# Milpitas City Council

Compare records and positions simply between Seema Kanani, Bill Chuan, Ha Phan, Dipak Awasthi, or Garry Barbadillo for Milpitas City Council at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person would hold one of two open seats on Milpitas's City Council. The council has five members. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use. Milpitas is a Santa Clara County city of about 80,000 people. Milpitas also has a separately elected Mayor. Two other Council seats are not up this cycle. The term is four years. All Council seats, like the Mayor, are elected citywide, not by district.

- Jurisdiction: City of Milpitas
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Seats: 2
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/milpitas-council
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: August 31, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 84 out of 100 (Strong), across 16 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Seema Kanani** — Clinical Social Worker
- **Bill Chuan** — Engineer / Business Owner
- **Ha Phan** — Community Volunteer
- **Dipak Awasthi** — Milpitas Planning Commissioner
- **Garry Barbadillo** — City Councilmember / Attorney · Incumbent

A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

Five candidates are running for Milpitas's two open, at-large City Council seats on the November 3, 2026 ballot, including incumbent Garry Barbadillo. Whoever gets the two highest vote totals wins outright -- there is no primary or runoff.

This person would hold one of two open seats on Milpitas's five-member City Council. They vote on city ordinances, the budget, and land use in this Santa Clara County city of about 80,000, alongside the separately elected Mayor (a distinct contest on this same ballot) and the other two Council seats. The term is four years. All Council seats, like the Mayor, are elected citywide (at-large) rather than by district.

Both open seats belong to Council members first elected in 2022: Garry Barbadillo, running for reelection here, and Hon Lien, who is not seeking reelection to this seat and is instead a candidate in the separate Mayor's race on this same ballot. The other two Council seats (Evelyn Chua and William Lam, elected 2024) aren't up this cycle.

## Seema Kanani

Seema Kanani is a licensed clinical social worker with 19 years at Kaiser Permanente, a first-time candidate for Milpitas office. She serves on SEIU-UHW's executive board, was a strike captain and bargaining-team member during Kaiser's 2023 strike, sits on the California Democratic Party's legislation committee, and is a South Bay Labor Council delegate. Her platform centers on housing affordability without displacing essential workers, seniors, and lower-income residents; public-safety staffing and infrastructure upkeep (street lighting, park maintenance); and government transparency. She says on her campaign site that she won't take PAC or corporate contributions. Her 2026 committee filed a Form 460 for January-June 2026: $3,555 in monetary contributions plus a $5,000 self-loan, for $8,555 in total contributions against $2,889.03 in expenditures, ending cash $5,665.97, with the $5,000 loan outstanding.

**Strengths:** Two decades of frontline healthcare and labor organizing. A specific platform. One of two Form 460s in this race showing real fundraising.

**Trade-offs:** A self-funded $5,000 loan is most of her disclosed money. One $250 gift is listed with a committee ID number. That sits oddly with her stated no-PAC pledge.

**Keep in mind:** The $250 gift came from Americans4Hindus, ID number C00729574. It is small against her $8,555 total. She may define "PAC" more narrowly than a reader would. It is reported here as filed, not as she may have meant it.

## Bill Chuan

Bill Chuan is a military veteran (an armor crewman before the first Gulf War) and former Milpitas Planning Commissioner (2019-2024, chairing it 2022-2024), running for City Council for the second consecutive cycle. He chairs the Milpitas Unified School District's Community Board Advisory Council and its Parcel Tax Oversight Committee, sits on the Milpitas High School Site Council, and volunteers with Hope for the Unhoused, the Kiwanis Club of Milpitas, and the Naval Junior ROTC program. In 2024 he ran for one of two open seats against five other candidates and placed third with 17.06% of the vote, behind winners Evelyn Chua (29.62%) and William Lam (19.9%). His platform prioritizes public safety, fiscal responsibility, and addressing the city's difficulty retaining senior staff. His 2026 committee filed a Form 460 for January 27-June 30, 2026: $9,313 in monetary contributions, $500 in nonmonetary campaign-kickoff banners, and a $1,000 self-loan, for $10,813 in total contributions against $864.56 in expenditures, ending cash $9,448.44, with the $1,000 loan outstanding.

**Strengths:** Five years on the Planning Commission, two of them as chair. A specific 2024 vote total of 17.06% to compare against this run. The race's largest disclosed treasury.

**Trade-offs:** A prior loss in this same race, well behind both 2024 winners. His staffing critique, like Lien's in the Mayor's race, is not independently verified.

**Keep in mind:** "I don't give up easily, especially when the going gets tough" is Chuan's own quote to Milpitas Beat. He said it about a second run. It is his account of persistence, not a claim about his chances.

## Ha Phan

Ha Jennie Phan's filed ballot designation is "Community Volunteer"; they filed no candidate statement with the city, and no independent news coverage of their candidacy was found in this pass. Their 2026 committee filed a Form 470 -- the short form for a candidate who does not expect to raise or spend more than $2,000 for the year -- declaring exactly that under penalty of perjury on June 19, 2026. No Form 460 itemized disclosure is required or on file.

