MAYOR STEPHANIE KLOPFENSTEIN at the recent “State of the City” event (Tribune photo).

I’ve been to almost all of the “State of the City” events in Garden Grove since the event began, but I never saw anything like this before.

At the conclusion of her address at the Hyatt Regency Orange County, the audience got up and gave new Mayor Stephanie Klopfenstein a standing ovation.

Now, usually, mayors giving that speech get a polite 20 to 30 seconds of seated hand-clapping. But this time, I wouldn’t have been surprised if those attending hadn’t hoisted her onto their shoulders and carried her around the ball room like a football player who had just scored the winning touchdown in The Big Game.

It wasn’t so much what she said – there wasn’t much in the way of a big news announcement to make – but how she spoke and what she represented.

With a background in video, she’s a poised, engaging speaker with a smile in her voice.
Leading a minority-majority community, she stands as an example of how ethnic diversity need not mean ethnic division.

The fact that she made history – the first directly-elected female mayor in Garden Grove – compliments the fact that she’s a fourth generation resident who makes a bridge between the old days past and a possible future.

I can’t be sure exactly which policies she’ll pursue, but she’s off to a good-enough start to imagine that most voters will be doing some applauding before her term(s) is/are up.