Hawthorne Press Tribune
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 60, No. 50 - December 13, 2018
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............3
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................7
Classifieds............................3
Entertainment......................2
Food.......................................5
Hawthorne Happenings....3
Lawndale..............................4
Legals............................. 4,6,7
Real Estate...........................8
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Mostly
Cloudy
66˚/53˚
Saturday
Sunny
65˚/53˚
Sunday
Mostly
Sunny
67˚/55˚
The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
Mychal’s Gets Holiday Help from
Friendly Neighbor Chevron
The Chevron Refinery’s Women’s Network held a Bake Sale to raise funds for Mychal’s Learning Place. Pictured are Mariel Chiang, Megan Johnson, Cati Dole, (Max Curtin and Ed Lynch of Mychal’s Learning
Place), Cheri Olsen, Nikki Lee and Katherine McClung. Photo Provided by Lily Craig of Chevron.
Monteiro Officially Joins City
Council, Incumbents Sworn In
By Derrick Deane
New faces joined the Hawthorne City
Council in the final meeting for the year.
While Councilwoman Olivia Valentine and
City Treasurer David Patterson were sworn
in again, newly elected Councilman Alex
Monteiro and City Clerk Dr. Paul Jimenez
also joined the group of officials.
Mayor Alex Vargas allowed each of the
election winners the opportunity to thank the
public and those in attendance, who included
commissioners and councilmembers from
other area cities.
Valentine, who topped all Council candidates
with 8,822 votes (33.29 percent) was the first
to thank her supporters. “I just want to thank
the people of Hawthorne,” she said. “I want
to thank all of the people who voted for me
-- and for all of those who did not vote for
me, I want to thank you as well and I want
you to know that I am your councilmember
too. I will try to do all of the things that I
said I would do in terms of bringing business
into the city, in terms of improving the
quality of life for the residents. My door is
always open to you.”
Monteiro, who finished second with 6,721
votes (25.37 percent) was next and thanked
his friends and colleagues from the Hawthorne
School Board. “It was a victory of the people
of Hawthorne going out to vote,” Monteiro
said of the more than 21,000 voters whose
choices were officially recorded. “It was true
democracy in action.”
Monteiro also took a moment to address
the public and his hopes for his first fouryear
term as a councilmember. “We have a
mandate to serve you,” he said of the large
voter turnout. “You are my boss. This seat
will represent the interest of the people of
Hawthorne and its business that will help
us move Hawthorne forward. I will promise
you that I will be your champion. I will continue
to work hard to achieve the goals that
I proposed during my campaign. I want to
clean up Hawthorne, get rid of all the trash
and bulk items. I want to help you solve
the problem of parking. I want us to work
together to come up with a solution for that
mall by 2020. I have been in this city for
more than 20 years and I have demonstrated
that I care about this community. I am sitting
here because of you.”
The remaining two candidates were incumbent
Angie Reyes English who had finished
with 6,247 votes (23.58 percent) and Jason
Gromski, who finished with 4.707 votes
(17.76 percent). While English could not be
in attendance due to a family matter, Vargas
took the time to thank her for her service to
the city. “We want to thank her for her many
years of service -- not only the nine years
she served on the City Council, but she also
served previously as City Clerk and before that
she has been very involved in parent-teacher
associations in the community,” Vargas said.
“We’re forever grateful for her service.” The
other councilmembers also expressed their
thanks to English for her dedication and
service to the city.
Dr. Jimenez was next to address the public.
He finished with 10,608 votes (62.05
percent) topping his only opponent, John
L. Jefferson, who finished with 6,489 votes
(37.95 percent). “I believe that voting is a
civic sacrament and my goal will be to ensure
that the community is involved in this
precious democratic process,” Jimenez said.
“Our goal was to run a grassroots campaign
and we truly did that.”
Finally, Patterson thanked the public for
its support and interest in the recent election
and hoped for it to continue in the years to
come. “There’s nothing more important in
this great democracy than making your voice
heard through your vote and directing the
outcome of your community,” Patterson said
in thanking his supporters and the public for
their engagement. “I love having this opportunity
to serve my community in an area
of strength and I vow to continue to do so.”
Patterson finished with 12,266 votes (69.71
percent), knocking off his only opponent,
Ryan Richard, who finished with 5,329
votes (30.29 percent). In his closing remarks,
Patterson also announced that recent investments
yielded more than $185,000 in profit
that can either be reinvested or set aside into
the general fund.
One thing that continues to remain unclear
is the future of Michelin. Despite being
pressed by Vargas to clarify if he intends
to remain on the City Council while also
serving on the board for El Camino College,
Michelin would only coyly respond, “I’m
looking into it and looking for the best way
to serve the people.:
Vargas revealed that Michelin’s intention
may be to serve out both positions concurrently
-- a move that prompted Vargas to ask
the city attorney to clarify if Michelin would
be allowed to serve dual roles. Michelin is
scheduled to be sworn in to the El Camino
College Board of Trustees on Dec. 17 and
a decision on whether he remains with the
Hawthorne City Council likely will not be
publicly revealed until next month. •