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July 12, 2004
City raises fees to adult and
Little League for park use.
City donates $50,000 to
private business group Meta
2000 for park use for 1-day
El Grito event.
*Last year, the City charged
the Joe Otero Baseball
League a total of
approximately $6,000 for
park use fees.
This year the fee is $30,000:
a 500% increase!
*Last year, the City charged
each kid in little league $30.
This year the fee was
increased to $60:
a 100% increase!
*Last year the city spent
$87,929 for Pre-School
programs.
This year City Council
allocated $0.
*Funds given by City to local
Salvation Army to help
homeless and low-income
families: $0.
....................
*Last 2 years in a row,
Council Member Ed Escareno
lavished a generous
$25,001 of Public Funds on
travel expenses on himself
plus $100's in cell phone
charges.
*Escareno, Gomez,
Hernandez and Noguez are
paying themselves an extra
generous $350 a month:
$16,800 more yearly.
*$22,000 extra was spent
on a Transportation Services
contract awarded NOT to the
lowest and best qualified
bidder.
*City Council is quite
generous and DONATES
$30,000 plus an estimated
$20,000 in police overtime
to Meta 2000, a private
business group for a 1-day
"El Grito" event.

July 26, 2004
Mayor John Noguez
reportedly asks city staff to
find an additional $25,000
for Meta 2000 on top of the
already budgeted $25,000
slated for the private
business group

During a recent City Council
meeting Mayor John Noguez
reportedly strongly
requested that $50,000 of
Public funds be allocated to
Meta 2000, a private
business group. When the
City Manager stated only
$25,000 were in the budget,
Mayor Noguez then sternly
directed the city manager to
find the other $25,000 to
meet the $50,000 promised
to Meta 2000 for the 1-day El
Grito event. Mayor Noguez is
a reportedly a Member of the
private group Meta 2000 and
has strong ties to two other
prominent Meta 2000
members who also happen to
be Arts and Culture
Commissioners: Victor
Caballero (of Fiesta Taxi)
and Vicente Ortiz, neither of
whom live in Huntington
Park. Victor Caballero, along
with George Cole of the
Oldtimers Foundation,
received a multi-million 3
year contract for Dial-a-ride
transportation services
when, reportedly, neither
was the lowest bidder.
$30,000 were eventually
given to Meta 2000 for the
1-day El Grito event, plus an
estimated $20,000 in police
overtime for traffic and
crowd control.
Indications are that last year
the Meta 2000 El Grito event
cost the city over $100,000
in Public Funds, including
police department overtime.

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