Group Puts Fresh Face on Politics : Elections: Thirteen people under age 30 have decided to run for local offices throughout the county in November.

As a wide-eyed 8-year-old, Bill Thompson was invited to sit on presidential hopeful Ronald Reagan’s lap during one of the politician’s Orange County campaign swings.

Thompson, 24, still remembers the thrill of that encounter with the former actor and governor who would become President four years later.

“He was my hero,” said Thompson, a Huntington Beach resident. “I was in awe of him.”

But Thompson’s once-sparkling image of Reagan and other elected leaders is now tarnished. So disgruntled is Thompson with the job established politicians have done that he has decided to jump into the political arena himself and run for the Huntington Beach City Council.

Thompson’s not alone. About a dozen teen-agers and twentysomething candidates fresh out of high school and college are running for city office all over the county this November.

“The youth today, we’re getting involved,” said Charles L. Menzies, 20, who is running for the Buena Park City Council. “We’re finally taking responsibility for our role in America.”

The young candidates range in age from 18-year-olds Philip Bui in Irvine and Manuel Ontiveros in Anaheim to 26-year-old Sean Mill in Santa Ana. They are a mix of registered Democrats and Republicans and include a Korean-American, a Vietnamese-American and a few Latinos. Most are college students or recent graduates seeking jobs. There are no women in the group of 13, however.

Armed with enthusiasm and slogans like “The Voice of a New Generation Redefining Representation,” the members of this local youth movement say they are striving to improve representation of the entire community, not just be a voice for younger constituents.

“We’re all coming from the same direction, transcending all partisan politics,” noted Thompson, a registered Republican. The UC Irvine graduate just received his master’s degree in political science from American University in Washington.

The young leaders acknowledge that they’ll have to combat a lack of funds and skepticism from older voters as they campaign. “I’m not scared,” Mill said. “And money is overrated. You just have to bust your tail.”

“We’re the Ross Perots without money,” said Brian McAneny, 22, referring to the Texas billionaire who recently bowed out of the presidential race. McAneny, a political science major at Cal State Long Beach, is also running for the Huntington Beach City Council.

Saturday, nine of these fresh-faced candidates got together to get acquainted and discuss ideas for helping each other. They shared tips for producing campaign flyers and buttons cheaply, urged each other to pound the pavement and discussed ideas for a joint press conference.

The young candidates also discussed their concerns about increases in crime and gangs in their communities, and their dissatisfaction with their elected leaders. Ontiveros, a former student body president at Anaheim’s Savanna High School, rattled off statistics about city spending and gang activity in the city of Anaheim to illustrate what he felt was ineffective leadership.

They all nodded in agreement when Menzies said, “I decided to run because I felt it was time I did something for the community.”

“It doesn’t matter how old I am,” Menzies, a student at Orange Coast College, said in an earlier interview. “I can make a difference.”

Like most of the young candidates, Menzies has already been somewhat politically involved; at age 16, he campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Michael A. Dukakis. But he’s not looking to make a career out of politics, and hopes to work in the film industry.

“I’m not worried so much about how I come off, or my image,” said Menzies, who is running against two incumbents and two other challengers, all of whom are over 40. “I’m more concerned with what they’re concerned about.

“I’m confident. I would bet on my horse to come in. I’m determined enough to make a difference.”

For Menzies, politics runs in the family. His father Charles M., is a former Buena Park School District trustee, and his mother Yssa, is running for the school board now.

Family unity is particularly important for Anaheim brothers Todd and Matthew Kaudy, who are running for a City Council seat and an Anaheim school board seat, respectively.

Todd Kaudy, 22, said he and his 19-year-old brother decided after helping with several local Democratic politicians’ campaigns that “it was time for us to take a step forward.”

“We looked up to the Kennedys,” said Todd Kaudy, a Cal State Fullerton graduate pursuing his law degree at Simon Greenleaf College of Law in Anaheim while his brother studies political science at Cal State Fullerton. “And my grandmother is always writing to her congressman.”

Todd Kaudy said he was actually “leery” about running at first. But the now defunct grass-roots effort to put Perot in the Oval Office finally convinced the Kaudys that now was the perfect time.

“It’s a year for the upstarts, and to be realistic, you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Todd Kaudy said. “Ross Perot was gaining so much support, even though he wasn’t a typical political candidate. Now, I feel more confident because of the reception we’ve received.”

Although he’s heard plenty of discouraging words, Thompson said he too has gotten support from older voters.

“I love the senior citizens, and they love me too,” Thompson said. “People are just writing off $300 checks to me.”

Thompson, who hopes to run for Congress someday, was one of the first to notice the unusual number of particularly young candidates this year. He quickly organized the Saturday lunch meeting so all the under-30 candidates could share ideas and possibly form a new political group.

“When I announced my candidacy, I thought, ‘There’s got to be others like me, as motivated and disgusted with what’s happening.’ So I called all the city clerks and found just a dynamic bunch of guys,” Thompson said.

“My friends say, ‘Why do you want to go into politics? It’s so slimy.’ But I can’t justifiably complain about something without going about and changing it.”

Youth in politics is certainly nothing new, but it is significant in Orange County, said Mark Petracca, associate professor of political science at UC Irvine.

“It is noteworthy in the county, given the profile of people who run,” Petracca said. One study he conducted showed 72% of the current elected officials in the county have lived here 20 or more years, which “tells you something about age bias,” Petracca said.

Robert Hyun, a 24-year-old recent college graduate running for a council seat in Stanton, said he believes the youthful candidate phenomenon merely reflects the fact that “the world itself is moving in a different direction.”

“The county and cities are going through changes, and they must go through changes,” he said. “And we are very enthused and very determined.”

Stanton Mayor Sal Sapien, 53, who is running against Hyun, said he welcomes and supports the youthful candidates. “I think it’s great,” said Sapien, an eight-year council veteran.

“Being a high school counselor, I counsel kids to get involved in city affairs, so it’s a very healthy sign. Even if they don’t get elected, I hope the civic leaders will be wise enough to appoint young people to city commissions and boards.

“More young people should be involved and old fogys like me should retire.”