By Brooklynn Wong
This year’s hotly-contested municipal election in Buena Park, which saw three of the youngest-ever candidates run, one candidate arrested and still facing an arraignment hearing next week, and the mayor voted out late by 16 votes, is now behind us, and this Tuesday all election winners were sworn in, and outgoing members were celebrated.
Council Member Steve Berry, who has served the city for 20 years, is retiring. He has served multiple times on City Council and three times as mayor. His City Council colleagues lauded him, and then he spoke, becoming emotional as he expressed gratitude to his wife and looked back over his long history in the city.
Mayor Virginia Vaughn, who on election day and for much of the time thereafter appeared to be in position to beat her opponent, Sunny Park, ended up losing to Park by 16 votes by the time all was said and done and all mail-in votes were counted. Vaughn also was spoken very highly of by her colleagues, many expressing sadness at her leaving. She expressed gratitude to her family, and Council Member Beth Swift offered up that Vaughn ought to try coming back in a few years.
It was then time to induct the election’s winners—Park, Connor Traut, and Swift, who won re-election.
Park, an estate planning attorney, spoke of a desire to move forward together in unity, rather than be divided by political party. She will represent District 1.
Traut, a 24-year-old law student and former member of the Board of Trustees of the Centralia School District, drew attention to the young people that ran in this election, including himself, his opponent, 23-year-old Adonay Gutierrez, and Swift’s opponent, 20-year-old Ian Macdonald.
And Swift won re-election, and welcomed up her husband, and seven of her 14 grandchildren to surround her as she took the oath of office.
Art Brown will now serve as Mayor—for the seventh time—and Council Member Fred Smith was named Mayor Pro Tem.
Family members, friends and colleagues of the Council Members packed out the chambers, and a standing-room-only crowd stood in the back.
The Council will now not meet again until the new year—on January 8, 2019.
