This November, West Anaheim voters in District 1 will choose between two city council candidates:
Ryan Balius: a long-time community volunteer who has relentlessly advocated for more resources for city parks as a member of the Parks and Recreation Commission.
READ: Anaheim: Parks & Recreation Commissioner Ryan Balius Running For City Council From District 1
Ojaala Ahmad: a radical activist who animating political passion is antipathy for Israel and strong sympathy for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s brutal war against the Jewish State.
READ: Anaheim: Anti-Israel Radical Running For City Council
District 1 is an open seat, since incumbent Councilman Jose Diaz declined to seek re-election.
Balius has served on the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission since 2016, and is currently its chairman. He has been active for years in the West Anaheim Neighborhood Development Council. He says his focus as a councilman will be enhancing public safety, spurring greater economic development in West Anaheim and continuing the revitalization of the Beach Boulevard corridor, reducing homelessness and improving street and traffic safety.
In 2020, Balius challenged then-Councilmember Denise Barnes when she ran for re-election. He finished third in a three-way race won by the current incumbent, Councilman Jose Diaz – who has endorsed Balius to succeed him.
Balius also has the support of James Vanderbuilt, a former Anaheim councilman and former member of the Anaheim Elementary School District Board of Education.
Ahmad served from 2017 to 2019 on the city’s Housing & Community Development Commission, to which she was appointed by former Councilman Jose F. Moreno. Little is known about Ahmad’s policy priorities as a potential councilmember. Her social media is crammed with posts excoriating Israel, downplaying Hamas’ October 7 massacre of 1,200 innocent Israelis – even comparing Israeli soldiers to Nazis and praising Hamas hostage takers.
There are 26,052 voters in District 1. While it leans Democrat in terms of partisan registration, District 1 voters elected a Republican in 2020 (Denise Barnes) and a conservative independent in 2020 (Jose Diaz). Barnes change her party registration to Democrat midway through 2020 and was defeated for re-election.
