Keeping Buena Park fun, safe and prosperous
By Mayor Virginia Vaughn
“To me success is a continuing thing,” Walter Knott said. “It is growth and development.”
That is how I look on our beautiful city—our Buena Park, of which I am pleased to be the mayor and running for re-election. Our 83,000 people are striving for greater success. We are growing and developing together, meeting every day’s challenges.
I would like to share how I am tackling some of those challenges. First, I believe family is the key to all that is important in our lives. For me that is my wonderful and supportive husband Kenny, our daughter Tammy, and seven adopted grandchildren, all of whom live in Buena Park. I am dedicated to keeping our city safe and fun for the benefit of all of our families.
I am also working to keep Buena Park the most business-friendly city in Southern California. I spent 30 years at Northrup-Grumman, so I understand how business is the key to providing jobs for our people and funds for our city services. I am also proud that I worked on the B-2 bomber, a key to the defense of our great country.
I know small business firsthand because I owned and operated Bella Dia Salon & Day Spa on Beach Boulevard. I also served as Chairman of the Board for the Chamber of Commerce. Buena Park needs to keep taxes and regulations low, while opening our doors to investment and job creation.
I am proud to say I am supported by local leaders such as Supervisor Michelle Steel and former assemblywoman and leading candidate for U.S. Congress Young Kim.
“I’ve been really impressed with Virginia. I’m here to support her,” Kim said at a recent event.
I’m honored to share that I am the only candidate running for office in Buena Park that has the endorsement of all members of the City Council.
A tough problem hitting all of California is homelessness. We see the homeless on the streets, in storefronts, picking through garbage bins, even in the front yards of our homes.
That is why I spearheaded the Bright Paths program that brings together different support groups to graduate the homeless from the streets to permanent housing. As I said when the City Council approved Bright Paths, it provides “effective solutions to helping decrease homelessness in our community.”
Finally, as mayor I am dedicated to keeping Buena Park’s government fiscally sound. That means keeping our income base strong by welcoming businesses. But it also means closely watching every taxpayer buck and cutting waste. Good government is frugal government.
As the Independent wrote in January, “With Mayor Virginia Vaughn at the helm, it looks as though the City of Buena Park has a lot to look forward to in the near future.”
All of us in Southern California are blessed, those in Buena Park most of all. Knott’s Berry Farm—I love Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner—is just the largest and most visible of our businesses. Its motto is California’s best theme park.
And Buena Park is California’s best city. I will keep it that way.
