Temple City residents cast their votes for City Councilmembers at polling places on March 5. Mayor Vincent Yu, Councilmember Tom Chavez, Matthew Wong and Nicholas Lisk ran for the two empty seats on the City Council.
The unofficial election results were announced at 11 p.m. that day, with incumbents Yu and Chavez securing the top two places with 35 percent and 34 percent of the votes, respectively. Wong received 20 percent of the votes and Lisk earned the final 11 percent.
Yu, an architect and a four-year member of the City Council, supports increased transparency within council meetings as well as improving the relationship between the schools and the Chamber of Commerce. In the next four years, Yu hopes to restore the economy of Las Tunas Drive by enacting fiscal policies and beautifying the community.
Chavez, an attorney who also has four years of experience as a Councilmember, has worked with the community by creating the Citizen’s Academy, a leadership program encouraging residents to take part in city government as well as the Temple City Youth Committee, which gives young adults a voice in the community. Chavez is dedicated to completing the Gateway and Las Tunas Streetscape Projects, which will make the street more accessible to pedestrians.
As of now, 213 provisional ballots still have to be counted before the election results are verified during the City Council meeting on March 19. The voter turnout for the city was 15 percent, with 1,089 residents voting in person and 1,537 residents voting by mail.