Candidate Phil An Re-registered as Voter in Hawaiian Gardens Days Before Deadline

Candidate changed his voter status August 2013 and had only voted twice in lifetime, sources tell  HMG-CN that An’s campaign is managed by La Palma resident Larry Caballero.

By Brian Hews and Brian Hews

HG City Council candidate Phil An, sources tell HMG-CN that La Palma resident Larry Caballero is managing An’s campaign

Hews Media Group-Community News has obtained documents that show Phil An, a candidate who is running in next Tuesday’s Hawaiian Gardens City Council election, moved into the small municipality and registered to vote just days before the deadline that would have made him ineligible to participate.

An, who is running against current incumbent city council members Barry Bruce, Michi Oyama Canada, and Reynaldo “Rey” Rodriguez, registered to vote in Hawaiian Gardens for the first time on August 22, 2013.

HMG-CN confirmed the voting status of An on Monday by obtaining an official affidavit signed by Dean Logan, Registrar Recorder for the County of Los Angeles.
Logan confirmed that An registered for the first time in Hawaiian Gardens on August 22, 2013, as a Democrat.

Logan also confirmed that An has voted only twice, in the 2012 General Election and the 2009 Consolidated Election.

Several weeks ago, An, 59, told the newspaper that he was “was a longtime resident of Hawaiian Gardens,” but when pressed about specifics on when he moved into the community, An became agitated. “I live in Hawaiian Gardens, I can run, period, end of story,” An said.

Two years ago, another candidate running for Hawaiian Gardens City Council had her residency called into question. Challenger Kathy Trimble registered to vote within the City of Hawaiian Gardens on June 1, 2011, weeks before a state mandated law. Trimble had previously voted in Long Beach then moved to a mobile home at 22221 Bloomfield Avenue in Hawaiian Gardens before changing her voter registration.

Trimble lost that election to incumbents Mike Gomez and Victor Farfan.

Hawaiian Gardens City Councilman Barry Bruce, who is being challenged by An, said that he had “no comment” about An’s voter registration. “I really have nothing to say about it,” Bruce said in a phone interview.