My name is Hai Huynh and I am grateful to serve on the Coralville City Council. 

I care deeply about this wonderful city, my home for the last two decades. My husband and I have raised four children here and cherish all this community has to offer. We have spent countless hours playing in its parks, biking its trails, wading in its creeks, enriching our minds in its library, and devoting ourselves to its schools and community organizations.

In 1993, when I was 16 years old, my family and I immigrated to the United States from Vietnam. We came empty-handed, fleeing turmoil and poverty, to a new land that offered us security and opportunity. Through hard work and perseverance, I simultaneously earned a B.A in Economics from the University of Iowa and a cosmetology license from La James. I chose to put down roots in Johnson County, where I have proudly lived in a mobile home community, a subsidized apartment, a duplex, and a single-family home.

I have held many roles in this community. Currently, I serve as the Community Projects Coordinator with the Coralville Community Food Pantry, where I meld my passion for food, justice, and relationship building. I have also spent my time as a paraeducator with Coralville Central Elementary School, a full-time mom, and an active community volunteer with places like Take a Kid Outdoors, the Coralville Public Library, Johnson County Conservation, and the Iowa City Bike Library. In these roles, I have seen firsthand both Coralville’s strengths and shortcomings.

We build luxury apartments while many of our neighbors can barely afford rent. We open fine dining restaurants while the daily line of cars at the food pantry wraps around the block. We are eager to fill an arena with tourists while our transit system struggles to get our own neighbors to their jobs and medical appointments. We pride ourselves in being the most diverse community in Johnson County while we cite and arrest our black and brown neighbors at disproportionate rates.

We must center and value our most vulnerable neighbors--their experiences, their needs, their dreams, and their voices--in every decision we make as a city.

Together, we can create a better Coralville… 

Where we pursue tangible and robust relief for those hurt most by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Where we prioritize development that puts everyday people first.

Where we improve community mobility for all our neighbors.

Where we advance racial and economic justice through bold action.

Where we strategize a community plan of action to fight climate change.