By Bayleigh Swanton

The Orange Leader

 

In an overflowing courtroom on July 19, 2019, John Gothia was sworn-in as the new Orange County Judge. The Court will approve Gothia’s bond at their court meeting the same day and Gothia will take his seat on the court next week. 

Showing much gratitude to his family and friends Gothia addresses the full courtroom with teary eyes and a grateful heart. 

“This is humbling,” Gothia said. “Seeing my family here and everyone here that means so much to me and all of you is such a humbling thing. I never thought I would ever be here, but let me tell you I embrace it, I love it. This is what I wanted to do, serve my community in any capacity.” 

Gothia sees a bright future for the County of Orange and is looking forward to working with the rest of the court to help expand and grow the community. 

“I think the reason I ran, and a lot of us ran to be commissioners, is to help grow our county,” Gothia said. “That way we help our citizens and our employees here. Raises come from finances and you get finances through growing the community. That way the tax burden is shared and it’s not increased on the people that are here. You bring new people in and it spreads that out. We want to continue to do that so we can take care of our citizens, and take care of our employees because our employees serve the citizens and we want to make sure there is a balance together. I think that is one of the biggest focus you will see from this court. To come together and make this a place that people want to be, and want to move to as individuals, because this is a great area.”

The other members of the court are looking-forward to working with Gothia in his new position. Commissioner of Precinct One Johnny Trahan believes Gothia is most suited for the position and expects great things from him in this new chair. 

“I’ve known [Gothia] for over forty years, Trahan said. “I’m very excited. He will be a great leader for us. The only regret I have, when I nominated him, I kind of stressed more that he was the only one that truly stepped up for nominations. But, if there were others, he would have without a doubt been my choice. I can’t think of anyone in the county that will do a better job than [Gothia] for this county.”

Gothia is most grateful for his family going into this position. 

“You can’t do it without [my family],” Gothia said. “They’re behind the scenes. My parents raised me right, I don’t know any other way to put it. They raised me with good morals, and good community. I’m trying to pass that onto my kids by being a good community servant and they see that. Sometimes, I’m not at home and I’m out doing stuff, and they support that. They understand that, and you can’t do that without them. [I am also grateful for] some of my closest friends, those are the people you need. But they are all considered family.”