Cerritos : Suit Tries to Bar Candidate

Opponents of Mayor Daniel Wong’s reelection bid have gone to court to keep his name off the ballot in the April 12 City Council election.

Hyde Madula-Sota and Margurette Nicholson on Wednesday filed a Superior Court suit against the City of Cerritos and City Clerk Caroline de Llamas, asking the court to block Wong’s candidacy as a violation of a recent city charter amendment. The suit asserts that the amendment, which goes into effect with the April election, was clearly intended to stop incumbents such as Wong from serving more than two consecutive, four-year terms without a two-year respite from office.

Citing the amendment’s murky language on the subject of incumbents, City Atty. Kenneth Brown has said the term restrictions only apply to terms beginning after April. Brown’s opinion cleared the way for Wong to file candidacy papers with the city clerk, even though Wong has been in office for 10 years.

Court arguments are scheduled for this afternoon, when Sota and Nicholson will ask a judge to issue a temporary order barring Wong’s candidacy until a final ruling is issued in the case.