tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54002367534754800132024-03-13T11:51:17.546-07:00Little Saigon InsideViet Economic and Political TrendsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger687125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-37500371636004898792024-02-27T12:44:00.000-08:002024-02-27T20:57:02.667-08:00Slow Voter Turnout in Santa Clara County for Midterm Election?<p> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">Mirroring
the voting trends in California, the voters in Santa Clara County have not returned
their mail-in ballots as expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With about
7.8% of 1,013,616 ballots returned as of February 25, a spokesperson
for the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters noted that this is historically at the lower end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even with the usual last-minute
surge of voters next week on Primary Election Day and 7-day allowance after the
election date for receiving ballots, the office does not expect the turnout to
be more than 55%. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">The Vietnamese-American
voters historically exhibit a lower turnout than the overall average.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Analyses by Viet Poll Media for the last 6
elections since 2022 showed on average, Vietnamese-American turnout is 6
percentage points lower than the overall turnout.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In comparison, the Chinese and Indian turnouts
are 8-9 percentage points higher than the overall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of all the voter demographics, Hispanic
turnout is about 10 percentage points lower.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">In the 2020 election, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation funded a
voting awareness program and identified several districts in San Jose where the
turnout was traditionally low. The data indicated some of the low-turnout demographics were located in Vietnamese-dominated
precincts in Districts 7 and 8.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">With over
80% of voters casting ballots by mail in the county, candidates are actively walking
their precincts trying to garner as many votes as they can.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the high-profile races is the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16.6667px; letter-spacing: -0.133333px;">District 2</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16.6667px; letter-spacing: -0.133333px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> supervisorial race to replace the long-time political stalwart
Cindy Chavez.</span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">The two Vietnamese-American candidates, Betty
Duong and Madison Nguyen, are considered to be the front runners because of
their strong name recognition and financial backing.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 16.6667px; letter-spacing: -0.133333px;"><br /></span></span><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGUP4DcZK1uZj4WwEwY25Xxr9-hAjbCqiIr5HynvsNrWIYwu6Y9XWB8V3ccmydFp_VqbhrrIIAXJtvTSS5ARhGm8MmLIWNOvXSZpFtEioOHr-ayr0YEqn6ln-IByegmZrHRrfA2mvCbsy1ydU2P10JOCejqX_xGUkjkyVHUwHgWVCPK1mrKM0t0BHvHtO/s4000/20240217_130402.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGUP4DcZK1uZj4WwEwY25Xxr9-hAjbCqiIr5HynvsNrWIYwu6Y9XWB8V3ccmydFp_VqbhrrIIAXJtvTSS5ARhGm8MmLIWNOvXSZpFtEioOHr-ayr0YEqn6ln-IByegmZrHRrfA2mvCbsy1ydU2P10JOCejqX_xGUkjkyVHUwHgWVCPK1mrKM0t0BHvHtO/w640-h480/20240217_130402.heic" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">The
two candidates are being viewed differently in the Vietnamese community and it affects
so far their campaigning strategies and outreach to potential voters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vietnamese-American votes are about 18% of
the registered voters in District 2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBOEwOViWTELhmge9X22tnmzuA2PdBaK2wHfajbULhX4UUtx1DVQe4XOYtd4kz3_U-MTq0tt3J9-Vq_a1bBtgIWtm9hw9pvHCjo9Q3p7E8wNgCcuSXyNCbsGOdcuV75aUlZlic-JmOYLeuHbGwI19haP9-2Ur2AP2YXsQXcN8aXgXkAQnIefTVt1fuS8rK/s4000/20240203_122007.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="4000" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBOEwOViWTELhmge9X22tnmzuA2PdBaK2wHfajbULhX4UUtx1DVQe4XOYtd4kz3_U-MTq0tt3J9-Vq_a1bBtgIWtm9hw9pvHCjo9Q3p7E8wNgCcuSXyNCbsGOdcuV75aUlZlic-JmOYLeuHbGwI19haP9-2Ur2AP2YXsQXcN8aXgXkAQnIefTVt1fuS8rK/w640-h480/20240203_122007.heic" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">Betty
Duong is everywhere in the community as she always has been anyway before her
election campaign. Her various positions at the county give her a high profile and close
interaction to help the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was
at all major events during the Lunar New Year and often was introduced and given
the opportunity to speak. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has
walked and knocked over 20,000 doors just to be in touch with the voters.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDMqhOt3ffA6N0tf5mwU4cdhsTYGdnrKInNnQeXcYBxYa4M3F7BAyAhZj_37avnHtqx5uqPkDTsYPEYbSXoRLFXxsvRTkw4GIGtKz-0Gjduvo5UUzGDZyJD-_h6DcsUs8skWK7d3WHb1TXSRznSzz0AYKk-6ygol0WgsUQ6ULpzc3YHglhaRB5GrDCD8Qb/s4000/20240203_125618_1709066046224.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2252" data-original-width="4000" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDMqhOt3ffA6N0tf5mwU4cdhsTYGdnrKInNnQeXcYBxYa4M3F7BAyAhZj_37avnHtqx5uqPkDTsYPEYbSXoRLFXxsvRTkw4GIGtKz-0Gjduvo5UUzGDZyJD-_h6DcsUs8skWK7d3WHb1TXSRznSzz0AYKk-6ygol0WgsUQ6ULpzc3YHglhaRB5GrDCD8Qb/w640-h360/20240203_125618_1709066046224.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span>Madison is taking a more passive approach and has limited her interactions with the community.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span>She tried to have a campaign kick-off and fund raiser at Dynasty Restaurant in Vietnam town in June of last year and was met with about 80 protesters.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span>After her bitter defeat to Ash Kalra in the 2016 assembly race, she disappeared from the community and moved to Nevada until she decided to run for the supervisorial seat.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span>She hardly walks the precincts and rarely is invited to community events, partly because organizers did not want to have any commotions.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span>The Vietnamese voters still hold their grudges after all these years for the divisiveness she caused.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: helvetica; mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqm3JdpWSZ4&ab_channel=VIEMMAIVLOG" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16.6667px; letter-spacing: -0.133333px;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zqm3JdpWSZ4&ab_channel=VIEMMAIVLOG</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">In 2016,
the D27 assembly race was for her to win against Kalra and she managed to snatch defeat from
the jaws of victory.</span><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;">The district had
20% Vietnamese registered voters in a presidential election pitting Donald
Trump against Hillary Clinton. Just like the majority of the country during
that time, the mostly conservative Vietnamese voting bloc was motivated by
Trumpism and had the highest turnout ever.</span><span face="Helvetica, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">She
raised more than $1.2 million for the race, and her supporting PACs of mostly
Govern for California, Charter Schools Association, and California Association of
Realtors spent $3 million to defeat Kalra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The list of billionaires behind her campaign was impressive with last names
like Fisher, Munger and Jobs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">Ash Kalra
could hardly raise over $650k and his supporting PAC’s spent about $1.3
million.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was trounced in the primary election by 15 points. Not many political pundits gave him a chance, especially in a district with a strong Vietnamese-American voting bloc. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">It
was so bad that State Senator Janet Nguyen called one of his supporters and
suggested that he might consider taking a centrist position on several issues so that she
could try to convince the lobbyists in Sacramento to slow down their PAC
funding for Nguyen’s campaign. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">Yet, Kalra
managed to beat her by almost 8% in the general election. It was a stunning defeat considering she was
banking on the Vietnamese voters to line up behind her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meanwhile, on the Election Night of 2016, the
Viet community in general must have thought good riddance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And now they are motivated to help Betty
Duong. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">Madison
Nguyen has been on a “ poor me “ tour with the Vietnamese-American media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She claimed that she was misunderstood and
voters should give her a second look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She tried hard to reach out and apologized to the community leaders and
influencers for her role in the Little Saigon naming donnybrook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">Even though
big political names in San Jose like former Mayor Sam Liccardo had endorsed
her in the past, a lot of them decided to stay on the sideline this time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new popular Mayor Matt Mahan also decided
not to endorse her although he is her friend and among her tight-knit of
supporters. He might not know the community well but he does not have a political
tin ear.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Helvetica",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12.5pt; letter-spacing: -0.1pt; line-height: 107%;">The
conventional wisdom suggests that both Duong and Nguyen are likely to be in the
runoff in November.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Orange County,
the supervisorial District 1 race is another heavily contested race between Janet
Nguyen and Van Tran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are two
explosive races in the Vietnamese-American community with a lot of divisiveness
in the community and in the case of Janet vs. Van, everlasting bitterness and personal
hatred. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What history has shown us in
the last 20 years is that in races pitting Vietnamese candidates against each other,
they will be close and could be decided by less than 3 votes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-5934666895681452272024-01-01T12:21:00.000-08:002024-02-27T12:29:19.573-08:00Santa Clara County District 2 Election<p>If it is now official with 5 candidates running to replace termed-out Cindy Chavez for the superivorial seat that she occupied since 2012. The District 2 Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors was redistricted in 2020 with the intention of having a Hispanic majority with over 40% of the total population living in the district. However, the registered voter breakdown shows Hispanic at 35%, Asian at 29% and non-Asian, non-Latino, non-Black at 33%. The Vietnamese-American voters make up 18.5% of the total registration. </p><p>The county district covers most of San Jose City Districts 7, 3 and 5. The primary election in March 2024, will qualify two top candidates for the November general election unless a single candidate reaches 50% plus one. </p><p>Two relative unknown candidates are <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.celayaj4supervisor.com/"><span style="color: red;">Jennifer Margaret Celaya</span></a> </span>and <span style="color: red;"><a href="https://www.corinaforsupervisor.com/"><span style="color: red;">Corina Herrera-Loera</span></a> </span>and at this moment unlikely to raise adequate money to gain any strong attractions. However, one of the viable strategies is relying on their Hispanic heritage to garner enough vote to get into the general election. <span style="color: #2b00fe;">The general trend observed across the board in a recent survey done by Viet Poll Media is when there are multiple candidates in the primary, especially in a nonpartisan election with no real major issues separating candidates, voters tend to vote along the ethnic line.</span></p><p>A last minute candidate, criminal lawyer <a href="https://www.nelsonmcelmurry.com/"><span style="color: red;">Nelson McElmurry</span></a>, is also new to the political scene and with no track records. With 33% of the votes coming from the usually high turnout White voting bloc, McElmurry also has a chance to survive the primary. </p><p>The two candidates with the most name recognition, money and big name endorsements are former SJ City Vice Mayor<span style="color: red;"> <a href="https://www.madisonnguyen.com/"><span style="color: red;">Madison Nguyen</span></a></span><span style="color: red;"> </span>and Supervisor Cindy Chavez's Chief of Staff <span><a href="https://www.bettyduong.com/meet_betty_duong" style="color: red;">Betty Duon</a>g</span><span style="color: red;">.</span> Both candidates are experience campaigners and have outraised their opponents by a wide margin so far.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhoPTaJDvqhs0r88rphLCyoWPF6Ljz7UAqgD9r0rXvq7_zcf8vnm_vio8p19PHiOP5OOsvPx7m1P9my9u3pZ4vNvE3r2Hb-taK-f1AepaI-lbnQ-ZZ7oxYVUmWIk6xe9MBoPoMcAknDUyNsu_UjeTbPebFRdnWkF2QSVzRccQEPi11ppGjSrSdaV8oYXr/s2048/betty%20Duong%20supporters.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="2048" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqhoPTaJDvqhs0r88rphLCyoWPF6Ljz7UAqgD9r0rXvq7_zcf8vnm_vio8p19PHiOP5OOsvPx7m1P9my9u3pZ4vNvE3r2Hb-taK-f1AepaI-lbnQ-ZZ7oxYVUmWIk6xe9MBoPoMcAknDUyNsu_UjeTbPebFRdnWkF2QSVzRccQEPi11ppGjSrSdaV8oYXr/w640-h325/betty%20Duong%20supporters.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p>Betty Duong is endorsed by Chavez to replace her and receiving the full support of South Bay Labor Council and Santa Clara County Democratic Party. She is a familiar face in the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose, notably with her work on the Vietnamese - Amerian Service Center. Her latest significant political coup was the withdrawal of Van Le, ESUHS Board Trustee, from the race. This is to her advantage for Le would most likely take a bite out of her Vietnamese voting base. Even though the latest FPPC 460 campaign contribution disclosure has not been posted, Duong has expressed earlier in the year that her campaign fund raising would aim to reach the voluntary expenditure limit of $250,000 or more. She received over $165,000 by June 2023. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU8eWXo2CuZe20zt8KLI4OsHC7PZxgzShKvbKKHvACVmAhWMYgNLqjrEuf3W89TmHfMleIs-79bsQSAVdF5cIFM1i3iddp6lp2hTafQ9GozcInsGMSwWxedT8w9YRSI5wnLO2tn76vYLmFlVL-09jOray4UUgdF3WdFR0k3i7B5uNuG-0p4grUfm935HpQ/s2048/Madison%20Nguyen's%20fund%20raiser.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU8eWXo2CuZe20zt8KLI4OsHC7PZxgzShKvbKKHvACVmAhWMYgNLqjrEuf3W89TmHfMleIs-79bsQSAVdF5cIFM1i3iddp6lp2hTafQ9GozcInsGMSwWxedT8w9YRSI5wnLO2tn76vYLmFlVL-09jOray4UUgdF3WdFR0k3i7B5uNuG-0p4grUfm935HpQ/w640-h426/Madison%20Nguyen's%20fund%20raiser.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Madison Nguyen was left for dead politically after her resounding defeat by Ash Kalra for state assembly in 2016, and of course her involvement with the racist mailer as EVP of the defunct Silicon Valley Oranization responsible for public policy and campaign. Reportedly, she recently moved out of California but returned this year and was the first to announce the candidacy for the seat. Her time in City Council was marred with controversy including a violation of Brown Act costing the city over $1 million in legal fee settement, and the majority of the Vietnamese community turning against her for refusing to name 3 street blocks of mostly Vietnamese businesses Little Saigon. However, she still has her supporters in San Jose and they helped raised over $115,000 by August 2023.</p><p>The two Vietnamese-American candidates are trying to appeal to all voters across the general demographics but they are focusing particularly on winning their ethnic base. Madison Nguyen has reached out for the supports of D7 Councilmember Bien Doan and Mayor Matt Mahan but considering her political baggages, they are playing both sides of the fence. With no major differences in policy and ideology since they are all progressive candidates in a nonpartisan race, it will come down to who will work harder to knock on doors, have better media outreach, and more favorable name recognition. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgFwNXIX0qgk1Vb7VUQOPCgh8K146-DRrr_9hCta2P6mvWij49QuI-WsPEZHBYyYifFoE3bsPMIuVhjMaytwVPlVOBSnIbv3uIA5aSP2w17Lv7WqeqFk5U8WGxoQo77AmSnDPpSCQuks9GeJjgxe9FmzofjThVQJ97vI7no7vo-9kBH4zQRkxGV6bWs0h/s4000/20231209_115411.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgFwNXIX0qgk1Vb7VUQOPCgh8K146-DRrr_9hCta2P6mvWij49QuI-WsPEZHBYyYifFoE3bsPMIuVhjMaytwVPlVOBSnIbv3uIA5aSP2w17Lv7WqeqFk5U8WGxoQo77AmSnDPpSCQuks9GeJjgxe9FmzofjThVQJ97vI7no7vo-9kBH4zQRkxGV6bWs0h/w240-h320/20231209_115411.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p>Just as a flavor of things to come, there are already complaints about stolen Betty Duong's campaign signs at various Vietnamese strip malls. Nguyen's antagongists are reposting the epic Little Saigon naming battle and the divisiveness she created in the community. They even staged a protest at her <span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRGeb5eG-aY&t=2975s&ab_channel=VIEMMAIVLOG" style="color: red;">fund raiser on 6/23/2023 </a>in</span> fron the Dynasty Restaurant in Grand Century Mall. There were about 70 protestors with signs reminding her about the Little Saigon controversy.