**Strengths:** A declared low-budget campaign is a specific and checkable commitment. It comes straight from Phan's own filed Form 470.

**Trade-offs:** No candidate statement, no news coverage, and no campaign website were found. The ballot label and the $2,000 spending pledge are nearly the whole record.

**Keep in mind:** A campaign under $2,000 is not evidence of a weaker bid. Some campaigns simply do not raise or spend money. But voters have little beyond their ballot label unless they reach out directly.

## Dipak Awasthi

Dipak Awasthi immigrated to Milpitas from India in 1996; his family ran a retail market for a decade before selling it, and both his children graduated from Milpitas schools and San José State University. He's in his third year on the Planning Commission (term expires December 2027) and has also served on the Sister Cities Commission and the Economic Development and Trade Commission; this is his third consecutive Council run, after losing in 2022 and again in 2024's six-candidate field for two seats. His platform centers on fiscal responsibility -- he opposes extending Measure J, the city's 1/4-cent sales tax, past its 2029 expiration -- alongside voluntary pay cuts for elected officials, homelessness, infrastructure, and public safety. His 2026 committee has filed only a Form 410 as of this retrieval -- no Form 501, no Form 460.

**Strengths:** Three years of current Planning Commission service. Two prior citywide campaigns give him a checkable public record that most first-time candidates lack.

**Trade-offs:** Two prior Council losses, in 2022 and 2024. His opposition to extending Measure J is a specific position, but the deficit claims behind it are not weighed here.

**Keep in mind:** His committee filed a Form 410 with no Form 501 on file. That is an unusual filing order. It is what the record shows, not a claim about his eligibility or intent.

## Garry Barbadillo

Garry Barbadillo is the incumbent, elected to Council in 2022 (and Vice Mayor by his colleagues' selection) after an earlier stint as a city Commissioner starting 2012; he's a practicing attorney, repeatedly named "Best Attorney" by the Milpitas Post (2015-2019, 2021-2022) and "Best Elected Official" in 2018, and was Milpitas's 2018 Citizen of the Year. He moved to the U.S. from the Philippines in his late twenties, worked entry-level retail and restaurant jobs, then a courtroom-clerk job with Santa Clara County, before self-studying for the bar exam and passing it in 2008. He serves on the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce board and the Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Authority board. His platform emphasizes fiscal discipline, more police officers, maintaining city services, and senior citizens' rights. His 2026 committee has filed its organizing paperwork (Form 410, Form 501) but no Form 460 as of this retrieval.

**Strengths:** Current Council and Vice Mayor experience. A legal career with repeated local recognition. Board seats with the Chamber of Commerce and a regional interoperability authority, beyond city government.

**Trade-offs:** As the only incumbent here, staffing and permitting concerns raised elsewhere on this ballot fall partly on his record. No Form 460 is filed yet to show this cycle's fundraising.

**Keep in mind:** He self-studied for the bar after his employer twice denied him study leave. That is his own account to Milpitas Beat of a formative career choice, not a claim made here.

## Review notes

- Bill Chuan's own campaign site (billchuanformilpitas.com, redirecting to a Wix-hosted page), self-description attributed in text: confirms this is a second consecutive run following 2024, his FPPC filer ID (#1488016), and a brief note that he decided to run again after "further reflection, continued prayers, continued discussions and encouraging support" from community members and family. and Seema Kanani's own campaign site (votekanani.com), self-description attributed in text: her tagline "Collaborate - Advocate - Listen - Lead" and her own pledge, "I refuse to take a single dime from PACs or corporations. Every dollar comes from neighbors like you." may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

