Eugene Sun Makes Late Bid for Seat On City Council

Grab a seventh seat for the candidates’ forum.
Eugene Sun, who was a member of the San Marino City Council from March, 2007 until December, 2015 and mayor in 2009-10 and 2014-15, filed his election papers on Wednesday morning and entered an already crowded race for three open seats at the November election.
Sun beat Wednesday’s 5:00 p.m. filing deadline with just a few hours to spare. The candidate said he waited to see if any of the three incumbents – Dick Ward, Dr. Richard Sun and Dr. Allan Yung – chose to defend their seats before declaring his intent to run.
Sun joins Susan Jakubowski, Calvin Lo, Dr. Hai-Sou Chen, Scott Kwong, Ken Ude and Gretchen Shepherd Romey as the seven declared candidates.
“Our city has come to a crossroad,” Sun said. “The hiring of a new city manager, city attorney and administrative services director along with the elimination of the assistant city manager and finance director requires a qualified city council to establish appropriate policies and govern the city. Three of the current council members have chosen not to seek re-election. That leaves two members, both of whom were recently elected in 2015.”
Sun called the turnover in city leadership “unprecedented,” prompting him to “come forward and steward the city management through these challenging times.”
“I have the vision, experience and proven record as a former San Marino mayor and council member to ensure progressive actions,” the candidate said. “As residents, you can change the political landscape.”
Among the important issues facing the city, according to Sun, are the future of Stoneman School, the city’s unfunded pension liability, increased burglaries and an aging infrastructure.
“I propose to sell Stoneman School’s excess land along Huntington Drive, use the proceeds for its renovation and paring down the pension liability, and find responsible tenants for Stoneman to further reduce the pension liability,” Sun told The Tribune. “I would hire more police officers to fill the budgeted vacancies, strengthen the Neighborhood Watch program, and strategically install more monitors to prevent burglaries. I’ll extend our social media to showcase success stories, organize events and implement crisis management.”
Elections for council seats currently held by Council Members Steve Talt and Steven Huang are scheduled for November, 2019.
Sun last ran in November, 2015, finishing 3rd to Talt and Huang but ahead of Dennis Kneier and Scott Kwong in the race for two open seats.