</p><p></p><p><br />The conventional wisdom suggests that Betty Duong and Madison Nguyen would most likely survive the March primary and face each other in the November general election. Whoever wins will be the first Vietnamese-American to be elected to the Santa Clary County Board of Supervisors. However, depending on the turnout of Hispanic voters, the White voting bloc sentiment, and with the Asian vote splitting by the two Asian candidates, there might be only either Duong or Nguyen getting in the runoff. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-41210105399538078842023-12-16T16:12:00.000-08:002023-12-30T07:45:02.710-08:00California Congressional District 16 Race and Anna Eshoo<p><br />With a suprised announcement on November 21, Democrat Representative Anna Eschoo, 81, joined a dozen House Democrats opting to retire next year. The race for this safe Democratic seat occupied by her since 1992 will likely be fierce among the thirteen candidates, 11 Democrats and 2 Republicans. </p><p>The California's 16th congressional district covers the Peninsula and South Bay cities including Palo Altos, Mountain View, Pacifica, Halfmoon Bay, Saratoga, Campbell, Los Altos, Los Gatos, and the southwestern part of San Jose. </p><p>There are roughly 445,000 registered voters in the district with the breakddown of 20% Asian, 11% Hispanic and the rest is lumped into a voting demographic of non-Asian, non-Latino and non-Black. Vietnamese-American voters make up about 6% of the total and they will likely play a significant role in the primary because of the divided votes among the large number of candidates. </p><p>The 2024 March primary will determine which top two candidates will advance to the general election regardless of party's affiliation. </p><p>Currently, due to just 7 weeks before the absentee ballot is available, the three leading candidates with the most name recognition, connection and fundraising networks are Sam Liccardo, Evan Low and Joe Simitian. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMl7URGYeib4gwp40Hz_j7NYUYc7pxWMf_MXTlXlFcwZIGXXSnrNN9sFFVyiG0cQrgljln9mpqKCFXSONjUp3NzdwFn0o7GRjqnbUGe9DwCE5xLNKYse6nywKq35HJ-Dxqy-mOOCd5n7898hMGaSYuppC7gbIzI1TLFT351r26kgOcyNrCsA1rUVJi-aY/s900/839px-Kamala_Harris_with_Sam_Liccardo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="839" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMl7URGYeib4gwp40Hz_j7NYUYc7pxWMf_MXTlXlFcwZIGXXSnrNN9sFFVyiG0cQrgljln9mpqKCFXSONjUp3NzdwFn0o7GRjqnbUGe9DwCE5xLNKYse6nywKq35HJ-Dxqy-mOOCd5n7898hMGaSYuppC7gbIzI1TLFT351r26kgOcyNrCsA1rUVJi-aY/s320/839px-Kamala_Harris_with_Sam_Liccardo.jpg" width="298" /></a></div><p>Sam Liccardo, 53, is the favorite to be in the runoff by virtual of being the former mayor of San Jose and roughly a third of the registered voters in the district live in San Jose. His name recognition in the Vietnamese-American community is high and San Jose voters historically will vote for San Jose candidates. Within weeks of announcement, he has raised over $900,000. His tenure as mayor is controversial with the city being fined heavily for non-compliance with transparency and open government rules and the spiral escalation of the homeless crisis. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZmmeeBkCfnWC9Aahniq3mpV7qBTHsjRCZ-J9SP5qrbLoHbWPLbdmc3PU8rdUJJuMmbqXkdqo7m637tqOsK6FUWRErf0mFu6biEVQrGnhQrivesfZpXCc9hIjRvSTVWmnuRiyyqEZyNJ9zSXyrQuyuDUneJLLeHh5vfkPq3_U9JgpfEC9hh2flKpWUH-Wb/s720/Joe_Simitian.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="624" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZmmeeBkCfnWC9Aahniq3mpV7qBTHsjRCZ-J9SP5qrbLoHbWPLbdmc3PU8rdUJJuMmbqXkdqo7m637tqOsK6FUWRErf0mFu6biEVQrGnhQrivesfZpXCc9hIjRvSTVWmnuRiyyqEZyNJ9zSXyrQuyuDUneJLLeHh5vfkPq3_U9JgpfEC9hh2flKpWUH-Wb/s320/Joe_Simitian.jpg" width="277" /></a></div><p></p><p>Joe Simitian, 70, has been waiting for Eshoo's seat for quite a while now and he has been raising money over the past decade and amassing a war chest of more than $700,000. His name recognion in the Peninsula cities is substantial considering that he is currently the Santa Clara County supervisor, former state senator and Palo Alto mayor. He is probably the most experience politician on issues and his liberal views fit with the district progressive bend. His age might come into play but conventional wisdom is that most voters are more interested in getting things done in congress. </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBdLoFbcc-l0NfAOpjK1Xw85iqs9BUHu-HM_42VS10BNoRBaaeIGKr8PBCsVGxJb4P40go7sREAFoTJodRBkmsDxLZ6Ju2mgYoq6bWatkNcBAahLZ1nnfxrKWu-kmzIt104hnE1GTERrbWQXcMRoF_hcwvJ58JwcrpmkTUwaetjiEZfAMVoSX-hgTt3jJ/s1024/Evan_Low_(48011206878)_(cropped).jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1012" data-original-width="1024" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxBdLoFbcc-l0NfAOpjK1Xw85iqs9BUHu-HM_42VS10BNoRBaaeIGKr8PBCsVGxJb4P40go7sREAFoTJodRBkmsDxLZ6Ju2mgYoq6bWatkNcBAahLZ1nnfxrKWu-kmzIt104hnE1GTERrbWQXcMRoF_hcwvJ58JwcrpmkTUwaetjiEZfAMVoSX-hgTt3jJ/s320/Evan_Low_(48011206878)_(cropped).jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Evan Low, 40, is an openly gay state legislator serving since 2014 in a district that has a strong Chinese-American constituents. So far, he has raised over $300,000 with a strong support of labor unions. He has received endorsement from Rep. Rho Khanna and will like from Zoe Lofgren also.</p><p>The two wild cards that have remote ousider chance are Julie Lythcott-Haimes, an attorney who is current serving on the Palo Alto City Council, and Rishi Kumar, a former Saratoga City Councilmember and ran against Eshoo in the last two elections. </p><p>The other candidates will capture the attention of voters but they are likely playing a role of spoilers. However the two Republican candidates can sneak in since 16% of total voters are Repbulican and with this many Democratic candidates siphoning votes from each other, anything can happen.</p><p>At any rate, the current conventional wisdom predicts at this stage of the race, Sam Liccardo will be one of the candidates in the runoff. And if Evan Low can consolidate his Asian and Hispanic supporters, he has a good chance to break the likely needed 20% threshold to be in the general election.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-27823784435642551142023-11-09T20:36:00.009-08:002023-11-10T00:13:05.553-08:00Recall Alameda County DA Pamela Price<p> <br /><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrmRo-flR-4h2dW_B_byPlnzKu85QMy0Frk9VgxybkLbrykPBRt4eum98WlIMSzoO3U5wzXXdpmtK5OdGPKF0l4CDSyf_G4t07q5PyOIImEAOT6LttgcEfoQZxZZ6vYdIUF8hij6naY4nLCxCD2R8czEmPAwDmiKzjTb-XWvznmQxPHUotMTwDYAUMznO/s235/Price.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="235" data-original-width="215" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNrmRo-flR-4h2dW_B_byPlnzKu85QMy0Frk9VgxybkLbrykPBRt4eum98WlIMSzoO3U5wzXXdpmtK5OdGPKF0l4CDSyf_G4t07q5PyOIImEAOT6LttgcEfoQZxZZ6vYdIUF8hij6naY4nLCxCD2R8czEmPAwDmiKzjTb-XWvznmQxPHUotMTwDYAUMznO/w323-h299/Price.jpg" width="323" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since the start of Price recall in the first week of October, the leaders of the recall group, SAFE, are confident that they will gather more than 73,195 signatures to get the recall on the ballot by the end of November. The minimum signatures representing 15% of the entire vote cast for the last gubernatorial election are not due until mid-March, and it is a major hurdle in the process of having the recall placed on the ballot for the November General Election. Without saying, this is an astonishing feat considering the county comprises a large geography and diverse population. </p><p> Pamela Price, a civil rights attorney, won the seat of Alamed County DA over Terry Wiley, the county's chief deputy DA, in the November 2022 election. She ran with a progressive platform of eliminating racialy inequity in the criminal legal system and providing alternative to incaceration focused on healing.</p><p>Within 3 mongths into her term, her critics started to blame sky rocket increase in crime on her office's practice of not seeking maximum possible punishment for criminal defendants while removing 4 seasoned prosecutors and 2 police inspectors for political reasons. Recent hiring of her boyfriend as Senior Program Specialist with no prior experience and not disclosing their relationship, has brought questions about her workplace ethics. Antwon Cloird joined her team with a based salary of $115,502. </p><p>Despite public pressure to change her criminal prosecution practice, she has refused to diverge from her own mandate of decriminalization and take the responsibility for a 30% or more surge in violent and non-violent crimes in Oakland. To her the recall effort is lead by election deniers and run by outside special-interest groups supported by the right-wing agenda.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR123O72KDgQghu5B3T1je8arr-qlE5UP3X438CJuoc7IKU-ys3a9_gtEq-7zYjvuX0iTkfvoX6WOcWtqG7Cw1uubPodB2WzZPCU0ecZvWwpwOcXHDM1uSoSTFsIuiaOxWAJpM0nhA-Z-dKpjXehynhk9ijp5jvr3NLsZMyhPdNbSWLNnotBJj7i7782QW/s275/Brenda.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR123O72KDgQghu5B3T1je8arr-qlE5UP3X438CJuoc7IKU-ys3a9_gtEq-7zYjvuX0iTkfvoX6WOcWtqG7Cw1uubPodB2WzZPCU0ecZvWwpwOcXHDM1uSoSTFsIuiaOxWAJpM0nhA-Z-dKpjXehynhk9ijp5jvr3NLsZMyhPdNbSWLNnotBJj7i7782QW/s1600/Brenda.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><p></p><p>Save Alameda for Everyone (SAFE), the Price recall committee has raised over $240,000 from individual and corporate sources so far. A second recall committee, "Reviving the Bay Area", has additional funded SAFE over $385,000. The principal members of the committee are Brenda Grisham, Philip Dreyfuss and Carl Chan. Brenda's 17-year-old son was shot and killed in East Oakland outside their home in 2010. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNctCAaa5YoJPQwakgwBtMBJfbgQD-HkPjLeC98hizh9cjaAFsjk10buPnO-CW-aP977k20O_N_FPl6otQBbSKzFrkF1VOBYKpuVH3nOrTLYFC8j56byhrSky_g0Mf4mzP573d80ELcQiwSPFayszilZJheZLnfkfJyVmHf99eXNjRFwW9SK3-RboWzQM/s275/Carl.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHNctCAaa5YoJPQwakgwBtMBJfbgQD-HkPjLeC98hizh9cjaAFsjk10buPnO-CW-aP977k20O_N_FPl6otQBbSKzFrkF1VOBYKpuVH3nOrTLYFC8j56byhrSky_g0Mf4mzP573d80ELcQiwSPFayszilZJheZLnfkfJyVmHf99eXNjRFwW9SK3-RboWzQM/s1600/Carl.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Carl Chan, President of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, was assaulted in 2021 by anti-Asian hate felon. Philip Dreyfuss is a hedge fund investor at the SF-based Farallon Capital Management. He resigned from SAFE and established the "Reviving the Bay Area" committee.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtMsc0qYJ1plampfY5ceoDmAv9SK0kIop-ie-ccbH_0kg27YjhbDG49A0Idadv2H7ekBzn1L11-cLZ1BwnNjk4T1KlqR0i-AyZ-4sfBkwTOUO6X_wg4n1uwXl26L_ssWzmvdWup-P0H-q8wWEin8-aHc4-3Uu-AikrCZtRpgqgSnE42_-8LG8_UZ9JvfZ/s275/Philip.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="275" data-original-width="183" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVtMsc0qYJ1plampfY5ceoDmAv9SK0kIop-ie-ccbH_0kg27YjhbDG49A0Idadv2H7ekBzn1L11-cLZ1BwnNjk4T1KlqR0i-AyZ-4sfBkwTOUO6X_wg4n1uwXl26L_ssWzmvdWup-P0H-q8wWEin8-aHc4-3Uu-AikrCZtRpgqgSnE42_-8LG8_UZ9JvfZ/s1600/Philip.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, Price has raised about $15,000 to defeat the recall effort. Clearly, the sentiment is against Price and the momentum is growing to gather 100,000 signatures to ensure the recall will be a success. Recall organizers are being helped with hundreds of people from all over California volunteering to gather signatures, some came far away as San Diego and Sacramento. If successfully being removed in 2024 by the will of the people, Price can take into comfort that she will be one of the two DA's ousted from their seats by recall in the last 2 years. Remember San Francisco DA Chesa Boudin anyone?</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-61694467735966145792023-09-20T22:38:00.000-07:002023-09-20T22:38:07.261-07:00Housing Choice Voucher Program in Orange County<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGy72YHH2NIGb480pV4c8Eut3UrcRyQYe7ze3tnLmWWKYWT0ePMvkhH1gmZO8dKvqMcHd1BSnbcqdeIORGyfn0FD6BIBjpl-VZLn8POqE9kPq8KCIQE4df7DPh6u0QprE38wgymxkASKljLtC8Bn5XRv7qLO4lR-j1rNAa6zArEAiwoorwiE_epc0Y5yRC/s940/378145765_741620407772991_7885341900728959279_n%20(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="940" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGy72YHH2NIGb480pV4c8Eut3UrcRyQYe7ze3tnLmWWKYWT0ePMvkhH1gmZO8dKvqMcHd1BSnbcqdeIORGyfn0FD6BIBjpl-VZLn8POqE9kPq8KCIQE4df7DPh6u0QprE38wgymxkASKljLtC8Bn5XRv7qLO4lR-j1rNAa6zArEAiwoorwiE_epc0Y5yRC/w387-h324/378145765_741620407772991_7885341900728959279_n%20(1).jpg" width="387" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">From Supervisor Andrew Do: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;">The Orange County Housing Authority (OCHA) will be opening the <a href="https://www.ochousing.org/2023-waiting-list-opening">Housing Choice Voucher Program</a> - Section 8 - waiting list and accepting applications beginning September 18, 2023, 8:00 a.m. PDT and ending September 29, 2023, 11:59 p.m. PDT.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;">To help residents who may not have access to a computer, lack transportation, or just need assistance submitting an application, I am hosting a 3-hour event at Mile Square Park next Monday where trained staff from </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xzsf02u x1s688f" href="https://www.facebook.com/Abrazarinc?__cft__[0]=AZXflsn9zCHntThYm8knlOZp1E1O9HmxlNPsMHipfSlqLq-cLw6KrQXIMDHk33P36JHc5fECaG99Snl3lrEtVvwMDdt7gmD0-knJ-oBnQZ0MPMmX99f28UTv5qgkyIY-nqiXnqLswuCv2ypKBcGa5ML0_-1ZA7HaH_PanjpXU1Qap6cnN5n2jabifNvrtms7tUY&__tn__=-]K*F" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-weight: 600; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline;">Abrazar, Inc.</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"> and the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"><a class="x1i10hfl xjbqb8w x6umtig x1b1mbwd xaqea5y xav7gou x9f619 x1ypdohk xt0psk2 xe8uvvx xdj266r x11i5rnm xat24cr x1mh8g0r xexx8yu x4uap5 x18d9i69 xkhd6sd x16tdsg8 x1hl2dhg xggy1nq x1a2a7pz xt0b8zv xzsf02u x1s688f" href="https://www.facebook.com/aascsc?__cft__[0]=AZXflsn9zCHntThYm8knlOZp1E1O9HmxlNPsMHipfSlqLq-cLw6KrQXIMDHk33P36JHc5fECaG99Snl3lrEtVvwMDdt7gmD0-knJ-oBnQZ0MPMmX99f28UTv5qgkyIY-nqiXnqLswuCv2ypKBcGa5ML0_-1ZA7HaH_PanjpXU1Qap6cnN5n2jabifNvrtms7tUY&__tn__=-]K*F" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-weight: 600; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline;">Asian American Senior Citizens Service Center</span></a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"> will help residents submit their applications electronically.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;">For thousands of people and families who have been waiting to apply for rental assistance, this comes as a welcome relief. With a housing voucher, individuals and families can choose their own housing that meet their needs, including single-family homes, townhomes, and apartments.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;" /><span class="x3nfvp2 x1j61x8r x1fcty0u xdj266r xhhsvwb xat24cr xgzva0m xxymvpz xlup9mm x1kky2od" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; display: inline-flex; font-size: 15px; height: 16px; margin: 0px 1px; vertical-align: middle; width: 16px;"><img alt="⚠️" height="16" referrerpolicy="origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://static.xx.fbcdn.net/images/emoji.php/v9/t63/1.5/16/26a0.png" style="border: 0px;" width="16" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px;"> PLEASE NOTE: Submitted applications are not considered on a first-come, first-served basis, and the timing of the application submittal has no bearing on the waiting list position or how soon an applicant may receive assistance. The waiting list will be limited to 12,000 applicants.</span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-32385959600336368682023-04-01T01:36:00.003-07:002023-04-01T01:38:56.531-07:00Santa Clara County D2 Board of Supervisors Race <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ43EHVZwT0XzoRQQkaoxQD0KvpKwhfN8o8OZUjLdZiOIpNCCXZkv3DjvjVYdhWHlklclK53qR-kJPAJuVxoU_S7vxbdBQFKb7A0qqKN_gV5lL8mhuJaQBk6umrvW-7-1QMysBDnc0CJOmpngSg8tx3x2G52fjNvLEUlnLqZ2Jh4IZ0J93XuPmkDfzkA/s960/hands-in-a-circle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ43EHVZwT0XzoRQQkaoxQD0KvpKwhfN8o8OZUjLdZiOIpNCCXZkv3DjvjVYdhWHlklclK53qR-kJPAJuVxoU_S7vxbdBQFKb7A0qqKN_gV5lL8mhuJaQBk6umrvW-7-1QMysBDnc0CJOmpngSg8tx3x2G52fjNvLEUlnLqZ2Jh4IZ0J93XuPmkDfzkA/w344-h252/hands-in-a-circle.jpg" width="344" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>In late February this year, at the Vietnamese American Business Association (VABA) Anual Gala 2023 where over 800 guests enjoying their multi-course gourmet dinner and listening to speeches of elected officials from Sacramento to Orange County, one of the attention-grabbing buzzes is the presence of Madison Nguyen and her hinting of a run for the soon to be vacant D2 Board of Supervisors seat. <p></p><p>Conventional wisdom predicts that Madison Nguyen, former SJ city councilmember who has not been seen for the last 4 years with a rumor that she mostly lives in Nevada, will be one of the 3 or 4 Vietnamese-American candidates for this hotly contested seat. Not to be outdone, the Latino community will have at least 3 or 4 candidates also. </p><p>So who are the potential candidates and why D2 is so appealing?</p><p>District 2 after the 2022 redistricting to reflect the 2020 census was drawn with a heavy Latino population by the Board of Supervisors. This is to counterbalance District 3 where the boundary was designed for an Asian majority. The current Supervisor Cindy Chavez is termed out in 2024 and her chief staff, Betty Duong, will officially anounce her candidacy this coming Sunday at her sister's coffee shop in downtown San Jose.</p><p>But not too be outdone, other potential candidates including ESHUSD Board Trustee Van Le and the newly elected SJ Councilmember Bien Doan also have expressed their interests. </p><p>On the Latino side, rumors are picking up that former SJ Councilmembers Nora Campos, Maya Esparza and Magdalena Carrasco will be running. </p><p>District 2 has about 176,000 registered voters. The breakdown is 29% Asian, 35% Latino and 34% non-Latino, non-African American, and non-Asian. Vietnamese-American registered voters make up 17% of the total. This is not unexpected since D2 covers most of San Jose City D7, D5 and D3 where there are a lot of Vietnamese-American families. </p><p>Madison Nguyen, if runs, will be a business friendly candidate while Betty Duong is loyal to Labor Union. This will make another interesting race where the two will be vying hard for their natural base, Vietnamese voters, as well as other voters in a very diverse demographic. <br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-85029176916772561612022-12-09T21:11:00.006-08:002022-12-09T21:13:04.498-08:00"Are You Feeling Blue?" Art Exhibtion<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3zSYaXBYTuIERMde0p1TsYnnzaX2PbvH6GqydFicJd0UHLNnnksfF6RN35UOEAuQGgBt2hcRxWFLWhL90muA7vf22lmzIAw8GH2uGfkFcRvIpkBgSy9HCSD3El-XpvwJqpV3wrQT4Wc4SZi0ztwARiLP_LI5uw4cnocskaUkrALs9HJaxEYBf76Bjg/s2048/317612789_10160715469484808_2724726525589843713_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="669" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir3zSYaXBYTuIERMde0p1TsYnnzaX2PbvH6GqydFicJd0UHLNnnksfF6RN35UOEAuQGgBt2hcRxWFLWhL90muA7vf22lmzIAw8GH2uGfkFcRvIpkBgSy9HCSD3El-XpvwJqpV3wrQT4Wc4SZi0ztwARiLP_LI5uw4cnocskaUkrALs9HJaxEYBf76Bjg/w580-h669/317612789_10160715469484808_2724726525589843713_n.jpg" width="580" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-84454272794321694882022-11-03T11:51:00.003-07:002022-11-03T18:14:51.023-07:00Coalition Against Red-baiting and Race-baiting in San Jose Political Arena<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyj5f0fqcDDULofG1xEKAvX8U2FLLsoD_N9RpDn0jsNZgHsnU1yjVvXMAr-pcYuJJmEyTa7p-Ey8gr4GghOg_bqkWUT4vQNLAPfvNlS-h9MsEV8w6Ldw4-6neftGp7FIx1ONoZpaEtf3jnaOV0YsOMp1Zvcj-Lt1clwrdFLwUM2prPxAWDGjZxrR6i1Q/s4000/20221102_111220.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="4000" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyj5f0fqcDDULofG1xEKAvX8U2FLLsoD_N9RpDn0jsNZgHsnU1yjVvXMAr-pcYuJJmEyTa7p-Ey8gr4GghOg_bqkWUT4vQNLAPfvNlS-h9MsEV8w6Ldw4-6neftGp7FIx1ONoZpaEtf3jnaOV0YsOMp1Zvcj-Lt1clwrdFLwUM2prPxAWDGjZxrR6i1Q/w640-h362/20221102_111220.heic" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">STATEMENT SHOWING SOLIDARITY
