HA GIANG
Most residents probably don’t spend much time thinking about the Midway City Sanitary District — until the trash isn’t picked up, a sewer line backs up, or the monthly bill goes up.
Yet the small public agency performs some of the most basic services of everyday life for residents of Westminster and Midway City. Its five-member elected board oversees the district’s solid-waste and sewer operations, along with the budgets, infrastructure and long-term planning needed to keep those services running.
Mark Nguyen joined the board in 2021, when he was appointed to fill the remainder of a vacant term. He was elected to a full four-year term in 2022 and is now running again in the November 2026 election.
A software engineer specializing in database administration, Nguyen also worked in banking earlier in his career. During our conversation, he spoke at length about an area that has become a particular focus of his time on the board: the district’s finances and investment strategy. He also discussed keeping trash rates low, acquiring property for future expansion, maintaining aging sewer infrastructure, and navigating California’s increasingly complex waste and recycling requirements.
Some of those subjects can quickly disappear into the language of balance sheets, investment pools and state regulations. So I began with a simpler question: What exactly does a director of the Midway City Sanitary District do — and why should residents care who sits on that board?
Here is Ha Giang’s conversation with Mark Nguyen for Tôi Yêu Tiếng Nước Tôi magazine.
_____________
Ha Giang (TYTNT): Would you please tell us the position you are running for, what it is all about, and how it works?
MARK NGUYEN: I am rerunning for a second term as director of Midway City Sanitary District for the City of Westminster and Midway City in Orange County.
TYTNT: Can you tell me about that position?
MARK NGUYEN: There are five positions of director in the sanitary district. The sanitary district takes care of solid waste, which is trash, and the sewage system of two communities, Midway City and Westminster. We take care of the solid waste for the residents and businesses, mobile home parks and apartments. We also take care of all of the sewage system underneath both communities. The position is a representative of the people. There are five directors, and they basically represent about 100,000 people in both communities to carry out that mission: collect trash, keep the city clean, and handle sewage infrastructure.
TYTNT: It seems to me not a lot of people understand specifically what this position does. Can you give us some specific examples?
MARK NGUYEN: The first thing most people know is that we haul the trash.
TYTNT: Yes, but after they haul the trash from people’s houses, where does the trash go?
MARK NGUYEN: California has a mandate, Senate Bill 1383, that requires households and businesses to separate organic waste — trees, food leftovers, lawn and tree trimmings and other organic material — into the green container, and to separate recyclable material such as aluminum cans, paper, plastic and similar items. The rate of people separating trash is actually very good in our district, but there is always a small percentage who don’t separate it. That trash gets hauled to the landfill, which belongs to the County of Orange, and then people and machines separate the trash. Robots do some of the work — for example, detecting recyclable plastic bottles and picking them out — but human beings are still needed. Whatever can be buried in the landfill gets buried.
TYTNT: So those are organic materials, right?
MARK NGUYEN: Yes. Before, we were burying everything. SB 1383 asked people in California to separate the trash so that recyclable material can be recycled and we save landfill space.
The other side of what we take care of is the sewage system. Any time you flush the toilet or take a shower, the water goes down to the sewage system. We take care of its infrastructure. If there is a sewage spill, we take care of it. We do regular cleaning. We spray for roaches and rodents. If there is an infestation, we spray for it. If there is a blockage, we examine it with cameras, robots or even people going down there. We have pump stations throughout the sewage system in the two communities. Sewage basically uses gravity and flows downward, so if there is a need to pump sewage up or to a larger pipe, we do that and take care of those huge pumps. We also have trash truck stations, mechanics and trash truck drivers who provide the service.
Tina: Is the director a full-time position?
MARK NGUYEN: No, it’s a part-time position. We have two official public meetings a month, plus any closed sessions. Closed sessions usually involve negotiating with unions, lawsuits against us, or negotiations that are not public yet. Each public meeting could run from an hour to three hours, and we usually meet with staff before those meetings to go over the agenda and items. So about four to six meetings per month.
TYTNT: How big is Midway City Sanitary District’s budget?
MARK NGUYEN: The district’s budget is about $20 million to $30 million a year.
TYTNT: Does the district also keep a surplus or reserve fund?
We always have extra just in case there is a sewage spill or a truck breaks down. It’s reserve, but part of it is also operating income. I spearheaded an effort with my GM and the staff to diversify our investment portfolio. We diversified some of that money into higher-paying accounts, for example CAMP and California CLASS. We didn’t put the whole thing in it, but we diversified so that we get a better rate of return.
We have zero debt. We paid off our pension obligation. I have to commend the staff and the board of directors. We have done an outstanding job diversifying our portfolio and capturing opportunities when the market was up.
