The Westminster City Council majority this week censured Councilmember Amy Phan West for “unacceptable conduct.”
The council voted 3-2 on Wednesday night, Aug. 14, in favor of the censure with Phan West and Councilmember NamQuan Nguyen opposed.
“You can censure me, that’s fine. Bring it on, I welcome it,” Phan West said to her colleagues before the vote.
Talk of making a formal declaration of disapproval first arose during the council’s June 12 meeting, when Councilmember Kimberly Ho, supported by Councilmember Carlos Manzo, submitted the request for the council to adopt a resolution of censure against Phan West, the resolution outlining 20 alleged misdeeds, ranging from Pham West texting while on the dais to berating members of the public. It was later expanded to add nine more allegations, including wasting taxpayer money and trespassing in a construction zone.
This is not the first time a fractured council has called for censure in Westminster; multiple censure votes have been taken in the last couple of years.
After Phan West was formally censured at Wednesday’s meeting, Councilmember Nguyen, seconded by Phan West, made a motion for the entire resolution of censure to be read.
“Why don’t you put it into the public record, so the public can know what you’re censuring me for,” said Phan West, during the heated debate. “Because it’s going to be really ridiculous, so please read out what you’re censuring me for, so the people can look at this and everyone can laugh.”
Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen argued the council’s time could be better spent.
“We have been doing this for a while, and today we have a lot of items we need to discuss. We need to move on,” he said.
The entire resolution of censure was read aloud.
Closing the discussion of censure, Mayor Nguyen voiced the rationale behind his vote, saying, “Understand that this action is necessary at this time.”
“However, I believe in your potential Councilmember West, for positive change,” he added. “And I am committed to reversing this decision in the future if we can work together toward improvements.”
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