The Truth OC Hero of the Year

Courage? Doggedness? Convictions? Mission Viejo's Cynthia Vasquez is the public figure we all need to emulate.

Cynthia Vasquez: Queen of Good

It is not easy getting shit on, then getting shit on again and again and again.

I mean that both literally and figuratively. If, for example, a pigeon poops on your head without hesitation, it sucks. It’s not fun, it’s sticky, it beats a person down. No matter how many times someone bellows, “Hey, dude, it’s good luck!”—well, it’s not good luck. You have pigeon shit on your head. Nothing fortuitous about it.

In the figurative case of the matter, I present to you Cynthia Vasquez, a member of the Mission Viejo City Council, a woman who takes more shit than anyone in these parts and—drumroll, please—The Truth OC’s first Hero of the Year.

And, before I dive into this, I want to emphasize a point: In this brutally depressing age we occupy, during which Donald Trump has taken the planet hostage and MAGA freaks feel compelled to ignore all sense of decorum and/or decency and/or patriotism, it is often hard to summon the courage and determination to fight back. What I mean is, many of us have been overcome by a suffocating dread that leads us to (understandably) retreat to a world of crossword puzzles and “Pluribus” binges and long walks on the beach. It’s far easier that way, especially here in SoCal. Grab a coffee, grab some avocado toast, hit the sand and detach.

For whatever reason, though, Vasquez continues to stand up and fight. As we speak, she is the lone non-MAGA meathead on Mission Viejo’s City Council, a collection of five “public servants” (quotes intended) who are supposed to behave in a non-partisan manner, but rarely ever do. If you need proof, just go back to the last Council meeting on Dec. 9, when the members selected the next mayor.

Until Trump’s arrival on the scene, Mission Viejo boasted a fairly standard system: The mayoral gig would basically rotate among council members. There was no mind played to party affiliation, gender, ethnicity. Like a football team, it was a matter of next man (or woman) up. That is literally what happened. He went, then he went, then she went, then she went, then he went. Round and round and round. Dull, yet fair.

Of late, however, that has changed. Even though the council is (again) deemed to be non-partisan, the four MAGA members have collectively decided that Vasquez will never, ever, ever, ever, ever serve as mayor. Literally never. Hell, as we speak Brian Goodell has been mayor twice, Trish Kelley has been mayor six times and Bob Ruesch just wrapped his first term. And the next mayor—as decided Dec. 9—will be Wendy “Girl, There Are Good Salons in Your City” Bucknum, who already held the gig on three different occasions.

Bucknum: J.D. Vance, minus 60 IQ points

It is a disgusting display of partisan ugliness, made even more egregious by the MAGA brigade’s conviction that the first Latina woman to serve on the council is somehow unworthy (again, on a non-partisan board) of being mayor. Or, as our esteemed vice president noted a few days ago, “It the United States, you don’t have to apologize for being white anymore.”

And if you have eight minutes, watch the entirety of this remarkable shit-show, where the only council member with a dose of conviction is Vasquez, who appears equal parts hurt and furious …

Now, if you’re thinking, “Jesus, that sucks”—well, you ain’t seen nothing. Next year, a woman named Saga Conroy will be running against Peter Molinari to replace Goodell, who is apparently stepping aside to sit on his porch and (I’m guessing) cheer masked ICE agents as they tackle employees exiting the nearby Taco Bell. And although Molinari did dress up as Santa a few days ago, he has four things going against him:

1. His website was apparently designed by a computer-illiterate third grader whose hands were mangled by rabid pit bulls.

2. He’s likable, fairly non-partisan and just wants to do a good job.

3. Trish Kelley¹ is strong arming people to back Conroy.

4. Conroy has shitloads of money.

By shitloads, I mean shitloads. Thanks to your favorite arch-conservative, we-love-Jesus-but-we-love-MAGA-more churches and faith-based organizations, Conroy has already allegedly raised more dough than any city council candidate in Mission Viejo history. And while she looks fairly innocent and speaks of improving parks and loving puppies, she represents the hopes, dreams and fantasies of the let’s-use-tax-payer-dollars-to-fund-charter-schools crowd. She also happens to be a key player in the group C.F.E.R. (California for Equal Rights), an ironically named shit-show that bemoans any sort of effort involving diversity or fair representation. Truly, she is a monster, and will very likely win.

This, dear friends, is what Cynthia Vasquez has dealt with since her election to the board back in 2022, and what she will continue to deal with. She is one of only two council members with college degrees (she holds an MBA from Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois and a bachelor's degree in Philosophy from George Washington University), yet to her peers that background matters not. She was the only council member to work to organize Mission Viejo’s first-ever Pride event last year, and she was torn apart for it. She speaks up and speaks up and speaks up, and as a result in treated rudely, disrespectfully, crassly, dismissively. Hell, she’s actually a fiscal conservative. But do her colleagues appreciate such restraint? Nah, bro. They actually resent it.

Here is the final moment from the latest meeting, when the sweater/suit jacket-rocking Ruesch (a dude with two decades of involvement in the Boy Scouts of America) tries explaining the hypocrisy of it all …

It sucks.

It’s sad.

It’s depressing.

Yet Cynthia Vasquez keeps coming back, keeps enduring, keeps fighting for a morsel of sanity.

She is not merely a beacon of hope.

She is our Hero of the Year.

PS: Seriously, these people suck.

1. Who somehow once flew as a pilot at the Marine Corps Air Station, but now backs a president with five draft deferments who covered John McCain’s name on a vessel.

1.