DALY CITY, California—Only weeks after celebrating its centennial anniversary, Daly City can now boast of another landmark achievement.
For the first time in Daly City history, two Filipino Americans will serve in its city council following the appointment of local attorney and city library board trustee Ray Buenaventura as an interim member on Monday evening.
The selection of Buenaventura to the Daly City Council Position #5 until November is a result from the vacancy left by former councilwoman Maggie Gomez, who was forced to relinquish her longtime seat in March after pleading no contest to felony charges of insurance fraud.
Filipinos represent over one-third of Daly City’s entire population, which is estimated at just over 100,000 residents, so the addition of another Filipino American to the five-member city council allows the governing body to better resemblance its demographics, as Buenaventura now joins council member Michael Guingona, also a Fil-Am.
During the special meeting held inside the City Hall Council Chambers on April 4, each of the eight candidates who applied for the vacant position were asked to go through a detailed interviewing process with the four council members—Mayor Carol Klatt, Vice-Mayor Sal Torres, Councilman Dave Canepa and Guingona.
Including Buenaventura, there were three Filipino American candidates seeking to fill the vacancy, one of them community leader and former Daly City Planning Commissioner Mario Panoringan.
The third Filipino candidate was local businesswoman Dorie Panzia, who stepped down from the candidacy before her interview, instead opting to support the bids made by those of Panoringan and the eventual appointee.
In the interviews, which were open to the public, each candidate was asked a total of 12 questions by the council members and had a time limit of two minutes per answer.
State law did allow the city council to hold off on appointing a new member until the November elections.
Nicholas Von Wettberg, FilAm Star