Artesia Chamber President's messageGreetings!

Have you noticed recently that the Artesia Chamber of Com-merce is back? Indeed the old

chamber was dormant and inactive over the last several years. However, with the dedication of the board and

its current mem-bers, we are striv-ing to bring back this vital organi-zation to Artesia once again. What can this NEW Artesia Chamber do for you? Here

are some of the things that we do for the busi-ness commu-nity:

• Educational resource/business development --- we provide you with many valuable tools and resources to help strengthen your business through workshops, seminars, access to local business resources such as the SBA, SBDC, etc.

• Networking --- we provide a fo-rum for valuable networking opportu-nities with not just civic and business members from Artesia but other local chambers as well.

• Advertising opportunities with our upcoming monthly newsletters, website and our local partner, the Los Cerritos Community News, publishers of this newsletter

• Advocacy --- keep you informed of the latest legislative bills/acts that impact business in Artesia.

Hopefully, you were able to attend some of our events in the last several months which have included speakers from the Small Business Development Center (on the role of the SBDC in sup-porting small businesses), LA Sheriffs (on how to prevent crime through en-vironmental design), and US Con-gresswoman Linda Sanchez (on what Congress is doing to help small busi-nesses).

In times like these when the econo-my is down, it is more than critical for businesses to leverage the benefits and resources of the chamber. We are the primary source for all local business and community information. Our goal is to create a vibrant and thriving busi-

Artesia Mayor Speaker at Local ClubBy Larry Caballero

When Artesia Mayor Tony Lima was asked to be the keynote speaker for the Hubert Humphrey Democratic Club’s Oct. meeting, he decided to share with the members what he does as a city official.

“No one ever told me what my job requires me to do,” said Lima. He soon learned it included attending many functions of his city and of neighbor-ing cities as well.

He has given numerous speeches at

various ceremonies and events involv-ing a multitude of ethnic groups and has learned a few introductory words in the process.

Lima said the worst time to be May-or of any city is during rough econom-ic times when there need to be budget cuts that require laying off workers and cutting back on salaries.

“Recently, I had my resignation ready to turn in so I could move to a nearby city with higher salaries for city councilmembers, but once the coun-cilmembers were arrested, I decided against it,” Lima said jokingly.

Artesia is home to more than 17,000 people who speak 48 languages and live in the “Heart of Cerritos” on only 1.6 square miles of property.

Lima is never totally prepared for what may happen at any public event. He has been surprised when asked to speak in front of large audiences when he thought he was there to only be a guest. “Mark Twain once said that it took him about two weeks to make a

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go to: www.yourcitycoupons.net

• The only community newspaper serving the city of Artesia, delivered to 3,000 homes per month • www.loscerritosnews.net • November 2010 • Vol.1, No. 1

A r t e s i a C h a m b e r o f C o m m e r c e &

COMMUNITYNEWSA r t e s i a C h a m b e r o f C o m m e r c e &

COMMUNITYNEWS

James Kang, Presi-dent, Artesia Cham-ber of Commerce.

Ribbon cutting marks opening of new business in Artesia

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Sept. 25 for the grand opening of Dreams Collec-tions LLC, 18625 Pioneer Blvd. in Artesia. Cutting the ribbon are [l-r] Councilman Vic-tor Manalo, Councilmember Sally Flowers, co-owner Anup Dosaj, Mayor Tony Lima, co-owner Sakshi Dosaj, and Chamber President James Kang. Dr3ams Collections LLC sell exotic fabric, clothing, jewelry (bracelets, earings, etc) and can customize wedding dresses and outfits.

Artesia Council continues appeal onCalifornia Diaries Wastewater Plant

Artesia Council Presents Intern Certificate of Recognition: Artesia Mayor Tony Lima and City Council members Sally Flowers, John Lyons and Mayor Pro Tem Victor Manalo presented Razilee Veda Tadeo a Certificate of Recog-nition at the Oct. 11 council meeting for her one year of volunteer intern work with the City Planning Department. Looking on are Redevelopment and Plan-ning Director Okiina Dor, his assistant Jose Hernanez and Tadeo’s sister.

