This article is part of a series on figures who have declared their candidacy for Milpitas City Council or Mayor of Milpitas for November’s general election. The filing period for candidacy opened on July 13 and will close on August 7. Two City Council seats and the Mayor’s seat are up for grabs. The entire series can be found here.
Tiffany Vuong, the youngest candidate in this year’s Milpitas City Council election, is a recent University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB) graduate who is building a platform on tenant protection for working class families. Vuong, 24, was born in San Jose and was raised in Milpitas, attending Thomas Russell Middle School and Milpitas High School.
After finishing her undergraduate degree at UCSB in 2018, Vuong phone banked for an immigrant rights organization. She also worked as a volunteer for the Milpitas Renters Coalition, a local non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of renters. Her passion for tenant protection stemmed partly from her own upbringing…
Vuong and her immediate family lived “crowded” under one roof when she was growing up, she said in an interview with The Beat. Vuong hopes to bring the “lived experience” of growing up in a working class family to the city council, she explained.
The young candidate does not plan to listen to or be swayed by the landlord lobby, she also added.
“I feel very strongly about issues that affect working class families,” she said. “I am going to be swayed by people who are long-time Milpitas residents, who are renting, who are struggling, especially in this pandemic,” she continued.
Vuong believes that the city should implement a rent board so as to hold landlords accountable. The rent board would ensure that the landlord would report to the government every so often, reducing the burden on the tenant to know all their rights when it comes to evictions and rent, Vuong explained.
Vuong is also campaigning for implementing environmental sustainability, hoping to ensure that those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic are not evicted due to “insurmountable debt,” homelessness, and/or government transparency. She is currently researching how to implement Green New Deal-type policies in Milpitas, she said.
“As young people, I think a lot of us are hyper-aware of the climate crisis,” she said. “We only have around 10 years to turn the whole ship around, to prevent planetary death. One thing I’ll prioritize is environmental justice, environmental sustainability—and environmental justice is one thing I think is closer to my heart as a young person.”
Running for: City Council
Declared candidacy: July 2020
