The Orange County District Attorney’s office is charging former Irvine Councilwoman Tammy Kim with 10 felonies and one misdemeanor related to her council service, 2024 mayoral campaign and abortive candidacy for a 2025 council special election.
“Kim has been charged with three felony counts of perjury by declaration, three felony counts of filing a false document, one felony count of a public official aiding the illegal casting of votes, one felony count of filing false nomination papers, one felony count of knowing registration of someone not entitled to vote, one felony count of voter registration fraud, and one misdemeanor count of making a false statement,” the OCDA’s office announced in a press release.
Kim, a Democrat, faces up to 10 years and eight months in state prison and six months in county jail if convicted on all counts.
OC Independent has been comprehensively covering the scandal since January.
READ: Irvine: Is Tammy Kim Faking Her Residency In Special Election for Vacant Council Seat?
Kim registered to vote at two different addresses in less than a year – both of them in council District 5. Kim, however, has been a long time resident of District 3, where she lives with her adult son in a condo she owns.
In May 2024, Kim re-registered at the home of a family she knew through a Korean teaching course, on Alaris Aisle in District 5. According to the OC District Attorney, the family did not know Kim had done so. Whenever a citizen registers to vote, they swear under penalty of perjury that they live at the address on their voter registration.
Kim filed as a candidate for mayor of Irvine using that address and cast her ballot from that address.
“Councilmember Kim, who was running for Irvine mayor, voted in the November 5, 2024, election in Irvine’s City Council District 5. She was a seated councilmember at the time and did not live in District 5 despite casting her vote in that District’s election. Voters must live in the district in which elections they vote,” says the OCDA press release. “Councilmember Kim lost her bid for Irvine mayor in the November 4, 2024 election.”
In December 2024, Kim filed nomination papers to run in a special election for now-vacant District 5 city council seat, using the same Alaris Aisle address – despite still living in her Cartier Aisle condo in District 3. The occupants of the Alaris address included a man she met through a Korean teaching class, his wife, and their two children. Kim is accused of using the Alaris address on official documents without the family’s knowledge.
Around this time, Irvine resident Ron Scolesdang hired a private investigator to look into the truth of Kim’s residency. The firm surveilled both her condo at 136 Cartier Aisle in District 3 and the residence at 19 Alaris Aisle in District 5 where she was claiming to live.
The investigators found no sign Kim lived where she claimed – and considerable evidence to the contrary.
During an evening visit to Kim’s Cartier Aisle condo on January 6, investigators found a large cardboard package at the doorstep, addressed to Tammy Kim. They also noted that newspapers that had been on the doorstep that morning were gone.
Th next day, the man who lived next door to 19 Alaris Aisle – Kim’s claimed residence – said that condo was occupied by a “nice Asian family, a husband/wife in their mid-40s, an older daughter and younger son.” Tammy Kim is single and has an adult son.
On January 9, investigators spoke with Ju Sun Park – the wife/mother who lived at 19 Alaris Aisle – and her teenage daughter as they left their condo.
“Ju Sun Park and daughter advised they have lived in #19 Alaris Aisle for 8 years, along with her husband, Do
Hyuk Kwon, and her son. No one else lives with them and they have not and do not rent rooms to anyone; it is only their family in 19 Alaris Aisle,” the report states.
According to the lawsuit, Kim soon got wind that an investigator was looking into the validity of her residence claims; Ju Sun Park’s husband is apparently on the board of directors of the Korean American Center – of which Kim is the managing director. She rented a room that was being advertised on Craigslist at 44 Willowrun.
“On January 10, 2024, Kim is accused of putting a $400 deposit on a room for rent at a home on Willowrun, which is located in District 5, after answering a Craigslist ad. She is accused of changing her California driver’s registration to that address that same day. A week later Kim is accused of filing new nomination paperwork reflecting the Willowrun address in District 5,” states the OCDA’s press release.
On January 13 – four days after investigators established she did not live at 19 Alaris Aisle – Kim asked the Irvine City Clerk for new nomination papers, according to the lawsuit:
“KIM thereafter hurriedly asked the Irvine City Clerk to re-issue nomination papers at the 44 Willowrun address and re-registered to vote from that address, but as recently as Saturday January 25 was still returning to the 136 Cartier Aisle address, evidence that this continues to be her domicile as defined by the code and caselaw.”
In January of this year, Irvine resident Ron Scolesdang petitioned the Irvine City Council to block Kim from the special election ballot, alleging she is faking her residency, backing up his contention with a damning report by a private investigator that undermines Kim’s claims that she lives in District 5.
Kim’s candidacy quickly collapsed under the resulting scrutiny. Councilman William Go removed her from the city’s Finance Commission, only two months after appointing her. She abruptly canceled a campaign fundraiser.
The case went to trial, at which her attorney – Tustin Councilman Lee Fink – based her defense on the fact that she had sworn, under penalty of perjury, that she really did live at Alaris Aisle – essentially teeing her up for a perjury conviction.
Hours before the judge was due to render a verdict, Kim agreed to withdraw from the race, while attempting to paint herself as the victim.
READ: Irvine: Caught Faking Her Residency, Tammy Kim Plays The Victim Card
Kim is no longer represented by Democrat attorneys Brett Murdock and Lee Fink, and has retained a Caroline Hanh as her attorney.
