Mayor John Wuo (r) presents key to city to State Treasurer John Chiang
Five Arcadia Chamber members put on a good showing Friday (March 13, 2015) at the City of Arcadia‘s annual Mayor’s Breakfast, where Mayor John Wuo introduced charismatic California State Treasurer John Chiang, who kept the audience engaged even while discussing state finances at 8 a.m. on a Friday.
His message was primarily one of the importance of fiscal responsibility, especially to pay bills on time and not allow debt to get too high, as the state’s did when it crept to more than $30 billion under Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2007-08 and the subsequent several years despite the warnings of Chiang, who was in the state’s Controller at the time. “He tried to do the right thing,” Chiang said, “but he just got it wrong.”
Chiang said he always aspired to live in Arcadia but he could only afford a home in the South Bay.
City staff, including Mary Buttice, Linda Garcia, and Kristen Olafson-Segal, created a lovely setting in the Community Center for the 150 or so attendees, complete with cleverly-themed table decorations relating to California, and centerpieces of crates filled with California oranges, plus little give-away bags of seeds of the state flower, the California poppy.
Arcadia Chamber members were in evidence everywhere:
- Santa Anita Gardens catered the elaborate and delicious breakfast buffet featuring multiple fruits and melons, sausage and bacon, and fried potatoes.
- Boy Scouts of America Troop 111 presented the colors in full uniform and leading the Pledge of Allegiance.
- Reverend Philip Bertolo Wood of the Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church offered the invocation.
Three songs by children students from Barnhart School. Themed to the featured speaker from the State of California, the choir sang California Here I Come and I Love You California (those familiar with the latter from recent TV commercials might have expected a Jeep Wrangler to drive up to the stage), culminating with a rousing rendition of America the Beautiful.
