Vietnamese Tet Festival 2016 in San Jose

                                                          http://www.tetvietnamsj.com/

The "Godfather" Manh Nguyen, His Grand Scheme and Jimmy Nguyen

Various people in the Vietnamese-American community are referring the recently elected Councilmember Manh Nguyen as "Godfather".   Manh Nguyen is well known in the community as a very calculated person and could be a ruthless businessman but  LSI is not sure if the moniker really fits. However, some members of the community are pointing him out for his grand scheme of wanting to be a king maker and populate the San Jose City Council with many Vietnamese-American elected officials as he could.   His latest bid is to encourage and throw his support behind Jimmy Nguyen to run for D8 council seat.  His handler, Bryan Do, is serving as the puppet master.

Jimmy Nguyen is a mysterious fellow. He received his law degree in an obscure law school in Southern California.   After graduated from law school, he worked as a Vietnamese translator for the county and was never seen in the community.  So it was a surprise that he decided to run against the Vice Mayor Rose Herrera in 2012.  He was trounced by her despite the huge support of South Bay Labor and the Vietnamese-American community.   The reason why SBLC and the Vietnamese-American community, i.e., the anti-Madison Nguyen crowd, supported him was that they just could not stand Herrera herself and of course her strong support of Madison Nguyen and Chuck Reed.

After his loss, he simply disappeared from the Vietnamese-American community as well as the D8 community.  Many people in the Vietnamese-American community think that he is  self-absorbed, insincere and has no gratitude.

The people that gave him the most support financially are now saying that they regret the fact that they had supported him.  One of the most influential community  leaders and was his most ardent supporter then even said publicly that on the voting day, he was praying that Jimmy would lose for he suddenly realized that he had supported a terrible person, a person who only cares about himself and is looking at the council seat as a job opportunity but not as a place to serve the public.

Then there are others that he offended so much in 2012 during the election that he is now asking his consultant to ask them if they could forgive him.  Their responses so far to Bryan Do is why Jimmy Nguyen did not apologize then when he deliberately screwed them.   Why waited 3 years later to apologize?  It is a little bit too late for it shows the lack of sincerity.




In the 2012 general election with heavy turn out, D8 saw a little less than 4,000 Vietnamese-Americans  who cast their ballots.  The total cast ballots were over 32,000 with more than $700,000 spent for the election by both sides (mostly by PACs).

Horizon Cross Cultural Center Suddenly Shuts Down

Horizon Cross Cultural Center, an Orange-based nonprofit that has provided job, health, transportation and other supportive services to Vietnamese refugees and other immigrant populations since 1976 decided  to close its door on January 15, 2016.  

State Senator Janet Nguyen issued a press release telling those who are affected by this sudden shut down can visit her regional office so that she can help direct them to appropriate agencies that can continue providing support.

The closing took the the community by surprise but was not unexpected.  Last year, the center was reported by Voice of OC Blog to pay out   more than $1.7 million to settle charges that it falsified records and over-billed local government agencies.  The center auctioned off its building in Orange County for $1.5 million  to pay off the settlement while laid off half of its staff after losing major contracts with the county.

On its Facebook, the center still has its New Year's Greetings but its website has been removed from the Internet.

Whether the recent shut down was due to an ongoing investigation by the OC Disrict Attorney's Office for further fraud or lack of funding is unclear but it surely caught the community off guard. 

Its current board members include Garden Grove City Councilmember Chris Phan who is also an attorney for the OC DA's Office.  Here is a picture of the board and their 2015 Holiday's Greetings with Councilmember Chris Phan holding a gift box.

LSI tried to contact Councilmember Chris Phan but received no response so far from him.  

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The Baffling Actions of Manh Nguyen and his handler Bryan Do

Lan Diep draws first blood in his bid for D4 city council seat. He lost by 13 votes to Manh Nguyen less than a year ago in a special election.

Unlike Councilmember Tam Nguyen who is well liked in the Vietnamese-American community, Councilmember Manh Nguyen is a polarizing figure. And of course, he always has to defend the question that whether Bryan Do, his handler, is the one that really running the show and not him.

LSI received this letter along with documents from a former aide of Manh Nguyen. This is nothing new but to confirm persistent rumors. Lan Diep's chance of winning the seat is a long shot but at least he is taking it to his opponent. 

___________________________________________________________

To Whom It May Concern:

This year Councilmember Nguyen will once again be asking the voters of District 4 to choose him as their Council representative. As the voters consider whether or not to reelect Manh Nguyen, it is critical that they make an informed evaluation of the job he has done since taking office in August.