By Jerry Bernstein

The Artesia City Council voted to continue an appeal to its Nov.8 meet-ing by California Dairies, Inc. [CDI] who is appealing a planning commis-sion decision requiring a specific plan in connection with the construction of a wastewater pretreatment facility at the plant located on Artesia Boulevard

Welcoming guests to the Oct. 18 Hubert Humphrey Democratic Club Meeting at Coco’s Cerritos were (l-r) La Palma May-or Pro-Tem Ralph Rodriguez, HHDC Pres-ident Gary Chomiak and Artesia Mayor Tony Lima.

west of Pioneer Boulevard. The site is zoned Commercial Transition (CT) and Heaving Manufacturing and Industrial (M-2).

In other business the council voted in a 3-1 vote to over-ride a Parks and Recreation Commission recommenda-tion reserving use of the Artesia Park ball

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[See COUNCIL Page 3]

2 ARTESIA COMMUNITY NEWS/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE • NOVEMBER 2010 TO ADVERTISE CALL 800-901-7211

El Oasis hosted the July Business Connection Lunch. [l-r] Jose Flores, owner of El Oasis thanks Council member Barbara Contreas-Rapisarda, Mayor Pro-Tem Bob Archuleta and Assistant City Manager, Jeff Prang for attending the event.

By Larry Caballero

Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff John Rose was the guest speaker at the second Arte-sia Chamber of Commerce meet-ing Sept. 23 at the Bombay Gardens Restaurant in Artesia where he addressed the ques-tions of business owners on crime prevention.

“There are things you can do to deter the ratio-nal criminal who is planning to rob your business,” said Rose, “and there probably is not a lot you can do if the criminal is being irrational.”

Nevertheless, Rose recommended that business own-ers be more proac-tive and not make it easier for a criminal to select their prop-erty by cutting back shrubbery in front of their building, have plenty of light-ing, plan for wider aisles in their stores, expand their parking

lots and never keep more than $20 in the register.

“Design to deter should be your motto,” said Rose.

He used 7-11 stores as an example to show how crime was reduced when they began to implement some of

these suggestions in the 1990’s.

Artesia Chamber Presi-dent James Kang thanked

Rose and all of the guests in attendance and said that the Chamber’s role was to improve the sales volume of

local businesses.“What takes place

when the economy is poor?” asked Kang. “The crime ratio will go up, and Artesia is no exception.” He listed two major burglary incidents in the last few months where expen-sive clothes and com-puter equipment were taken.

“We need a crime prevention plan to protect our assets from

burglary and other crimes,” said Kang.

“I want to invite all small business people,

retailers, companies, professionals and civic members in Artesia to join the Chamber, and I want to establish a strong business coali-tion amongst Chamber members so that all of us can exchange business information with each other.”

Its third Chamber meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 28 at noon. For further infor-mation, contact Execu-

tive Director Sug Kitahara at 562-882-7734.

Artesia Chamber President James Kang and Pioneer RV Storage owner Don Brown at the Sept. 23 Luncheon.Veterans Day 2010

When the Levees Broke - Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on August 29, 2005, was not the strongest storm to ever hit American shores. Yet it caused over 1,600 deaths and rendered the most property damage in U.S. history after flood walls in New Orleans gave way and left 80% of the Crescent City and many of the surrounding parishes under water. More than 11,000 Na-tional Guard Soldiers and Airmen were involved in rescue operations on August 31. Pictured above, one of 146 Army National Guard helicopter rescue stranded civilians in New Orleans Lower Ninth Ward, as depicted by artist David Russell. Courtesy of www.ng.mil

Special Tribute to the National Guard

November 610 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Artesia Park18750 Clarkdale AvenueCall (562) 865-6262 for more information.

“Always Ready, Always There”

Crime prevention main topic at Artesia Chamber Meeting

Artesia Chamber President James Kang and Don Brown, Pioneer RV Storage.

Congresswoman Linda Sanchez field rep Jesse Cheng, Pete Ochoa, Artesia Transmissions, and State Assem-blymember Tony Mendoza field rep Vivy Chao.

Councilwoman Sally Flowers and Miriam Bradley, East West Ice Palace.

