Arcadia City Council elections make history. For the first time, Arcadia City Council will have majority Asian and majority female representation. Unofficial results for Arcadia:
District 2--Sharon Kwan
District 3--Eileen Wang
District 5--Dr. Michael Cao
Election 2022. Tallies continue for city council races in San Gabriel Valley. Semi-official results for Arcadia:
District 2--Sharon Kwan in lead with 42%, Bob Harbicht with 31%, Tracy Jensen Han with 25%.
District 3--Eileen Wang has 61%, Sheng Chang has 38%.
District 5--Dr. Michael Cao has 42%, Jason J. Lee has 33%, Michael Danielson has 21%, Daniel Malki has less than 10%.
San Gabriel Valley elections come to a close. Board of Supervisors set to officially declare election over, ballots still being counted. In Arcadia, as it stands, as of December 2:
District 2--Sharon Kwan won with 40.04%. Bob Harbicht had 30.13%, Tracy Jensen Han had 29.83%.
District 3--Eileen Wang won with 64.21%. Sheng Chang had 35.79%.
District 5--Dr. Michael Cao won with 42.60%. Jason J. Lee had 31.6%, incumbent Michael Danielson had 23.05%, and Daniel Malki had less than 2.76%.
Arcadia City Council members standing, left to right: Michael Cao, April Verlato, Eileen Wang, Sharon Kwan, and Paul P. Cheng. Seated is Gene Glasco, retiring as City Clerk as of April 16, 2024.
Eileen Wang: a strong voice for Arcadia City Council, running for District 3. Her passion is education. She wants to bring more financial responsibility and transparency to the City budget. Election is Tuesday, November 8. Photo.
1. City Council Reorganization, April 20, 2021. Mayor is Sho Tay. Mayor Pro Tem is Paul P. Cheng. Other Council Members are Tom Beck, Roger Chandler and April Verlato. 2. News release from City Manager's Office, November 15, 2021. Arcadia remembers Council Member Roger Chandler, who passed away Nov…
1. City Council Reorganization, April 20, 2021. Mayor is Sho Tay. Mayor Pro Tem is Paul P. Cheng. Other Council Members are Tom Beck, Roger Chandler and April Verlato.
2. News release from City Manager's Office, November 15, 2021. Arcadia remembers Council Member Roger Chandler, who passed away November 13.
3. Arcadia City Council unanimously appoints Michael Danielson to represent District 5. Mountain Views News, p. 7, April 2, 2022. Danielson fills the vacancy created by the passing of Council Member Roger Chandler. Biographical information.
4. City Council member pages printed from Arcadiaca.gov on 10/19/2022, includes biographies and their district maps on back: Mayor Tom Beck, Mayor Pro Tem Paul P. Cheng, Council Member Michael Danielson, Council Member Sho Tay, Council Member April Verlato.
5. Invitation to the 47th Annual Mayor's Community Breakfast, featuring State of the City Address by Mayor Tom Beck and keynote speaker Candace Parker, American Professional Basketball Player, October 28, 2022. Includes separate RSVP card with envelope and program of event.
6. Notice of City Council Reorganization, December 6, 2022. Mayor Paul P. Cheng, Mayor Pro Tem April A. Verlato, Council Member Michael Cao, Council Member Sharon Kwan, Council Member Eileen Wang.
7. Council poised for historic changes. In pair of firsts, the panel will have a majority of women and 3 new Asian American members on the dais. There are three new Asian American city council members, Michael Cao (District 5), Sharon Kwan (District 2) and Eileen Wang (District 3) (in photos). They join Council member Paul P. Cheng (District 4) and April Verlato (District 1). Pasadena Star News, December 6, 2022.
8. Notice of City Council Reorganization, April 19, 2022. Reorganized as follows: Mayor Tom Beck, Mayor Pro Tem Paul P. Cheng, Council Member Michael Danielson, Council Member April A. Verlato, Council Member Sho Tay.
9.Have you ever wondered what the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments is and what they do? April Verlato to speak February 6, 2023 at the Arcadia Community Coordinating Council about the organization and its impact on Arcadia. Includes brief biography of Ms. Verlato. Mountain Views News, February 4, 2023.
10.Notice of City Council Reorganization, September 19, 2023. Reorganized as follows: Mayor April A. Verlato, Mayor Pro Tem Michael Cao, Council Member Paul P. Cheng, Council Member Sharon Kwan, Council Member Eileen Wang.