AMONG COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND CONDEMNING RACIST MAILERS TARGETING ASIAN
AMERICANS<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">FROM SILICON VALLEY BIZ PAC<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Last week, the Silicon Valley Biz PAC issued a </span><span lang="EN"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/15FBnR4c8z1y_dXVNue5KHMfGLGKDZFe1/view?usp=sharing"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">mailer</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> attacking Supervisor Cindy
Chavez by falsely claiming that she is “trying to silence the Asian American
community in San José” in addition to using a darkened photo of her in the hit
piece. The undersigned members of the REAL Coalition and allies unequivocally
condemn this racist mailer from Silicon Valley Biz Political Action Committee
(PAC) and call for all PACs, political operatives, and candidates to stop using
dog whistles, baseless claims, and outright lies to try to confuse, manipulate,
and exploit the general public.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">This race-baiting tactic has been used before in 2016
and 2020 when Councilmember Sergio Jimenez’s and Sylvia Arenas’ faces were darkened
in campaign mailers. SVOPAC also used race baiting to attack Candidate Jake
Tonkel by using a photo of Black men from South Africa to scare voters, which
led to the dissolution of the Silicon Valley Organization PAC (SVOPAC), the
resignation of their longtime CEO, and a months-long restructuring process of
the once “San José/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce.” Rather than learning
from the mistakes of its predecessor, the Silicon Valley Biz PAC uses abhorrent
race-baiting tactics and exploits an entire community for political gain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The mailer in question darkens the face of Supervisor
Chavez and attempts to victimize the Asian American community in San José by
driving the narrative that Asians are being targeted for political oppression.
It attempts to instill fear in us by turning a candidate into an enemy. It
weaponizes the issue of Asian representation to target a woman of color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is on top of several other instances of
inflammatory tactics used in this election cycle: in-language comments using
racial stereotypes of </span><span lang="EN"><a href="https://youtu.be/y1vOXHV1pQE?t=3152"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Mexican Americans</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> and crime made by an East
Side Union School Board Trustee that the above-mailer references; a </span><span lang="EN"><a href="https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/San-Jose-Spotlight-San-Jose-Leaders-Condemn-17512325.php"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">mailer</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> sent by San Jose council
candidate grouping three white women in contrast to two men of color,
“portray[ing] white women as innocent and virtuous and men of color as
dangerous and predatory.” These actions are unacceptable and must be addressed
in written and community fora. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">We are angry. We are angry at how political
strategists can so easily try to manipulate our communities. We are angry at
how politics is the justification for race-baiting. We are angry at how special
interests who have never paid attention to our representation are now using
this issue to drive communities of color apart.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">A tenet and tactic of white supremacist logic is to
divide and conquer – to pit communities of different racial and ethnic
backgrounds against one another in an attempt to distract them from broader
issues that uphold oppressive institutions. Power does not have to be a
zero-sum game. We gain true power in working together, not in tearing each
other apart. This is why the REAL (Race Equity Action Leadership) Coalition was
created - to practice and advance racial justice through a coalition of
nonprofit leaders, committed to learning, advocacy, and organizing while
building power in authentic community solidarity.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">We refuse to be pitted against other communities of
color in political gamesmanship. We are not your model minority nor are we
pawns. We choose solidarity!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">________________________________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Organization Signatories</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> (to sign on behalf of an
organization, type in your name, title, and organization)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Angelica
Cortez, Executive Director, LEAD Filipino<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Angelica
Ramos-Allen, President, National Women’s Political Caucus of Silicon Valley<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Anna
Nguyen, Co-Executive Director, Friends of Hue Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Bao
Trieu, President, Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation (VIVO)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Darcie
Green, Executive Director, Latinas Contra Cancer<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">David
Mineta, Executive Director, Momentum Health<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Diane
Fisher, Executive Director, Jewish Community Relations Council<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Jahmal
Williams, Black Leadership Kitchen Cabinet of Silicon Valley<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Jean
Cohen, Executive Officer, South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Josh
Selo, Executive Director, West Valley Community Services<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Felicia
Gershberg, Co-Lead, Together We Will - San José<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Kyra
Kazantzis, Executive Director, Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Lam
Nguyen, Co-Chair of Orchard City Indivisible and Board President of EM
Collective<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Mimi
Nguyen, Executive Director, Step Forward Foundation<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">MyLinh
Pham, CEO & Founder, Asian American Center of Santa Clara County<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Nassim
Nouri, Green Party of Santa Clara County Councilmember<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Philip
Nguyen, Executive Director, Vietnamese American Roundtable<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Quyen
Vuong, Executive Director, International Children Assistance Network (ICAN)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Richard
Konda, Executive Director, Asian Law Alliance<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Ruth
Silver Taube, Coordinator, Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Susan
Hayase, San Jose Nikkei Resisters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Saul
Ramos, Co-Executive Director, SOMOS Mayfair <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Victor
Vasquez, Co-Executive Director, SOMOS Mayfair <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Silicon
Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Individual Signatories</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> (to sign on your individual
behalf, type in your name and title, which is used for identification purposes
only)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Carmen
Brammer, Political Strategist & Community Advocate <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Daniel
Cao<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Dieu
Huynh, VietUnity - Southbay<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Elizabeth
Barcelos, South Bay Progressive Alliance<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Elly
Matsumura, Powerswitch Action<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Emily
Ann Ramos, Northern Vice-Chair, California Democratic Party API Caucus<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Felwina
Opiso-Mondina, PAWIS<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Hong
Cao, Board Member, Viet Museum<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Huy
Tran, Justice at Work Law Group, LLP<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Jane
Do Bui<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Linda
D. Nguyen<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Lucy
Tran<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Mary
Cheryl B. Gloner<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Matt
King, policy director, Sacred Heart Community Service<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Michele
Lew<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Milan
Balinton<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Nadia
Nouri, Iranian American SCC Green Party<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Nick
Cortez, South Bay Progressive Alliance<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Patricia
Gardner<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Peggy
Elwell, South Bay Progressive Alliance<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Peter
Allen, Political Strategist<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Regina
Celestin Williams<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Richard
Hobbs, Executive Director, Human Agenda<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Robin
Goka Huynh, San Jose Nikkei Resisters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Sarita
Kohli, Executive Director, Asian Americans for Community Involvement<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Vanessa
Shieh<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Elected Officials</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> (to sign on your individual
behalf, type in your name and title, which is used for identification purposes
only)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Ash
Kalra, Assemblymember, 27th Assembly District<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-highlight: white;">Derek Grasty, Mt. Pleasant Elementary
School District Trustee<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Naomi
Nakano-Matsumoto, Member of Fremont Union High School District Board<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">James
Chang, Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Commissioner<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Javed
Ellahie, Mayor, Monte Sereno<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Jorge
Pacheco Jr, Oak Grove School District Trustee<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Ruben
Abrica, Mayor, City of East Palo Alto<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Sergio
Jimenez, Councilmember, City of San Jose<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Tara
Sreekrishnan, Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Tony
Alexander, San Jose Evergreen Community College District Trustee<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Tony
Estremera, Director, Santa Clara Valley Water District<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Van Le,
East Side Union High School Trustee<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-shadow: yes; mso-padding-alt: 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt 31.0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Wendy
Ho, San Jose-Evergreen Community College District Trustee<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-27250439728175538272022-10-31T01:29:00.006-07:002022-11-01T16:28:12.754-07:00Johnny Khamis and Santa Clara County Supervisor D1 Race<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphhhBmhCPfjCocciDDlw80Y-T1s3vrEZgWIlgmvjtTgy_nLLUnp6ZlGKKicqhK8q1eW8_musc0Y8zNHEgOYvCRuPyPRlUQmIykK3uAxSclVGWFq0AZedjmj3irvDgbmUDSC6RsyKnTtYJmy1XeryEq11YTR4eZf2enxcdjsLmoiuHwHlIibCJq0KJNg/s2048/306920624_515726717034586_8403247195755473285_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphhhBmhCPfjCocciDDlw80Y-T1s3vrEZgWIlgmvjtTgy_nLLUnp6ZlGKKicqhK8q1eW8_musc0Y8zNHEgOYvCRuPyPRlUQmIykK3uAxSclVGWFq0AZedjmj3irvDgbmUDSC6RsyKnTtYJmy1XeryEq11YTR4eZf2enxcdjsLmoiuHwHlIibCJq0KJNg/w640-h481/306920624_515726717034586_8403247195755473285_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />While most voters in San Jose are focusing on the contested San
Jose mayoral seat, another significant race is shaping up to be very important
for the balance of power in Santa Clara County as well as the representation of
the Vietnamese - American community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Currently, Santa Clara County D1 covers most of South San Jose
neighborhoods including Blossom Hills and Almaden (SJ D10 and SJ D2), and
Evergreen (SJ D8).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With about 10% of the
registered are Vietnamese - American, the community cannot afford to ignore the race between former City Councilmember Johnny Khamis and D8 City Councilmember Sylvia Arenas.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">After the redistricting in 2021, both Santa Clara County D3 and D1 are two districts that have the most Vietnamese-American voters, 12% and 10% respectively. Supervisor Otto Lee won the D3 seat in 2020 when it made up of 16% Vietnamese-American voters. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Johnny Khamis is a close ally of former City Councilmember Tam Nguyen. Arriving in San Jose in 1976 from Beirut to escape the civil war, he grew up in a struggling immigrant family who rebuilt their life from scratch. He graduated from San Jose State University and the CEO of a successfuly financial consulting firm. His politics are aligned with most Vietnamese-Americans who came here as refugees to rebuild their lives - strong family values, personal accountability, fiscal responsibility, and more importantly, a government that works for the people without waste and mire in bureaucracy.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhuFW2w8TY-bhJHXO6eYImxi1FeRHEAK1n8EMddka5mVolrF4P2ReXStIrdEd5xzo3eh46egLGvflfxToikVN-nI3banJiQ_C0PjVA-qk63qgRcA5Rzaf0S_QgbPlHdN7Ei4o7Iy6fmlvzktbh7PZ8Vo0HmtfZm6qQ55cXM1W0U1MDSQeTzeorIwQvg/s1920/Johnny%20Khamis.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1586" data-original-width="1920" height="528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmhuFW2w8TY-bhJHXO6eYImxi1FeRHEAK1n8EMddka5mVolrF4P2ReXStIrdEd5xzo3eh46egLGvflfxToikVN-nI3banJiQ_C0PjVA-qk63qgRcA5Rzaf0S_QgbPlHdN7Ei4o7Iy6fmlvzktbh7PZ8Vo0HmtfZm6qQ55cXM1W0U1MDSQeTzeorIwQvg/w640-h528/Johnny%20Khamis.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">So far in this race, Khamis has shown to be a tiredless campaigner. He raised over $550,000, twice his opponent, and received endorsements of key bipartisan political leaders in <a href="https://www.johnnykhamis.com/">Gilroy</a>, <a href="https://www.johnnykhamis.com/">Morgan Hill and San Jose</a>.</p><p class="MsoNormal">His opponent has been on cruise control and relies heavily on South Bay Labor Council for her campaign. The battle ground right now is San Jose City District 8 where over 25% of registered voters are Vietnamese-Americans. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Syliva Arenas is a controversial candidate when earlier this year, she decided to introduce a measure to allow noncitizen residents in San Jose a right to votes in all local elections. This would allow about 120,000 noncitizen residents in San Jose to vote. To Vietnamese-Americans, extending the right could lead lead to corruption and unaccountability of the voting system. Moreover, with no representation in city council despite representing 13% of the registered voters, many Vietnamese-Americans feel threaten that their votes will be more diluted by the noncitizens, especially when a high percentage is Latina. </p><p class="MsoNormal">In the primary, the Evergreen neighborhood where Vietnamese-Americans are dominant, Arenas won all of the precincts in the area, mostly because of name recognition as their councilmember. However, Khamis has been actively campaign in community trying to change that. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The race will come down to the wire. Right now, the conventional wisdom is that Khamis has an edge if the hispanic turnout is low as expected. But he still needs to convert the Vietnamese-American voters who mostly aligned with his pragmatic politics. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-2806036539272870302022-10-05T01:04:00.067-07:002022-11-01T14:04:11.797-07:00Cindy Chavez vs. Matt Mahan, An Unprecedented Campaign for Vietnamese Votes<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Prologue:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> A translated rambling commentary from Brian
