How Plano City Council Member Maria Tu Went from International Law to the Plano City Council

For District Council Member 1 Maria Tua significant difference between growing up in Taiwan and living in the United States is how people relate to the law. She remembers noticing that, in Taiwan, she never saw anyone stop at a stop light unless a car was coming, and her father had to teach her that the rules of the road were different here.

“Law is the culture in America, so that's when I really got interested in (law as a career),” she says.

Tu earned a bachelor's degree in political economy from Evergreen State College in Washington state at just 19 years old. From there, she interned with Seattle HUD, the public defender's office and was the correspondence supervisor for US Senator Dan Evans in Washington DC

She returned home later to get her juris doctorate, then had later jobs working as a full-time law clerk for the Washington Education Association and a law clerk for the Kitsap County Superior Court.

“Perhaps I was fortunate that at the age of 20 I learned from Senator Dan that to be a true public servant, it didn't matter what political party one belonged to, as long as we always had the best interest of the people we served we served them. in our actions and in our hearts,” Tu once said.

Even in Washington state, much of Tu's focus was on supporting others of Asian heritage, serving on boards and associations for the Seattle Asian Chamber of Commerce, the Seattle Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Asian Women of Seattle, Washington State Chinese Engineers Association, Washington State Cung Hua Association and as a member of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association.

After graduating from law school with a concentration in Asian legal studies, Tu worked for Williams, Caster & Gibbs, who were trying to build their international presence in Asia.

“I was the rainmaker (the person who attracts clients) at the law firm, one of the top six law firms in Washington state at the time, and all I did was fly,” Tu says. “I flew to Asia every three months and brought clients. There are many rich people who are in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, so I hated my job. I couldn't bear to deal with them.”

Tired of dealing with constant travel and stress, Tu and her husband left their job, home and security behind and moved to Texas.

“We didn't realize how great (Plano ISD) was until the night she started going to school. It was just like 'wow' and she was competing with the best,” says Tu. “So we just ended up staying, we never left.”

When the couple first came to DFW, Tu's now-deceased husband was a sushi chef. The two owned a Chinese restaurant that served sushi on its buffet.

When Tu visited a nearby Whole Foods, she noticed they didn't have sushi, noting that most grocery stores in Washington had an abundance of sushi options. She entered the shop for her husband's restaurant, Yamamoto Sushito charge with a chain. After more than a month of discussion that seemed to make no progress, Tu says, they finally said yes.

“We were doing (local) Whole Foods sushi exclusively for seven and a half years,” says Tu. “Of course, after WholeFoods came on board, every freaking grocery store in the entire DFW area was like, 'Well, we want sushi in our store.'

Yamamoto is credited with being the first company to sell sushi directly to grocery stores throughout North Texas, although the couple sold the company several years ago.

After her daughter settled in school, Tu became a prosecutor in the Collin County District Attorney's office, where she was the first Chinese female prosecutor despite the county's still-growing Asian population.

However, as her daughter grew up, Tu left the law behind temporarily and moved into a different kind of service – the city council.

Since 2019, Tu has represented Country 1 (basically everything east of Alma), when she beat Daniel Long for the seat by 16%. She ran unopposed for re-election in 2023.

Building on the priorities of reducing traffic congestion, keeping property taxes low and maintaining quality of life in suburban areas, Tu is also proud to be the first Asian American Member of the Municipal Council.

Today, however, Tu says Plano's focus now must be on attracting new families and addressing its aging population.

“The main issue facing Plano is that we're getting older,” Tu says. “Plano kind of grew up with me. When I came, I was in my 30s and Plano was probably in its 30s. So now that I'm getting to retirement age, Plano is also getting to that point, so it needs to be renewed.”

Now a widow and an empty nester, Tu says Plano should focus on downsizing older adults like her.

“In order for a young family to come in and get a 2,800-square-foot three- or four-bedroom house, you have to get the old people out of there so the families can move in,” says Tu. “We have to somehow get them to downsize to an attractive location, not pushing them out of town, but rather getting them to look at alternative housing. This is what will ensure that the younger family can move in and start this new life cycle.”

Tu says she plans to do just that after her term ends, keeping her current home to ensure she stays in the district she serves.

Saving her private practice as of 2005, Tu still takes on cases, but only those she feels are most in need of her services, such as certain criminal, family, and immigration law cases.

“It took 10 years for me to realize that the most important thing in my life is not the admiration and envy of others, but what makes me the happiest,” says Tu on her website. “In 2004, I finally had enough courage to return to the practice of law. I fell in love with being in the courtroom fighting hard fights. In court, I've cried, laughed, screamed, yelled, screamed, hated and loved, and it can all happen in one day. My colleagues have described me as a “lawyer with passion”. Either way… I love being in the courtroom.”

She has also served on the Collin County Bar Association, Leadership Plano Class 36, the Plano Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Bar Foundation, the Texas Diversity Council and the NIHAO Food Bank Initiative.

“You don't have to take my word for it, just see what I do,” Tu says. “The most important thing is the ability to use my talent and strength to help those who don't have it. This is my passion.”