MILPITAS — Milpitas Mayor Wealthy Tran has dropped out of the race for a council seat, saying in an interview that he desires to offer others the chance to run for the place and intends to take time to replicate.
Nevertheless, Tran stated that he intends to enter the race for mayor once more in 2024 after the required two-year cooling interval. He has held his present place since 2016 and is terming out this fall.
“I’ve determined to take time to stroll over to the bench and get off my toes,” he stated. “Moreover, I believe we've got some actually nice candidates within the Metropolis Council race.”
Tran’s exit from the race nonetheless leaves a crowded set of candidates for the council, together with Dipak Awasthi, Michael Tsai, Isaac Stringer, Hon Lien, Garry Barbadillo, Juliette Gomez and Demetress Morris — none of whom are incumbents. Out of the 5 council seats, at present two are up for election.
Equally crowded is the race for mayor that options council members Karina Dominguez, Anthony Phan and Carmen Montano, together with Franco Perez, Voltaire Montemayor and Ola Hassan.
Up to now, Tran has endorsed Awasthi, Barbadillo, Gomez and Lien for council positions. He's additionally endorsing Montano, an ally on the council, for mayor.
Throughout his time as mayor, Tran has pushed for elevated public security funding, the development of a brand new fireplace station and the enlargement of town’s Sports activities Middle. He’s additionally taken a more durable stance on homelessness than a few of his council colleagues, at instances calling for an entire ban on encampments in sure elements of town.
Tran’s tenure on the board has additionally been marred by public clashes with different council members, most notably Dominguez and Phan.