Tam ‘Tom’ Nguyen, 22 years old as of the election, officially became Garden City’s youngest mayor to be elected since Rodney Hoffman in 1979. He was 25 when he started as a commissioner.
“I feel a lot of joy in knowing that the love of this community recognizes the strengths and qualities of young people,” Nguyen said. “I feel so called upon to give back to this community that has given so much to me.”
Nguyen was originally born in Vietnam before moving to the United States when he was two and a half years old. His father’s oldest brother sought asylum as a priest, which allowed his parents and Nguyen to emigrate into the United States.
“When we gathered around birthday parties or holidays, he would share these really emotional and physical trials of running away from communism and having soldiers shoot into the water just to get away from them,” Nguyen said. “For some reason, we landed here in Garden City, but I am grateful because I do not think my story could have happened anywhere else.”
Nguyen spent the majority of his life growing up in Garden City, attending St. Mary’s Catholic School and Horace Good Middle School before graduating from Garden City High School in 2021.
After graduation, Nguyen moved to Massachusetts to go to Thomas Aquinas College, before going back home after his father had a stroke to take care of him. Nguyen switched colleges, attending St. Joseph’s University through online classes.
“I studied philosophy and theology and even Latin as a minor,” Nguyen said. “When I came home to take care of my dad, I switched online to St Joseph’s University, where I got my bachelor’s degree in business administration.”
Nguyen’s first instances of getting involved with his community was through community service, cherishing the effort to serve the community and help out those in need.
“It occurred to me that the local government allows myself to commit to serving a community, but at the great scale, that being all of the citizens of Garden City,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen started campaigning for the position of city commissioner in August 2023. After a few months of campaigning, Nguyen was officially elected as the city’s commissioner.
“It is all about luck because you do all that work and you do not know until the night of the election whether or not you have achieved the goal,” Nguyen said.
After two years as city commissioner, Nguyen attended a meeting with other elected officials at the beginning of this year. This meeting appointed the new mayor for the year, and that is when Nguyen got elected as the city mayor, becoming the youngest mayor to serve Garden City.
“The mayor only has one year for his or her term,” Nguyen said. “So at the first meeting of the year, we reorganize and so the five of us vote and appoint a new mayor.”
Alongside work as the city commissioner and mayor, Nguyen is the administrator for St. Mary’s Catholic School, coordinator for LiveWell’s youth programs and runs his own photography business. He is also involved in contracting IT projects for other businesses.
In his free time, Nguyen likes to spend time with friends and playing games.
“People are going to think this is so cringy, but I have been such a fan of enjoying golf, playing pickleball and playing Minecraft manhunt,” Nguyen said.
As the youngest mayor, Nguyen is ready to serve and provide for the community that has given to him, with ambitious goals coming under his leadership.
