"This is not about the Asian community alone." Vesna Nuon, who lost his City Council re-election bid 

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LOWELL -- Disappointing. Sad. Devastating.
Those are some of the words members of the Cambodian-American community have used to describe the reality there will be no one of Cambodian descent -- or any minority -- on the Lowell City Council come 2014.
City Councilor Vesna Nuon was defeated in his bid for re-election, finishing 15th earlier this month, while the other Cambodian in the race, second-time candidate Van Pech, finished 16th out of 18 candidates.
Neither will the School Committee or Greater Lowell Technical High School Committee have a member who is Cambodian-American, though Cambodians make up the majority of the 20 percent of the city's population that is Asian.
"We need new leaders who can clearly say right is right and wrong is wrong." Sam Meas, Khmer Cultural Council board member 

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"I think it is sad we won't have representation on the council or the other boards," said Rithy Uong, the first Cambodian-American in the U.S. to be elected to a City Council.
"The results are disappointing to the community at large, not just the Cambodian community," said Vong Ros, former executive director of the nonprofit Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association, known as the CMAA, in Lowell. "We always boast about the city's diversity, but at the government level we don't have representation that reflects our population."
But while disheartened by the Nov. 5 election results, Cambodian leaders say they hope to use them to galvanize the community and work to develop future leaders. Community leaders also said they now have the opportunity to consider other steps to achieve more success in local political campaigns.
Uong, who served on the City Council from 1999 to 2005, said candidates of Cambodian descent need to be able to demonstrate that they are not solely focused on issues that impact the Cambodian community.
"We need to focus on issues the larger community is focused on and be part of the process to work on them," said Uong, who experienced electoral success in precincts in the Belvidere and Upper Highlands neighborhoods made up of largely white, and more affluent, voters.
"It is important to develop good Cambodian leaders who have a voice and are active in the community." Bopha Malone, CMAA board chairwoman 

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Uong also said Cambodians seeking to hold positions of power need to be more visible, and try to serve on boards and commissions before seeking office to boost their public profiles.
To improve their electoral results, candidates from minority communities need to consult people who have expertise in campaign messaging and voter outreach, said Ros. The candidates also need to find ways to raise the funds necessary to advertise their reasons for running to the entire city.
"You can't just campaign to Cambodians because as a city councilor you need to represent the whole city of Lowell," Ros said.
Ros said it's important for the city to have minority voices at the table when setting policies for the entire city.
"We need to focus on issues the larger community is focused on and be part of the process to work on them." Rithy Uong, former Lowell city councilor 

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A leadership that reflects Lowell's minority heritage could also boost efforts to attract a wider variety of entrepreneurs to the city, he said.
According to the 2010 census, 21,513 of the city's 106,519 residents are Asian. Some officials believe that the number of Southeast Asians in the city is much higher.
Sam Meas, a former congressional candidate in Greater Lowell who is Cambodian-American, called the city election results "a devastating blow."
Meas said he thinks controversies in Buddhist temples in both Lowell and Chelmsford hurt the electoral chances of Nuon and Pech because the issues divided the community.
In Lowell, Meas and others have called for a full accounting of the funds raised by the Community of
"To have successful organization and cooperation, there needs to be trust ... and transparency in activities." Kevin Coughlin, CMAA board member 

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Khmer Buddhist Monks to build a $10 million temple in Pawtucketville. Also, a woman helping lead the temple effort has sued Meas and four others alleging her privacy was violated when the men allegedly played a role in producing and distributing a tape of her allegedly having sex with a Buddhist monk.
At the Trairatanaram Temple in North Chelmsford, the facility is divided between upstairs and downstairs factions who have engaged in a long-running legal dispute concerning control and ownership of the temple. Meas said he believes solving those issues, especially at the Chelmsford site, could help unite Cambodians, who make up a large majority of temple attendees. 
"Once the temple issue is resolved, a lot can be done in terms of organizing the community and developing new leaders," said Meas, the first Cambodian-American to run for Congress.
The Cambodian community also needs leaders who will not tolerate wrongdoing, said Meas, adding that will help those leaders connect more with the broader community.
"We need new leaders who can clearly say right is right and wrong is wrong," said Meas, a board member of the local Khmer Cultural Council.
Kevin Coughlin served on the CMAA board for six years, most recently as president for two years. He said the last year has been difficult, because issues of disharmony and distrust have become more public. The CMAA is developing a clear structure to help the community advance, where there was no clear plan in the past, he said.
"Because of the lack of structure it has instigated a lot of mistrust and miscommunication," Coughlin said. "To have successful organization and cooperation, there needs to be trust, a plan, and transparency in activities."
Coughlin said the community also needs to stay focused on building the next generation of community and civic leaders. He sees two distinct groups that warrant attention: College students and recent college graduates ages 20 to 25, and older college graduates 28 to 35.
"Both of these groups together, the younger group who has to make a commitment, and the older group who has to recommit in some cases after being disconnected, are going to be the force who make the changes in the community," Coughlin said.
Efforts to groom the next leaders in the local Cambodian community are already under way, said Coughlin and CMAA Executive Director Rasy An.

An points to the CMAA's young professionals program, in which both young professionals and college students are mentored, as an example. The program recently undertook the "Dreaming Khmer Project" in which young adults envisioned their hopes and goals, rather than focusing on the past.
"Going forward, I think it is important to develop good Cambodian leaders who have a voice and are active in the community," said Bopha Malone, the new CMAA board chair and a branch relationship manager at Enterprise Bank.
However, An and others acknowledge it will take a lot of hard work and patience to see the goals of the community become a reality.
"It is hard to get people to think long term because they want instant gratification," An said.
An said a decline in funding has limited what the CMAA can do. The CMAA informed people who came to seek services about registering to vote, but did not actively reach out to the community at large.
An said voter education to the Cambodian community is key, especially among older Cambodians. Many older Cambodians escaped from the Khmer Rouge, so they are more used to a climate where people could be executed for voicing their opinions, said An.
Nuon was first elected to the City Council in 2011, after unsuccessfully seeking a School Committee seat. In the 2013 election, Nuon experienced success in the Acre and parts of the Highlands, and finished first in eight precincts. But he won low-voting precincts and fared very poorly in vote-rich Belvidere.
His 15th place finish was a significant drop from his seventh- place finish in the 2011 general election. He declined to discuss what he believed contributed to his poor finish this year. Observers said Nuon was hurt by his failure to keep a rental property he owns in the city up to code, which resulted in the city declaring it unsafe for human habitation just before to the election. Nuon also committed apparent violations of campaign-finance law.
Bopha Peou, a Cambodian-American, finished a distant third in a three-way race for two four-year seats on the Greater Lowell Tech Committee.
Nuon said he would like to sit down with other community leaders to discuss what can be done to make sure Lowell's minority communities have representation on the council, though he said he would like a broader conversation.
"This is not about the Asian community alone, the whole community needs to take an honest look at ourselves," said Nuon. "We can't just say this is something the Asian community needs to do."
City Councilor Rita Mercier, who has topped the ticket in nine straight elections, said it is unfortunate that there are no minorities on the City Council, but the body as always will work to represent all the different ethnic groups in the city.
"I don't think there is a barrier there," Mercier said. "We will do the best we can."
Follow Lyle Moran on Twitter and Tout @lylemoran.