Garden Grove Mayor Steve Jones served as mayor of the city for two years before the first ballot was counted today. Nobody ran against him.
But in the other three races, 10 candidates are vying for three seats on the Garden Grove City Council.
In the first district, George S. Britigam III, LAPD Sergeant, Pretender Allen Rodriguez, family physician.
In District 3, five candidates are vying for a vacant seat after Councilwoman Deirdre Thu Ha Nguyen announced her plans to run for California's 70th District Council. Nominees: Asia Nguyen Cunningham, Planning Commissioner and Business Owner; Gia Nguyen, business owner; Lori S. Merrick, Business Analyst; Cindy Tran, business owner and educator; James "Jimmy" Webb is an emergency physician.
Three candidates compete for a seat in city ward number 4, from which city councilman Fat Man is expelled. They are: Joe Dauphin, business owner; Doi Nguyen, Financial Advisor; Trong Tha, retired engineer.
As in neighboring communities, many candidates in the Nov. 8 election in Garden Grove called homelessness a major problem in the city, which is developing plans to build new shelters and a "navigation center" to serve Orange Central County.
Other major issues for the city include the continued focus on finding ways to bring tourists from Anaheim Disneyland and the nearby convention center to the Garden Grove Hotel. In September, Garden Grove's board of directors unanimously approved the sale of land in the city to a developer of new Nickelodeon-style hotels and resorts on Harbor Boulevard and Twintree Lane.
Meanwhile, the fate of the city's Willwick Golf Course - a coveted 102-acre outdoor course - remains undecided. Garden Grove has a golf course, but it's in Santa Ana. The two cities agreed to build on the land, but the city's direction changed after the 2020 election, with Santa Ana voters electing three new members. The new Santa Ana City Council has said it wants most of the land to remain open. Garden Grove has completed negotiations with the developers.
To learn more about candidates and their opinions, voters can refer to the Orange County Voter Registration Guide and the Orange County Voter Registration website for candidate feedback.
Voting will last until 20:00 Tuesday, November 8th. Please follow the news about this race here.
