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Politics & Government

Barrows Installed as League of California Cities LA Division President

Cerritos councilman Bruce Barrows was installed as the LOCC LA President, on the evening of August 7, at the Cerritos Center of the Performing Arts.

On August 4, sharply-dressed Los Angeles County mayors, councilmembers, city managers and other city officials packed into the Sierra Room of the  to welcome Cerritos councilman Bruce Barrows as the new LA Division president of the League of California Cities.

According to its website, the League of California Cities is “an association of California city officials who work together to enhance their knowledge and skills, exchange information, and combine resources so that they may influence policy decisions that affect cities.” Barrows has served on the league for a number of years as secretary, treasurer and vice president. Until recently, Angelo Carrillo has served as the LA Division president.

“These types of regional duties would not function without the fine work that staff does,” Carrillo said. “I know that the LA County Division is in good hands.

The LA Division is the largest of 16 regional divisions of the association and is comprised of 86 cities in Los Angeles County. The League's LA Division "strives to provide its members with information to assist in providing high-quality service to cities and their citizens," according to a statement issued by the city of Cerritos.

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Lately, Barrows and the league having taken part in matters that affect Cerritos and neighboring Artesia greatly, such as litigation against California pertaining to Gov. Jerry Brown’s elimination of redevelopment agencies in his proposed budget.

At the Installation of Officers, Barrows said he and LA division members are trying to become more active and aggressive in taking leadership on things like bills.

“From a Cerritos point of view, we’ve always been active on legislation,” Barrows said. “This is just a continuation.”

Barrows was joined by Mayor Pro Tem Owen Newcomer of Whittier as 1st Vice president and Mayor Pro Tem Ling Ling Chang of Diamond Bar as 2nd vice president.

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Naturally, also in attendance at the installation was City of Artesia Mayor Victor Manalo, who believes that Cerritos and Artesia are amid a difficult times right now as they continue to fight a lot of issues against the state.

“They’re trying to take away a lot of our local money and our local control of how we spend our money,” Manalo said. “I think Bruce, being on the city council of Cerritos and being involved regionally, he really knows the issues well.”

Serving as installing officer for the evening was Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca. Baca delivered a speech regarding the changes he’s helping make in the LA prison systems, which was met with great applause. Baca stressed that what inmates really need is good education.

“The only thing that can change human behavior is education,” Baca said. “You can’t change human behavior by locking them (prisoners) up. It’s time bureaucrats like me start making a difference with what we’ve got!”

Cerritos Mayor Carol Chen said she was glad that Cerritos has one of their own to have at the forefront of regional matters. 

“The league has been intricate partners of local government representing the views of the city on various important regional and statewide issues, and President Barrows and his leadership team at the league will ensure the voice of the local government to be heard loudly in Sacramento,” Chen said.

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