This ought to be worth extra credit

When Bryan Tice isn’t studying in school, he’s studying Fountain Valley’s culture and politics.

Tice, 19, is running for City Council.

He said that while he is young, he feels like his age shouldn’t be a deciding factor for voters. In fact, he said he thinks his age is marketable.

“It’s scary, but I’d like to think I have a good shot,” said Tice, who graduated from La Quinta High School in June. “If I am elected to City Council, it would be phenomenal. I’m not doing this for myself or other politicians. I’m doing this to help other people.

“This is really the time to do that because we have an incumbent who’s not running anymore. So, the opportunity arose and I thought I’d just go for it regardless of age. I still have experience toward the job and have worked for the city.”

While attending an accelerated program at Coastline Community College, Tice also works at NuVision Federal Credit Union and is an Eagle Scout. He is also on the Ambassador Committee for the Chamber of Commerce and frequents council meetings, which he said he has been doing since he was 16.

“In order to do the job, you have to know what it’s about,” he said. “And you’ll see this funny tide come during election season. You’ll start to see faces there that you haven’t seen in years, and that’s because it’s two months before the election and they want to get their face in there. But I’ve been going consistently to City Council meetings for three years because I knew eventually I might want to run.”

Tice, who said he always had an idea he wanted to get involved with the council, decided he wanted to run after being discharged from a U.S. Navy reserves program last December when he hurt his wrist. He said that he comes from a family of firefighters, a career he eventually wants to pursue, and serving the community is important to him.

“I try to live life in the moment and try to help other people,” he said. “My main goal in life is having a life of service, being able to serve other people and making sure the community continues growing in the positive way that it has for the last 50 years.”

One of the most important things about Fountain Valley is its multicultural community, said Tice, who was in charge of a Latino student group in high school but is not Latino himself.

“I’m very much a cultured person,” said Tice, who is fluent in Spanish. “I just think there is a lot of wrong that is done to our Latino community, and we need to celebrate them, as well as our Vietnamese and other populations. They have a voice that needs to be heard.”

If elected, Tice said, he will create a citywide Culture Week, where schools will learn about other cultures and ethnicities.

Tice said it is also important that the city doesn’t outsource public safety personnel, like firemen and police.

“As an employer, which Fountain Valley is one of the biggest ones in Orange County, we owe it to our employees to keep them around,” he said. “As long as they’re doing their job and doing their functions, they should have a job here. How is the economy going to work if we’re outsourcing all the time?”

Tice said he is not looking for many endorsements since he doesn’t want to reveal his political affiliation, but he does have the support of Chris Phan, who is running for the Garden Grove City Council, and Mike Moodian, a faculty member at Chapman University.

“Bryan is a bright young man who is exceptionally talented,” said Moodian, who met Tice at a competitive academic event at Chapman last year. “He’s already been active in the community despite his young age and I think he will be a refreshing new face for the Fountain Valley City Council. When you meet him, you realize he’s very mature and gifted for his age.

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Transparency is also on Tice’s platform. He said anyone can email or call him day or night, and he will answer since he is a fan of feedback.

He invites people to call him at (714) 342-9902 or email him at votebryantice@hotmail.com.

“Really, for me, it’s about rolling up your sleeves and making sure people know that you’re there,” he said.