Diamond Bar City Council Hopefuls Outline Goals, Accomplishments in Statements

Six candidates for three Diamond Bar City Council seats up for election this November turned in their nomination papers by the Friday deadline and qualified to run.

The three incumbents whose seats are up for election plan to run again, as do three challengers.

Below is some information from their candidates’ statements to offer more of a glimpse into why they are running and what they hope to accomplish if elected Nov. 5.

Candidate: Martin Nakaishi
Age: 46
Occupation: business man/entrepreneur
Family: married with four daughters

Nakaishi has lived in Diamond Bar for 13 years. He has worked as a federal government consultant and contractor for 25 years.

His volunteer activities included coaching youth basketball in Diamond Bar and serving as a member of the PTA in the Walnut Valley Unified School District.

"Martin Nakaishi is a dedicated citizen striving to give voice to and for all residents of the city of Diamond Bar," he wrote in his statement.

His motto is “One of you.”

Candidate: Steve Tye
Age: not listed
Incumbent: Tye, a current council member, was mayor in 2007 and 2011.
Family: married with children

Besides serving on the council, Tye has also been the chairman of the Planning Commission and the Parks & Recreation Commission. He volunteer activities have included coaching soccer and Little League and teaching Sunday school at his church.

"As a Council member and former Planning Commissioner, Steve has the experience necessary and understands the challenges of reducing traffic better than anyone and continues to work hard to see the 57/60
freeway "Big Fix" improvements become a reality,” he wrote in his statement.

“Steve Tye has demonstrated he knows how to make tough decisions to keep the City's finances in order, providing the City with a balanced budget every year in time, without raising taxes.

Candidate: Joseph Kim
Age: 24
Occupation: Businessman

Kim grew up in Diamond Bar and returned to the city after graduating in 2012 from the University of Pennsylvania.

"When people ask me why I'm running, I tell them that I want to join in the effort and do all that I can to continue to improve our
community," he wrote in his statement.

His goals are to improve public safety, promote stable economic development, harness new, cost-saving technologies that will promote long-term sustainability and growth, enhance the responsiveness of the city, and to be a responsible steward of city funds.

Candidate: Nancy Lyons
Age: 58
Occupation: Walnut Valley Unified School District board member, teacher

Lyons has served on the school board for eight years and said in her statement that she has “balanced school budgets even with unstable (funds) without raising taxes.”

Her activity in the community includes serving as a Parks & Recreation commissioner. She has been active in the Diamond Bar Friends of the Library for 20 years, volunteered in local schools for 22 years, and taught Sunday school at her church.

"Nancy has over 15 years of executive and administrative experience at two Fortune 500 companies--Automatic Data Processing and TRW. She has a degree in economics from Pitzer College and a masters in business
administration from Cal State Fullerton."

Her goals listed include filling vacant store fronts, adding restaurants, increasing recreation facilities by working with the school district, working to develop Site D, and reducing morning traffic. Boulevard

Candidate: Ron Everett
Age: not listed
Incumbent: Everett served as mayor in 2009 and is mayor pro tem now
Family: married with five children

Everett has been a resident of Diamond Bar for 35 years. He lists public safety and education as his top priorities. He served on the city’s Public Safety Committee for three years and is the council liaison for the Walnut Valley Unified and Pomona Unified school districts. He has served for 20 years on Walnut Valley’s Personnel Commission.

He touts his independence, push for fiscal responsibility, and his advocacy for sustainability programs for city projects to meet energy efficiency and conservation grant goals as some of his best qualities. UCLA grad and post grad

"Elect Ron Everett,” the UCLA alum wrote in his candidate statement. “He listens to the people.”

Candidate: Ling-Ling Chang
Age: 37
Incumbent: served as mayor in 2012

Chang, who has been named “Woman of the Year” in state Sen. Bob Huff’s district, points to Diamond Bar’s ability to thrive in the midst of an economic downturn and the council’s efforts to keep the city of firm financial footing as one of the reasons she should be re-elected.

“That's because we carefully watched every tax dollar by keeping our operations and overhead costs lean,” she wrote in her statement. “We also used the economic downturn to our advantage getting construction work done at a fraction of the normal cost. As a result, we balanced every budget, built a new library, opened two new parks, and banked a$17 million
reserve - without raising taxes."

She lists increased public safety funding, leading to a 43 percent drop in the crime rate, her efforts to create new jobs in the region, her advocacy for the redesign of the 57/60 interchange, and her push to expand science, technology, and math education programs in Diamond Bar as some of her accomplishments.

Chang also is running for the state Assembly 55th District seat held by the outgoing Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills.