An old tradition of holding ballot parties leads to a powerful O.C. voting block
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, Oct. 30, aka Halloween Eve. I’m Carol Cormaci bringing you this week’s TimesOC newsletter with a look at some of the latest local news and events.
We’re less than a week away from the Nov. 5 election and, as if the atmosphere was not already tense among our deeply divided populace, it is sure to become more so in the days ahead and likely long after the ballots have been tabulated. Commercials by warring factions can be dispiriting, but the state of affairs in the American political landscape keeps people like me glued to the news.
Yesterday I came across an interesting Los Angeles Times political feature centered here in O.C. In his article, “Vietnamese voters in Orange County trace clout to a homespun election tradition,” writer Daniel Miller takes a look at how a community came together to make sure all who wished to participate in elections could do so.
In the decades before ballots were offered in their language, a tradition was born among the county’s immigrant Vietnamese residents. Known as ballot parties, the gatherings afforded the newly minted citizens the opportunity to participate in elections by learning via translators what they were voting on.
“These events, organized by political and neighborhood groups — as well as activists and candidates — were typically held in parks and community centers and might feature live music and food. Some gatherings were partisan, others not, but they all included people to translate English-language election documents. And they helped mostly older constituents make sense of their choices,” Miller explains.
“Coming from living under communist rule, being civically engaged and getting to vote meant so much to them — that’s why they had a strong interest,” Mary Anne Foo, executive director of the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, told the reporter.
Miller also interviewed a UC Irvine political science professor, Louise DeSipio, about the ballot parties. “It’s an age-old method, but it was one that was refined by the Vietnamese community because of the language issue,” Louis DeSipio said. “It was a resource for the community that was not necessarily candidate-driven — it was community-driven.”
Over the years the tradition, essentially a get-out-the-vote effort, helped turn Orange County’s Vietnamese American community into a powerful voting bloc whose support is coveted by local candidates, the story explains.
For his story, Miller also spoke to Lan Nguyen, a political activist who hopes to be elected mayor of Garden Grove. Nguyen said some of his earliest political activities were organizing ballot parties about 25 years ago. Candidates like Nguyen must also employ other avenues toward convincing voters to cast their ballots for him, including door-to-door canvassing.
“Though ballot parties are less prevalent, they live on, in a way. Member organizations of the newly formed Asian American Initiative, whose groups cater to the county’s Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese populations, among others, have held voter information and registration events in recent months,” according to The Times report.
“This started in the Vietnamese community, but what we are seeing is these ballot parties are starting to occur in all the Asian communities,” said Foo, whose group is part of the Asian American Initiative. “Because as people get more civically engaged, they really want to understand.”
MORE NEWS
• Brad Gates, who served from 1975 to 1999 as Orange County sheriff, died Friday at his San Juan Capistrano home, according to the department. He was 85. “Orange County has lost a legend, and our department has lost one of our most beloved family members,” Sheriff Don Barnes said in a statement Friday. “He enjoyed riding horses, was often spotted in a cowboy hat, and even won his first election as sheriff with an endorsement by Western actor John Wayne,” Barnes said. “The West was tamed long before Brad Gates became sheriff, but like the lawmen before him, he ensured a rapidly growing county was kept safe.”
• Protect Huntington Beach, a grassroots organization disturbed by plans by the city’s four conservative City Council members to appoint community members to a children’s book review board instead of allowing trained librarians to select children’s titles for the public library, delivered to City Hall Monday 19,300 signatures on a petition that, if verified, would trigger a special election early next year. The measure would let the voters decide on the fate of the book review board, which would feature up to 21 members appointed by the council.
• Backed by a judge’s ruling Friday, officials with the OC Fair & Event Center are giving equestrians who have balked at paying higher rent for keeping their horses at the property’s Equestrian Center until Thursday to pack up and leave, and pay all back due rent since June 15, or to sign on for an extended stay through Dec. 31, at which time they must leave the facility permanently.
• Two more Orange County cities have recently taken action related to their homeless populations. The Irvine City Council voted to allocate $20 million toward the purchase of two properties totaling about 4 acres to build a shelter, while the Garden Grove City Council, in hopes of bolstering enforcement against homelessness, supported a new camping ban, according to reporting by TimesOC’s Gabriel San Román.