We have used the extra money to improve the sewage infrastructure. We expanded the headquarters — we doubled the headquarters in terms of the building — and we’ve done a lot of projects to improve the welfare of the community. At the same time, we have one of the lowest rates in terms of trash fees in the whole county.
TYTNT: How low is low?
MARK NGUYEN: We are at about $20.12a month.
TYTNT: That’s very low. Compared to Long Beach, for example, right?
MARK NGUYEN: Yes, compared to Long Beach or, let’s say, Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach, our rate is considerably lower.
TYTNT: You said the district is governed by five directors. Who oversees the directors, and who actually manages the district’s day-to-day operations?
MARK NGUYEN: The five directors are elected by the voters, so ultimately we’re accountable to the residents we represent. The Board sets policy and provides oversight for the district. The General Manager is hired by and reports to the Board, and he oversees the district’s day-to-day operations and staff.
TYTNT: How did you get involved with the district in 2021?
MARK NGUYEN: In 2018, I volunteered to be a planning commissioner in the City of Westminster. Then in 2021, one of the past directors passed away. She had about a year and a half left in her term, so they put out a request for anyone to apply. I applied and was appointed by the other four directors. At the end of 2022, I had to run for reelection.
TYTNT: So how many terms have you served?
MARK NGUYEN: I have served one term and then a year and a half as an appointment. This would be my second term.
TYTNT: What do you enjoy about being a director of the district? You obviously like it; that’s why you’re running for reelection.
MARK NGUYEN: I like the fact that I can make a difference. For example, I spearheaded the effort to diversify our financial portfolio and increase our balance sheet. The extra interest money we’ve earned, we put back into the community. We improved infrastructure and expanded and modernized our headquarters. I also spearheaded an effort to acquire real estate holdings for the district. Real estate — land and commercial buildings — in Orange County is very tough and very expensive. After two years, we just closed escrow on a piece of land, which we will use in the future to house more trash trucks or other equipment. We are still pursuing additional real estate holdings to expand our footprint because in the future we will need more space for additional equipment.
TYTNT: Would you please tell us about your background?
MARK NGUYEN: Professionally, I am a software engineer. I specialize in database administration.
TYTNT: How long have you been doing that?
MARK NGUYEN: I’ve been a software engineer for 25 years.
TYTNT: May I ask how old you are?
MARK NGUYEN: I am 56 years old.
TYTNT: Why should the people in Westminster and Midway City once again cast their votes for you?
MARK NGUYEN: Because I bring value to the district by looking ahead and really wanting to make the community a better place for everyone. I want to keep rates low, and it has shown. We have one of the lowest rates in the whole county. We have unprecedented excellent service. We recently won three awards: the District Transparency Certificate of Excellence, the Orange County Taxpayers Association Rose Award, and the SDRMA Innovation Award.
These kinds of are not by accident. We work hard with the staff to make sure we convey our purpose and what we want for the future: financial stability, zero debt and great service for the community. At the same time, we want to be sensitive to all the new rules and regulations that Sacramento hands down and to taking care of the environment.
TYTNT: If reelected, what is your goal for the next term?
MARK NGUYEN: My goal for the next term is to continue searching for more real estate holdings so that we can acquire more land or commercial buildings and have space to house additional equipment, such as trash trucks. I also want to continue the financial diversification of our portfolio so that we can continue to achieve strong financial stability. Most important is to keep rates low and affordable for the whole community.
TYTNT: I find it interesting that your background is software engineering, and yet your contribution to the district is more in financial investment. How do you explain that?
MARK NGUYEN: Before I went into software engineering, I actually was a banker right out of college, so I worked in the banking industry for a number of years before I got into software engineering.
TYTNT: We’ve talked a lot about numbers, trash and sewer lines. But there’s another side of you—you love writing poetry, and I have read some of your very reflective poems. What does poetry mean to you?
MARK NGUYEN: Poetry is a medium for me to express my creative side, but it is also much more than that. It is a place where my emotions can breathe freely, where love, longing, grief, memory, and hope can find their own language. Through poetry, I am able to give shape to feelings that are often too deep or too quiet to explain in ordinary words. My poems allow me to preserve moments before they disappear into memory: a walk by the sea, a cup of tea, the sound of rain, the ache of absence, the tenderness of someone’s gaze, or the enduring love I carry for those who are no longer physically near me. Poetry becomes a vessel for remembering, for healing, and for honoring what has touched my heart. It is also a way for me to search inward. Many of my poems ask questions about identity, time, the soul, and what it means to love without possession or expectation. In writing, I am not only creating; I am discovering parts of myself that may have been hidden, waiting, or sleeping beneath my name. To me, poetry is both refuge and revelation. It gives me a sacred space to transform silence into meaning, sorrow into beauty, and fleeting moments into something lasting. Through poetry, I do not simply describe life — I listen to it, feel it deeply, and offer it back in words.
