surti and (Pat) Ashok Patnaik for Cerritos City Council in next week’s election.

The credentials of the three speak for themselves. 

Pulido knows his hometown, where he has lived for 53 years. During his City Council tenure, he was appointed as Mayor twice. Crime went down when he was on the City Council,  and tax revenue increased, generating additional infrastructure and public safety funds. Pulido has an impressive list of endorsements from both sides of the aisle, including Attorney General Rob Bonta, LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn, former L.A. County Supervisor Don Knabe, former Congressman Alan Lowenthal, current Congressman Derek Tran, Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, former Cerritos Mayor Grace Hu, AFSCME 619 -Cerritos Employee’s Union, the Association of L.A. Deputy Sheriff’s L.A. County Firefighters Local 1014, the L.A. League of Conservative Voters and Biz Fed Pac.

Similar to Pulido, candidate Riaz Surti has lived in Cerritos for over 45 years. A seasoned businessman and entrepreneur, he became the youngest Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise owner in the history of the company. In just twelve years, he started Crave Foods, a food distribution company. Surti knows the city’s business, serving on the Cerritos’ Economic Development Commission for over four years. Surti is endorsed former L.A. County Supervisor, former Mayor of Cerritos, Don Knabe; Congressman Derek Tran; Assembly Member Sharon Quirk-Sliva; Cerritos Councilman Frank Aurelio Yokoyama; Former Mayor of Cerritos Grace Hu; former Mayor of Cerritos Mark Pulido; Ernie Nishii, President, ABC Unified School Board of Trustees; Tatiana Yokoyama Bui, ABC Unified School Board of Trustees; Ali Taj, Mayor, City of Artesia; AFSCME 619 -Cerritos Employee’s Union, the Association of L.A. Deputy Sheriff’s and L.A. County Firefighters Local 1014.

Completing the trifecta of highly qualified Cerritos candidates in “Pat” Ashok Patnaik. A Cerritos resident for over 25 years, Patnaik is a dedicated civil servant who has served on commissions for over 20 years. Patnaik was on Cerritos’ Safety Commission, the Parks and Rec Commission, and the Economic Development Commission. Like Surti, Patnaik is a seasoned businessman and a long-time commercial banker serving small businesses. With an MBA from Pepperdine, he knows what running a business is all about and will bring that experience to Cerritos as a Councilman. Patnaik has an impressive list of endorsements, including Frank Yokoyama, Cerritos Councilman; Lynda Johnson, Cerritos Councilwoman; Mark Pulido, former Cerritos Mayor; Dr. Joseph Cho, former Cerritos Mayor; Tatiana Yokoyama Bui, ABC School Board Trustee; Dr. Al Barlevy, former Cerritos Planning Commissioner and Nick Kim, former Cerritos Planning Commissioner,  AFSCME 619 -Cerritos Employee’s Union, the Association of L.A. Deputy Sheriff’s and L.A. County Firefighters Local 1014.

LCCN  urges residents to vote NO on Measures J and K. NO IS GOOD. Measure J is bad for Cerritos. J requires the city to spend more money on this stand-alone election to get fewer voter turnout and election services. Measure J FREEZES the March of odd year election date, setting that election date in the city charter. It would require a charter amendment vote by residents to change future election dates. This is blatantly voter suppression and bad for democracy. Odd-year elections see about 20% voter turnout, compared to about 80% in November of even years, so fewer people have a say in our city council. Stand-alone elections run by the city are more expensive than consolidated elections run by the county—this year’s cost about $120k more than a consolidated election. Despite the promise of better service with a city-run election, we are paying more but getting FEWER services than we get in LA County-run elections. Fewer hours, fewer polling places, and confusion about the availability of same-day voter registration. LCCN opposes this charter amendment and hopes that the people of Cerritos will vote NO on Measure J and that the incoming city council will move the election date backward by 4 months to move the election to a consolidated even-year election.

Measure K is touted as a “charter cleanup,” but the main changes seem to be in the role of the City Treasurer. The charter currently has the City Treasurer appointed by and serving at the City Council’s pleasure. K moves the City Treasurer’s appointment to the City Manager. The charter also currently has the City Clerk overseeing payment demands, and that duty is moved to the City Treasurer. So, the text on the ballot explaining the charter cleanup is false. LCCN opposes this change based on a lack of transparency and truthfulness. No on Measures J and K.