Do in his biweekly attack against Cindy Chavez on a Youtube show: <i>“I don't know where they stand, Cindy Chavez and her groups are left wing with
special privileges. We left Vietnam, immigrated here to fight the
communists, partly because we don't want the government to decide for us, we
want a free voice. We left Vietnam because
we don't want any the government officials to decide for whom they can give or
for whom they can help, they hold power here. Cindy Chavez and her privileged
faction are truly a left-wing group. Their political positions are completely
contrary to the basic interests that our Vietnamese community aspires to”</i></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the San Jose mayoral
race replacing term limit Mayor Sam Liccardo, the fight for the Vietnamese
votes has been quite heated so far with both SCC Supervisor Cindy Chavez and
Councilmember Matt Mahan working hard to persuade the
voters. Currently, the conventional wisdom is Mahan has done a good job creating winds behind his back trying to close the gap in the Vietnamese community. He is benefiting from aggressive tactics executed by his ardent supporters and Vietnamese campaigners. It is impressive considering that he is
an unknown in the community and has not shown his supports or efforts that
would in any ways benefit the community during his time in office. Meanwhile Chavez is a familiar face with strong ties and long records of supporting the community for years. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Throughout the
campaign, Brian Do, a school board member of Eastside Union School District and a campaigner for Mahan, has been consistenly online and radio shows poking at Chavez on many issues whether real or imaginary. Basically, a clever strategy of throwing everything under the sink and hoping some will stick: </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 15pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She is left wing and
that would make her against the “Vietnamese people’s interests”, and she </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">only cares about "her people and her community".</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 15pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Chavez is causing crime
increase. By following the state policy enacted during the pandemic
to ease crowding in county jail, she has
encouraged more crimes to be committed. The policy allowed low
level offenders of nonviolent crimes to be released while waiting for court order
dates. Do claimed that with this policy “she allowed criminals to be released” and “the people of her community” after being
released would commit more crimes in the Vietnamese community,
specifically in Little Saigon, as well as in other communities. </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 15pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Chavez</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> has distributed funding disproportionately to “her people” than to the Vietnamese community. If you vote
for her, the Vietnamese will get minimal to nothing for our rightful "piece of the
pie”. Do would provide examples of how the county is not providing
the “fair share” of social services to the Vietnamese people while “her
community” would have all the privileges or more. June Tran, a
Mahan’s fervent supporter, recently went on a Youtube interview to level charges
that Chavez is spending wastefully and yet not for the benefits of the
Vietnamese community. The attacks are viewed by some as race
baiting with the idea somehow Matt Mahan will take care of the Vietnamese
community better than Chavez for she is favored other ethnic groups, mostly
implying Hispanic.</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 15pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">4.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">F</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">or two straight weeks, the local newspaper Calitoday ran paid articles
denouncing Chavez for her support of abortion and Proposition 1 which would
support the constitution amendment for the women’s right to
choose. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Supporters of Chavez who
are often less vocal and have been slow to respond finally had enough of the
twisted misinformation and baseless claims. They pointed out:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">A.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 7pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mahan is a Democratic
liberal candidate with a liberal social agenda including supporting and funding
abortion as he signed an open letter along with 77 other elected officials in
the Bay Area urging Governor Newsom to support and funding abortion in
California. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> B. Chavez</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> is giving more funding to “her community
or to her people” than the Vietnamese community. There is no such
proof. The county government budgeted funding to serve
all people and the Vietnamese community is being equally served. And
to Chavez credit, her funding of the Vietnamese-American Service Center is a
testament of her unwavering support of the community for the last 10 years.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> But being persistent, Mahan's supporters
continue to claim that the Vietnamese community received below average
healthcare supports during the COVID-19 pandemic while the other communities
received better services. Both ICAN and VIVO, the two largest and oldest
Vietnamese American nonprofit establishments serving the community on health
care and social services in the last 40 years rebuked such outrageous
fallacies: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Quyen
Vuong, ICAN Executive Director said: <i>“For many years, Supervisory Cindy
Chavez has been a true friend, advocate and supporter of the Vietnamese
community. During the pandemic, she provided outreach and engagement
funding to ICAN and many other organizations and media outlets to keep the
Vietnamese community informed about covid vaccines to protect their
health. Sup. Chavez also supported the efforts to have the public health
COVID website be done in Vietnamese, with weekly updates posted on Youtube from
the County in Vietnamese about the covid situation, and county staff going on
Vietnamese media outlets to stay connected with the community. Under her
leadership and support, the construction and planning of the Vietnamese
American Service Center continued to move forward in spite of the pandemic, so
it could open its door as planned in early 2022. We need a
mayor who is truly committed to improving our lives and livelihood while
understanding and respecting our culture and traditions.”</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bao Trieu, Chair and
co-founder of VIVO stated: <i>“The Board of Supervisors along with
the leadership of Supervisor Cindy Chavez has been very supportive of the
Vietnamese community through many effective outreach and social programs for
seniors, homeless and low-income families. Her pro-active efforts
helped save many lives in the county during the COVID-19
pandemic. The county provided resources adequately to all communities on
prevention education, providing vaccines and priority treatment and testing
were unprecedented in California. VIVO is proud to be part of the efforts as
the oldest Vietnamese-American nonprofit organization that provide essential
health and social supports to disadvantaged and hard to reach
communities."</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">C.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The crime issue is mostly a problem with Mayor Sam
Liccardo and the City Council for a long time not willing to provide adequate budget to bolster the police
force where there were over 200 police officers either left the force or
retired without being filled. Mayor Liccardo and the City
Council including Mahan with their Black Lives Matter supports showed their unity and doing the right thing against institutionalized
racism. However, they compounded the problem that long has been
ignored which is the inadequate funding of police and fire
departments. As San Jose residents can attest, if you call 911 for
non-violent crimes, the police department would be reluctant to send officers
to the scene due to manpower shortage. Unfortunately, the county government has no
jurisdiction on city’s law enforcement.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Some Vietnamese supporters of Mahan and
their attacks using race baiting tactic playing Vietnamese voters that somehow
as a Hispanic, Chavez will provide more funding and better social benefits to
Hispanic and other ethnic groups than Vietnamese. The message is by
voting for Matt Mahan, the Vietnamese community will receive better
favors. <b>Some people would call this is a racist message at its
core. While a few Vietnamese people are saying that Matt Mahan should
denounce these intolerable baseless claims trying to create fears & hatred and speak up
against such divisive politics using race. </b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b> By allowing these extreme supporters to continue using race baiting tactics, their negative and destructive noises now overshadow Mahan's cultivated image of not politics as usual and thoughtful personality. </b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxjHo-S3iobVQeQmTaex8Y5xJZQavao6lLSLed4-bLI5YMm-IQzOkyYzpHFzgg12qv4vKl4q4JYpc_pK9-GGOUPw1apAZqsBK7JfwJRe8CDqo7lswlwGzclCMWwBUxLB6Abb8aPBwkGqzIo4SlMdD54TSnpgAmINsD8_huojiKAJWy68kRQmuhknynA/s3456/IMG_0124.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2304" data-original-width="3456" height="437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaxjHo-S3iobVQeQmTaex8Y5xJZQavao6lLSLed4-bLI5YMm-IQzOkyYzpHFzgg12qv4vKl4q4JYpc_pK9-GGOUPw1apAZqsBK7JfwJRe8CDqo7lswlwGzclCMWwBUxLB6Abb8aPBwkGqzIo4SlMdD54TSnpgAmINsD8_huojiKAJWy68kRQmuhknynA/w640-h437/IMG_0124.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">An Unfortunate Incident</span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Last weekend, during the
monthly flag raising ceremony at the Viet Heritage Garden, Brian
Do, June Tran and other Mahan’s supporters decided to stage a
political stun to embarrassed Chavez and her staff. <b>For years,
the ceremony is non-political and always an event reserved to honor and remember
the plight of freedom and the fight against communism. It is in
public park where political rallies and campaigns are not allowed by city
policy.</b> Both Chavez and Mahan stopped by to pay respect and
join the ceremony. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mahan came together with
Brian Do, June Tran, and 5 others. His supporters had with them
signs denouncing Chavez for sending a cease and desist letter to Brian Do for
implying that she is a communist sympathizer. To them, this is a
violation of his free speech. They hid the signs so the organizers
would not see and went inside the park. Now whether Mahan knew
about this protest stun is not known. He was there for a short time
and left quickly before his supporters carried out the plan. They were trying
to unfurl their signs while Chavez was speaking but could not do it in
time. So as Chavez departed, they ran out to the gate
and started chanting and denouncing her. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHdjOBjuHHr82NDgZDNGkT8adaNGRYIgdEPQRdPqBDSjqFvveUZo38jOjtQJuQXiNujJSAfvRNTZjvMXSgzeAUbvS4TKYRPhUgmrEOx_yL8nGoC4IKtFjISkknlXrxTBGXYzD1F8PbNHAQEpgsm-L5mFIkCJprbb8iNy6tq1zJ9oHWEad_bQYknbxZg/s1024/IMG_2248001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1024" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHdjOBjuHHr82NDgZDNGkT8adaNGRYIgdEPQRdPqBDSjqFvveUZo38jOjtQJuQXiNujJSAfvRNTZjvMXSgzeAUbvS4TKYRPhUgmrEOx_yL8nGoC4IKtFjISkknlXrxTBGXYzD1F8PbNHAQEpgsm-L5mFIkCJprbb8iNy6tq1zJ9oHWEad_bQYknbxZg/w640-h446/IMG_2248001.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="background-color: white;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Brian Do then went
back in the park and started
attacking Chavez. He accused her of being a bully and trying to
silent the voices of the community. He claimed that he is a
"political victim". He was quickly removed
from the stage and people were yelling at him to
leave. <b> A lot of people were taken by surprise and offended since this is the
day reserved for paying respect and in a public area not allowed by the city for
political campaign and shenanigan.</b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mr. Son Nguyen
said: <i>“ Brian Do is disrespectful and many people here are
upset. He, June Tran and supporters took advantage of the ceremonial event and turned it into a political circus for their own political gains. Matt owes the
community an apology”. </i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Mrs. Loan commented: “<i>We
will file a complaint to the city and ask them to ban Matt and his supporters
from the park. Matt is violating his own city policy of using
public places for political gain and creating chaos and division at a
ceremonial event."</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Other people at the
event spoke up: <i>“This reflects the campaign tactic of Matt, creating
division, stirring hatred among ourselves. With Brian Do and June
Tran stirring things up to create chaos and discontent, it has turned a
reverend event of the community for the last 10 years into a farce for their
political agenda. It is a very sad day for the community”</i></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">Conventional wisdom would indicate Chavez is the favorite in the Vietnamese community based on her track record. But with the strong supports of Mayor Liccardo, Madison Nguyen and her supporters, Mahan has made a showing in the community by riding on a momentum of dividing the community using baseless claims to seed false fears and uncertainties in the community. </span><b style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px;">Some people in the community think this is a street fight politics and if history repeats itself, it will bring back memories to those in the community old enough to live through the divisiveness era manufactured purposely for political gains by Madison Nguyen.</b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background-color: white;">LSI predicts a very close race with a separation of less than 2,000 votes between winner and loser. Let us put up a chair to watch an unprecedented campaign brawl in the history of San Jose mayoral race. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p style="background-color: white;"> </o:p></p><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-86510546366992423222022-09-29T10:41:00.011-07:002022-09-29T13:50:07.330-07:00Councilmember Matt Mahan Supporting Women's Right to Choose or Not?<p>The battle for San Jose City mayoral seat is heating up now that the leaves are turning color for the final stretch. Both remaining candidates are vying for the Vietnamese-American votes. Afterall, it is 13% of the electorate. </p><p> Some Vietnamese-American supporters of Councilmember Matt Mahan are attacking Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez on her support of women's right to choose and Proposition 1 which amends the state constitution to include the right for reproductive freedom. They are asking the Vietnamese community not to vote for her because she is supporting abortion right.</p><p>These are the remnants of Madison Nguyen supporters (Yes, few are still clinging on the idea that she is politically viable) who claim that Mahan is against abortion and Proposition 1. A statement going viral on various email groups declares his whole family is all against abortion for it is sinful and that Matt is a good Catholic person who would follow his church teaching. </p><p><b>The fact of the matter is Mahan is a supporter of abortion and reproductive rights as reported in the main stream media. As a progressive candidate in a politically liberal city, this is not a surprise.