There is something fishy going on in Westminster (and that’s not a Little Saigon pun).
When I met Westminster School Board Candidate Mary Mangold last week, I was happy to hear that she reads TheLiberalOC.com, and was very open to hearing any information that she wanted to give me about her opponents and about what she called “misinformation†being distributed by the Our Children, Our Vote Coalition.
Mary is a Democrat. She’s an educator. She’s got the teacher’s union on her side. All three things make me respect her and make me really want to like her as a candidate.
But for some reason, the ethnic minority communities of Westminster aren’t in love with Mangold and her campaign. “Labor and minorities are usually allies…what’s up with Westminster?†I asked her.
“That’s a great question,†she wrote to me in an email, “and one that none of us teachers can answer. Perhaps the opposing side can provide some insight for all of us.â€Â
So I phoned Mike Matsuda. Mike was the Democratic candidate for the 68th Assembly District back in 98, and he’s pretty knowledgeable when it comes to Vietnamese-American politics. He’s also been really involved in the Our Children, Our Vote Coalition.
Mike, who has a brain full of data, facts, and other lackluster knowledge that he’ll regurgitate whether you want to hear it or not, gave me a few reasons why the minority communities of Westminster should vote against the candidates sponsored by the Teacher’s Union:
The data that the Coalition has researched is obtained from the California Department of Education and can be accessed at: www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/welcome.asp. (go to Financial Reports for District).
It looks like the Coalition’s numbers are pretty accurate, and I’d have to say that Mary and other candidates that are saying that the Coalition has manipulated the data are either pawns of special interests or too lazy to disaggregate the data in a meaningful way.

I really hate the teacher/union bashing. It is disgraceful, but the teachers/CSEA members are not helping the situation. The school board missed the train in refusing to hire Kim Oanh. They must enjoy the drama.
Partisan breakdown:
Teacher’s slate: 2 Dems 1 Rep
Our Children Our Voice Slate: 1 Dem 1 Rep 1 DTS (write in)
Education Alliance Slate: 3 Reps
The results will be interesting. I just hope the teacher slate and the Our Children Our Vote Coalition do not split to let the Education Alliance slate in. That is REALLY scarey.
So I phoned Mike Matsuda. Mike was the Democratic candidate for the 68th Assembly District back in 98, and he’s pretty knowledgeable when it comes to Vietnamese-American politics. He’s also been really involved in the Our Children, Our Vote Coalition.
Matsuda is married to Susie “Xuyen,” a Vietnamese-American social worker who is involved in the community.
Matsuda has also authored a few books for children. But I don’t see how this point or Quang’s adds any value to the original post.