CAMPAIGN EVENT held on June 24 in front of Westminster City Hall.

The campaigning for the Nov. 8 general election has barely begun and already Westminster has a controversy.

A special meeting of the City Council will be held on Friday with several topics, the last of which is titled “Circumstances Related to Free Speech and Press Conference Held June 24, 2022.”

That’s an apparent reference to a campaign event held on the footsteps of Westminster City Hall last Friday touting the mayoral campaign of Councilmember Chi Charlie Nguyen.

An image provided to The Tribune shows a campaign sign stretched across part of the building, a lectern and microphone with a “Chi Charlie Nguyen” legend on its front. Nguyen appears to be speaking at the lectern.

The event has raised the issue of whether the press conference and related signage on city property violates city ordinances or state campaign laws.

Westminster’s current mayor Tri Ta is running for the 70th State Assembly seat. In the state’s current “top two” primary system, the candidates that receive the most and second-most votes in June face off in November, regardless of political party.

The front runner is Garden Grove Councilmember Diedre Tu-Ha Nguyen – the only Democrat in the race – with 38.47 percent of the vote. Ta split the Republican vote with four other members of his party, but finished on top with 22.22 percent.

If voters in November follow party affiliations, Ta would be the favorite to win that election.

Friday’s special meeting will commence with a closed session at noon, with the open session scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m.