Jimmy Nguyen

Jimmy Nguyen

Nonpartisan

Education

High school

Silver Creek High School

Bachelor's

University of California, Irvine

Law

University of La Verne

Personal

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Personal website

Jimmy Nguyen was a candidate for District 8 of the San Jose City Council in California. Because no candidate won a majority of votes cast in the primary election on June 7, 2016, a general election was held on November 8, 2016. Nguyen advanced to the general election.

Nguyen previously ran for city council in 2012. He won 28 percent of the vote in that race, placing second of three candidates competing for the seat.

Although city council elections in San Jose are officially nonpartisan, Nguyen is known to be affiliated with the Democratic Party.

Biography

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Nguyen obtained a B.A. in psychology & social behavior and criminology, law & society from the University of California, Irvine, and a J.D. from the University of La Verne.

As of his run for city council in 2016, Nguyen was an attorney at his own law practice, the Law Office of Jimmy Nguyen. His professional experience also includes work as a visiting professor at DeVry University and a mediator for the Santa Clara County courts.

Nguyen has served as the chair of the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District's $500 Million Bond Oversight Committee, the membership chair of the Boy Scouts of America's Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council, and a member of the Santa Clara Valley Water District's Safe, Clean Water and Natural Floor Protection Independent Monitoring Committee.

Campaign themes

2016

Nguyen's 2016 campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“

Stopping Crime For too long now, our neighborhoods have been neglected. Burglaries continue as a normal occurrence. Property crime is up. We have experienced too many criminal acts throughout our community and San Jose. This has caused our residents to feel unsafe in our neighborhoods. Too many people are testing the limits of the law. We need more police officers to put an end to this. We also need to restore the Police Department's burglary unit and begin tackling this issue head on. As your Councilmember, I will make restoring public safety a top priority. I will support utilizing savings and surplus funds to hire more police officers so we empower SJPD and ourselves against criminal offenders. Before we can restore police and fire services, we need to find the funds to pay for them and follow through with the settlement agreement the City and public unions agreed to. That's why I support Measure F on the November 2016 ballot, and strongly encourage you to do the same. Moreover, by incentivizing businesses to relocate to San Jose, we can increase our city's revenue and use the money to place more police officers in our neighborhoods. Smart Business A healthy economy is key to a prosperous San Jose. While drawing business to San Jose creates jobs for our residents, it also brings revenue that is crucial for restoring critical services. For these reasons, we need to entice businesses to start-up in San Jose or relocate in San Jose. Investing in our economy is the key to increasing our city's tax base without increasing taxes. Businesses have several options when considering where to locate in the Bay Area. This is why we need to encourage them to establish their operations here. Currently, there are many factors deterring businesses from choosing to locate here in San Jose. The first is our city's dated permitting process. It is full of red tape and in major need of reform. By streamlining the permitting process, we can create a welcoming environment for businesses to come to San Jose. I often hear small business owners share their grievances with the bureaucratic nightmare that is San Jose's permitting process. Small businesses make up a significant portion of sales tax revenue in the city. That is why it is important for us to draw new businesses to San Jose while also supporting our existing businesses. It is imperative that we make San Jose welcoming to business. In the 21st century economy in San Jose, the Capital of Silicon Valley, businesses are forced to work at the speed of government -- San Jose needs to move at the speed of business. By supporting our local businesses, incentivizing businesses to set up shop in San Jose, and streamlining the bureaucratic process -- San Jose can become the 21st century city we all know it can be. Protecting Kids and Families Our city has seen too many traffic-related fatalities. Keeping our children and families safe is a high priority to me as I think about my young god-daughter every time I witness a car roaring down the street. Reckless driving is a serious problem in our community and we need to address it immediately. San Jose highlighted this issue through Vision Zero San Jose, which states 'The street system should be safe for all users, for all modes of transportation, in all communities and for people of all ages and abilities.' Although human error is largely unpredictable, we can prevent these senseless deaths. Vision Zero provides a groundwork for putting an end to traffic fatalities. While it is a step in the right direction, San Jose will have to work with county and law enforcement officials to curb this growing problem. While Vision Zero sets goals for the city, I will advocate to restore the traffic enforcement unit so we can prevent reckless drivers and speeders in our neighborhoods. The consequences of reckless driving are shown by the number of roadside memorials that pay tribute to their victims. As we continue to restore our police force, it is important for us to allocate resources to traffic enforcement. There is nothing more important than keeping our families safe. Additionally, in order to protect our neighborhoods, we need to increase funding for our San Jose Fire Department. Despite being the 10th largest city in the United States, the SJFD has the lowest per capita staffing of any fire department in the 40 largest cities in the country. We have 744 firefighters to serve our city of over one million residents. Having a fully-staffed and operational fire department is essential to ensure our families' safety and reasonably respond to emergency calls. Homelessness We have a homeless problem in San Jose. The high cost of housing, mental illness, or financial stress/job loss are the straws that break the camel's back. Homelessness is an issue that affects all of us. It is a delicate issue we need to handle with care and compassion. We must work with the county and local nonprofits to find a long-term sustainable solution to this issue that is both practical and feasible. I support the Housing First method. This approach requires stabilizing homeless people as quickly as possible and then providing them with social services to address their needs and help them become contributing members of society again. It is important to remember anyone can suffer from the setbacks life throws at us. By showing compassion and empathy for the homeless today, we can prevent larger problems tomorrow. I have personally seen the challenges facing the homeless. My former client, Mr. Dinh Phan, survived on the streets of San Jose for six years after losing his job and driver license. When I first met him at a free legal clinic, Mr. Phan asked me for one thing -- help him regain his driving privilege so he could legally drive himself to work. We had to overcome several obstacles, but we eventually won his driver's license back. My client's health declined due to his plight on the streets. He suffered from malnutrition requiring several digestive surgeries. Unfortunately, Mr. Phan's poor health led to his passing. Despite hardships, he never complained and had a positive temperament. He inspired me and taught me a lot about courage and dignity. There are many homeless people out there with similar stories who need a helping hand, that's why I support Measure A, the housing bond, on the November 2016 ballot. Supporting Higher Education San Jose City Council District 8 is the home of Evergreen Valley Community College. The college has approximately 30 acres of open land. The college trustees agreed to lease out the land for commercial development; but many residents strongly advocate keeping the land for educational use to expand Evergreen Valley college's educational offerings to match adjacent colleges that offer students more. The residents argue that thousands of students choose to drive to the neighboring community colleges because they are significantly better than Evergreen Valley College. I agree with the residents and I support the college using that land for educational expansion because Evergreen Valley College is uncompetitive with neighboring community college districts. While commercial and housing are important priorities, we should use these rare opportunities to expand higher education and thereby support our students in their journey to reach their potential. Minimum Wage I support California's new minimum wage recently signed into the law by Governor Brown in April 2016. This law will increase wages for millions of hardworking Californians while also accounting for the impact to businesses by incrementally increasing the wage over five years. When we reach the $15/hr mark, the wage will automatically increase according to inflation. This law also allows California to pause the increases during recessions or other economic downturns. This is a win for all Californians and was achieved through great collaboration between many stakeholders and this collaborative process is one in which I believe in and will pursue as a councilmember.

