Abrupt shutdown of Monterey Park’s Chinese New Year festival denounced

First came the rain. Then the prayers for it to stop. Then when the sun came out and visitors began arriving, so did the cops — to close everything down because of the weather.

They handcuffed a local pastor. Their sirens wailed. Vendors and customers scurried off.

This was not how the Year of the Rabbit was supposed to be kicked off at the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Festival, one of Southern California’s biggest Chinese New Year celebrations. Even now, more than a week later, many vendors who were there remain outraged by how the city treated them.

“I felt totally disrespected,” said Nicole Chan, who went to the event on Jan. 29 and 30 to sell key chains and dolls. “Chinese New Year is a big deal for us. It’s a time to usher in peace and good luck. To be chased away in such a forceful way, that was really terrible.”

With its lion dancing and tasty fare, the Monterey Park festival often attracts tens of thousands of visitors. But not this year, with the downpour on Sunday, the 30th. “We started praying really hard when it was raining really hard,” said Jimmy Tam, senior pastor of the Sunrise Christian Community, an Alhambra church that had a booth at the fair. “Then the rain completely stopped. Around 3:30 we saw blue skies.”

People began trickling in again, and business picked up at the booths.

But city officials said that more rain was on the way and that they wanted to use the break in the weather to quickly shut down the event, ending it three hours early, at 4 p.m.

“In hindsight it turned out to be the last of the rains,” said Paul Talbot, Monterey Park’s city manager. “I’m sure many people felt it was handled too briskly.”

That’s certainly how Tam, the pastor, felt, after talking to Donna Ramirez, the city’s acting economic development specialist, who was on site, overseeing the event.

“She told me, ‘I make all the decisions,’ ” said Tam. “I kept begging her to please just look at the sky. The sun is coming out. The kids are having fun. She didn’t even take a look at the sky.”

Instead, Ramirez called the police, who handcuffed Tam after she said he assaulted her. (He denies the claim. She is not pressing charges.)

The city used police cars, motorcycles and firetrucks with bullhorns to clear the area.

“It was terrifying,” said Joey Koo, who was selling pet accessories. “There were all these families and old people out. Many didn’t understand English. They didn’t know what was happening. Some thought there was a terrorist threat.”

Vendors say they want a public apology and compensation from the city.

“I’ve done festivals like this for years. I have never seen police presence like this. It looked like martial law had been declared,” said David Gong, a vendor and chief executive of the American Chinese Restaurant Assn.

City officials say they are still investigating the incident and hope both sides can learn from it.

“Maybe we should have talked to more people. But when it comes to public safety, it’s not a point of discussion,” Talbot said. “When the police give you a directive, you listen to the police. They are not the Easter Bunny.”

chingching.ni@latimes.com