James Kanno
James Jin Kanno (Japanese: ่
้ ไป,[1] December 22, 1925 โ July 15, 2017) served as the first mayor of Fountain Valley, California from 1957 to 1962.[3] That same year, Kanno and his father and brother purchased some acreage in the Fountain Valley area and began farming.[4] Kanno was a member of Orange County's Fountain Valley's inaugural city council and became its first mayor in 1957.[2] As one of the country's first Asian American mayors, Kanno's election received some national attention including a positive writeup in U.S. News & World Report and an interview from Voice of America.Kanno served as Fountain Valley's mayor from 1957 to 1962, and helped in the establishment of the city's Mile Square Regional Park.