11.Invitation to the 46th Annual Arcadia Mayor's Community Breakfast, Women of Arcadia, featuring State of the City Address by Mayor April A. Verlato and keynote speaker Dr. Jasmine Sharma, Assistant Medical Director for California Children's Services, February 21, 2020. Includes separate RSVP card with envelope.
12.Congresswoman Judy Chu recognizes Women of the Year of the San Gabriel Valley. Arcadia City Coucil member Eileen Wang was the honoree from Arcadia. Mountain Views News, p. 7, April 20, 2024.
Dr. Sheng Chang has been elected mayor of Arcadia. He is the first Asian-American mayor of Arcadia. In 1994, he was the first Chinese-American Arcadia City Council member.
In a letter sent to Mayor Tom Beck, the HQH Chinese American Equalization Association demands district voting in Arcadia. The association claims at-large system dilutes influence. According to 2010 U.S. Census, Asians represent 60% of the city's population of 56,364 and about 46% of its registered voters. The letter points out that no more than 2 Asian Americans have served on Arcadia City Council at the same time. Beck said Arcadia doesn't have the problem of Asians being underrepresented.
Third article in a series of five about new Asian residents deals with the problems faced by the new arrivals. See hard copy in VF "Population" item #43.
Second of five articles about Asian immigrants concerns the differing cultural stresses that arise when East meets West. See hard copy in VF "Population" item #42.
1. Notice of Election that an All-Mail Ballot General Municipal Election will be held on April 14, 2020 for 1 member of City Council in District 1, one member of City Council in District 4, and for a City Clerk. 2.Notice of City Council Reorganization as of May 5, 2020, Arcadia City Council consist…
1. Notice of Election that an All-Mail Ballot General Municipal Election will be held on April 14, 2020 for 1 member of City Council in District 1, one member of City Council in District 4, and for a City Clerk.
2.Notice of City Council Reorganization as of May 5, 2020, Arcadia City Council consists of Mayor Roger Chandler, Mayor Pro Tem Sho Tay, Council Member Tom Beck, Council Member Paul P. Cheng, and Council Member April A. Verlato.
3.City Elections April 14, 2020 election results from the Los Angeles County Registrar's website. April A. Verlato won the 1st District seat over Yuli J. Sira. Paul P. Cheng won the 4th District over Peter Amundson. Retrieved from lavote.net on May 5, 2020.
4. Los Angeles County Official Sample Ballot, Presidential Primary Election March 3, 2020.
5. 2022 City Council Elections-November 8, 2022-- 6 items. 1) Results of Arcadia City General Municipal Election printed on 11/29/2022 from lavote.gov showing YES on Measure CA, YES on Measure HT, and YES on Measure SW in the lead. More results show Sharon Kwan in the lead for City Council Member District 2, Eileen Wang in the lead for City Council District 3, and Michael Cao in the lead for City Council District 5. 2) November 8, 2022 General Municipal Election list of ballot measures and City Council candidates, printed from Arcadiaca.gov on 11/29/2022. 3) 2022 Arcadia City Council Election Candidate Forum sponsored by Arcadia Chinese Association. 4) September 2022 campaign letter from candidate Mike Danielson to his District 5. 5) Campaign literature from Jason Lee 6) Campaign literature from Michael Cao.
6. Q & A with City Council Candidate Eileen Wang prior to the November 2022 City Council elections. Arcadia Weekly, p. 14, August 25, 2022.
7. Q & A with City Council Candidate Daniel Malki prior to the November 2022 City Council elections. Arcadia Weekly, August 25, 2022.
8. Arcadia City General Municipal Elections Results, 2nd District: Sharon Kwan. 3rd District: Eileen Wang. 5th District: Michael Cao. Includes number of votes and percentages as of November 26, 2022. Retrieved from https://results.lavote.gov
9. Daniel Malki for Arcadia, campaign brochure for City Council Election, November 8, 2022.
A report by the Asian Pacific American Legal Center found that Asian Americans in Southern California lag behind the general population in voter turnout. The report also provides city-specific electorate and turnout numbers. Asian American voters in Alhambra, Arcadia, and Rosemead made up roughly one-third of the electorate.
HQH Chinese American Equalization Association demands electoral changes. It alleges the city of Arcadia is in violation of the California Voting Rights Act and should convert from at-large voting to a by-district system to allow more Asian American representation on the Arcadia City Council.