”

Elections

2016

The city of San Jose, California, held elections for five of its nine city council seats on June 7, 2016. While the June election was called a primary, it was functionally a general election.

If no candidate won a majority (50 percent plus one) of the votes cast in a primary, the top two vote-getters in the race advanced to an election on November 8, 2016. The November election was called a general election, but it was functionally a runoff election. Sylvia Arenas defeated Jimmy Nguyen in the general election for San Jose City Council District 8.

San Jose City Council District 8, General Election, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Sylvia Arenas	50.14%	17,258
Jimmy Nguyen	49.86%	17,161
Total Votes		34,419
Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Official Final Results," December 8, 2016

Sylvia Arenas and Jimmy Nguyen defeated Denise Belisle, Pat Waite, and Josh Barousse in the primary election for San Jose City Council District 8.

San Jose City Council District 8, Primary Election, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Sylvia Arenas	23.80%	4,951
Jimmy Nguyen	22.87%	4,758
Denise Belisle	20.52%	4,269
Pat Waite	16.51%	3,435
Josh Barousse	16.30%	3,390
Total Votes (100% reporting)		20,803
Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Unofficial Semifinal Results," accessed June 27, 2016

Endorsements

2016

Nguyen received endorsements from the following in 2016:

• California Apartment Association Tri County Division
• Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility
• San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce
• Santa Clara County Association of Realtors
• Santa Clara County Democratic Club
• San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis
• San Jose City Cuncilman Tam Nguyen
• California Assemb. Kansen Chu
• Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves
• Evergreen School Board Member Jim Zito

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Jimmy Nguyen' 'San Jose'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Jimmy Nguyen - Google News

See also

• San Jose, California
• Municipal elections in San Jose, California (2016)
• United States municipal elections, 2016

External links

Suggest a link

• Campaign website
• Social media:

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