Felix Lopez, Sgt Greg Knapp, President James Kang, Manu Patel, and Dinesh Gandhi

ARTESIA COMMUNITY NEWS/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE • NOVEMBER 2010 3TO ADVERTISE CALL 800-901-7211

sia Chamber of Commerce; and Pat Patnaik, vice chair of the Economic Development Commission. Several officials presented certificates of commendation to the Dosajs as part of the grand opening, several mem-bers of the Miss Artesia and Miss Teen Artesia courts, including Alexis Lucero, Kristinicole Elms, Anastasia Guanio and Dominique Torres, were also present at the event.

Dreams Collections is located at 18625 Pioneer Boulevard and is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those wishing more infor-mation should call (562) 865-1777 or 562) 865-3701.

boutique also has plans to expand its operations to include a custom-made home furnishings line.

The Dosajs take an active role in the design process. As part of their oversight, the couple has established working relations with top designers and also own workshops and manu-facturing units in New Delhi. Sakshi Dosaj said she takes extra steps to make sure each of her items are as unique as the customers she serves. “We have specially designed digitally printed sarees, kurtis and shawls inlaid with crystals and other precious stones. Each outfit is unique and is not duplicated,” she asserts.

“I travel regularly to meet with its artisans and de-signers in Kol-kata, Mumbai, Aurangabad and other far places within India to select materials for its exclusive out-fits, which are finally designed and stitched” in Delhi.

Other digni-taries in at-tendance at the Sept. 25 ribbon-cutting cer-emony included James Kang and Manu Patel, president and vice president, respectively, of the Arte-

ARTESIA CHAMBER BUSINESS PROFILE

LUNCHEONContinued from page 1

ness community here in Artesia. Please join us in helping to grow the NEW Artesia Chamber of Commerce. We are very excited to have you on board as we seek to improve not just the busi-ness climate for Artesia but also the quality of life for our residents.

James Kang

good impromptu speech, so you can imagine how I made mine in 30 sec-onds.”

Once he presented an award to a for-eign spiritual leader only to be awak-ened the next day with countless phone calls and emails from angry people all over the country.

Apparently the foreign dignitary had been accused on the Internet of being an insurgent and terrorist and charged with demolishing a mosque. “After that experience, I have instruct-ed my staff to do a careful Internet search on anyone who is to receive any awards from the city.”

Lima has tried to run the city like a business in order to make Artesia more efficient, but he is not in favor of cut-ting important public services such as law enforcement, parks and recreation, and street maintenance.

“We are in the process of renovat-ing downtown Artesia, to build a park-ing structure to service businesses and to purchase land to accommodate the housing requirements set by the state of California.”

Since there is no vacant land left in

WELCOMEContinued from page 1

COUNCILContinued from page 1

the city, Lima said the only alternative is to go up. “We also need to make bet-ter use of existing buildings to incor-porate commercial, office profession-als and residential components.”

During the past three years, Lima has worked diligently to bring back the Artesia Chamber of Commerce that had been out of business for nearly five years. A new Chamber is now up and running and in its beginning stages with lots of enthusiasm.

Congresswoman Linda Sanchez has agreed to be its keynote speaker at its Oct. 28 monthly luncheon to discuss the state of the nation’s economy and how the Congress is trying to support small businesses.

The location is the Great Seafood Harbor Restaurant at 18329 Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia from noon to 1:30. The luncheon is open to the pub-lic and everyone is invited to attend. To RSVP call 562-882-7734 or artesia-commerce@gmail.com.

field on June 25-26 to the Artesia Parent Volunteer Group [APVG]. In her report to the council, Parks & Recreation Superin-tendent Melissa Gobas said the Commis-sion took into consideration the Punish-ers (Fastpitch Softball Team) schedule that included 44 scheduled tournaments plus a weekend tournament scheduled in June. Gobas said the Commission felt the APVG had priority as a resident youth organization per facility use regulations and would best benefit the city.

