Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/charlie-nguyen/)
Without an extension of a voter-approved sales tax increase, Westminster officials say there’s a $17 million budget deficit on the horizon — one they can only sate with an equal amount in spending cuts.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered that Santa Ana’s special recall election –deciding the fate of Councilwoman Ceci Iglesias’ seat — will happen entirely through mail-in ballots. Meanwhile, final election numbers on Westminster city council recall shows majority faction retaining their seats.
More than 700 ballots remain to be counted, though recall election results Tuesday night showed a clear majority of voters chose to keep Westminster City Council members Kimberly Ho, Charlie Nguyen, and Mayor Tri Ta in office.
In-person voting has been cancelled for a special recall election in Westminster. It’s still up in the air whether Santa Ana’s special recall election will follow suit. Meanwhile, county elections officials will proceed to review a referendum movement against a controversial Santa Ana apartments project and a ballot initiative to relocate a planned Veteran’s Cemetery in Irvine.
Kieu Hoang and his lawyer have denied all wrongdoing, amid a state probe into his campaign activities in local OC elections centering on Little Saigon.
City officials could end their relationship with a longtime animal control provider. Activists want council members to hold off on their decision – which could impact thousands of the city’s shelter animals and strays — until an ongoing period of political turmoil at City Hall dies down.
Here’s a run-down of who’s hoping to take the seats.
The City of Westminster faces a political “perfect storm” this year, with upcoming recalls for elected officials and lawsuits involving the police department — not to mention tough choices between higher sales taxes or cuts to public services, and finding a new city manager.
It’s the earliest possible election date allowable under state law following the certification of the recall efforts by county elections officials, and gives prospective candidates hoping to replace the majority faction council members – Kimberly Ho, Charlie Nguyen and Mayor Tri Ta – just 14 days to pull nomination papers and gather between 20-30 signatures from registered voters to qualify as a candidate.
Two recall movements in two neighboring cities are on the move against elected officials this year – one in Westminster that’s guaranteed a recall election and another in Santa Ana that has gathered the signatures but won’t find out until next month from county officials whether it can move forward.