Monterey Park : Simmering Council Feuds Come to a Boil

Shortly after midnight Monday, hours after harsh words had first reverberated in the City Council chambers, it felt as if a family fight had finished.

Councilwoman Patricia Reichenberger lamented about what had just transpired.

“I’m not sure if I’ve been to St. Stephen’s up the street for confession, or if I’m in a psychological evaluation clinic,” she told the three dozen people remaining in the room. “But, by God, somebody has to feel better.”

But she added: “There’s a lot of hostility out there, too.”

Somewhere along the way, after everyone had saluted the American flag and after the five council members had approved the asphaltic concrete overlay program and heard the city engineer’s monthly update on the grease-waste interceptor program, the public business of this suburban city of 60,877 got nasty.

Before the evening was over, Joseph Rubin, a former political associate of Mayor Christopher F. Houseman, refused to obey the mayor’s order to sit down and quit interrupting from the audience. Houseman ordered the sergeant-at-arms to oust his former supporter. A dozen of Rubin’s colleagues walked out, yelling their disgust at Houseman.

Member Against Member

As cable television cameras recorded the meeting, council member turned against council member. Councilman G. Monty Manibog accused Councilman Barry L. Hatch of “witch hunting.” Evelyn Diederich, whose son is a former mayor and whose daughter-in-law, Betty Couch, is running for the council, became furious with Houseman over his appointment of Stephen K. Tan to the Planning Commission.

Besides Tan’s appointment, the other major disputes revolved around how the city grants liquor licenses and the appointment of an architectural firm to design city and commercial projects.

But the arguments evoked past battles over development, immigration and the recent transformation of Monterey Park into a community in which three-fourths of the residents are of Asian or Latino ancestry.

The meeting also seemed to reflect the tensions that have been building over the April 12 elections for two City Council positions, city clerk and city treasurer. Councilman Cam Briglio is seeking another four-year term, and Manibog, by running for treasurer, is leaving his council seat open. Houseman, Hatch and Reichenberger were elected two years ago.

For the first 90 minutes, the proceedings seemed rather sedate. Then came the matter of approving the architectural firm. All five council members were said to have informally agreed earlier that Urban Innovations Group of Los Angeles was a good choice to create a cohesive design for projects around City Hall.

Opposition to Tan

But Hatch said he could no longer support expenditures for consultants on development projects. The reason, he said, stemmed from his displeasure with the mayor’s appointment of Tan to the Planning Commission last week.

Tan, Hatch said, would “undermine the projects that we are now discussing. . . . To undermine the dream that we have for this city, to undermine. . . .”

“Mr. Mayor,” Briglio said.

“May I speak?” Hatch said.

“You’re not staying on the subject,” Briglio said.

Hatch continued, saying that Tan had worked last year in the unsuccessful effort to recall Hatch, Briglio and Reichenberger and that Tan had contributed $2,500 to the recall forces. “He tried to recall (us) . . . with some of the most ugly, slanderous remarks I’ve ever seen or read.”

Several of the 50 people in the audience applauded, and someone yelled: “Give ‘em hell, Barry.”

But, on a 3-2 vote with Hatch and Reichenberger opposing, the council approved the selection of Urban Innovations.

Tan’s appointment was also a source of controversy during the period allotted to public comments.

Rubin said the council could have appointed any of a dozen other qualified candidates. “What we have done is set up the fox to watch the chicken coop,” he complained, because Tan had opposed a comprehensive rezoning plan that was approved by voters and city officials last year.

Now Supports Plan

Responding to his critics at the meeting, Tan said he now supports the plan. He complained that during the last week he had heard many lies about himself.

“I am not a developer at all,” Tan said. “I have never even built a garage. I had to hire a painter to paint my house. . . . Some people say I have a lot of money. I don’t think so. I came to this country as first generation with $1,000 in my pocket. I work 80 hours a week, seven days a week. I own an insurance agency, and I exclusively work for a company called American General Life, which has assets of over $25 billion. This is my ninth year.

“We should stop pointing a finger at each other by calling names. We are all Americans, and we should work together to make sure this is the best city ever.”

Briglio, his voice breaking, defended Tan by saying: “Let’s not just look at their eyes or their color or the country that they came from.”

Implores Council

Likewise, with a pained expression on her face and imploring the council to “stop this business of calling names . . . so that we can get out of these meetings before 2 o’clock in the morning,” Chamber of Commerce President Marion Williams said Tan “has done a lot of hard work for this community.”

