The ousted mayor of Rosemead is getting ready to be sworn in to another office he just won last month.
John Tran (pictured), who in May lost his seat on the Rosemead City Council by 1 vote (in the same election that voted in Steven Ly, at 24 the youngest Vietnamese-American officeholder) is getting sworn in to the El Monte Union High School Board this Wednesday, says he on Facebook.
Out of an office, Tran then ran for the school board. And he successfully unseated two-term incumbent Tonson Man.
There were three seats up for election, two other incumbents won but Man lost. In fact, there must be something about Man because he finished not fourth but fifth, behind another challenger, Ben Escobedo.
From what I read, John did a great job serving on the Rosemead school board. He was in the forefront protecting the local community from allowing Walmart to open an 24-hour store and ensuring safety for the local community.
The Rosemead City Council members are allowed to serve as mayor for a short duration (rotated), so John was technically a mayor in that sense. There were five members on the board (before the last election), three made up of one faction (Polly Low, John Tran, and John Nunez) and the other (Gary Taylor and Maggie Clark).
Supposedly, John Tran is brash and promotes changes (as reflected by his age and accomplishments serving on the school board) and his strong opposition against the 24-hour Walmart. There were accusations of his group allowing rapid growth in the city that would worsen traffic and congestion.
It was Maggie Clark who actually groomed Steven Ly to run against John Tran with the help from Walmart (the city approved the opening of the store but left the technicality open for possible 24-hour conversion in the future).
FYI…
http://www.rosemead-info.4t.com/page3.html
http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvgov/2009/02/rosemead-election-heats-up.html