Kathy Tavoularis

Councilmember, City of Orange

City Councilwoman Kathy Tavoularis was elected to her second term on November 5, 2024. She successfully ran unopposed and received the most votes cast in any district in Orange. In the 2022 General Election, she won by 67.66% of the vote after having been appointed to represent the Orange’s Third District in April 2021. Kathy is the first woman to represent District 3.

Kathy is committed to overseeing the redevelopment of the Orange Mall. She serves as the Chairman of the ad-hoc committee for the North Tustin Re-Visioning Committee. She also serves the City of Orange as a Board Member for the Orange Senior Center, a member of the Orange Community Foundation, Orange Elks, Orange Woman’s Club and the Old Towne Preservation Association. She was appointed the Clean Orange Subcommittee by Mayor Slater in 2023. Kathy is dedicated to increasing the number of public safety professionals at both the Orange Police Department and the Orange Fire Department.

A 43-year resident of Orange, Kathy is a proud graduate of Taft Elementary, Peralta Junior High, and Villa Park High School, all schools within the Orange Unified School District. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the California State University at Long Beach.

In 2007, after over a decade as an advisor to government leaders in southern California, Kathy founded a public affairs consulting firm, and established it in the City of Orange. Throughout her career, Kathy has overseen public relations campaigns within communities, building outreach coalitions with many diverse business communities on local, state and national levels. In addition, she has managed multi-million dollar projects while overseeing hundreds of staff members.

Kathy has served as a lecturer and panelist for professional conferences and policy discussions throughout the country. She has been featured in Human Events, the Orange County Register, and appeared on CNN. She has been highlighted in the “Women in Business” edition of the Orange County Business Journal and honored as a nominee for “Woman of the Year,” by the California State Senate.

Kathy is the first Greek-American to sit on the Orange City Council. Being from an immigrant family who became small business owners, she values her adopted country and the opportunities it has presented to improve her family’s quality of life. Her older brother, Peter Tavoularis, who unexpectedly passed away in October 2020, was a teacher and coach at Orange High School for eighteen years, where his students affectionately knew him as “Coach T”. Her sister is an attorney for the County of Orange. Kathy is a supporter of causes related to American patriotism and history, and her own Greek heritage. She attends St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Anaheim which hosts “Greek Street” during the annual Orange International Street Fair.

In addition to serving the City of Orange, Councilwoman Tavoularis is a member of the Orange County Public Affairs Association and the Conservative Patriots of Orange County and has served on the boards of the American Hellenic Council, California Women’s Leadership Association, the Orange County Forum, Clean Tech Orange County, the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, and Orange Republican Women Federated.