Candidate for
Member, City Council; City of Arcadia

Paul Cheng is a candidate for the 2010 Arcadia City Council. His goal is to preserve what Arcadians have fought for over the last few decades: a safe, suburban community that is fiscally sound, ethnically balanced, and with a progressive council which encourages active citizenship participation. He will accomplish such goals by applying the professional skills he learned as a former deputy city attorney/prosecutor and by unifying the many diverse groups.

Business Week recently named Arcadia as the best city to raise a child in California. Yet, an overwhelming of Arcadians polled say that they are "very concerned" about the future of the city. In only the past few months, several home invasion robberies and a gang-related stabbing have occurred in Arcadia. In 2008, over 1800 crimes occurred in the city, amounting to 5 or 6 incidents per day. Arcadia is the only city in southern California that can boast a racetrack, an arboretum, an IMAX theater, an excellent rated school district, a mega shopping mall, and one of the highest household incomes in Los Angeles County. Yet, the city is struggling with its budgetary issues, increasing crime rates, and hidden racial tensions among the "old" and the "new" Arcadians.

A managing partner of a team of distinguished attorneys in Pasadena, California, Mr. Cheng has extensive legal experience in small to large business operations and commercial realty transactions. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Cheng was a Deputy City Attorney/City Prosecutor with the City of Hesperia, California. He wants to bring his many years of professional, community, and educational experience to help the council solve these problems.

He served as a Mediator with the Superior Court of California and the Los Angeles City Attorney's office. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Cheng also served as a judicial intern to Judge Roy Paul and Commissioner Maren Nelson of the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles.

A frequent lecturer at various universities, he was recently a guest lecturer at Beijing University's School of International Studies in China. He is also a guest lecturer at Cal State University, Dominguez Hills. He is past President of the Arcadia Kiwanis Club (2007-2008) and he actively supports the Arcadia Methodist Hospital, American Red Cross, and Parents with Special Children Association, one of the few organizations founded by parents who have children with special needs. Mr. Cheng is a frequent legal commentator on television and is quoted extensively in local newspapers on many issues that concern Arcadians. He is a panelist on pro bono law days for the city of Arcadia and other cities in the San Gabriel Valley.

Mr. Cheng obtained a B.A. degree in Philosophy from the University of California, Los Angeles and a J.D. degree from Southwestern University School of Law. A long-time resident of Arcadia, Mr. Cheng lives in Arcadia with his family and is proud to be a candidate for the city council in 2010.