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Alexander Nguyen was appointed city manager of Oxnard, California in July 2018, to complete the City’s turnaround, address material financial audit findings, tackle the homeless crisis, revitalize the downtown, advance the Ormond Beach restoration efforts, and make progress on the City Council’s priorities for improving the quality of life for the entire community. Nguyen’s administration has cleared the material weakness findings from prior financial audits, and the City of Oxnard has opened a year-round 110-bed homeless shelter and approved a new homeless solutions center with a 110-bed shelter, admin & clinical offices, and 56 permanent supportive housing units.

Nguyen negotiated a $25M trust fund from an energy company to pay for the dismantling of the Ormond Beach Power Plant. He also successfully introduced Oxnard’s Sunshine Ordinance which provides for publication of all City Council meeting materials 12 days prior to a Council meeting, as well as the voter-approved campaign finance reform measure (Oxnard’s first) and the voter-approved 1.5% sale-tax measure that generates needed revenue to provide quality programs and services. 

Nguyen has 25+ years of municipal experience in three distinct branches of local government, including from the California cities of Oakland, Alameda, and Riverside. In Oakland, he served two years as Chief of Staff for a City Council office and 11 years as Chief of Staff for the elected City Attorney, where he was also co-creator and Executive Director of the Neighborhood Law Corps. The program won local, state, and national awards for government innovation, and continues to operate today.

In Alameda, Nguyen served as Assistant City Manager and led the turnaround of the Public Works department, which became only the second of its size in the Bay Area to gain professional accreditation. He also led the effort to build the city’s first dedicated Emergency Operations Center, along with a new fire station.

In Riverside, also as Assistant City Manager, Nguyen led the effort to fund and design a new Main Library and City Archive in the downtown. He also led the city’s Office of Homeless Solutions, which developed Riverside’s homeless policy and Housing First Plan, implemented in March 2018. Nguyen also stepped in as interim museum director for one year and successfully salvaged the Riverside Metropolitan Museum’s accreditation, which had been denied the year before by the American Alliance of Museums. His responsibilities in Riverside also included Police, Fire, Parks & Rec, and Citizens Police Review Commission.

Nguyen began his professional career in social work, and is committed to volunteering. He served on the Board of Directors of Oakland’s Family Violence Law Center for 10 years, with four years as president. He recently served as Secretary of the Board for Thrive Networks, an international non-governmental organization that works to improve the health and well-being of underserved communities in Asia through evidence-based programs in the areas of water, sanitation, hygiene, and education. Thrive Networks’ programs have impacted over 1 million people living in poverty over the last 30+ years.

He speaks English, Vietnamese, and enough conversational Spanish to get into some good trouble!

He has a Graduate Degree from the City University of New York, was a sale representative for IBM for over five years and taught at Pasadena College for four years as well as conducting executive conferences at Pepperdine University in Malibu. More recently he has been a guest instructor at California State College Los Angeles in a class entitled The Psychology of Emotions.

Art is renowned for inspiring people to imagine the various ways to succeed while praised for his practical ideas on how to take on those challenges most people avoid.

• Businessperson of the Year - Oxnard: Mark Spellman, lazermedia.com

What is RYLA?

Each year, thousands of young people take part in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) program worldwide. Young people are chosen for their leadership potential to attend an all-expenses-paid camp to discuss leadership skills and to learn those skills through practice. Rotary clubs and districts select participants and facilitate the event’s curriculum.