There is one thing that 10th District Los Angeles City Councilmember Herb Wesson wants people to know about Charmette Bonpua, his former chief of staff.
"Nobody could light up a room like she could," Wesson said during a June 24 groundbreaking of a $300,000 state-of-the-art skate plaza at the Rancho Cienega Sports Complex in Los Angeles.
The skate plaza is being named after Bonpua, who passed away unexpectedly due to an aneurysm on February 14, at the age of 44.
"I don't have the words that describe how much she meant to me," said Wesson. "I had never met anyone who had cared so much. She was so loyal. I love her."
Wesson's efforts to name the skate park after Bonpua makes it the first facility of the city's Department of Recreation and Parks to be named for a person of Filipino heritage, according to the councilmember.
Bonpua came to the U.S. from the province of Cebu in the Philippines, and worked for Wesson for 11 years. She served as his chief of staff when Wesson was speaker of the California State Assembly. She held the same job with Fabian Nunez, his successor in the powerful post, before returning to Los Angeles to work with Wesson after he won election to the City Council.
Bonpua also worked for the state legislative analyst and the California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission, and served as chief consultant for the Assembly Committee on Governmental Organization. She also was chairwoman of the board of the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project.
Wesson said he wanted to dedicate the skate park to Bonpua because of her hard work to create safe places for kids. He said it was her idea to create safe skate parks in his district. He said she also introduced him to Rob Dyrdek, the skateboarder and star of the MTV reality show "Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory," who helped take the skate park from an idea into reality.
The 15,000-square-foot skate plaza project is a public/private partnership with the Rob Dyrdek Skate Plaza Foundation providing $50,000 to design and assist in construction and Councilmember Wesson and the Department of Recreation and Parks securing an additional $250,000 in funds to complete the construction and landscaping improvements.
Dyrdek said the recent groundbreaking was bitter sweet.
"If you knew Charmette, she was an incredible human being," he said. "She was a true, sweet, gentle human being, and I feel honored that I knew her. More than anything, I'm glad we're naming this after her."
The facility is the second skate plaza to take shape with the help of Drydek in Wesson's district. Dyrdek also worked with Bonpua to create the first skate plaza, which is in Lafayette Park.
Construction of the Charmette Bonpua Safe Spot Skate Spot at Rancho Cienega Park will officially start next week, with a grand opening expected in two to three months, according to Wasson.
Joseph Pimentel is a writer for Asian Journal.
Photo by Asian Journal.
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