When Hong L. Net and Vesna Nuon took their oaths as city

When Hong L. Net and Vesna Nuon took their oaths as city councilors this week, it marked the official start of their tenures as municipal officials but also a defining moment for the region’s Cambodian-American community.

Net, who won a Lynn City Council seat last November, and Nuon, who earned a seat on the Lowell City Council, are believed to be the second and third Cambodian-Americans in the country to be elected to city councils.

Rithy Uong, whose election to the Lowell City Council in 1999 made him the first, said he is not aware of any other Cambodian-Americans nationally who have won council seats.

Although still elated at their electoral wins, Net and Nuon – both Cambodian natives – are looking ahead to their new role as leaders of their adopted cities.

“I want to unite the city,” said Net, who was elected to an at-large seat as a first-time candidate. “There are some communities that still feel disconnected and isolated,” referring in particular to new immigrant and refugee populations. “I want them to feel comfortable, to feel part of the city. I want them to work with us to build the city.”

He said a united city could work to improve public safety and education, which in turn would help draw businesses to Lynn.

Nuon, who finished seventh in a 17-way race for nine seats in Lowell, said his priorities as councilor will include bringing people together to “proactively address crime and violence in our city.”

Other goals include attracting more Asian-American businesses to the downtown – most are now clustered in Asian neighborhoods – and to spur the city to hire local young people, particularly from immigrant families.

Uong, who was elected three times to the council and is president of the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association in Lowell, said the only other Cambodian-American he knows of winning political office in the country is Daniel Lam, who served three terms as a Randolph selectman starting in 1997.

The elections of Nuon and Net, Uong said, are an important step forward in bringing greater diversity to the governments in Lynn and Lowell.

“I think it speaks a lot about the openness of voters, that they are giving us a chance to be part of the government and to serve the country that we love and respect,” he said.

The 2010 US Census counted 13,319 Cambodian-Americans in Lowell, 21,513 Asian-Americans altogether, according to the website of the Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. In Lynn, the census counted 3,489 Cambodian-Americans, 6,292 Asian-Americans altogether.

http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-05/north/30587808_1_cambodian-americans-local-cambodian-leaders-asian-american-populations