Cerritos Optimist Club Welcomes L.A. County Board of Supervisor Don Knabe

The welcomed home one of its most prestigious and longest serving members, when Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Don Knabe stopped by the in Cerritos last Thursday to talk about various topics and current issues.

Knabe an Optimist Club member since 1971, returned to his roots as he visited and thanked the club for all their support throughout the years. Overseeing the Fourth District of Los Angeles County, Knabe serves many cities from Manhattan Beach to La Mirada and most communities in between including Cerritos, Artesia, Lakewood, and Long Beach. During his speech, Knabe brought the club up to speed with current events as far as the current county and state budget, and even the ever growing possibility of a professional football team returning to Los Angeles.

“From a county perspective we’re (L.A. County) in better shape than most, when we saw a lot of this nasty stuff coming we put a lot of money aside,” said Knabe.

According to Knabe, the numbers for last quarter saw countywide unemployment fall one percent, but that may just be a result of those people who were looking for work giving up on their search to find employment.

While the county has been able to avoid any layoffs or furloughs, Knabe’s fear is that with the looming balancing of the budget, the numbers will not be in the county’s favor. Along with this uncertainty, the former Cerritos mayor said that an estimated 4,000 homes are likely to go into foreclosure in the north part of the county. However he pointed out a few positive notes when it comes to sales tax revenue, and property tax revenue.

“It should be an interesting next few months, from an economic standpoint there are some good signs,” said Knabe. “It’s not time to jump up and down, but it should be better.”

Along with being on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, Knabe is also on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission -- a commission that has been under a lot of pressure since June 2010 when a 15 year-old girl died at the Electric Daisy Carnival rave hosted at the venue. According to Knabe, the girl's death led to an internal investigation that ultimately uncovered the now ongoing corruption scandal involving the coliseum employees receiving kickbacks.

“It’s the most disappointing things I’ve ever been a part of,” said Knabe.

With all the talk about stadiums, one optimist club member asked about the status of an N.F.L. team and a stadium coming to Los Angeles.

“First group to secure a team wins,” said Knabe simply.

There are two groups with two sites looking to bring an N.F.L. team, and build a new stadium. . is , and another group  has plans to build a stadium in City of Industry, but as of now nothing is set in stone, and no group has secured a team.

The Optimist Club was glad to welcome home their longtime member, and were thrilled with the success of their fellow Optimist. Knabe is entering the final year of his current term on the Board of L.A. County Supervisors, and was , ensuring his seat on the board until 2016.

“Don truly cares, his outlook is always positive as an Optimist should be,” said Cerritos Mayor Jim Edwards. “He serves his community with his service and helping others, especially the youth.”

For more information about joining the Cerritos Optimist Club, email Dr. David DeKriek at dr.dekriek@fidelityhearing.com or call (562) 926-6066.