</b></p><p><b><a href="https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-mayor-candidate-councilmember-matt-mahan-criticized-over-past-comments-supervisor-cindy-chavez-pro-choice-abortion-election-2022/">https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-mayor-candidate-councilmember-matt-mahan-criticized-over-past-comments-supervisor-cindy-chavez-pro-choice-abortion-election-2022/</a></b></p><p><b>On May 9, 2022, he also co-signed along with 77 other elected officials in the Bay Area an open letter asking Governor Newsom to support and fund abortion in California. </b></p><p>What Mahan said to his Vietnamese supporters about his abortion stand, LSI cannot confirm. </p><p>So the misleading propaganda by his supporters is either a clever lie to create favorable impression of Mahan or Mahan himself playing both sides of the fence and telling his Vietnamese supporters whatever they want to hear and let them attack Chavez on false pretense.</p><p>In politics, slyness is the key and a narrative edge on your opponent is worthwhile to craft by any means given the opportunity. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-42935284877888734802022-09-10T16:57:00.017-07:002022-09-12T11:53:40.535-07:00The San Jose Mayoral Race and Conventional Wisdom<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Prologue: </b> Right after the primary, with San Jose Councilmember Matt Mahan surprisingly strong but expected second place finish behind Supervisor Cindy Chavez, he had the momentum going to the run off this November. For Chavez, anything below a 40% winning margin in the primary was considered a sign of rough water ahead for her campaign since she was running with big name recognition and against a freshman city councilmember and two other relative unknown councilmembers. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Another 4 weeks before absentee ballots will land in mailboxes, still some of the election drama can now be viewed through the lens of the Vietnamese-American community. <b>With over 70,560 registered voters or about 13% of the overall electorate, </b> Vietnamese-American voters once again will be crucial for both candidates.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> In the primary, Chavez won the majority of the districts that are either Latino or Asian dominated. Mahan, on the other hand, won in districts that are dominated by established white voters. It seems that he came in strong by winning the non-Asian, non-Latino demographics despite the fact that they are not the majority voting bloc. Why, because they always have a higher turn-out rate. For example in the primary, Latino was about 26%, Viet at ~ 29%, and White at ~38%. The overall turn out was 35.5%. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Chavez won 55% of the votes in San Jose District 7. This is a traditional Viet stronghold with about 34% registered voters are Vietnamese. Chavez also won in D4 and D8, 44% and 43% respectively. D4 has about 22% Viet registered voters while D8 has about 24%. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But analyzing the results further, it reveals that her strength of working closely with the community for the last 10 years was not fully exploited. A weak and inexperience campaign team could not send out the necessary messages needed to rally the community and capture the large Viet vote that is her to lose. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Mahan has very minimal exposure to the community since he is new and has not done anything to deserve the Viet vote. <b>He does not have any significant contributions or relationships with the community as Hiep Nguyen, a long time D4 resident noted. </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">However, he cleverly masks his lack of records with the connection to the old Madison Nguyen's supporters and hires some of them to work for him. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">He will likely concede the Asian and Latino votes but only to a small margin. Case in point, he is working hard to keep Chavez from winning a 20 percentage point margin in the Viet community (which Chavez should, considering all the relationships and work that she has with the Viet community) by going all out on her with political attacks. He is also going after the younger Vietnamese voters for they might see him as a fresh face as agent of change, the shiny penny syndrome. By keeping his loss within 5-10 percentage points, he is hoping that the advantage with the White voters and their high turn out will give him enough to win.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">His main patron is Mayor Sam Liccardo, and he is using the same playbook that Liccardo carried out in the 2014 mayoral race to defeat a more seasoned and well known then Superivsor Dave Cortese.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FNDloSwkQ1VtKSsTh80HQvsEi4mrKGZCgjNnPbLOKSbIcVVFZsswoKJBm3IterAxWpxR_Te8R2vwUxXPARRuv7lNyl1CaTAgDpv4tBkUO5tlC1ZsgLTCOH0BZgy-gMT_0YwLGjOWrNXXissvXha5PAKhN8psiUJTu4b-PaPYqma5vg-6cHrhbbkkMw/s1000/image000000011.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="772" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FNDloSwkQ1VtKSsTh80HQvsEi4mrKGZCgjNnPbLOKSbIcVVFZsswoKJBm3IterAxWpxR_Te8R2vwUxXPARRuv7lNyl1CaTAgDpv4tBkUO5tlC1ZsgLTCOH0BZgy-gMT_0YwLGjOWrNXXissvXha5PAKhN8psiUJTu4b-PaPYqma5vg-6cHrhbbkkMw/w494-h640/image000000011.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After the primary, Chavez realized with Matt only 7 percentage points behind, he would give her the fight of her political career. She astutely moved her campaign headquarters to Councilmember Davis' district and received the endorsement of Davis who won almost 11% of the votes in the mayoral primary. Mahan admitted that was a stinger. But the consolation price is that Davis did not win her own district in the primary, Matt did. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now with 9 out of 10 city councilmembers endorsing her, Chavez has the momentum going to the general election. She is forcing Matt to play defensive in his own backyard for the white vote.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She also received enforcement in the Viet community with Hai Huynh throwing his support behind her campaign. Hai Huynh was both courted by Mahan and Chavez for they knew he can bring fund raising and people to shore up either campaign. Since joining, he brings his throngs of supporters along and helps focus her message in the Viet community. Her main supporters are still the traditional older, elderly Vietnamese voters. They are reliable voters but the community is changing and the middle-aged, well educated Viet voters who have spent most of their lives here in the US are where Chavez has limited outreach so far. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrlVq1hHQ8jPF7TeVSEQ_K-Er7XXboehN3JVjGKWWtSVXhY5Vw7HbJ_7XbXDr7NzUayV-ARwC3wzeyMOyW65tpyuucB2-29YXY-Io8nEd6ABBwV4QE0YYqJvf9cDfHz9uGPhm3hQt_3QsL_TvngiWwT-E0M-5GUiZIE29iz0zZ8stFXazfdZ5LHXovQ/s2000/mail.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1545" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzrlVq1hHQ8jPF7TeVSEQ_K-Er7XXboehN3JVjGKWWtSVXhY5Vw7HbJ_7XbXDr7NzUayV-ARwC3wzeyMOyW65tpyuucB2-29YXY-Io8nEd6ABBwV4QE0YYqJvf9cDfHz9uGPhm3hQt_3QsL_TvngiWwT-E0M-5GUiZIE29iz0zZ8stFXazfdZ5LHXovQ/w494-h640/mail.png" width="494" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A tracking poll is currently conducted by Scotch Pine Polling & Research, a Northwest based consulting firm, should provide a better glimpse into the race when the resutls are available. In the meantime, the conventional wisdom is that it will be a tight race and at least in the Vietnamese-American community, the negative attacks are already flying. </div><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-19660280043914256552022-01-16T11:11:00.001-08:002022-01-16T11:11:15.801-08:00Free COVID-19 Test <p> </p><h1 style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #00426b; font-family: "Noto Sans", sans; font-size: 3.38rem; line-height: 1.36667; margin: 1.5rem 0px; text-align: center;">Free at-home COVID-19 tests</h1><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #00426b; font-family: "Noto Sans", sans; font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.35; margin: 2.5rem 0px; text-align: center;">Every home in the U.S. can soon order 4 free at-home <a href="https://www.covidtests.gov/">COVID-19 tests</a>. The tests will be completely free—there are no shipping costs and you don’t need to enter a credit card number.</p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; color: #00426b; font-family: "Noto Sans", sans; font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.35; margin: 2.5rem 0px; text-align: center;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; font-size: 1.2em; font-weight: bolder;">Ordering begins January 19.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-57860899810720972092022-01-09T09:32:00.029-08:002022-01-10T07:28:52.037-08:00 Vietnamese-American Politics in Little Saigon After Redistricting<p></p><p class="MsoNormal">With the new redistricting maps to reflect the 2020 census, Orange
County voters will have the opportunity to elect new representatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The new election boundary lines put Little Saigon
into a prominent political fulcrum that will help shape the county’s political
landscape across county to federal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Orange County demographic has shifted dramatically in the
21rst century where the population is now 38% white, 34% Latino and 22% Asian. The
county, once a bastion of conservatism and home to Presidents Ronald Reagan and
Richard Nixon, voted against Donald Trump twice and against the recall of Gov.
Gavin Newsom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">OC Board of Supervisors drew the county map
to create an Asian centric and two Hispanic centric districts in D1, D2 and D4 respectively. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With most of Fountain
Valley, Westminster and a portion of Garden Grove in D1, Asian composes over
33% of the voting age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This seat will be hotly contested in 2024 (when D1 Supervisor Andrew Do will term out) by Vietnamese-American politicians living in the district,
including current Garden Grove Councilmember Phat Bui and Fountain Valley
Councilmember Michael Vo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the newly created 36th Senate District where all of Little
Saigon is included, current Assembly Member Janet Nguyen announced her candidacy
with strong support of the Republic Party leadership.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The district has 34.3% Democrat and 36.5% Republican
voters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the state assembly front, a new 70<sup>th</sup> Assembly District combines most of Fountain Valley, Westminster
and Garden Grove to create an Asian majority-minority district where about 40% of population
is Asian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vietnamese - American voters make
up an overwhelming 31.7%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three Vietnamese
- Americans already announced their candidacy.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJu3x-oWZJWZVHKUVH09E341rnzVfmSut9UZExQ3P2LK5YLi7vnuhjDLR2-5NFT_B9Tbd3gAuKGO27-gE3F3kdiXpoaQ9ST1dMosGs0rxPGUnt65CbVf8b9A8R7SsB2w5O93XyE9EJZsBCqr9AwHuIG8uri0ljaCxdosbItQrbR53WWx6Tgp8dJz--6g=s899" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="625" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJu3x-oWZJWZVHKUVH09E341rnzVfmSut9UZExQ3P2LK5YLi7vnuhjDLR2-5NFT_B9Tbd3gAuKGO27-gE3F3kdiXpoaQ9ST1dMosGs0rxPGUnt65CbVf8b9A8R7SsB2w5O93XyE9EJZsBCqr9AwHuIG8uri0ljaCxdosbItQrbR53WWx6Tgp8dJz--6g=w183-h252" width="183" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Newly elected in 2020,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fountain Valley City Councilmember Ted Bui, with the behind the scene
backing of Janet Nguyen, is the first to put his hat in the ring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nguyen arranged for her long time and trusted
political consultant, Dave Gilliard, to help run his campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ted, with little name recognition in the community and no track record, is likely be the
spoiler candidate. To some voters in the community, he is another one of Janet Nguyen's pawn that are being misled with false promises. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIbL17igk4s_91ElADZm_0EvDUGsm85mTjxQAfz7G5ljJr52dgnXf8UIDFp1sWfeXrGZVOJZdTi7J83GQzFnI2y9EUB9PN0PeDyww-vY3_7XMZTte8N9jl9ccgdxRtcdBYmYrHVed_2HP17RfIDo4mGHZ2Pssnx9PN5PMp3_hNKxO2E3DoSnGzADnzxg=s1280" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjIbL17igk4s_91ElADZm_0EvDUGsm85mTjxQAfz7G5ljJr52dgnXf8UIDFp1sWfeXrGZVOJZdTi7J83GQzFnI2y9EUB9PN0PeDyww-vY3_7XMZTte8N9jl9ccgdxRtcdBYmYrHVed_2HP17RfIDo4mGHZ2Pssnx9PN5PMp3_hNKxO2E3DoSnGzADnzxg=w438-h272" width="438" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Westminster Mayor Tri Ta also has decided
to jump in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The controversial mayor is
being plagued by accusation of corruption by his former Police Chief Kevin
Baker in a 14 page <a href="https://voiceofoc.org/2017/12/corruption-rampant-in-westminster-former-police-chief-claims/">complaint.</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Baker</span> claimed that the corruption benefited top
officials and is nurtured by a culture of secretive and oppressive culture that
uses “…<span style="background: white; color: #111111;">threats, intimidation and
revenge on employees and citizens who dare speak out or challenge them.”</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He poignantly pointed out that “ .... the community is largely made up of vulnerable refugees from Vietnam who escaped the
oppressive police controlled communist government, to only have it potentially
replicated again here in Little Saigon...”</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In the
news for the past 2 months is the recent requested DA investigation of the illegal 2016 selling
of a portion of Liberty Park, a public land, without public knowledge to Tri Ta’s
major political donor. This controversy has raised a lot of questions and uproars in the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The land was sold for $100,000 which was a fifth
of its actual market value at that time of $500,00.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To hide from public scrutiny, the deal was
approved by Tri Ta as seating mayor without public disclosure and proper hearing
as required by state laws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was tucked in consent agenda which is normally used for run-of-the-mill
items and fast track within months as Tri Ta pressured the city staff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>As the deal is under investigation, the City
Council has revealed that in the past 15 years under the guardian of Tri Ta and
his political gang in power (during this period) of former Councilmembers Andy Quach and Tyler Diep, there were 3 other dubious
transactions of public properties of $0 to $1,000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tri Ta is infamous in the community for being part of the “Godfather” Van Tran and his
gang.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The moniker was christened by the
main stream press to acknowledge the political ambition and prowess of the former
state assembly member and his underlings to be the political center of Little
Saigon politics. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of people in Little
Saigon can recall the nasty political battles between Janet Nguyen, Andrew Do against Van Tran <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and his corrupted cohorts, which
still left a bad taste in the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhfenrbnX7SI1GBMXFi8RSDfbE-Q82JFw2BqonRHABP2n-bnz2QA4_xMKn8GY8v3f1LtDzJ5BUxHLwg2MZiooWtScwSI-PJpJyDFsaqteptkI12TTJtJ6JRY3KZ53WYfzUEbAn5hgGz_V95ucvnZOLPYn8xQNEgnWzL6RwOb5JJl8SrHG4t0cSgWPv8A=s225" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhhfenrbnX7SI1GBMXFi8RSDfbE-Q82JFw2BqonRHABP2n-bnz2QA4_xMKn8GY8v3f1LtDzJ5BUxHLwg2MZiooWtScwSI-PJpJyDFsaqteptkI12TTJtJ6JRY3KZ53WYfzUEbAn5hgGz_V95ucvnZOLPYn8xQNEgnWzL6RwOb5JJl8SrHG4t0cSgWPv8A=w240-h240" width="240" /></a></div><br /><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Westminster
City Council member Kimberly Ho also announced her candidacy for the newly
created seat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a tough, straight
shooter who is being viewed a threat by Van Tran and his gang.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is under vicious attack by Tri Ta for
exposing his corruption on basically manipulating public properties to turn it
into private financial deals that benefit his friends while the city is under
budget and revenue shortage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tri Ta personally went on air and asked the public to recall her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Van Tran, Tri Ta and the third loyal member
of his gang, Westminster Council member Charlie Nguyen are actively trying to recall Kimberly
Ho from her current office for she opposes their hidden agenda of planting
their cronies to the city while try to intimidate and manipulate city staff for
their real estate development deals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1sgAMqdhsH3-_tCF2AJMknxzWvmlHbXfsF0NHB7w_dsbZkEMjK8ONYrpdVbDzxrWGg0ylOydJDO2SV5wnWc18VFa6P45-JrviSfanu9wXYTLHWE61IslsMdu7PQMnufJ0uEhFlo4DXCpcmS22Axj3h629wL5BZOPYilKSq-fj1TmCmjya5NV6c-wm6w=s400" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg1sgAMqdhsH3-_tCF2AJMknxzWvmlHbXfsF0NHB7w_dsbZkEMjK8ONYrpdVbDzxrWGg0ylOydJDO2SV5wnWc18VFa6P45-JrviSfanu9wXYTLHWE61IslsMdu7PQMnufJ0uEhFlo4DXCpcmS22Axj3h629wL5BZOPYilKSq-fj1TmCmjya5NV6c-wm6w=w245-h245" width="245" /></a></span></div><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The race
for the AD70 is up for grab.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With three
Republican candidates fighting for votes in the primary, a Democratic candidate
will like to be in the run-off since the district is leaning Democrat, 36.8% vs.
