Rich Tran is bowing out of the Milpitas mayoral race. He asked The Beat to publish a letter that he wrote to the community, explaining the reasons for his decision.
Dear Milpitas Family,
It’s been exactly 10 years since I moved back home to Milpitas. During this time, my life has never been so full of family, friends, and experiences. After spending most of my 20’s in Los Angeles and New York City, I stayed put in Milpitas throughout my 30’s. This has been one of the best decisions of my life.
Being a 3x Mayor of Milpitas, winning by bigger and bigger landslides each time, is an achievement that I will always be eternally grateful for. It means just as much that I was able to support and push many other candidates into City Hall as well. I gave everything to help make history with our first woman Mayor in the City’s 70 years. In fact, we had our first woman Mayor and Vice Mayor tandem in the history of the City.
With that being said, I am announcing a withdrawal from a fourth Mayoral race to pursue a longtime goal of building a global tech startup. I plan on traveling internationally often and am unable to ensure the quality of our residents’ daily lives here at home. In putting my faith in God, this decision has been made with clarity and peace. Being the Mayor requires a commitment of the next six years, these are precious years that I’ve decided to spend on personal goals.
I’ve witnessed a lot of death during my short time out of office, friends who didn’t make it to 40, 45, or 50 years old. This has made a profound impact on how I’m approaching the remaining days of my life. I’ve often preached to others to go for their dreams “now” because tomorrow isn’t promised.
I’m authoring a new and exciting era that will surely increase the countries and territories I’ve visited thus far — 16. I’m not sure when I’ll make a return to the City, it could be one year/one Mayoral term/one decade. Whatever the course, I’ll have my home to return to. Thank you for the lifetime of love and support, my #MilpitasFamily.
God Bless Milpitas,
Rich Tran
17th Mayor of Milpitas
You did a lot for us Rich Tran. Thank you for your dedication to us and the city. I appreciate you.