Houseman was furious with what he called the lies about Tan in a newsletter distributed last week by the Residents Assn. of Monterey Park (RAMP), which has endorsed two challengers seeking council seats. Houseman attacked RAMP despite noting that the group had helped him get elected two years ago. And he attacked Diederich and Rubin, two longtime RAMP leaders.

“ ‘Who is Stephen Tan?’ ” Houseman said, quoting from the newsletter. “ ‘He is a major developer.’ ”

Then he responded: “What has Stephen Tan developed? What development? He hasn’t developed anything and isn’t going to develop anything. It’s a complete lie. They don’t care that they hurt his character.”

Throughout the meeting, Houseman kept displaying his displeasure with RAMP.

Publicly Attacked

He said Diederich and Rubin have publicly attacked him week after week at council meetings because they discovered he wouldn’t be their puppet.

“They hate me because they can’t control me. They want five puppets to sit on this City Council,” Houseman said. “It pains me to have to say this because I worked very closely with these people.”

At one point, Rubin hollered from the audience: “You’re a liar.”

“I’m not a liar,” Houseman responded, his voice rising, “and I’ve heard plenty out of you. I’m going to explain what you’re up to . . . and you’re going to sit there and take it.”

Call to Order

Rubin rose from his seat and began speaking loudly. Manibog interrupted, demanding that the mayor call the room to order as other people also began to talk. “Get (Rubin) out of here,” Manibog said.

Houseman said he became involved with RAMP because “condominiums were overtaking the city. They were destroying neighborhoods. . . .”

From the back of the room, Diederich called out: “The record is you got mad and left us.”

As Rubin stood up, Houseman said: “You’re going to sit down or leave this meeting. This is the last time I’m going to warn you.”

‘Lies, Innuendo’

Rubin didn’t sit down, and he kept talking.

“That’s the last utterance out of you,” Houseman said. “I’ve listened to you people for two years. I’ve heard plenty from you, lies and innuendo, and now I’m going to respond. . . . You’re going to give me that because I’ve had to put up with your baloney for two years. And I’ve said nothing.”

Houseman didn’t respond to a plea from Reichenberger to adjourn the meeting.

Hatch said: “Remember April 12, ladies and gentlemen. We can clear this up.”

As Rubin continued to stand and address Houseman, the mayor ordered the sergeant-at-arms to remove him. Rubin was escorted to a room separated from the council chamber by a sliding glass door. There Rubin, Diederich and supporters who had left the meeting listened over the loudspeakers.

Later Hatch said a supporter of Houseman had told him that the mayor recently met in San Marino “with a houseful of developers.” “Now I won’t go on to say what else took place,” Hatch said, “because I don’t think that’s my position.”

‘Pocket of Gold’

As Houseman shook his head but said nothing, Hatch continued: “Money speaks very loudly. If someone approaches you with a pocket of gold, you might look further than what the needs of the community are; you might just look as far as that pot of gold. Look into (it), ladies and gentlemen. Why are the developers so happy? The flag has been raised again for the developers. It went down for a couple of years, but it’s up again.”

The council members also debated how to handle liquor licenses in the city. Hatch has long been disturbed over noise and late hours in establishments with liquor licenses, but Houseman said he sees no problems with how the city polices the establishments. He said there is only one problem restaurant out of 98 in the city.

Hatch, responding to suggestions by Manibog and Briglio that because he is a Mormon he is against all drinking, said: “I don’t care what people drink. I care when they get out and endanger my life or other people’s.”

He also said that on the night the council approved a liquor permit for a local restaurant, he drove by and saw three of his colleagues “enjoying a good time and drinking there.”

Earlier Charges

Later, as the five-hour meeting ended, the council members ranged from topic to topic, responding to earlier charges and countercharges.

Manibog complained that Hatch is “famous for these witch-hunting tactics: ‘I heard this. I heard that.’ You have any evidence? Put it on the table, Mr. Hatch.”

Houseman, drawing comparisons with the McCarthy era of the 1950s, said of his former RAMP colleagues: “After all this, do you have any decency left? This is a good example of why people should reject you at the polls. Because all you want to do is get in there and tear this community apart.”

Hatch summarized the meeting: “There were lies after lie after lie.”

Briglio said: “Tonight is a very enlightening evening, a sad evening. . . . Let’s be brothers and sisters.”

Reichenberger said: “We’re at a council meeting. We’re not at a campaign rally.”

Suddenly, a few minutes after midnight, the mayor asked for a motion to adjourn. Exasperated, all five council members looked at one another and nodded. For one instant, in exhaustion, they were unanimous.