1970 to 1976: Frances Wood

The first woman elected to City Council was Frances Wood in 1970. She became the first woman Mayor in 1974. Wood served on the City Council from 1970 to ‘76. She died in 2000 at age 75. In September 2000, the city named the gym at Independence Park the Frances R. Wood Activities Center.

1978 to 1981: Sue Tsuda

After working on the campaign of Frances Wood, Sue Tsuda went on to run her own campaign and won her seat on the Fullerton City council. She became the second woman city councilmember in 1978. She also served on the Fullerton School Board, was President of League of Women Voters, and served as Town Manager in Yucca Valley.

1980 to 1988: Linda LeQuire

The third woman elected to the city council was Linda LeQuire. In 1983, she became the second woman to become Mayor.

1982 to 1994: Molly McClanahn

The fourth woman elected to the city council was Molly McClanahn. In 1989, she became the third woman to become Mayor. McClanahan was appointed to the North Orange County Community College District (NOCCCD) Board in 1995 to represent Area 4, which includes large portions of the city of Fullerton. She has been a resident of Fullerton for over 50 years, having served as the Fullerton Mayor for two terms, as well as the Past President of Fullerton Beautiful, Past Chairman of Fullerton Human Relations Commission, Past Chairman of Fullerton Arbor Day Committee, and former Board Member of Friends of Fullerton Arboretum. She ran unopossed in 2016 for District 4 representative of the NOCCCD in California. She retired in 2020.

1993 to 2000: Julie Sa

The fifth woman elected to the city council was Julie Sa. In 1994, she became the forth woman to become Mayor. An article in the magazine Orange Coast in 1988 said that Julie Sa was born of Chinese heritage and raised in Pusan, South Korea. Her heritage was a big controversy at the time. Sa left Korea for the US in 1973 and settled in Fullerton. In 1975, after obtaining a low-interest loan from her father, she purchased a restaurant for $30,000, which she named China Doll. She worked from 9am to 10pm everyday for a year and sold the restaurant for $150,000 and bought a second restaurant. She did this over and over again. At one point she owned 5 restaurants and was looking to purchase 5 more.

1995 to 2002 & 2019: Jan Flory

The sixth woman elected to the city council was Jan Flory. In 1999, she became the fifth woman to become Mayor. Served on City Council twice for a total of 12 years. She is a family law attorney and former real estate broker. She was appointed to City Council in 2019 to fill a vaccant seat until an elected council member was sworn in.

2005 to 2012: Sharon Quirk- Silva

The seventh woman elected to the city council was Sharon Quirk-Silva. In 2008, she became the sixth woman to become Mayor. She ran and won State Assembly 2012. Prior to her service in the Assembly and while she was the Mayor of Fullerton she also taught elementary school students.

2007 to 2010: Pam Keller

The eigth woman elected to the city council was Jan Flory. In 2010, she became Mayor Pro Tem, but was blocked from becoming Mayor. She grew up in Fullerton where she attended the local public schools including Cal State University, Fullerton. Pam served as the Executive Director of the Fullerton Collaborative from 1998-2015. Pam is a teacher in a Multi-age Program at Orangethorpe School and a professor in the Child Development department at Fullerton College.

2013 to 2020: Jennifer Fitzgerald

The ninth woman elected to the city council was Jennifer Fitzgerald. In 2016, she became the seventh female Mayor.

2023: Dr. Shana Charles

The tenth woman elected to the city council is Dr. Shana Charles. Shana Alex Charles, MPP, PhD, received her Master’s degree in Public Policy (Health and Regional Development) from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs in 2001 and her PhD in Health Services (Health Policy) from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health in 2009.​ She joined the CSUF faculty in 2015 after six years as Director of Health Insurance Studies at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, where she continues as a Faculty Associate.

  Dr. Charles’s research focuses on discontinuous health insurance and its impact on access to care, racial and ethnic disparities in health coverage and access to care, as well as underinsurance among those with coverage. She also specializes in political issues surrounding health care reform at both the state and the national levels. She is currently writing a book on the intersections of COVID-19 and American Federalism.