A group of residents appeared at the La Palma City Council during their March meeting to protest action taken by the current city administration that they believe “does not reflect the values held by La Palma residents.”
A spokesperson for a group of parents upset with the city’s handling of the departure of its Tiny Tots program appeared at the March meeting of the Council to express concern.
In La Palma, the city operates a popular daycare program called “Tiny Tots” for local parents.
“The Tiny Tots program is dedicated to enhancing the well-being of young children, focusing on socialization, education, and developmental skills. These skills are taught through engaging activities such as games, stories, crafts, physical fitness, and play time,” according to the city’s website.
I thank you for the opportunity to stand before you today and speak on an issue that raised a lot of concern in our community,” said spokesperson Chloe Janoian.
“I may be one person, but I’m speaking on behalf of many families, many seated behind us today within our community that have been personally affected by our very own La Palma Recreation and Community Service staff members,” she told the Council.
Janoian said she and a group of parents are specifically upset with La Palma’s administration for their handling of issues related to the exodus of the program manager of city’s Tiny Tots program.
Janoian first thanked the Council for their service to the city.
“I can see that many of you have been residents of La Palma for many years. In fact, many of you, especially the Mayor, have built La Palma into what it is today,” she said.
“I can imagine the countless hours you put into growing and developing the city into the highly desirable area it is to live,” she said, “so desirable that first time home buyers refuse to leave, and so desirable that many children who grew up in La Palma choose to stay and raise their family here.”
“Now I ask you this, how would you feel if all that hard work went unnoticed? In fact, what if you put in all that hard work just to come into a toxic environment each day that showed no appreciation for your work and dedication? That’s what brings us here today,” she said.
“Miss Misty (Torres) has been the heart of the Tiny Tots program for nearly a decade. She transformed it (Tiny Tots) from a simple drop-off service into a true preschool prep experience that provided structure, learning and enrichment for our children,” said Janoian.
“She (Misty) put so much blood, sweat and tears in this program,” said Janoian.
“Now I ask you this,” Janoian asked the Council.
“How would you feel if all that hard work went unnoticed? In fact,” she asked, “what if you put in all that hard work just to come into a toxic environment each day that showed no appreciation for your work and dedication.”
“In addition, she brought these young families together and built a community within these families, many of us built lifelong friendships through this program because of all the bonding experiences,” said Janoian, whose children attend and have attended the program.
“Misty planned outside of school hours, for someone who has loved this program and these children so deeply,” the parent spokesperson said to the Council.
“Something must have been seriously wrong internally for her to feel she had no choice but to leave before the year was over, rather than giving her the support she asked for and addressing these work environment issues,” said Janoian.
“At the core, it was swept under the rug or passed on to someone else to deal with truth of the matter, it wasn’t dealt with, and it led to having a great impact on her health, and ultimately feeling that she had no other choice but give her two weeks notice,” Janoian said.
“The lack of planning on the city’s part is unfair,” she said.
Moreover, Janoian suggested it was also unfair for the city to ask her to leave immediately after giving notice that she intended to leave the city’s employment.
“We weren’t given the chance to say goodbye, and we were left with leadership roles and no time to prepare, not to mention the inconsistency in random workers that were being thrown in to help our young ones,” she said.
“To make matters worse, she was not treated with the dignity and respect that she deserved for all of her hard work and dedication to our city. She was a pillar of this community, and the city let her go,” Jamion protested.
“These actions are not a reflection of the values held by La Palma citizens. We are pleading with the city that this issue be a priority and take a hard look at the work environment that led not only to Misty leaving, but to other staff members.
“Our very own website states how we take pride in being culturally diverse. Janoian said past employees passed on stories about being scolded and their releigion being made fun of by city employees.
“It’s not just affecting tiny, top families, but many people in our community, we’re noticing a decline in professionalism, disorganization within the office, and a decline in community classes offered for our children,” she said.
“Certain staff members were not able to help and we were met with an unprofessional attitude, at times, by our leaders.
The solution to all of this is, let’s move forward, but we can’t without solving the core issues,” Janoian told the Council.
“We made La Palma our forever home because of the relationships we’ve built and the wonderful programs it had for our growing family. Now we’re left to question, is this the city we thought it was six years ago?”
Janoian said after the meeting that parents have met twice with City Manager Conal McNamara and other city employees.
The ENE reached out to Conal McNamara, La Palma’s City Manager, to confirm their meeting with the parents. McNamara said via emal that he had no time to discuss the matter, but did offer to consider written questions by email.