By Katrina Van Duzee/Garden Grove Journal
Long-time public employee and community activist Kris Beard, is settling into his new role as a Garden Grove City Councilmember after being appointed and sworn in last Tuesday.
Although the other four active councilmembers were voted into their position, Beard’s opportunity to serve came by simply filing out an application and being appointed by the council on a 3-1 vote.
“All the applicants were outstanding,” Beard said. “I don’t feel more qualified than the others, but hopefully I was picked because they saw me bringing a level of expertise to the council and think I am someone they can work well with.”
The expertise Beard, 55, refers to comes from his many years of work for Orange County. He started working for Garden Grove as an intern 30 years ago and has been a Garden Grove planning commissioner for four years. Other experience on his resume includes working as an administrative manager for the Orange County Community Resources Agency for over 25 years and serving three terms as the city clerk for Signal Hill.
The decision to appoint Beard was made after Councilmember Andrew Do resigned in April. The 20-year Garden Grove resident was chosen out of 33 applicants, including Do’s runner-up in the 2008 election, Robin Marcario.
“This is a tough situation for the city council,” Councilmember Bruce Broadwater said. “This is not something councils like to do, I have had a number of people ask me to appoint them to this position.”
While being a father of three boys and full-time city employee is enough to consume the majority of Beard’s time, he applied for the job on the council because of his belief in volunteerism.
“This happened to be a great opportunity to help out the community and I am fortunate to have a background in public and administrative service,” Beard said.
Continuing to provide the quality services the people of Garden Grove expect, promoting business enhancement and supporting local non-profits are Beard’s areas of interest and focus he said.
“I learned a lot about land use and business opportunities on the planning commission and hope to use that expertise in helping the city hold our own in this tough economy,” Beard said.
Beard said he is unsure if he will run in the election fall 2012 when his position expires. In 2008 he ran unsuccessfully for a Garden Grove City Council seat.