## Sources

1. [City of Milpitas -- City Clerk Suzanne Guzzetta's certified "Certified List of Candidates for Elective Office in the City of Milpitas, Municipal Election - November 3, 2026" (in SOS randomized-alphabet order, dated Aug. 13, 2026): names all four qualified Mayor candidates ("One (1) 2-Year Term Expiring 2028") and all five qualified City Council candidates ("Two (2) 4-Year Terms, At Large, Expiring 2030"), each with filed ballot designation and qualification date.](https://www.milpitas.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10552/List-of-Qualified-Candidates-2026-PDF)
2. [City of Milpitas -- official bilingual "Notice of General Municipal Election, November 3, 2026," signed by City Clerk Suzanne Guzzetta: confirms exactly "One Mayor... full term, two years" and "Two Members of City Council... full term, four years," and cites Elections Code section 10229 as the appointment mechanism if a seat draws no or only one nominee.](https://www.milpitas.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10350/Notice-of-Election-2026-PDF)
3. [City of Milpitas -- the City Clerk's own "Public Candidate Contact List" for the 2026 election: each candidate's office sought and voluntarily provided email, campaign website, and phone number.](https://www.milpitas.gov/DocumentCenter/View/10558/Public-Candidate-Contact-List-2026)
4. [City of Milpitas -- "Elections" page: states the city's structure directly -- "four councilmembers and one Mayor, all elected at-large," with Council serving 4-year terms and the Mayor 2-year terms.](https://www.milpitas.gov/191/Elections)
5. [City of Milpitas -- "2026 Election" page: confirms the November 3, 2026 date, the Aug. 13, 2026 randomized-alphabet drawing, and lists Mayor Carmen Montano and Councilmembers Garry Barbadillo and Hon Lien as the eligible incumbents for this cycle's seats.](https://www.milpitas.gov/1441/2026-Election)
6. [City of Milpitas's own NetFile-hosted public campaign-finance portal (aid=MIL), queried directly for all nine 2026 candidates via its own QuickNameSearch and filings/byFiler JSON API (reverse-engineered from the portal's own downloaded JS bundle), with each available Form 460/470 downloaded directly via the portal's own CampaignDocuments/download endpoint. Seema Kanani reported $3,555 in monetary contributions plus a $5,000 self-loan ($8,555 total) against $2,889.03 in expenditures, ending cash $5,665.97. Bill Chuan reported $9,313 in monetary contributions, $500 nonmonetary, and a $1,000 self-loan ($10,813 total) against $864.56 in expenditures, ending cash $9,448.44. Ha Phan filed a Form 470 (a scanned image PDF, read by rendering it to PNG) declaring she does not expect to raise or spend more than $2,000 for the year. The other six candidates have filed only organizing paperwork (Form 410/501), or in Dipak Awasthi's case a Form 410 alone, with no Form 460 on file as of this retrieval.](https://netfile.com/public/MIL/campaign/elections)
7. [City of Milpitas -- "City Council" page: names the current five-member Council -- Mayor Carmen Montano, Vice Mayor Garry Barbadillo, and Councilmembers Evelyn Chua, Hon Lien, and William Lam.](https://www.milpitas.gov/512/City-Council)
8. [Wikipedia's Milpitas, California article -- 2020 census population (80,273) and council-manager form of government.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milpitas,_California)
9. [City of Milpitas -- Vice Mayor Garry Barbadillo's own city-hosted biography page: a practicing attorney (J.D., B.A. Political Science, M.P.A.) repeatedly named "Best Attorney" by the Milpitas Post (2015-2019, 2021-2022), a Commissioner starting 2012 before winning a Council seat in 2014, elected Vice Mayor by his colleagues in November 2022, 2018 Milpitas Citizen of the Year, and a member of the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce and Silicon Valley Regional Interoperability Authority boards.](https://www.milpitas.gov/1031/Vice-Mayor-Garry-Barbadillo-Esq)
10. [City of Milpitas -- "Planning Commission" page: lists Dipak Awasthi as a sitting Commissioner with a term expiring December 2027.](https://www.milpitas.gov/535/Planning-Commission)
11. [The Milpitas Beat -- "Seema Kanani is running for Milpitas City Council" (by Rhoda Jordan Shapiro, Jun. 2, 2026), read in full: confirms her 19 years as a licensed clinical social worker at Kaiser Permanente, SEIU-UHW executive board service, and her housing-affordability, public-safety, and transparency platform.](https://milpitasbeat.com/seema-kanani-is-running-for-milpitas-city-council/)
12. [The Milpitas Beat -- "'I don't give up easily': Bill Chuan announces run for Milpitas City Council" (by Rhoda Jordan Shapiro, Jan. 30, 2026), read in full: confirms his 2019-2024 Planning Commission service (chairing 2022-2024), his Gulf War-era Army service, and his 2024 result (17.06% of the vote, third of six candidates for two seats, behind Evelyn Chua's 29.62% and William Lam's 19.9%).](https://milpitasbeat.com/i-dont-give-up-easily-bill-chuan-announces-run-for-milpitas-city-council/)
13. [The Milpitas Beat -- "Dipak Awasthi focused on winning seat on the Milpitas City Council" (by Rhoda Jordan Shapiro, Oct. 2, 2024), read in full: confirms his 1996 immigration from India, his family's decade running a retail market, his multi-commission service, and his fiscal-responsibility platform including opposition to extending Measure J past 2029.](https://milpitasbeat.com/dipak-awasthi-focused-on-winning-seat-on-the-milpitas-city-council/)
14. [The Milpitas Beat -- "Garry Barbadillo is running for Milpitas City Council" (May 11, 2022), read in full: confirms his move to the U.S. from the Philippines in his late twenties, entry-level jobs before a Santa Clara County courtroom-clerk position, and self-studying for and passing the bar exam in 2008 after his employer twice denied him study leave.](https://milpitasbeat.com/garry-barbadillo-is-running-for-milpitas-city-council/)
15. [Seema Kanani's own campaign site (votekanani.com), self-description attributed in text: her tagline "Collaborate - Advocate - Listen - Lead" and her own pledge, "I refuse to take a single dime from PACs or corporations. Every dollar comes from neighbors like you."](https://votekanani.com)
16. [Bill Chuan's own campaign site (billchuanformilpitas.com, redirecting to a Wix-hosted page), self-description attributed in text: confirms this is a second consecutive run following 2024 and his FPPC filer ID (#1488016).](https://billchuanformilpitas.com)

## The rest of the ballot

Milpitas City Council is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "Milpitas City Council — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/milpitas-council (sources last retrieved August 31, 2026).

Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.