As Deputy Campaign Manager on Manh Nguyen’s 2015 campaign for City Council and as a Council Assistant to Councilmember Manh Nguyen from August to November 2015, I worked closely with Councilmember Nguyen and his two close advisors, Jonathan Padilla and Bryan Do. During that time I witnessed what can only be described as a pattern of unethical and occasionally illegal behavior. That behavior is summarized as follows:

• Jonathan Padilla wrote the ethics complaint against Tim Orozco which resulted in investigations of nearly all candidates who ran for City Council and Mayor in 2014. Bryan Do offered to pay the signer, William Bohrer, with city funds, though William declined the offer.

• Over the course of Manh’s 2015 campaign, Jonathan Padilla used his position with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce to provide confidential information to Manh Nguyen and Bryan Do without the knowledge of other staff in the Chamber of Commerce.

• At the request of the Councilmember, District 4 Council Assistant Thao Nguyen called voters using lists from Manh Nguyen’s City Council campaign as her primary office duty.

• District 4 staff were told that their jobs in the office depended on their willingness to take leaves of absence and work full-time on Manh Nguyen’s reelection campaign.

• Jonathan Padilla and Bryan Do knowingly misrepresented the duties of one employee, My Nguyen, in order to avoid paying her a union-mandated wage and benefits, and threatened me with termination for not taking adequate measures to hide this scheme.

• The District 4 office flouted City policies related to government transparency and office administration by giving Bryan Do unreported access to the 18th floor of City Hall and requiring District 4 employees to treat him as a supervisor.

These six examples do not make up a fully comprehensive summary of the increasingly concerning information I learned and behavior I witnessed. For example, there was a dispute over Councilmember Nguyen’s residency in 2015 that I would encourage the media to revisit. However, the above list does include what I feel should be some the most important concerns unknown to the public regarding the short tenure of Councilmember Manh Nguyen.

I have decided to go public with this information in large part because of a phone call I received from a reporter on January 21st, telling me that she had been pitched a story about how I had been fired from the District 4 office. This rumor has been spread by supporters of Councilmember Nguyen in order to weaken my credibility and paint me as a disgruntled former employee. It is defamation at best and whistleblower retaliation at worst.

In the attached pages I provide elaboration on the six statements listed above, as well as corroborating evidence where possible. Additionally, I have attached a copy of my notice of separation from the City of San Jose, which indicates with clarity that it was my own decision to leave my job in Councilmember Nguyen’s office.

I worked very hard to elect Councilmember Nguyen. However, I have been disappointed with his behavior as Councilmember. That is why I have decided to support Councilmember Nguyen’s challenger, Lan Diep. Mr. Diep is an ethical leader capable of representing the residents of District 4, and his background of standing up for the underprivileged speaks to his steadfast moral character. I feel confident that he will be able to represent the residents of District 4 with honor and distinction.

While Manh Nguyen has a short record, I believe it would be a disservice to the democratic process if it did not receive intense scrutiny. I hope that his race for reelection will be marked by an honest evaluation of that record and a fair discussion of the issues facing the City of San Jose and District 4.

Looking forward,

Cole Niblett

Tet Festival in San Jose

Tet Festival 2016 is a team project of Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation (VIVO). 

http://tetsanjose.org/

VISION: Celebrating traditional and modern Vietnamese culture to unite, empower and inspire youth, families and communities.

MISSION: Providing a fresh and dynamic way to bring together entertainment, volunteerism, food, art, activities to celebrate the love and appreciation of culture

NEW YEAR DATE: The holiday, which is 1st day of lunar year calendar. For 2016, the actual date is Feb 8, 2016

FESTIVAL DATE: Feb 21, 2016. 10am-9pm

LOCATION: Evergreen Valley High School. 3300 Quimby Road. San Jose, CA 95148

VIVO is a registered 501c3 non-profit organization serving the Vietnamese community since 1979. Our mission is to empower the underserved communities by encouraging community members to give and contribute their talents through charity, leadership, education, research, advocacy, organizational collaboration, social entrepreneurship and cultural activities.

Happy New Year from County Supervisor Cindy Chavez

Dear Neighbor: I hope this email finds you well. As we near the beginning of the Year of the Monkey on the Lunar Calendar, I am excited to provide an update on a number of initiatives relevant to the Vietnamese American community. Please read on for the following updates and more: The County has completed the Vietnamese American Service Center Stakeholder Assessment - the presentation of our findings, next steps and celebration will be on February 11 at 5:30 pm at the County Government Center, 70 West Hedding, San Jose, CA 95110 The Healthy Nail Salon Recognition Program has formally launched We have incorporated a multi-lingual wayfinding initiative into our Language Access Policy to improve how we serve monolingual visitors at our County Government Center We could not have accomplished any of this without your support and continued advocacy for issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community of Santa Clara County. I hope that the Year of the Monkey will continue to bring our community good health and great prosperity. As always, please send me any questions, comments or concerns you may have.   Be well, Cindy Chavez