Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/tai-do/)
At the beginning of the City Council’s Wednesday teleconference meeting, Westminster City Attorney Dick Jones announced staff would be pulling Thai’s city manager contract off the meeting’s agenda.
City Council members are set to vote on Chu Thai’s hiring at their weekly public meeting, scheduled for later today.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Eddie Manfro’s planned retirement from his city manager post was made public by City Councilman Tai Do on Facebook, who called it “totally unexpected news.”
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.
Council members Kimberly Ho, Charlie Nguyen, and Mayor Tri Ta — who comprise a majority voting bloc dubbed by critics as “the Gang of Three” for frequently clashing with minority council members over ethics and power at City Hall — are now officially at risk of being unseated.