Photo by debbychen/Flickr (Creative Commons)
A Monterey Park mini-mall, January 2007
The Alhambra Source, a local news website, published a story today about how five of the eight candidates competing for Monterey Park’s open council seats are Asian American. It’s possible that Monterey Park could become the first city with an all-Asian city council in the continental United States. From the piece:
If three of them win the at-large election, Monterey Park, recognized as the first American suburban Chinatown, would make history once again. Even if they do not — with some strong Hispanic candidates also vying for the open seats — the city offers a glimpse at transitions in ethnic politics from a city that has been a leading edge in Asian American civic participation.
In the 1980s Monterey Park became home to the first predominantly Asian population on the mainland United States and was the first to elect a Chinese mayor. But it took more than a decade for the City Council to resemble the demographics of the city of 60,000. Now, another decade later, Asian Americans dominate the council with a presence greater than their actual numbers.
