2014 FESTIVAL HONOREE: LEN NGUYEN

2014 FESTIVAL HONOREE:  LEN NGUYEN

The Mar Vista community is very pleased to announce that the 2014 Festival Honoree is Council District 11 Field Deputy Len Nguyen.  Len has served our community for many years, first with Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, and currently with Councilmember Mike Bonin.  Len has been the go-to person for all in the community who are in need of services, responses, or advice from the City of Los Angeles.  And his intelligence, charm, patience, and knowledge of how the City actually works, have proven invaluable to all of us who have found ourselves trying to get things done with the City bureaucracy and political establishment.

Len’s path to his current position started in Clovis, California, where his parents, who were fleeing Vietnam as war refugees, arrived two months before Len and his twin brother were born.  Growing up in the Fresno area, he moved to San Diego to attend the University of California at San Diego, studying Economics and Political Science.  Upon graduating he joined an investment consulting firm in Santa Monica.  In 2002 Len moved to the Palms neighborhood, and was instrumental in founding and organizing the Palms Neighborhood Council, serving as that Council’s President from 2002-2005.  As part of that process he met Bill Rosendahl as a guest panelist on Bill’s cable TV show, and after volunteering for Rosendahl’s first campaign for City Council, was invited to join the victorious Councilmember Rosendahl’s staff.   The rest, as they say, is history.

Len serves as the primary contact for residents, businesses, and community organizations in Mar Vista and West Los Angeles. His responsibilities include representing Councilmember Mike Bonin at various community events and meetings and serving as a liaison for constituents to City Hall.  Len has been at the center of most of the community issues that Mar Vista has struggled with over the past few years, and his willingness to engage and support the individual stakeholders, along with his persistence in pursuing solutions within the City political and bureaucratic structure, has been instrumental in resolving many of the problems the community has encountered. 

To quote a few Mar Vista stakeholders:

"Len isn't just a community problem-solver and liaison to the City--he's a friend and advocate for his constituents."  Ken Alpern

"Len has the ability to listen to a constituents problem and seem to be genuinely interested."  Tom Ponton

“Len is a determined--and compassionate--problem solver!”  Sharon Commins

“Len really has his finger on the pulse of Mar Vista. He seems to always know of and be one step ahead of any issue.”  Bill Koontz

“Len is that rare combination in a city official….the first one there to solve a problem and the first one to reach out as a friend.”  Sherri Akers

And in closing, Len states:  "I love working with Mar Vista because of the friendly, can-do spirit of it's people. I'm grateful to Councilmember Mike Bonin and former Councilmember Bill Rosendahl for the opportunity to serve Mar Vista."