Musaab B. Mughal, Garden Grove Mayor candidate, 2024 election questionnaire – Orange County Register

Ahead of the November general election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.

MORE: Read all the candidate responses in our Voter Guide

Name: Musaab B. Mughal

Current job title: Student

Political party affiliation: Non-Partisan

Incumbent: No

Other political positions held: None

City where you reside: Garden Grove

Campaign website or social media: musaabmughal.com

How can the city best meet the demand and mandates for more housing, including at lower prices, while also preserving the quality of life for existing neighborhoods and residents? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

A catastrophic housing market demands radical change. The city must ban Airbnb, corporations and LLCs, as well as foreign nationals from owning single-family houses in Garden Grove. Those who own single-family houses must reside on those properties or be limited to owning only two single-family houses in Garden Grove. The city must develop a vetted application for a first-time home buyer program for Garden Grove residents aged 25-38 looking to buy in the city. The city must also develop a buy-back program for Garden Grove residents whose homes have been foreclosed on and are owned by banking institutions. These residents should be given an exclusive rental contract that will allow them to repurchase their homes at a later date at market value at the time of foreclosure. The city should rezone dilapidated lots on Brookhurst Street heading north to allow developers to create earthquake-safe five-story apartment complexes with accompanying underground parking structures or motorized parking lifts. Certain other lots should be rezoned into green spaces such as the lots being used for dealership storage of cars on Brookhurst Street and Bixby Avenue or other vacant lots for parks with athletic equipment. Many parks must be renovated.

California is working toward achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2045. Where does climate change fall in your list of priorities? How, if at all, would you address this as a councilmember? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

Climate change is high on my list of priorities. We are seeing unprecedented levels of change in regions far from the home but will have implications on California in the near future. Having traveled Pakistan extensively and seen their solutions, an important task for the city is to replace palm trees with pine trees. Pine trees can provide ample shade to cool the city exceptionally by lessening the impact of the sun on asphalt and by catching the wind. Anyone who travels to Costa Mesa will notice a difference in temperature which is due in part to their usage of pine trees. Garden Grove should also invest in native landscaping and do away with the use of grass to cover green spaces. The city should convert these unquenchable plants back to native cacti, succulent and chaparral species. Garden Grove must also secure its water rights for the distant future and push the state to invest in desalination as well as upgrading electrical infrastructure. Garden Grove should experiment with carbon-catching devices while alleviating costs to citizens by allowing small turbine generators to power residential blocks to catch the evening winds, especially in winter.

How should the city balance paying off debts, such as pension liabilities, and building reserves all while meeting residents’ needs? Should a solution involve finding new revenue, trimming the budget, or something else entirely? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

The city must prioritize resident needs and should pay off debts to pensioners first. As our own federal government flushes money away into foreign wars, the city must realize the value of our citizens’ hard-earned cash and pay off debts to the federal government at a minimum. In paying pension liabilities, the city must work down a priority list by paying educators, police and firefighters, with city officials being last. In order to help build reserves, the city must find a way to generate revenue from the Willowick Golf Course without selling the property. The city should convert the land to a conservation park similar to Irvine Regional which will serve residents with an overdue grand park in Central Orange County. This will satisfy Santa Ana’s need for open space and keep the land in city hands for future sale. As the population booms, land value will increase. If the city does not own gold, it should invest in order to build reserves for the future. The city must also attract prospective developers to invest in the many vacant lots across Garden Grove and help current owners through subsidies to redevelop existing buildings to attract small businesses in vacant supermarkets.

In your opinion, what is the biggest need your city faces, and how would you address it? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

The biggest need Garden Grove has is a revamped education system for adults and children — one that rewards students for learning and provides educators with enough money to actually live in the city they teach in. Curriculum in Garden Grove schools must also adapt to provide environments for students to succeed in. One day, I hope to see the letter grade system completely abolished as it has only served to punish students for mistakes. High schools must also be conducive places of learning but are precarious as students are at one the most impressionable stages of life entering puberty. As much as free thought should be protected in school, it should not come at the cost of diminishing a student’s cultural or religious background. Garden Grove is also in dire need of more police officers, but also a state judicial system that prosecutes criminal charges in a timely manner with due diligence. Felony offenders as well as misdemeanor theft should be prosecuted in manners that serve justice on behalf of afflicted communities. With more police on duty at large events, the city can also prevent large homicide events. Education will provide security while productive education takes place in secure locations.

Why would you make a good leader, and how would you represent the diverse communities of your city? (Please limit your answer to 200 words or less.)

The communities of Garden Grove can only be served by a leader who understands the first and foremost trait of good leadership. That is to be a follower. To follow, one must listen. Listen to the needs and demands of those who have elected you to lead. An effective follower must also be prepared to cast aside their individuality for the common good. A good leader should also be able to enter into discourse with any person regardless of background, even if they disapprove of their beliefs.

Evelyn B. Hall once wrote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,” as a testament to the first tenet of democracy which is the freedom of speech. A bad leader will only force their beliefs onto their constituents and will attempt to break the will of the people into submission to their own. The leader of Garden Grove should be elected solely based on character. Not of their laurels or lack thereof. The leader of Garden Grove should be honest and uncorrupted by the desires of wealth. I pray to God that I am cut of this cloth of man.