After the votes were tallied in the Nov. 4 special election for Santa Clara County assessor, Saratoga City Council member Yan Zhao finished third in the four-way race (The race was won in a runoff election on Dec. 30 by Neysa Fligor, who defeated former Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar.)
The next morning, Zhao was unfazed, opening her laptop to check for information on her upcoming board meetings and returning to her work for the city, even after she had just run a month-long election campaign.
For Zhao, losing the election didn’t change her perspective on public service. Whether through holding a new countywide office or sitting through council meetings on a Wednesday night, Zhao sees her role as protecting the intimate community that drew her family to Saratoga in the first place.
“I’m part of this community,” Zhao said. “I want to make sure our city remains one of the safest cities and that we maintain the quality of life we all believe in.”
Zhao, who has lived in Saratoga for over 20 years, has been a two-term mayor and council member. Before that, she spent over two decades in local leadership, serving on school boards and commissions. She and her husband have three children who have all attended Saratoga public schools.
As a first-generation immigrant with degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from UC Berkeley, she started her career as a chip designer at National Semiconductor and later moved into marketing at Linear Technology and business at Spreadtrum Communication.
Local government was not Zhao’s initial career plan. But over the years, she slowly shifted from attending community events to volunteering. Zhao has served on several commissions, including the Saratoga Planning Commission for nine years, the Saratoga Madronia Cemetery District Board for eight years and the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women for nine years. After much encouragement from the community, Zhao finally decided to run for City Council in 2018.
“I didn’t come here thinking, ‘One day I’m going to run for office.’ It just developed over time. I learned about the city and fell in love with the work,” Zhao said.
Winning, however, was not immediate. Zhao previously lost elections for the Saratoga City Council before finally being selected in 2018. She served as mayor in 2021 and 2024. Those experiences shaped how she now reflects on failure.
“Sometimes the first answer you get is no,” Zhao said. “You listen, you adjust and you keep going.”
Zhao not only serves in the Saratoga City Hall but also on the West Valley Sanitation District Board, which oversees sewage services for several West Valley cities. She also works with the Saratoga Ministerial Association, an interreligious group behind events like Celebration of Light and programs such as SafePark for people experiencing homelessness.
In Saratoga, Zhao is especially focused on addressing two issues in the city: increasing housing options and avoiding budget problems. Like all cities in California, she knows Saratoga must adopt a state-required housing element that plans for more units. At the same time, the cost of housing is rising faster than the revenue generated, making it difficult to bring about necessary development.
Those concerns pushed her to run for county assessor in the 2025 special election. As a state-licensed residential appraiser and engineer, she used her campaign to highlight the need to modernize the office’s 1950s COBOL computer system. She argued that a $140 billion backlog of assessment appeals leaves essential funding for local schools and fire departments in a state of uncertainty, as cities cannot spend tax revenue while it is stalled in the appeals process.
Zhao said her background in engineering supports her goal to modernize the city. While serving on the city council, she helped pilot Saratoga’s automated license plate reader (ALPR) program, which was launched in 2021. The idea of cameras tracking license plates was controversial, but Zhao spent months working with the Sheriff’s office and city staff to get it approved by city officials.
“It took a lot of work,” Zhao said. “You have to listen to people’s concerns and be patient, but if you believe something will help keep the community safe, you keep at it.”
Beyond just working in policy, Zhao often visits leadership groups, STEM clubs and youth organizations to share her path from engineering to public service.
“I know high school students are very busy, but when you’re young, it’s the best time to broaden your horizons and expose yourself to different things,” she said.
She hopes more teenagers will pay attention to local issues, even if that means just skimming the local news or attending a city council meeting. To her, the youth will live the longest with the outcomes of today’s decisions on housing, climate and safety.
Looking ahead, Zhao doesn’t say much about her own political future beyond finishing her current council term, which ends in 2026. Instead, Zhao is focused on enjoying every day — opening up her laptop, taking important calls and continuing her mission of making Saratoga a city for all.
“Dream big and keep an open mind. It’s OK to be wrong the first time — what matters is that you keep learning and keep trying to make things better,” Zhao said.
