Garden Grove voters will go three for three next month in terms of bringing new faces to city leadership, filling three open city council seats with zero incumbents on the ballot.
Phillip Nguyen and John Ramirez are vying for the District 2 seat, while Mariyan Bahadarakhann, Yeseni Muneton and Sandy L. Thomas are in the race for District 5, and Ariana Arestegui and Tri Lam are running for District 6.
District 2
The northern section of Garden Grove, centered along Brookhurst Street, south to about Chapman Avenue, is represented by council District 2.
Nguyen said in his campaign statement for the ballot he is a long-time Garden Grove resident who runs a tax preparation business and teaches martial arts. He left Vietnam as a teen, he said, to escape the country’s communist government.
Nguyen said he “aims to address critical issues such as homelessness, public safety, housing affordability, economic development, and the enhancement of public spaces.” He also talked about the need to attract new businesses and economic opportunities to Garden Grove. And, he said, he’d like to see the council “collaborating with public safety agencies to protect our neighborhoods, and promoting affordable housing initiatives to accommodate new families.”
Ramirez, a land use consultant, told the newspaper’s voter guide he has lived in town for nearly 25 years. He’s also been a member of the city’s Planning Commission.
“Leadership has been an integral part of my career and professional development, and I am dedicated to self-improvement, service and teamwork,” he said in response to a voter guide question about leadership. “I will do the same here in Garden Grove: respect, engage, listen, understand, collaborate and follow through.”
In office, his No. 1 priority, he said, would be to build on the momentum the city has built toward addressing homelessness. He supports the steps taken to create the outreach resource and street medicine teams, the rental assistance program and the navigation center shelter. He said he’d “be a champion to bring more funding from federal, state and regional agencies” to expand efforts.
District 5
The District 5 seat represents residents who live in the eastern part of Garden Grove, generally bounded by Orangewood Avenue on the north, Euclid Street on the west, Garden Grove Boulevard on the south and a small section that stretches east to Westminster Boulevard and Haster Street.
Bahadarakhann, a real estate and mortgage broker who came to the United States with her family as a young refugee from Cambodia, said she started working early in her life.
“This background fuels my commitment to being a leader who genuinely listens and represents the varied voices of our city,” she said in response to a voter guide question about leadership.
“I bring to leadership a blend of empathy and relentless work ethic, honed through my experiences as a mortgage and real estate broker with a law degree.”
She proposes a multi-faceted approach to addressing the cost of housing and the need for more dwellings. That includes more mixed-use developments and high-density housing in “appropriate areas,” as well as offering incentives for affordable housing. She would also invest in community land trusts and nonprofit efforts, provide resources for renters and first-time homebuyers and “simplify the approval process for housing projects to reduce delays and costs, making it easier to bring new developments to market.”
Muneton, a substitute teacher, is another long-time resident who said, “I would make a good leader in our city because I am the Garden Grove story. I am a mother, wife and educator who picked herself up by the bootstrap and is giving back to her city.”
When asked by the voter guide about the biggest need facing the city, she said her platform “revolves around supporting local small businesses, improving our parks and supporting public safety.”
Small businesses are the backbone of the local economy, she said, and city policies are needed to help them thrive. She said she would “prioritize community policing and public safety,” and she wants to ensure that Garden Grove’s “police department is staffed appropriately and that our relationship with the Orange County Fire Authority continues to be fruitful.”
Thomas, a retired bank manager, said she’s lived and worked in Garden Grove for more than 60 years. “I am confident that my background, positivity and enthusiasm will cultivate a cohesive place to work, play and live.”
In her answer for the voter guide, Thomas said Garden Grove’s most pressing need is to slow the rise of homelessness.
“I will work with the city’s SRT to help transition them to the Be Well Facility or encourage them toward the many resources Garden Grove offers,” she said. “In addition, I will follow up with the infrastructure improvements to make sure they are moving forward, including housing development and parking within our city.”
District 6
Residents who live in Garden Grove’s eastern neighborhoods are represented by District 6.
Arestegui, a city native and former campaign finance director, was elected in March to the Democratic Party of Orange County Central Committee, AD 70.
“I have taken the time to understand policy and governance through my years of experience on Garden Grove’s Planning Commission, former Police Chief Tom DaRe’s Police Advisory Council and presently on the city’s Parks, Recreation, and Arts Commission,” she said in response to a voter question about leadership.
Housing, Arestegui said, is Garden Grove’s biggest need. “More access to housing means better public safety and fewer unhoused individuals. More access to mixed-use housing, in particular, allows greater access to housing while also providing more space for small businesses to set roots in our community and existing businesses to upgrade their locations. “
Lam, a biomedical engineer and a business owner, said he would “advocate for the inclusion of diverse voices in leadership positions within the city government. This could involve creating advisory boards that represent different communities and ensuring that city staff reflects the diversity of the population.”
He, too, believes Garden Grove’s biggest need is more housing, adding that he specifically wants to see more affordable housing.
In his response to the voters guide, Lam said he would address affordable housing by “increasing housing supply, promoting affordable housing development, preservation of existing affordable housing, enhancing transportation and infrastructure, engaging with the community, addressing homelessness.”
The newspaper’s voter guide also asked candidates questions about budgeting, meeting the demand for housing, climate change and what makes a good leader. Check out what they said at ocregister.com/voter-guide. The guide includes all the races on the ballots.