33.2%.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Diedre Thu Ha Nguyen, the
current Garden Grove Councilmember, is thinking and being asked by the Democratic
Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She ran unsuccessful against
Janet Nguyen for the now disappeared assembly seat in 2020.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was a weak candidate then but she will likely
get into the run-off again like last time just for being a Democrat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> However, unless force into this race, like many other Vietnamese-American politicians, her eye is on the D1 supervisor seat.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Whoever the candidates may be, Tri Ta is currently the most vulnerable because of the history
of corruption that will be played out against him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With 1/3 of the voters are independent, they
will unlike support him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Viet
voters are tired of the shenanigans and the intimidation tactics that Tri Ta, his gang along his mentor Godfather Van Tran have exploited the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The divisiveness that they have caused so
that they can control the politics for their own personal gains in Little
Saigon</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-size: 12pt;"> is seriously being questioned.</span></p><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-82583814471325544022021-09-20T23:32:00.008-07:002021-10-07T09:28:06.338-07:00The Need for A Representative San Jose Redistricting Boundaries<p> </p><p><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">According to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters -</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span face=""Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1c1c1c;">" Every 10 years, the United States Constitution and California’s State Constitution require federal, state and local district divisional boundary lines to be reviewed and redrawn, if necessary, to account for population growth and movement within the entire boundaries of the district. This process is known as </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1c1c1c; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Redistricting</span><span face=""Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1c1c1c;"> </span><span face=""Source Sans Pro", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, sans-serif" style="color: #1c1c1c;">and is based on the results of the decennial US Census. </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #1c1c1c; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The results of the redistricting process may change the congressional, state senate or assembly district or local supervisorial, city council or school district subdivision elections in order to have equal representation."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Currently, the <a href="https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/appointees/city-clerk/redistricting-2020">San Jose Redistricting Advisory Commission</a> is tasked of recommending <span style="background-color: white; color: #464646;">boundary options that would have equal representation for San Jose residents.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #464646;"> The committee is holding public hearings and asking for inputs from residents. Ultimately the City Council will vote to approve / disapprove the recommendations of the committee </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #464646;">and an ordinance establishing new city council district boundaries.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">San Jose City is currently the 10th largest city in the US with a population of 1,013,240 according the 2020 Census. Asian is the largest racial group for the first time representing 35.9%. Hispanic population is 31.6% and white alone / non-Hispanic is 25.7%. And yet the city has not a single Asian American on the City Council representing 10 total districts. There are currently 5 Hispanic city councilmembers which represent 50% of the City Council seats. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> The demographic profiles of each of the 10 districts and the respective current representatives might </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">shed light into why there are such lack of representation by Asian-American community. </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">Since the 2020 demographic profile data are not available yet from the city staff, we will use the </span><a href="https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments/planning-building-code-enforcement/planning-division/data-and-maps/demographics/census-2010" style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;">2010 data</a><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: large;"> which can provide adequate background to gain some insights into the current political representation. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lyhJ62ImS9I/YUl7tpsr6vI/AAAAAAAAsz4/SYBWnEvqn6wTQthDzEBxxW33eUdwdUNegCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="481" data-original-width="1157" height="264" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lyhJ62ImS9I/YUl7tpsr6vI/AAAAAAAAsz4/SYBWnEvqn6wTQthDzEBxxW33eUdwdUNegCLcBGAsYHQ/w579-h264/image.png" width="579" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br /></span></div></div></div></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Presently, there are three minority-majority districts where Latino is the majority and hence have Hispanic elected officials. District 5 is traditionally a Hispanic district with all of its elected officials are Latino in the last 20 years. Four other minority-majority district where White is the majority and the elected officials are white (3) and black (1). Districts 8 and 4 are mostly Asian demographic but the voters elected Hispanic and White candidates. This leave District 2 where Hispanic and White are split equally with Asian trailing. It is not a surprise to see a Latino elected but that district can go either way base on the demographic distribution, White or Latino with Asian as swing vote. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The current lack of political representation by Asian-American despite their high voter turnout can be contributed to a number of factors; but the fact of the matter is with the current demographic distributions, there are 3 minority-major districts of Latino, 4 minority-majority districts for White, and only 2 for Asian. District 2 has an equal majority of White and Hispanic residents.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Asian-American community has been so far not actively mobilized to address the inequality demographic distribution between districts and the lack of representation. Nevertheless, the commission should study the issue, understand the legitimate concerns under the Voting Right Act, and recommend new boundaries to reflect the population demographic so that a fair representation can be achieved for the Asian-American community.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-55795440749769427392021-09-19T09:38:00.003-07:002021-09-19T09:42:08.663-07:00The Myth of High Turnout By Vietnamese-American Voters<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">With 95% of the precincts reported for the recall election, Santa Clara County has a turnout of about 55.6%. This is higher than the statewide of 48%. It is impressive considering that Gavin Newsom campaign was not active in getting out the vote in Santa Clara County.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A detailed analysis by Viet Poll Media show some interesting data for the recall election, granted these are not the final numbers since it will take time to certify the results but they are indicative: </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EvU1_2dR8NY/YUdfTRFt0hI/AAAAAAAAsy4/W8a_XtzWFToB8f1r4Z2TDerFHI9J_xQDwCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="262" data-original-width="493" height="228" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EvU1_2dR8NY/YUdfTRFt0hI/AAAAAAAAsy4/W8a_XtzWFToB8f1r4Z2TDerFHI9J_xQDwCLcBGAsYHQ/w429-h228/image.png" width="429" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Vietnamese-American registered voters are about 8.7% of the total registered voters in the county. In San Jose, they are 13.3% since most of the eligible voters live in San Jose, the largest city in county with a population of a little over 1 million. In comparison, Latino is 17.5% of total in Santa Clara County but 21.6% in San Jose. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The data show that Vietnamese and Latino have the lowest turnout of all the major demographics, with the Vietnamese the worse, trailing over 12 percentage points. This is not surprising since the numbers from the 2016 and 2020 general elections showed a similar trend. Only 68% Viet turnout in 2016 vs. a total turnout of 83%. In 2020, a hotly contested election with Trump driving voters out in drove, 78% of eligible Viet actually turned out in comparison to the overall 85%. Meanwhile, the Chinese and East Indian had turnout over 90%.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The data speaks for themselves, the myth that Viet voters have unusual high turnout is nothing but a myth. Despite all the raucous and active rallies and events with huge participation, when it is time to cast ballot, the Viet voters are either dead last or in comparable to the Latino, a community that traditionally is known for low turnout. </span></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-67838617509548085402021-09-12T10:42:00.006-07:002021-09-12T10:42:47.089-07:00Landslide Victory for Newsom Against the Recall<p> With more than 2.1 million Californians signed petitions supporting a recall of popular governor before his policies to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, the poll over the summer showed Governor Gavin Newson only barely surviving the recall. Now with less than 3 days to go, he will likely be not only the first California to survive a recall election, but with a possible landslide victory. </p><p>With over 7.5 million votes cast, 52% Democrats, 27% Republicans and 21% Independents, the chances for the Republican driven recall is unlikely to success. Little Saigon Inside polling research indicates 59% voting no on recall. This number will end up to be lower to but still be enough to beat back the recall handily. </p><p>The irony of course is this whether win or lose, the same cast of characters will be running in the 2022 gubernatorial election. It is after all the wild wild west and there is a lot of much ado nothing elections.</p><p>Amassing over $70 million to spend against the recall, Newsom has shifted the momentum and made inroads with his base by focusing on his opponents. The recall will cost the state about $220 million and this begs the question of it is about time to change the recall election process in California so that it will not be easily manipulated by misguided political operators.</p><p>A number of suggestions to stop the inflation of recalls in California have been raised like increase the threshold of signatures to 15% instead of 12%. Whatever the solution might be, rest assure that we will have more frivolous recalls and ballot measures than ever since there are so much money pouring into politics nowadays. In 2020, over $1.1 billion spent in California local elections alone. And for the record, $14.4 billion for the presidential election. It is definitely good time to be a political consultant. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-10287079931376297842021-04-13T18:55:00.005-07:002021-04-13T19:08:24.120-07:0033 US CONGRESSMEMBERS ASKING BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO STOP DEPORTATION OF VIETNAMESE REFUGEES<p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7UTUj_iMJ74/YHZKFcSxZrI/AAAAAAAAldM/cLbeU0FFVYAt_tDZZzlo0R4bhhaqTkOiQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="272" data-original-width="596" height="146" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7UTUj_iMJ74/YHZKFcSxZrI/AAAAAAAAldM/cLbeU0FFVYAt_tDZZzlo0R4bhhaqTkOiQCLcBGAsYHQ/image.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p> April 13, 2021</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas</p><p>Secretary, Department of Homeland Security</p><p>245 Murray Lane, S.W.</p><p>Washington, DC 20528</p><p>The Honorable Tae Johnson</p><p>Acting Director</p><p>U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)</p><p>20 Massachusetts Avenue, 4th floor</p><p>Washington, D.C. 2052</p><p>The Honorable Tae Johnson</p><p>Acting Director, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)</p><p>20 Massachusetts Avenue, 4th floor</p><p>Washington, D.C. 20529</p><p>Dear Secretary Mayorkas and Acting Director Johnson,</p><p>We write to express our deep concern about the detention and deportation of Vietnamese refugees, specifically reports that 33 refugees were deported on March 15, 2021 after a new repatriation agreement was signed between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. While we await the details of this situation, we want to unequivocally express our opposition to any agreement that would allow the repatriation of Vietnamese refugees who arrived before 1995, as many of us have done before.</p><p>In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, hundreds of thousands of Southeast Asian refugees fled to the U.S. to seek freedom from political persecution and the Communist take-over of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. Many of those who fled fought alongside or supported U.S. forces during the war. Others were born in refugee camps and have never set foot in the country to which they currently face deportation.</p><p>Upon their arrival in the U.S., these refugees, many of them young children or teenagers, were resettled in struggling neighborhoods without support or resources to cope with significant trauma from the war. As a result, some made mistakes that funneled them into the criminal justice system. However, these individuals have served their time.</p><p>In 2008, the United States and Vietnam signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This longstanding agreement, which was honored by both President George W. Bush and Barack Obama, did not outline a bilateral agreement regarding the deportation of any Vietnamese citizens who arrived in the United States before the two countries reestablished diplomatic relations on July 12, 1995. [Article 2, Para. 2]</p><p>Reports have indicated that in February 2021, a new MOU was signed to govern the repatriation of pre-1995 Vietnamese immigrants, and that on March 15, 2021, an Omni Air Charter flight was scheduled at 7:45pm PST to leave Dallas and headed to Hanoi, Vietnam with 33 individuals.</p><p>We request that you confirm the validity of these reports, and, if true, provide us with a copy of the new agreement. We also request that you confirm the validity of reports that 33 Vietnamese refugees, including some who arrived in the United States prior to July 12, 1995, were deported to Vietnam on March 15th, 2021. If true, we request that you provide us with the names of the deported individuals.</p><p>We also encourage you to meet with community organizations, and impacted individuals on the issue of Southeast Asian refugee removal.</p><p>Thank you and we look forward to your answers.</p><p>Sincerely,</p><p>________________________</p><p>Alan Lowenthal</p><p>MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Elizabeth Warren Mazie K. Hirono</p><p>/s/ UNITED STATES SENATOR /s/ UNITED STATES SENATOR</p><p>Jerrold Nadler Zoe Lofgren</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Nikema Williams Barbara Lee</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Ritchie Torres Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr.</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Seth Moulton Cindy Axne</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Adam Smith James P. McGovern</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Ayanna Pressley Ro Khanna</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Grace Meng Bonnie Watson Coleman</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Jan Schakowsky J. Luis Correa</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Ilhan Omar Eleanor Holmes Norton</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Jake Auchincloss Raul M. Grijalva</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Juan Vargas Pramila Jayapal</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS /s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p><p>Scott H. Peters Lori Trahan</p><p>/s/ MEMBER OF CONGRESS</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-44396507362250003612021-04-10T22:18:00.019-07:002021-04-11T19:40:51.864-07:00The Shaping of the San Jose Mayoral Race In 2022<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> San Jose City Councilmember Raul Peralez recently reached out to a couple of Vietnamese-American organizations asking their supports for his mayoral bid in 2022. For somebody who has neglected the Vietnamese-American community ever since entered office in 2014, it is quite an interesting buzz in the community. But all is good, better late than never.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And then there is former Councilmember Madison Nguyen and the release of her video leading a private luncheon with the new San Jose Police Chief Anthony Mata at Dynasty Restaurant. Along for the luncheon were former Councilmember Tam Nguyen and some of her most ardent supporters, the owner of Lee's Sandwiches franchise, and David Duong & Victor Duong, the owners of California Waste Solutions. This was her first foray into the local Vietnamese political limelight since her lost to Ash Kalra in the 2016 assembly race. And just to make sure that people still pay attention to her in San Jose politics, she has been posting her pictures with then candidate Joe Biden (at his fund raiser hug shot).</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJHgih6RfwQ/YHMvBYi6HPI/AAAAAAAAlck/7VJD_jUqZsQD1LTUaEd_8hNpMNnIy02bgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/madison%2Band%2Bbiden.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1280" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cJHgih6RfwQ/YHMvBYi6HPI/AAAAAAAAlck/7VJD_jUqZsQD1LTUaEd_8hNpMNnIy02bgCLcBGAsYHQ/w406-h295/madison%2Band%2Bbiden.jpg" width="406" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Meanwhile, she is putting out mixed messages about her second attempt for mayor. Nguyen is hedging her bet waiting to see who are entering in the field. There will be at least 5 credible candidates throwing their hats in the ring so the threshold to be in the runoff is minimal. She is confident that she can get most of the Vietnamese votes to carry her into the runoff election. She can outraise any candidates in the field and if she loses, she would have made enough noises to set the stage to run for county supervisor seat in D2 either in 2022 or 2024. However, if she runs, she will be forced to step down from her current position from the tainted Silicon Valley Organization as EVP overseeing its political advocacy and tactics.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">If there is such a thing as a front runner, there would be two and not one due to the incredible diversity of the voting demographics. It is too early to say but Nguyen and County Supervisor Cindy Chavez are the leading candidates if they decide to run, due to their name recognitions and abilities to raise money. Chavez has a free run since her supervisor seat is termed out in 2024. