Candidate for
Member, City Council; City of Laguna Hills

Jim Tsutsui Jr. was born in Los Angeles, California in 1952 to his parents Jim and Jeanne. Jim and Jeanne were both Japanese-American citizens who met as high school students in the Japanese-American Relocation (Internment) Camp in Denson, Arkansas during World War II. They were married and next, Jim Sr. was released to enlist and serve in the United States Army and was a translator when the Allies occupied Japan at the close of WWII. At the end of the war, Jim and Jeanne settled down in Los Angeles, California, Jim Sr. working as a landscape gardener. Jim and Jeanne raised Jim Jr. to be proud of his Japanese heritage, but at the same time to be prouder of the fact that he was a citizen of the United States of America. The family moved to Orange County in 1961.

Jim was raised with his younger brother Bill, and younger sister, JoAnne. As both parents started working at a restaurant they had to work at night. Jim was left with the responsibility of being the babysitter during his high school years.

Graduating from high school in 1970, Jim was accepted to the University of California, Irvine. He paid his way through college working as an art instructor and waiter. Graduating with double Bachelor degrees in biological science and fine art, Jim explored having a career in medical illustration. Dissatisfied with this career choice, Jim continued to support himself as an art instructor for children for the City of Costa Mesa Park & Recreation Department and waiting tables. His love for the arts still inspired him, so Jim entered graduate school at UCI earning a master's degree in Studio Art. As a teaching assistant, Jim taught drawing classes at UCI for two quarters, and later rented an artist studio in downtown Santa Ana, living with a colony of local artists. Jim's thesis show at UCI received high praise from the tenured faculty and fellow students.

Upon graduation in 1979, Jim made a dramatic change in his life. He started working as a cost estimator for the contractor his mother worked for as an office manager. He found his old dreams of working with rolled plans and construction sites was still strong. He loved doing work that constructed real things in the real world. He became chief estimator and started to earn a good living. It was at this time that Jim started dating his future wife, Vicki. They fell in love and were married in 1980. Jim started taking leadership programs and started working on his goal of being a leader at work and in his community. Jim started to volunteer his time, first as a production assistant, then as a team leader for an international training and development organization. As he advanced in his volunteer work, he also advanced in his professional work. He was soon hired by a civil engineering firm as a cost estimator. Jim and Vicki's first child, Christopher, was born in 1982. Next Jim became a cost engineer designing the infrastructure for hundreds of thousands of acres of residential, commercial, and industrial development. He was promoted to department manager for the small civil engineering firm of Hunsaker & Associates, Inc. When Jim arrived it was a small company of around 25 employees. The company rapidly grew into a large company employing hundreds employees in several cities. Jim learned how to train and manage people such that they were highly successful and proficient in cost engineering. Jim bought his first home in Laguna Hills in 1984. Jim's daughter, Alison, was born in 1988. Jim also continued his volunteering as a program leader and team leader for several organizations. He volunteered with an End Hunger Organization, a Youth-At-Risk organization that was one of George Bush's 1000-points-of-light programs. Jim volunteered for a friend who campaigned for Congress twice. He was a leader with an educational corporation, and vice president of the board of directors of the United Nations Association of O.C. For 26 continuous years Jim served as a center leader for an international training and development organization. For the last five years, Jim was on the board of directors for the Woodwinds Homeowner Association and is currently president.

Jim's diverse experience as a father, a community volunteer, a community leader, cost estimator, and his extensive training in biological science, the fine arts, and civil engineering has finally come together to make him the man he is today.

Having a life that is working for him and his family, Jim is fully supported and prepared to dedicate his life to contributing to the city where he has lived for the last 20 years. With the encouragement of his wife, Vicki, Jim applied and was nominated by his neighbors to run for the office of city council for Laguna Hills. To Jim, this is his next exciting volunteer agreement.