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December 1, 2021 Fair Political Practices Commission Enforcement Division 1102 Q Street, Suite 3000 Sacramento, CA 95811 Also sent via email to .c..oinn„I!.g ntj�fl .1I. ;oL2,g2y Santa Ana City Clerk 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 Also sent via email to .grainzirt:giroraiwg Santa Ana City Attorney 20 Civic Center Plaza Santa Ana, CA 92701 � Also sent via emailscary to.............................................................. R.................................................................................... Regarding: Complaint regarding Conflict of Interest by City Councilwoman Thai Phan To Whom it May Concern, On November 16, 2021, the Santa Ana City Council considered the first reading of the amendment to the HOO. I ttl :...; yp. utu.I „Lll. IWI C ✓IWIIWIJ C (Santa Ana Council Nov. 16 The video of the hearing can be found at , 2021-English, published by City of Santa Ana). At Hour 6, minute 35, Councilwoman Thai Phan dismisses an alleged conflict of interest of a City Planning Commissioner. A practicing City Attorney herself, Phan apparently doesn't understand that a conflict of interest is not excused based on an item being legislative rather than quasi-judicial. There is simply no premise for the concept that legislative acts do not have conflicts of interest and to argue such is to turn the entire Government Code section on its head. Councilmember Thai Phan is an attorney at the law firm of Rutan & Tucker which represents many residential developers directly affected by the HOO amendments. She has an un-waivable conflict of interest which prohibits her from participating on the HOO item. Conflicts of interest do not say that a decision maker with a conflict of interest can only participate if they vote against the interests of their clients, it is a total bar to participation. It would be unbelievable for Phan to argue that her firm's numerous developer clients would hypothetically have nothing to do with her cutting the fee to $0 to benefit her clients, but she appears to believe that voting to increase the fee (and adding a completely illegal condition of mandating "skilled and trained workforce" for all housing beginning in 2025) has no economic impact on her firm's clients. Attached to this complaint is a print out of the Rutan & Tucker website showing that Thai Phan is a member of the firm's "Builders and Land Developers Team" page. Also attached is a copy of her Statement of Economic Interests form. While it is arguable whether a lawyer may list ONLY their law firm as a source of income over $10,000 and thus shield their actual clients from disclosure to the public,