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l-fXTTO8rzM/YHMyV3QlSUI/AAAAAAAAlcs/zNkZ9WlYuLYOIIX6VxptXs-6bS83K3PJgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1920/cindychavezbanner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1920" height="211" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l-fXTTO8rzM/YHMyV3QlSUI/AAAAAAAAlcs/zNkZ9WlYuLYOIIX6VxptXs-6bS83K3PJgCLcBGAsYHQ/w574-h211/cindychavezbanner.jpg" width="574" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The voting trends show Latinx had a low turnout in 2020 presidential election and likely will be even lower in 2022, an off-year election. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The turnout for Latinx was only 64% vs. the overall 72% in 2020.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> The Vietnamese voting bloc in San Jose is about 13% while the Latinx is about 22%. Two of fastest growing segments of voters are from Indian and Chinese communities. They have the highest turnout in the last 2 elections, averaging 77%, 5 points higher than the city's average in 2020. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Vietnamese votes will play an important role in the June 2022 primary with multiple numbers of candidates relying strongly on their bases to carry them to the next round. Chavez has strong name recognition in the Vietnamese community, whether it will translate into votes, only a strong phone banking effort can determine. Nguyen has learned her lesson in 2016 where she thought she had the overwhelming support of the Vietnamese community. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">In another month or so, the picture will be clearer who are the candidates since this is big race and money will be the factor. No matter what, the Vietnamese community is looking forward to have our voices heard. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-87879203618194473432021-02-19T19:32:00.001-08:002021-02-19T19:32:08.059-08:00Santa Clara County COVID-19 Vaccine Update<p> <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">COVID-19 Cases in Santa Clara County</u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">This past week, the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department reported 65 more individuals in the county who contracted COVID-19 have lost their lives. This brings the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the county to 1,708. As of Friday, February 19<sup style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">th</sup>, the total case count had reached 108,462, and the 7 day rolling average of new cases (based on specimen collection date) was at 331 cases per day.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">As of Friday, there were 253 COVID positive patients hospitalized in Santa Clara County (down from 325 the prior week and 377 the week before that). Of these hospitalizations, 82 were in the ICU. COVID positive patients now occupy 24% of all ICU beds, and just 17% of beds are currently available. These ICU bed capacity numbers already factor in surge beds that are staffed. More data can be found through the Public Health Department’s <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/dashboard.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Data Dashboards</a>.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Updates on County Vaccination Efforts</u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in;">This week, the County continued its efforts to move as quickly as possible to provide shots to the community’s most vulnerable residents. In an ongoing effort to offer services in areas hardest hit by the pandemic, the County of Santa Clara and Gilroy Unified School District officials <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/press-release-02-12-2021-upcoming-vaccination-site-gilroy-high-school.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">announced last Friday</a> that the County’s Health System will open a new large-scale appointment-only vaccination site at Gilroy High School, located at 750 W. 10th Street in Gilroy, and that the site is expected to open by the end of the month. The site is part of the County’s ongoing, expansive effort to ensure robust access to vaccine in the areas of the county with the highest rates of COVID-19, and Gilroy is one of the most impacted communities in Santa Clara County.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in;">On Sunday, the <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/press-release-02-15-2021-Over-Half-75-or-Older-County-Residence-Vaccinated.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">County announced</a> that more than half of county residents age 75 and older had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/dashboard-vaccine-CAIR2.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Vaccine data</a> from the California Department of Public Health’s California Immunization Registry (CAIR2) now show that 49.3% of county residents age 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with 249,442 total residents now partially or fully vaccinated. These data reflect strong progress towards the County’s goal of vaccinating at least 85% of residents age 16 or older by August 1, 2021. The data also continue to reflect the ongoing need to focus vaccination efforts on ensuring equitable access for those at greatest risk of serious illness and death, and those at greatest risk of exposure to COVID-19.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in;">The State of California has established phases and tiers for when different populations are eligible to receive vaccine. Information on who will be eligible next is available on the <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://covid19.ca.gov/vaccines/#When-can-I-get-vaccinated" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">State of California’s vaccination website</a>. Our understanding of the current landscape of other providers in our community is that: Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Stanford, Bay Area Community Health, and El Camino Health are offering vaccinations to eligible healthcare personnel and individuals 65 or older, Kaiser is offering vaccination to healthcare personnel, long term care patients and staff, and people 75 and older, and the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System is currently vaccinating high-risk Veterans, beginning with homeless Veterans, dialysis, transplant patients, chemotherapy patients, and Veterans over 70 years of age. </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in;">On Wednesday, <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/press-release-02-17-2021-covid19-vaccination-expansion-plans-feb-28.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">County officials announced</a> that healthcare providers across Santa Clara County will expand access to COVID-19 vaccination to county residents who work in <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/COVID-19/VaccineAllocationGuidelines.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">education and childcare, emergency services, and the food and agriculture industries</a>, starting February 28, 2021. The latest updates on vaccine eligibility and how to schedule an appointment are available on the County’s website at [sccfreevax.org]sccfreevax.org, including information on when those newly eligible can start to schedule vaccine appointments. Residents without internet access or who need additional assistance can call 211 for assistance in multiple languages. Appointments fill up quickly, but new appointments will be regularly released as vaccine supply allows, and community members are encouraged to check regularly.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Simplified COVID Testing Through Saliva Collection</u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">Over the weekend, the <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/press-release-02-13-21-COVID-19-testing-simplified-testing-through-saliva-collection.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">County announced</a> that the County’s COVID-19 pop-up testing sites in Santa Clara County will be switching to testing via saliva specimen. Saliva collection simplifies the logistics of COVID-19 testing and is less invasive, providing a faster and easier experience for residents. Please be aware that individuals cannot eat, drink, smoke, or chew gum thirty minutes before saliva collection for accurate results, and that as with all testing sites, there is always a staff member available to provide assistance as needed.</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">County COVID Testing Locations</u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">The community testing program operated by Santa Clara Valley Medical Center continues to offer extensive drop-in and appointment-based COVID-19 testing at several locations across the county. Residents can book an appointment for the Fairgrounds or the various rotating city sites, and appointments can be made in <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://scl.fulgentgenetics.com/appointment/screen/landing?ln=vn" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Vietnamese</a>, <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://scl.fulgentgenetics.com/appointment/screen/landing?ln=zh" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Chinese</a>, <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://scl.fulgentgenetics.com/appointment/screen/landing?ln=es" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Spanish</a>, or <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://scl.fulgentgenetics.com/appointment/screen/landing" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">English</a>. </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">Visit<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></strong><a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="http://www.sccfreetest.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">www.sccfreetest.org</a><span class="x_MsoHyperlink" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">to search for an available site by </span></strong><a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/covid19-testing.aspx#bycity" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">City</a><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> or </span></strong><a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/covid19-testing.aspx#bycalendar" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Date</a><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">, or to see the complete list of available </span></strong><a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/covid19-testing.aspx#allcountysites" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">County testing sites</a><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span></strong></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Additional Community-Based and State-Operated Testing Options</u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">Roots Community Health Center and Gardner Health Services continue to organize free, community-based drop-in COVID-19 testing events every Wednesday. Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) provides similar community-based testing every Friday at their Story Road site. No appointments are necessary, and all individuals are served regardless of insurance or immigration status. </p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Gardner Health Services</b>: Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Avenue, San José, 95116. Testing offered Wednesday from 1pm to 7pm. For more information, call 408-457-7100.</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">AACI Health Center</b>: Story Road Clinic: 749 Story Rd, #50, San Jose CA 95122. Testing offered Friday from 9am-12pm. For more information, call 408-975-2763.</li></ul><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">In addition, there are several testing sites now operated OptumServe, a State contractor. These sites are free but require appointments. Visit <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://lhi.care/covidtesting" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">here</a> or call (888) 634-1123 to schedule an appointment:</p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Independence High School (drive through)</b>: 617 N. Jackson Ave., San José. Testing offered Sunday through Friday from 7am to 7pm.</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Mount Pleasant High School (drive through)</b>: 1750 S. White Road, San José. Testing offered Monday through Saturday from 7am to 7pm.</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Gilroy Civic Center</b>: 7351 Church St., Gilroy. Testing offered Friday through Tuesday from 7am to 7pm. </li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Gavilan College</b>: Social Science Building, 5055 Santa Teresa Blvd, Gilroy CA 95020. Testing offered Tuesday through Thursday from 7 am to 7 pm</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.4px; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Grange in Morgan Hill</b>: 40 E 4th Street, Morgan Hill CA 95037. Testing offered Friday from 7 am to 7 pm.</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">James Lick High School:</b> 2951 Alum Rock Ave., San José. Testing offered Tuesday through Saturday from 7am to 7pm. </li></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-36016102754099696932021-01-16T00:41:00.005-08:002023-05-17T09:00:41.901-07:00Nick Ut Receives National Medal of Arts from President Donald Trump<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sCDC6L4K2E4/YAKkPVYYpSI/AAAAAAAAd-s/1B8i1PDMCXE-5zEb4cIagpqY9wh9LtBHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s680/139319150102229556424668344938-6917-1595-1610608670_680x408.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="680" height="265" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sCDC6L4K2E4/YAKkPVYYpSI/AAAAAAAAd-s/1B8i1PDMCXE-5zEb4cIagpqY9wh9LtBHQCLcBGAsYHQ/w401-h265/139319150102229556424668344938-6917-1595-1610608670_680x408.jpg" width="401" /></a></div> <p></p><p><br /></p><p>Vietnamese-American photojournalist Nick Ut received the National Medal of Arts from President Donald Trump this week for his work during the Vietnam War. He spent his entire career of 51 years with AP until his retirement in 2017 and currently resides in LA. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xtzx71sD_EI/YAKkmUtTCLI/AAAAAAAAd-8/Au52hJ06MasAfqknA2hXVGnobc1l3qzLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s790/medal-arts-president-photographer.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="790" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xtzx71sD_EI/YAKkmUtTCLI/AAAAAAAAd-8/Au52hJ06MasAfqknA2hXVGnobc1l3qzLQCLcBGAsYHQ/w448-h301/medal-arts-president-photographer.webp" width="448" /></a></div><br /><p>The National Medal of Arts is an award and titled created by the US Congress in 1984 as the highest honor given to an artists and arts patrons by the US government. In giving him the award, President Donald Trump noted in the announcement:</p><p><span face=""Source Sans Pro", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Fira Sans", "Droid Sans", "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #293340; font-size: 18px;"><b>" <i>.....</i></b><i>for his decades of contributions to wartime photojournalism. Through his lens, Ut captures moments in time that remind us of the horrors of conflict. His most famous photograph, “The Terror of War,” is a permanent reminder of the past and an inspiration for a peaceful future...."</i></span></p><p>Nick Ut, 69, is best known of his Pulitzer Prize winning photograph titled " Terror of War" capturing children fleeing a napalm bombing mistakenly dropped by the South Vietnamese Air Force near a Trang Bang during the Vietnam War. The burned and screaming naked 9 year-old girl, Phuc Kim Phan, became known as " Napalm Girl". <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5CFPnFcTdo/YAKk1S5iiOI/AAAAAAAAd_A/wU5EdOa86Mk7Sw0pZpB_XpwSGutsCko3gCLcBGAsYHQ/s900/img_109635_nickut_450dpix12_p.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="276" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o5CFPnFcTdo/YAKk1S5iiOI/AAAAAAAAd_A/wU5EdOa86Mk7Sw0pZpB_XpwSGutsCko3gCLcBGAsYHQ/w488-h276/img_109635_nickut_450dpix12_p.jpg" width="488" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>The image, taken on June 8, 1972, became a symbol of brutality of war and US involvement in VN. It is considered one of the most memorable and iconic photographs of the 20th century. In 1973, the Pulitzer committee awarded him its prize and made him the first Vietnamese to win a Pulitzer Prize award. His picture is viewed by those who supported the Vietnam conflict as a symbol of anti-war. In the same year, the US ended its involvement in Vietnam. </p><p>Before he submitted his picture to the office, he took the girl to the hospital. She survived the third - degree burn and they became long time friends. She immigrated to Canada with her husband in 1992.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PRKwThek5nc/YAKlPEGjQ4I/AAAAAAAAd_Q/wluReoig2bIw7wpU5N9UfMlU5x6aAT0KACLcBGAsYHQ/s1440/vietnam-nick-ut-40th-anniversary-napalm-01.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="965" height="402" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PRKwThek5nc/YAKlPEGjQ4I/AAAAAAAAd_Q/wluReoig2bIw7wpU5N9UfMlU5x6aAT0KACLcBGAsYHQ/w313-h402/vietnam-nick-ut-40th-anniversary-napalm-01.jpg" width="313" /></a></div><br /><p>Shortly after his retirement, Nick donated his famous photo to Vietnamese Women's Museum in Ha Noi, along with a Nikkomat camera he used during his time covering the Vietnam War. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FtC6YKFijMU/YAKljkUBxsI/AAAAAAAAd_Y/fLTj0S5etrsm51rKX61am70st9C0LGuaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/d4fda0ee3ee9bbf466d8b8d0a54abbce.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="578" data-original-width="1024" height="239" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FtC6YKFijMU/YAKljkUBxsI/AAAAAAAAd_Y/fLTj0S5etrsm51rKX61am70st9C0LGuaQCLcBGAsYHQ/w423-h239/d4fda0ee3ee9bbf466d8b8d0a54abbce.jpg" width="423" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-20348036092430634852021-01-11T11:28:00.046-08:002021-04-15T16:38:05.617-07:00Let Us Make America Great Again !<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gDJT2ItRq-I/X_vd_V7HsSI/AAAAAAAAdjs/jy046x4GpvI_Yd-ajV0mu094QDCKicKYACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/flying%2Bbanner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gDJT2ItRq-I/X_vd_V7HsSI/AAAAAAAAdjs/jy046x4GpvI_Yd-ajV0mu094QDCKicKYACLcBGAsYHQ/w465-h310/flying%2Bbanner.jpg" width="465" /></a></div> <p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Now that the majority of the country has witnessed the power President Donald Trump and his "Make America Great Again" jingoism to stir false patriotic pride and assault with impunity on America most treasured symbol - Democracy, the political sentiment appears to be swinging away from the Republican Party nationwide. Trump, in his devilish fashion, also manages to besmirch an iconic slogan of one of the most popular Republican presidents.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8uhJj3cS_9E/X_yxbJnG3iI/AAAAAAAAdo8/MIuEpcNwYlEhxgfmpGAJVFV6iaIqMjkCwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1000/61Ll19KbyBL._AC_SL1000_.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="750" height="377" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8uhJj3cS_9E/X_yxbJnG3iI/AAAAAAAAdo8/MIuEpcNwYlEhxgfmpGAJVFV6iaIqMjkCwCLcBGAsYHQ/w283-h377/61Ll19KbyBL._AC_SL1000_.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">Here in Santa Clara County where Biden won over 72% of the votes, the Vietnamese-American for Trump contingence has still not given up. One group led by Truong Vu and Lillian Dang with the support of ex- police chief of the former Republic of Vietnam regime, Binh Nguyen, demonstrated in front of the Vietnamese-American Heritage Garden with the banner demanding for martial law to reclaim the presidency for Trump. Some went to Washington D.C. to join in the protest on January 6th. The elderly Vietnamese-Americans in San Jose were and still are very vocal in attesting their enthusiasm and devotion for Trump. They continue to espouse whatever Trump and his conspirators and extreme right-wing operatives propagate on their media outlets. