Van Tran, Esq., 1st Vice President
Service area: Los Alamitos, Seal Beach and portions of Buena Park, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, and Westminster
Van Tran, Esq., was first appointed to the Orange County Water District (OCWD) Board of Directors in December 2022, representing the areas of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, and parts of Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Westminster, and Buena Park. He was elected in November 2024 and currently serves as 1st vice president.
Director Tran is an attorney and former elected official, having served as a member of the California State Assembly, representing District 68. Tran was the first Vietnamese American in the nation to serve in any state legislature. During his three terms of service between 2004 and 2010, he served as assistant minority leader as well as on several important policy committees including vice-chairman of the Assembly Committee on Environmental and Toxic Materials. Prior to serving in the Assembly, Tran was elected to the Garden Grove City Council with the highest number of votes in city history and became only the second Vietnamese American to be elected to office in the United States.
At the age of 10, Tran emigrated with his family to the U.S. from Saigon, Vietnam. He completed his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Irvine, and went on to earn both a master’s degree in public administration and a juris doctorate from Hamline University School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Tran, married with three children, resides in Westminster.