Pandemic Triggers Business Owner’s Candidacy for Laguna Niguel City Council

Jeff von Waldburg, a business owner and 22-year resident, is running in the upcoming Nov. 8 election to fill one of the open seats from terming out Laguna Niguel city councilors. Waldburg’s opponents are Melissa Caldwell, Ray Gennawey, Javad Mokhbery, Stephanie Oddo, and Stephanie Winstead.

Waldburg said he was close to moving out of state amid frustrations from the pandemic’s effect on his hometown but has now doubled down and wants to help lead the city.

“It felt like there was an opportunity for me to make an impact,” he told The Epoch Times.

Laguna Niguel City Council candidate Jeff von Waldburg in Irvine, Calif., on Sept. 13, 2022. (Jack Bradley/The Epoch Times)

Waldburg graduated from Princeton with a Philosophy major and is now the CEO of a software company, which helps aid veterans in applying for governmental assistance.

Temporary homeschooling was one solution he said he sought for his two daughters, as their school started enforcing mandatory vaccinations in response to COVID-19.

“I don’t like the government telling me what to do with my body and my kids,” he said.

Instead of moving away, Waldburg said he’s decided to step up to the plate in an effort to try and protect the community he has come to love over the years.

As the leader of his own software company, as well as spending many years coaching high school sports in the early 2000s, Waldburg said he has the experience needed to be a voice for residents in the city of roughly 65,000 people and will push back against policies that would negatively impact it.

Through his company, his software has been utilized by the Department of Veterans Affairs to bring around $7 billion into the pockets of veterans over the last couple of decades, he said.

“As someone who’s