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3eqgmF4itH4/X_ySLuxkQkI/AAAAAAAAdnk/F7o_6YUJaYMG9-SKFSA9pMWy3RLId-RqgCLcBGAsYHQ/s480/thumbnail_IMG_1402.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3eqgmF4itH4/X_ySLuxkQkI/AAAAAAAAdnk/F7o_6YUJaYMG9-SKFSA9pMWy3RLId-RqgCLcBGAsYHQ/w541-h307/thumbnail_IMG_1402.jpg" width="541" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K7EnCesCFHY/X_yUbuYGuXI/AAAAAAAAdoM/rehA7MU3-5Qgy0X898c6lSvQsax2BFrBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s480/thumbnail_IMG_1404.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="480" height="350" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K7EnCesCFHY/X_yUbuYGuXI/AAAAAAAAdoM/rehA7MU3-5Qgy0X898c6lSvQsax2BFrBQCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h350/thumbnail_IMG_1404.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">These folks earnestly believe that Trump and his "Make America Great Again" policy will prevent America from becoming a socialist country as promoted by the Democrats, and stop the expansion of China in America and domination worldwide. Even the Vietnamese media in San Jose buys into such rhetoric and repeat whatever information that they could get on right-wing "news" outlets. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">And by fervently believing and accepting Trump's propaganda, they are also fallen to a path of racial bias and hatred. Nam Pham, a long time devout Republican and the owner of Dan Sinh Media, even went as far as writing an open letter to the community to discredit the Black Lives Matter as ungrateful group of colored people trying to take advantage of "isolated deaths and incidences" to stir things up for their own agenda. When asked about his facts, he simply forwarded a YouTube video made by a white supremacist group claiming that Black Lives Matter movement is trying to plunge the country into chaos so that black people can take over the government.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">There is generational clash among the younger Vietnamese-American generation and their parents and grandparents. The younger generation is trying their best to combating fake news and hatred propaganda created by Trump's vicious lies and deceptions. They created Viet Fact Check site to combat fake news. They rallied using social media and old fashion campaign to turn out the votes for Democratic candidates in key swing states like GA and PA. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">However, there have to be more efforts in the community for Trump will not stop his absurdity even out of office. The drum beats for the insurrection against the US government and Biden administration continue on. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">"All politics is local", as the legendary former Speaker of House Tip O'Neill once coined. On January 6th, 2021, the mobs (and there were a few Vietnamese-Americans among) not only broke down doors, shattered glass, defaced the hallow building that housed American democracy, disrupted the legislature session doing the people's business and killed police officers, but worse they have violently trampled on the most sacred principle that our country was founded on. They came from all over America believing that what they are allowed to do in their local hometowns that harbor and tolerance for such lies and hatred are acceptable. </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w-DtXnvtdnA/X_yvXpXl0PI/AAAAAAAAdow/xOc_oFl6xzsFAKf1khc6dbZtaghk3X1uwCLcBGAsYHQ/s877/police%2Bbeing%2Bbeaten.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="877" height="374" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w-DtXnvtdnA/X_yvXpXl0PI/AAAAAAAAdow/xOc_oFl6xzsFAKf1khc6dbZtaghk3X1uwCLcBGAsYHQ/w541-h374/police%2Bbeing%2Bbeaten.jpg" width="541" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;">The dire consequences of selfishness and cynicism need to be confronted more than ever. President Trump sought to overturn a fair election by fermenting a coup misleading people with lies that are often reinforced by local elected officials that help further his treachery. <b>Mobs and authoritarian leaders like Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Trump are always afraid of being called out and exposed for what they are because so much of their power comes from social connectedness / perceived populism, and treating them as if they are respectable reinforce their power. </b> It is time for elected officials, who are against such despicable assaults on our Constitution and the democracy for which it was founded, to not grant any legitimacy to Trump supporters, even at the risk of losing a few votes to these mobs. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Words do matter. It is easier to deceive people with lies than to convince them with truth. But </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;"> "Enough is enough", these 3 simple words echoed the sentiment of many as the once ardent supporter of Trump, South Carolina Senator Graham (R) uttered them in outrage against Trump and his insurrection against the US government. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: large;"><b>Our democracy has been tampered, trampled and desecrated. It will take courage to hold people accountable, and steadfast determination to grant no legitimacy to those who threaten our democracy with lies, violence and blindly follow the sedition path of Trump.</b></span></p><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-5160641617390112552021-01-10T18:59:00.000-08:002021-01-12T08:43:58.201-08:00Free Covid-19 Testing in Santa Clara County<p> <b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">County Testing Locations – Week of January 11<sup style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">th</sup> </u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">The community testing program operated by Santa Clara Valley Medical Center (SCVMC) continues to offer extensive drop-in and appointment-based COVID-19 testing at several locations across the county. Residents can book an appointment for the Fairgrounds or the various rotating city sites in <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://scl.fulgentgenetics.com/appointment/screen/landing?ln=vn" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Vietnamese</a>, <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://scl.fulgentgenetics.com/appointment/screen/landing?ln=zh" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Chinese</a>, <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://scl.fulgentgenetics.com/appointment/screen/landing?ln=es" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Spanish</a>, or <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://scl.fulgentgenetics.com/appointment/screen/landing" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">English</a>. See below for this week’s schedule or visit<strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></strong><a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="http://www.sccfreetest.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">www.sccfreetest.org</a><span class="x_MsoHyperlink" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><strong style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">for additional information. </span></strong></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Drop-in Testing – Walk-Up:</u></i></p><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Emmanuel Baptist Church: </b>467 N. White Road, San José<b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></b></p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">Tuesday, January 12 through Friday, January 15 from 1<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: black; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1</span>am to <span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: black; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5</span>:30pm</li></ul><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">South County Annex (formerly Del Buono Elementary): </b>9300 Wren Avenue, Gilroy</p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">Monday, January 11 through Friday, January 15 from 1<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: black; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">0</span>am to <span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: black; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">4</span>:30pm</li></ul><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">San Ysidro Park: </b>7700 Murray Ave., Gilroy</p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">Wednesday, January 13 from 1<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: black; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1</span>am to <span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: black; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">5</span>:30pm</li></ul><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Appointment-Based Testing – Drive-through/Walk-Up/Bike Access</u></i>:</p><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Santa Clara County Fairgrounds – Lot A</b> – 344 Tully Road, San Jose, parking lot across from Gate B and across from the Blue Arch</p><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span>Mondays, 7am -3pm</p><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span>Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, 7am to 6:30pm</p><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span>Fridays, 11am to 6:30pm</p><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span>Saturdays and Sundays, 9am to 3:30pm</p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"> </p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Appointment-Based Testing – Walk-up:</u></i></p><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Sunnyvale, </b>Murphy Park, 260 N. Sunnyvale Ave., Sunnyvale</p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: windowtext; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Monday, January 11<i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">, </i>9:30am – 4pm</span><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></li></ul><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Morgan Hill, </b>Council Chamber Building, 17555 Peak Ave., Morgan Hill</p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: windowtext; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tuesday, January 12<i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">, </i>9:30am – 4pm</span><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></li></ul><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Santa Clara</b>, Central Park Library, 2635 Homestead Road, Santa Clara</p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: black; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Wednesday</span>, January 13<i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">, </i>9:30am – 4pm<i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></li></ul><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Saratoga,</b> Friendship Hall, 19848 Prospect Road, Saratoga</p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">Thursday, January 14<i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">, </i>9:30am – 4pm<i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></li></ul><p class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.25in; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: Symbol; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">·<span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></span><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Milpitas, </b>Milpitas Sports Center, 1325 E. Calaveras Blvd., Milpitas</p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: windowtext; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Friday, January 15<i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">, </i>9:30am – 4pm</span><i style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"></i></li></ul><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><span style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: inherit; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;"><u style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Additional Community-Based and State-Operated Testing Options</u></b></p><p class="x_MsoNormal" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;">Roots Community Health Center and Gardner Health Services continue to organize free, community-based drop-in COVID-19 testing events every Wednesday. Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) provides similar community-based testing every Friday at their Story Road site. See below for specific testing locations. No appointments are necessary and all individuals are served regardless of insurance or immigration status. In addition, there are 4 testing sites now operated OptumServe, a State contractor. The drive through sites previously run by Verily’s Project Baseline at Independence and Mount Pleasant High Schools have been transferred to OptumServe. These sites are free, but require appointments. </p><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Roots Community Health Center</b>: Antioch Baptist Church parking lot, 268 E. Julian St, San José, 95112. COVID-19 testing offered every Wednesday from 10am to 3pm. For more information or to pre-register see <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://rootsclinic.org/covid-19-testing-south-bay/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">here</a> or call 408-490-4710.</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Gardner Health Services</b>: Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum Rock Avenue, San José, 95116. Testing offered every Wednesday from 1pm to 7pm. For more information, call 408-457-7100.</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">AACI Health Center</b>: Story Road Clinic: 749 Story Rd, #50, San Jose CA 95122. Testing offered every Friday from 9am-12pm. For more information, call 408-975-2763.</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">OptumServe Sites - </b>Visit <a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="https://lhi.care/covidtesting" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border: 0px; color: #0563c1; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">here</a> or call (888) 634-1123 to schedule an appointment:</li><ul style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;" type="circle"><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Independence High School (drive through)</b>: 617 N. Jackson Ave., San José. Testing offered Sunday through Friday from 7am to 7pm.</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Mount Pleasant High School (drive through)</b>: 1750 S. White Road, San José. Testing offered Monday through Saturday from 7am to 7pm.</li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">Gilroy Civic Center</b>: 7351 Church St., Gilroy. Testing offered Friday through Tuesday from 7am to 7pm. </li><li class="x_MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><b style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;">James Lick High School:</b> 2951 Alum Rock Ave., San José. Testing offered Tuesday through Saturday from 7am to 7pm. </li></ul></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-50558539898465880932020-10-16T20:47:00.003-07:002020-10-16T20:48:00.296-07:00Free Flu Shots<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sGa4ERckpa8/X4ppQiaoaEI/AAAAAAAAarc/b-m9oc0o8-ooyMGJLPi6hDlma_ShbnkMACLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/mail.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sGa4ERckpa8/X4ppQiaoaEI/AAAAAAAAarc/b-m9oc0o8-ooyMGJLPi6hDlma_ShbnkMACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/mail.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5400236753475480013.post-49649104424768413372020-10-16T06:48:00.006-07:002020-10-16T15:30:27.544-07:00President Trump in Tough Race Despite Strong Support from His Base<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k_4wSY7zak8/X4njWVUAWwI/AAAAAAAAaqs/F-N8IhHyzvQjAgGIjukR7a9kUdWT3gJWACLcBGAsYHQ/s825/Donald-Trump-Mar-a-Lago-Palm-Beach-Florida_3-768x825.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="768" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k_4wSY7zak8/X4njWVUAWwI/AAAAAAAAaqs/F-N8IhHyzvQjAgGIjukR7a9kUdWT3gJWACLcBGAsYHQ/w597-h640/Donald-Trump-Mar-a-Lago-Palm-Beach-Florida_3-768x825.jpg" width="597" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">With two weeks to go, the presidential election for the soul of America is on its final leg. The incumbent, President Donald Trump, has 4 years to prove that he can lead this nation in time of peace and crisis.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Mimicking the old playing book of former President Ronald Reagan " Let's Make America Great Again", Trump lost the general election by almost 2% (about 3 million) in 2016 but won key states that were traditionally Democrat. He dealt Hillary Clinton a crushing blow with a landslide in electoral votes, 232 to 306. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">He won Wisconsin by 0.7%, Michigan by 0.3% (11,000 votes out of 5.1 million ballots cast) and Pennsylvania by 0.7%. If he had lost these three states, Clinton would have won, 278 to 260. The black turnout in Michigan and Pennsylvania felled more than 7%. In her new documentary, <i>"</i></span><span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>To Become"</i>, Michelle Obama lamented: "...</span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>S<span style="background-color: white;">o the day I left the White House and wrote about how painful it was to sit on it [inauguration] step. Many of our people did not vote. It was almost like a slap in the face.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> " </span></i></span></span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">So after 4 years of constant hard ball politics from the Oval Office and the privilege of a presiding president with a hard core and enthusiastic base of voters, the reality is settling in. LSI is seeing the following trends:</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Barring anything extraordinary and Biden coming down with viral infection and cannot campaign accordingly, President Trump is in for a tough race. All national polling shows he is about 8% behind. But what about the key states that will ultimately determine the necessary electoral votes needed to win. Trump is trailing in Wisconsin by 11% , Michigan by 7% and Pennsylvania by 6%. These three states alone if Biden wins will give him 278 votes. This is with the assumption the blue states in 2016 will hold for Biden. The candidate only needs 270 votes to win.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">What makes it more challenging is AZ is leaning for Biden and Florida is a dead heat. North Carolina, a bastion of Republican strong hold, is also up for grab. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><span><span style="background-color: white;">The groups that Trump has relied on, white seniors and household women are not convinced he can provide the stability that the country needs. </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">The Vietnamese American voters are the only Asian-American group that has shown strong support for him. But most are living in California and Trump is 31% behind in the state. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> Trump's command of shrewd political tactics and his pop cultural understanding of the white's sentiments have propelled him into a historical president and presidency.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">Whether the voters will allow him to continue, it will be decided on November 3rd and Las Vegas odds are against him for now. But for a man who filed bankruptcy 6 times in his career to wipe of his debts, he still has many tricks up his sleeve to file bankruptcy another time to run the table on Biden and wins his second term.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3