Responding to the commission rec-ommendation, Punisher President Bob Medena told the council this was the first time in two years his organization will

be able to sched- ule events a year in advance. “We’re asking the council for the weekend of June 25-26 that we have traditionally had”. He said the Punishers have lost the State Tourna-ment and the Hall of Fame Tournament because it could not give them a date five or six months in advance.

Councilmember Sally Flowers asked what kind of tournament was planned for June 25-26. Medena described it as a “kickoff” tournament two weeks before they go to a national tournament. Coun-cilmember John Lyons asked if it was an “exposure tournament.” He said all the tournaments prior to playing in a nation-al tournament are considered exposure tournaments. When we come back from a national tournament they revert back to exposure tournaments.

A spokesman for APVG told the coun-cil they have given up 15 Saturdays and 30 Sundays to the Punishers. We don’t feel the one weekend is going to hurt them. Flowers asked what type of tourna-ment APVG was going to hold. She was told the tournament was open to Artesia youth and if there weren’t enough players open to the community at large. However the majority on the council felt the Pun-ishers has historically had the weekend of June 25-26 for their tournaments and should continue to have it.

Mayor pro tem Victor Manalo asked how many tournaments the APVG has. He was told normally they have two tournaments a year but that has been in-creased to five.

Manalo agreed going from two to five tournaments represents a lot but also not-ed the APVG does not have any bylaws to date.

He also scolded the members of the Advisory Commission and the Parks and Recreation Commission who he said were appointed by the council to resolve these

issues. They should not have to come continually before the council to resolve because they could not work out a sched-ule. He said in the future he would be in favor of just leaving that weekend out of the schedule if they could not come to an agreement.

Voting to let the Punishers have the use of the weekend was Council mem-bers Sally Flowers, John Lyons and May-or Pro Tem Victor Manalo. Mayor Tony Lima voted in favor of the APVG. Coun-cilmember Michele Diaz was absent from the meeting.

The council also gave tentative ap-proval for a conditional use permit to add a beer and wine bar and a dance floor to an existing restaurant located at 18738-18743 Pioneer Blvd. in the Commercial General (C-G) zone subject to adequate lighting in the parking lot along with a security guard, and the hiring of a sound engineer to make sure the sound from DJ speakers inside the restaurant would not be a nuisance to nearby homeowners. It also stipulated the license for the bar and dance floor could be terminated if the owner violated the terms of approval.

Artesia resident Veronica Bloomfield told the council that although the request for the conditional use permit is within the Commercial General Zone, in real-ity the restaurant is surrounded by a resi-dential neighborhood. She said a bar and dance floor could negatively impact the residents, especially on Park Avenue, Ar-line Avenue and Clarkdale Avenue.

Bloomfield specifically asked about noise pollution and the hours of operation. She also wanted to know if the owner, Venkatesh Koka, would maintain a secu-rity staff to insure the safety and well be-ing of patrons as they leave, making sure there was no loitering in the parking lot.

The council continued the matter to its Oct. 1 meeting..

Dreams Collections

Dreams Collections LLC is a new business right in the heart of down-town Artesia. Featured at the boutique are the latest Indian fashions in formal

attire, perfect for either weddings or cultural programs. Owned by Anup and Sakshi Dosaj, Dreams Collections relocated from a large shopping center in Chino Hills. For the Dosajs, the move to Artesia placed the store much closer to its customers. “We found

the need to cater more efficiently to our clientele and move to a bigger showroom as we are intro-ducing new line of home furnishings,” Sakshi Dosaj said.

Dosaj, who has been in the cloth-ing business for nearly 25 years, said the boutique specializes in such bridal wear as brid-al shararas and lehengas and in digital printing. Dreams Collections offers a wide selection of formal men’s clothing line as well as custom tailoring. The

Welcome to Artesia: [l-r] Sug Kitahara (Artesia Chamber executive director), Parimal Shah (board member), Anup Dosaj (owner), Sakshi Dosaj (owner), James Kang (president), Mayor Tony Lima, Manu Patel (board member), Dinesh Gandhi (board member).

Mayor Tony Lima with the Dosaj family.

4 ARTESIA COMMUNITY NEWS/CHAMBER OF COMMERCE • NOVEMBER 2010 TO ADVERTISE CALL 800-901-7211

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