When the Westminster City Council voted last month to strip Councilmember Amy Phan West of her speaking role at city-sponsored ceremonial events, it looked like a routine ethics enforcement action. On closer inspection, it looks like something else entirely.
The man who cast the deciding vote to silence Phan West at public events: Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen — who is himself a declared candidate for the same congressional seat she is seeking.
Both Nguyen and Phan West are running for California's 45th Congressional District in 2026, competing to unseat Democratic incumbent Rep. Derek Tran. Nguyen has filed with the FEC, operates a campaign website at charlieforcongress.com, and has accumulated over $362,000 in cash on hand. Phan West, who announced her candidacy in September 2025, is also actively fundraising in the same race.
The vote at the February 25 Westminster City Council meeting passed three to two: Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen, Vice Mayor Mark Nguyen — the Mayor's brother-in-law — and Councilmember Carlos Manzo voted to impose the ban. Phan West and her ally Councilmember NamQuan Nguyen voted against.
Led by the Man She Filed a Police Report Against
The motion was brought by Manzo, who accused Phan West of using the city's Tet parade to announce her congressional candidacy — framing it as a violation of California Government Code restrictions on using government resources for campaign activity. He alleged she exceeded her speaking time and distributed campaign flyers despite written warnings from the city attorney.
What Manzo did not mention: in May 2024, Phan West filed a police report against him.
At a Westminster City Council special meeting that year, Phan West accused Manzo of physically blocking her exit from the dais in what she described as an intimidating confrontation. She displayed a screenshot of the incident at a subsequent council meeting. Manzo denied the accusation. No charges were filed.
Nearly two years later, it is Manzo at the podium leading the action that removes his accuser from the public stages she needs for a congressional campaign.
A Technical Violation — or a Pretext?
The conduct that triggered the ban deserves scrutiny. By multiple accounts, what Phan West did at the Tet parade was mention, while introducing herself, that she is a candidate for Congress. She did not deliver a campaign speech. She did not solicit donations. She identified herself — as candidates routinely do — and moved on.
That a sitting councilmember running for federal office would briefly identify herself as such while introducing herself at a community event is, at most, a de minimis technical violation. The question reasonable people are now asking is whether the weeks of council time, the city attorney memos, and the formal vote stripping her of speaking rights are proportionate responses to that conduct — or whether they amount to a coordinated campaign operation disguised as ethics enforcement.
The mayor of the city, who stands to benefit directly from limiting his congressional opponent's public profile, participated in and voted for that enforcement action without disclosing his conflict of interest.
The Lineup
Three votes in favor of the ban:
- Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen — running against Phan West for Congress in CA-45
- Vice Mayor Mark Nguyen — the Mayor's brother-in-law
- Councilmember Carlos Manzo — the subject of a 2024 police report filed by Phan West
One council meeting. Three conflicts of interest. One vote.