Thai Viet Phan for Santa Ana City Council Ward 1

Thai Viet Phan

Mayor Pro Tem Thai Viet Phan is no stranger to breaking barriers. As a Vietnamese refugee and city attorney, Thai has spent her life overcoming the odds to achieve the American Dream, and she has channeled this lived experience into her passion for service. Thai has spent her first term as an unwavering advocate for the Vietnamese community by championing language accessibility, cultural humility, and housing affordability. She has a history of reaching across the aisle within our community, building a diverse coalition, and ensuring that all voices are represented at the table. She inspired us with a clear vision for her second term, expanding on her policy wins during her first term while investing in infrastructure for marginalized communities and fostering a local economy that attracts more Vietnamese businesses.

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Thai Viet Phan is a first-generation Vietnamese refugee and city attorney. Born in Thailand and raised in Santa Ana, she attended public schools and was the first in her family to go to college and eventually receive a Master of Public Policy and a Juris Doctor. Despite being disinterested in electoral politics most of her life, she realized that instead of speaking truth to power and letting other make decisions for her community, she would be a part of the power and uplift voices of residents who never felt heard. In 2020, Thai became the first Vietnamese American and first Asian woman elected to the Santa Ana City Council.

Thai has championed rent control and just-cause eviction protections for renters and mobile home park residents (triggering the Realtors and California Apartments Association to work with the Police Officers Association to try to recall her). She has fought for full-time staff who speak/read/write Vietnamese to ensure Santa Ana residents have someone at City Hall to answer their questions.

She has also strived to uphold the principles of good government by connecting interested groups to the proper departments, solving constituent issues, and collaborating with community groups organize the first-ever City-sponsored Tet Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival, highlighting Vietnamese arts, culture, and history.

She has also worked collaboratively with the Latino community to fight for noncitizen voting at the local level and championed immigrant rights and hazard pay for workers. Finally, she supported a Police Oversight Commission to ensure transparency and fairness in the City.