Tony Lam

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Tony Lam, was the first Vietnamese American to be elected to public office in the United States, in the City of Westminster, California. On August 11, 1998, city councilman Tony Lam announced his plan to run for re-election for the city council of Westminster, California. He served 10 years and 3 terms on the Westminster City Council.

A resident of Westminster since 1978, Tony is a husband, father of six and grandfather of twelve. He is the owner of a successful local restaurant and an immigrant who has achieved the American dream. He and his wife have six children, among them a chef, two dentists and a marine biologist, and twelve grandchildren.

Lam’s career in public service actually began in 1975, when he worked 48 hours straight to help evacuate terrified Vietnamese during the fall of Saigon. He escaped, coming to California, where he toiled morning to night running refugee camps. He then opened a restaurant, serving shrimp cakes and crab dumplings, while learning to navigate local laws.

After he started his initial term, invitations poured in for Lam to speak at conferences around the country. His victory led to profiles in the New York Times as well as newspapers in Southeast Asia. He traveled to Harvard University to talk about the future of immigrants in politics.

In 1999, Mr Lam experienced the direct brunt of anti-communist sentiments in the Little Saigon community after the Hi-Tek protests. After a video-store owner put up a display of communist icons, tens of thousand of refugees demonstrated. Lam refused to join them, citing the city attorney’s advice to stay neutral. Feeling betrayed, people picketed his restaurant, burned him in effigy and called him a ‘communist sympathizer’. His business lost customers who were taunted and whose tires were slashed. Lam responded by spending as much as $100,000 in legal fees suing for financial losses and emotional pain.

In 2000, he underwent quintuple heart-bypass surgery. On August 9, 2002, Tony Lam announced his retirement from public life. In an article in the Orange County Register, he emotionally remarked “ I have done my best:”

He is currently serving as general manager of a $6 million soybean and tofu factory owned by his family after selling his restaurant to a niece. As well, he and his wife own a Lee's Sandwiches franchise along with his son-in-law and family friend on Beach Boulevard, Westminster.