Sandy Genis, Republican former Mayor of Costa Mesa, endorses Phu Nguyen.

This endorsement just came in from former Costa Mesa Mayor Sandy Genis, a Republican, environmentalist, and land-use planner who blogs here occasionally as “La Femme Wonkita.”


As a long-time Republican and Costa Mesa resident, I might be expected to make an obvious choice in casting my vote for the 68th Assembly District. Wouldn’t I want a GOP candidate from my home town representing me? Sure, if I truly believed that candidate was interested in representing me and the other residents of our district, but in this case our district would be better represented by Democrat Phu Nguyen.

Phu Nguyen is a moderate who will work with all segments in the community, reaching across party lines for the good of us all. Phu’s family settled in Orange County in 1982, after fleeing Vietnam in a small boat. He worked hard and received his bachelor’s degree at California State University, Fullerton. A bright guy, he also earned a master’s degree from the University of San Diego.

Phu is the vice president of Saigon Central Post, Inc. (SCPI), which provides jobs for scores of employees in 15 states. He understands the need to make a payroll and to be responsive to customers. He’ll bring this business experience to the State Legislature.

Phu Nguyen believes in giving back to the community. He’s active in Franciscan charities and founded a group that provides micro-loans to poverty-stricken women in Vietnam to enable them to establish their own businesses and become self sufficient, providing a hand up not a hand out.

Phu Nguyen is definitely a good candidate, but still, why not vote for Mansoor?

When 68th District GOP candidate Allan Mansoor was first elected to the Costa Mesa City Council in 2002, he promised to put Costa Mesa residents first and preserve our neighborhoods. For a year or two, Allan was fairly faithful to that promise but became a big disappointment as time went on. He was increasingly inaccessible to residents and treated members of the public as if they were inmates at the County jail where he’d worked so many years.

Worse, starting around 2006-2007 Mansoor’s voting pattern seemed to move markedly toward serving the bully boys of the Gulfstream GOP over the people of Costa Mesa, most recently, culminating in the sad saga of the Orange County Fairgrounds. The ladies on the council were ready to go to the mat to save our fairgrounds, while the “men” just wussed out in the fight for our community. We don’t need someone representing us in Sacramento who’s afraid to offend some political overlord.

Vote for Phu Nguyen.

Phu Nguyen and family, pictured with Democrats, Republicans, and independents,
Asians, whites, Latinos and blacks, celebrating his primary win.
See if you can find Vern Nelson, Ken Arnold, Dr. Kim-Oanh Nguyen, Jim Benson, Frank Rodriguez, Trung Ta?


About Vern Nelson

Greatest pianist/composer in Orange County, and official political troubadour of Anaheim and most other OC towns. Regularly makes solo performances, sometimes with his savage-jazz band The Vern Nelson Problem. Reach at vernpnelson@gmail.com, or 714-235-VERN.