• Phil Yarbrough, who publicly raised questions about an $8-million “slush fund” at Rancho Santiago Community College District, told TimesOC he was stripped of his seat on the board of trustees, on which he chaired a fiscal and audit review committee tasked with examining the district’s financial accounts.
• Former President Bill Clinton appeared at two rallies Saturday for Orange County Democrats Derek Tran and Dave Min, who are running in House races that could determine which party wins control of Congress.
• The 1898 Queen Anne Victorian known as Kellogg House at the Heritage Museum of Orange County in Santa Ana needs a new roof, and a fundraiser is underway to help pay for it. The goal is to raise $45,000 via givebutter.com. For the time being a tarp is covering a portion of the existing 40-year-old roof, which has leaked during rainstorms into some of the museum’s rooms.
• After earlier proposals were refined with community input, the Laguna Beach Unified School District board this month approved on a unanimous vote the conceptual design for a 45-meter pool to replace an aging pool across the street from Laguna Beach High School. The project carries a $19-million price tag.
PUBLIC SAFETY & COURTS
• Costa Mesa resident Daniel Allen Aldrich, 49, was arrested last week on suspicion of murder after his girlfriend’s body was found in a trash can outside his Maple Avenue home. Costa Mesa police tracked Aldrich to a relative’s house in Glendale, where they took him into custody. The victim was identified as Julie Anne Sanetra, 38, of Irvine.
• A pedestrian who was struck by a motorist one night last week near the junction of Broadway and Newport Boulevard succumbed hours later to the injuries he sustained during the incident. The dead man was identified as Jose Rosario Rojas Moreno of Costa Mesa. The driver of the vehicle, whose name was not released to the public, remained at the scene and cooperated with police.
SPORTS
• Orange County residents have reason to be proud of Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, the history-making hero of Game 1 of the World Series Friday night. Freeman, who was born in Fountain Valley, attended El Modena High School in the city of Orange, where he was a third baseman and a pitcher. On Friday, with the first walk-off grand slam in a World Series game, Freeman lifted the Dodgers to its 6-3 win. A lucky fifth-grade kid who was already a fan of Freeman’s caught his idol’s grand slam, The Times reported. Last night’s game wasn’t played prior to the newsletter deadline, so I can’t report on its outcome, but Freeman was also instrumental in Monday night’s Dodgers win when he lined a two-run home run to right field to propel his team toward a 4-2 Game 3 victory and a three-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven series.
LIFE & LEISURE
• Día de los Muertos, the holiday celebrated in Mexico and other Latin countries that’s dedicated to honoring beloved family members who have passed away, is typically celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2. Festive feasts are included in the tradition, according to this article by TimesOC writer Sarah Mosqueda, who lists three Orange County restaurants that are offering special menus to mark the Day of the Dead.
• Pacific Symphony music director Carl St.Clair recently held a conversation with KUSC 91.5 FM radio host Rich Capparela, during which he reflected on how far the Orange County classical music scene has come since he began his tenure with the local symphony more than three decades ago. St.Clair plans to retire at the close of the 2024-25 season.
CALENDAR THIS
• “Art of Service: Honoring Veterans Through Creativity” takes place from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Heroes Hall on the O.C. fairgrounds as the center of its Veterans Day celebration. The day will feature art-centered exhibits, activities and performances, information on veterans resources as well as a commemorative ceremony to honor the men and women who have served. Free hot dogs, chips and drinks will be provided, and tacos, beer and wine will be available for purchase. Heroes Hall is located at the OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa.
• Triathlon: The annual Optimism Cal Tri Newport Dunes is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 3 beginning at 7 a.m. Organizers expect around 2,000 athletes plus an unknown number of spectators to descend upon Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina for the event, which claims to be the world’s oldest triathlon still operating from its original location.
• “Luminaries of Light: Pioneers of the California Light and Space Movement,” is the current exhibit at Honarkar Foundation for Arts & Culture, 298 Broadway St., Laguna Beach. The nonprofit Hoarkar is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The exhibit is scheduled to run until Dec. 14.
When we meet here again next week, Election Day will be behind us. I, for one, will be glad when the campaign season is over. How about you?
Until next Wednesday!
Best,
Carol
KEEP IN TOUCH
I appreciate your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Please send news tips, your memory of life in O.C. (photos welcome!) or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com.
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