Some Westminster residents are hoping to get a chance to sound off in court today against City Councilwoman Amy Phan West as she faces a misdemeanor charge for attempting to bribe parking enforcement officers to stop her husband’s car from getting towed.
[Read: Westminster City Councilwoman Charged With Attempting to Bribe Parking Officer]
Phan West was first charged in January. She has repeatedly denied the allegations to the Voice of OC.
Today’s 8:30 a.m. hearing at the Westminster courthouse comes months after Phan West pleaded not guilty in February to attempting to bribe parking enforcement officers in 2023, to stop her husband’s car from being towed.
[Read: Westminster City Councilwoman Pleads Not Guilty to Attempting to Bribe Parking Officers]
Since then, Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman with the OC District Attorney’s office, said Phan West has requested to take part in a court-ordered misdemeanor diversion program.
“The motion the defense filed in support of court-ordered diversion is confidential,” said Edds in a July 16 email.
Randy Collins, Phan West’s attorney, said in a Friday email the councilwoman’s request for the diversion program, would dismiss her charges without a guilty plea or conviction of any kind.
He also said his client maintains her innocence but wants to be cautious with the taxpayers’ dime.
“If granted, this resolution would provide a dismissal of all charges without the need for a jury trial, which would cost taxpayers thousands of dollars,” Collins wrote.
“Councilwoman West has maintained her innocence throughout the process and believes this legal remedy represents an appropriate means of procuring a dismissal while being conscientious of taxpayer dollars.”
Terry Rains, a Westminster resident, said residents like her are against the diversion program and want Phan West to enter a guilty plea.
“We just don’t want this case completely dismissed and erased from the record,” she said in a Thursday phone interview.
“It’s not a parking issue, it’s a public corruption issue.”
Collins said residents against the judge ruling in favor of a diversion program don’t know all the facts.
“Those residents who are against the Court granting Judicial Diversion are not privy to all the facts in this case, and may consider deferring to the Prosecution who is privy to the full discovery and has elected not to oppose the motion,” he wrote.
Last month, OC Superior Court Judge Scott Van Camp set a hearing for the bribery case for Aug. 11 at the Westminster Court House to allow residents to weigh in on the charges brought against Phan West.
Van Camp opted to set a hearing instead of moving forward with the court-ordered diversion program after residents showed up to the courtroom and submitted a statement with dozens of signatures detailing how Phan West’s actions have impacted them.
“A diversion program, followed by total dismissal of this case, would be a grave miscarriage of justice and an insult to the residents of Westminster,” reads the statement submitted to the judge.
“It would effectively erase the record of a serious ethical breach by an elected official, sending a dangerous message that accountability does not apply equally to all, especially not to those in positions of authority.”
The statement also said the councilwoman’s behavior has been a pattern pointing to similar incidents in 2023 involving a recreational vehicle owned by Phan West’s husband.
“This is a pattern of behavior. That’s why we the residents are saying no more,” said Rains, who put the statement together. “She’s already gotten away with things that you and I and anybody else would not get away with.”
According to Rains, the statement has gotten over 100 signatures as of Thursday.
In the midst of her legal troubles, a campaign committee dubbed “Councilwoman Phan West Legal Defense Fund” has raised over $5,000 as of June 30, according to a campaign disclosure form.
The law offices of Randy Collins, Phan West’s attorney in the bribery case, has been paid $4,000 out of that fund, according to disclosures.
It is not the only court case against Phan West.
Her city council colleagues last year called on a superior court judge to rein in Phan West along with fellow Councilmember NamQuan Nguyen for repeatedly disrupting city council meetings and violating the council’s decorum rules.
[Read: Westminster Asks a Judge to Help Rein in Unruly City Council Meetings]
Earlier this year, Nguyen received a default judgment against him in the case for failing to respond to the lawsuit with a judge ruling he can’t speak at council meetings without first being recognized by the mayor and was ordered to pay over $200 to the city.
“NamQuan Nguyen is not allowed to speak at Westminster City Council meetings when the Mayor determines he does not have the floor and he may be lawfully removed from Westminster City Council meetings for doing so,” reads a May 8 ruling against Nguyen.
Nguyen did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Rains said residents have been harmed by the council meeting disruptions and the judgement against Nguyen didn’t go far enough.
“It costs us extra resources. We had to sit through hours and hours and hours and still do of disruptive behavior by those two council members,” she said.
“That default judgment, in my opinion, non attorney opinion should have included prorated attorney fees that the city incurred up until that date.”
In a Wednesday text message, Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen said he couldn’t speak on the case.
“Unfortunately, as the matter is still ongoing, I am not at liberty to discuss it in detail at this time,” he wrote.
The complaint was filed a couple months after Phan West’s council colleagues censured her for a laundry list of allegations that includes disclosing confidential information, publicly berating residents, disparaging staff, lying and trespassing.
[Read: Westminster City Council Censures Amy Phan West Over Laundry List of Allegations]
On July 29, another Superior Court Judge, Gassia Apkarian, issued a tentative ruling denying a motion by Phan West to throw out the case, arguing she has a right to freedom of speech and the mayor can’t stop her from speaking even when she doesn’t have the floor.
Apakarian wrote in her ruling that it wasn’t prior restraint for the council to stop her from interrupting, noting that officials each have an opportunity to speak.
“The videos submitted by the city show numerous instances where it appears that (Phan West) is speaking out of turn, despite warnings from the Mayor,” reads Apkarian’s July 29 tentative ruling.
“(Phan West) may not speak at City Council when the mayor determines she does not have the floor is content neutral and does not seek to restrain any speech by defendant based on her expression, past or future. Instead, it seeks to restrain her from speaking out of turn during meetings based on her prior failures to comply with the rules.”
Ajit Thind, a lawyer representing the city, told a reporter at the court house he would not comment on the matter.
Ignacio Lazo, the lawyer who appeared on behalf of Phan West at the July 29 hearing, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Apkarian set a trial date for the case on July 27, 2026 at the Santa Ana Courthouse at 9:30 a.m.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.