Journal staff writers
If this is the year of anti-incumbent sentiment, you can’t tell it from most of the local races shaping up for the Nov. 2 election.
Except in the races for Westminster city council and mayor, there was a dearth of candidates for public offices in the Garden Grove, Stanton and Westminster areas as the deadline passed last Friday afternoon.
In Stanton, the election will be cancelled entirely since only the three incumbents – David Shawver, Brian Donahue and Ed Royce, Sr. – filed. The city council is expected to meet on Aug. 17 and officially cancel the balloting and appoint the three to their seats.
Garden Grove Mayor Bill Dalton will have a challenger, electrician Myke Cossota. Only three candidates have filed for two seats on the city council. In addition to incumbents Bruce Broadwater and Dina Nguyen, newcomer James T. Ybarra has also thrown his hat into the ring.
Former councilman Mark Rosen, who took out papers to run for city council, didn’t complete the process and thus dropped out.
Westminster Mayor Margie Rice will face two challengers, Al P. Krippner, a human resources director, and Bruce Tran, a businessman, for the top spot.
Seven candidates will be battling for two seats on the city council. Incumbents Tri Ta and Andy Quach will be joined on the ballot by Penny Loomer, former councilwoman and mayor Joy Neugebauer, business owner Khoa Do , business owner Al Hamade and retired claims investigator Ginger Waugh-Borden.
Also on the ballot in Westminster will be a measure asking voters to decide whether to repeal the city’s ban on the sale and use of “safe and sane” fireworks within city limits.
In the Garden Grove Unified School District, five candidates will be seeking two seats. Incumbent Bob Harden and Lan Nguyen will be challenged by Shaun Curtis, Bao Nguyen and Bob Tucker.
The Westminster School District election will see four candidates seeking three seats. Ronald Zell will be challenging incumbents David Bridgewaters, Mary Mangold and Andrew Nguyen.
BAO NGUYEN is a proud product of the Garden Grove Unified School District. He has served as a member of the school site council at Ralston Intermediate while a student. He graduated from Pacifica High School after transferring from Garden Grove High School during his sophomore year. At Pacifica, Bao was named “most spirited” in his graduating class and also in student body leadership. As a high school senior, Bao was selected to represent his congressional district in the Presidential Classroom program in Washington, D.C.
A commitment to public service has been demonstrated throughout Bao’s educational career – from serving pancake breakfast to registering voters at the annual Strawberry Festival. Bao has also volunteered at Saint Columban Church to assist the elderly and immobile with house chores.
While earning his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California at Irvine, Bao served in various leadership capacities for the Cross-Cultural Center and for the Political Science Student Association. He also served as the UCI student body representative to the Irvine City Council. Bao was a recipient of the Praxis Scholarship, which sent him to work in Washington, D.C. for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Bao is also a recipient of the Brett Baldwin Prize in Poetry, awarded by Poetry MFA and Humanities Associates of UCI’s Department of English and Comparative Literature. He has published poetry and other writings in both English and Vietnamese languages, locally and internationally, including Jossey-Bass’ New Directions for Student Services.
Bao has a master of arts in religious studies from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, and holds a California State Certification in Mediation. He has been an invited guest speaker at different colleges and universities, as well as community organizations, including the local chapter of California School Employees Association.
Bao has taught as a substitute teacher in grades K-12, including special education for the Garden Grove Unified School District. In his recent capacity as community organizer, Bao helped Garden Grove United Methodist Church bring a campaign for senior transportation to successful completion in the City of Garden Grove. Bao is trilingual in English, Vietnamese and Spanish.
Follow Bao Nguyen on Facebook at facebook.com/votebao & visit the Official website of Friends of Bao at http://www.VoteBao.com – Thank you!