The Ironic and Shameful Fight For The Viet Museum

The Vietnamese American community in San Jose was taken by surprise during the holiday season by some disturbing public announcements about IRCC and the Viet Museum.  

Dec 12, 2024 -  A terse letter by the IRCC Board of Directors announcing the retirement of Loc Vu as  ED of IRCC effective January 2025.  The letter was without signature and sent through a surrogate by Hong Cao, an ED of the Viet Museum

In response, Loc Vu sent a letter terminating Hong Cao as ED of Viet Museum and dissolving the current board due to violations of IRCC bylaws.

Dec. 18, 2024 - The IRCC Board sent a letter to the public claiming that Vu had mishandled IRCC funding for his benefit and committed nepotism by suggesting his son-in-law be the ED of IRCC.   This time, it was signed by Cuong Nguyen.

Dec. 20, 2024 - Vu’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to five people on the board stating that they were in violation of IRCC bylaws and that their actions were illegitimate.

Dec. 23, 2024 - Loc Vu held an IRCC public forum with an open invitation.  None of his accusers were present.

Dec. 28, 2024 - Tue Phan, an alleged board member, wrote an Op-ed piece doubling down on the accusations.

Jan. 6, 2025 - Vu’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to Tue Phan demanding public apologies for making false accusations and public statements of libel and defamation.

90th Birthday with Pattie Cortese and Hoang Mong Thu (Cortese's Facebook)

A Brief History of IRCC

To have a better understanding of the public dispute and what the few members of the IRCC Board are fighting for, let us turn back the pages.

 Upon arriving in 1976, Loc Vu, 92, founded the Immigration Resettlement and Cultural Center (IRCC) to provide educational and social services to the thousands of Vietnamese refugees coming to the Bay Area.

IRCC was established as a membership nonprofit organization where members pay dues and participate in board member selection and other activities.

 The Viet Museum also known as the Museum of the Boat People and the Republic of Viet Nam was established by Loc Vu in 1990 as part of the IRCC.   He sought to build a collection dedicated to the experiences of the Vietnamese community in the US.  He sold his house and moved to a trailer so that he could provide $150k in seed money to start the museum. 

The local Vietnamese community soon became involved with many donating items relevant to the experiences of refugees and the war itself.

In March 2006, the city entered an agreement with IRCC to convert the Greenwalt House in Kelley Park to become the Viet Museum housing and exhibiting his collections.   The museum is now one of the main attractions in the park with thousands of visitors annually.

Blood Money and A Smearing Campaign

In August 2024, rumors were heard in the community about the removal of Hong Cao as head of the Viet Museum.  About three years ago, he was hired by Loc Vu to help run the Viet Museum. 

In early 2024, Loc Vu applied for and received a grant of $55,000 from the county.  Before the grant was distributed, he was informed by the county that they received complaints about his mismanagement of funds.

A few board members wanted the $55,000 grant that Loc Vu received from the county to be under a new bank account under the control of Hong Cao.  An email was sent by a few board members to IRCC members worrying about the mental health of Vu and whether he is fit to run IRCC.

In July, without Vu’s knowledge, Hong Cao had his name added to the California Secretary of State's Statement of Information.  Hong Cao is now on file as the director and officer of IRCC. 

Vu called a meeting and expressed his dismay at the treatment of the people he had trusted.  He felt that Hong Cao and a few board members betrayed him and wanted to take over IRCC behind his back.  He wanted to put Hong Cao on a 2-month suspension until the false information was clarified. According to an insider, a few board members headed by My Linh Pham and Tue Phan took the side of Hong Cao and told him that he had no authority.   

A Summer of Heartbreak / Conflict Resolution Attempt

Vu had to deal with the county about the financial mismanagement charge.  There was no proof of funding mismanagement.  He had put his family's money as a loan to IRCC to keep it afloat during the lean time. He had not received a salary for decades as confirmed by annual tax records audited by a local accounting firm.

The nepotism charge was purposedly misconstrued since he only suggested his son-in-law, Minh Le, temporarily replace him as head of IRCC during this time of conflict while the board was looking for a replacement.

Minh Le, 72, is well known in the hi-tech industry as a corporate management consultant and educator.   As a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum (ALF), he received the 2024 John Gardner Award for his work to bring diversity, inclusiveness, engagement, and respect to the community.  Senior Fellows of ALF are who’s who of the Silicon Valley corporate world and political arena like Sam Liccardo, Cindy Chavez, etc.

The $55k grant was finally released with the approval of Supervisor Cindy Chavez.   Minh Le then suggested a face-to-face meeting with all concerned members for conflict resolution.  A few board members agreed but when it came time to meet, Hong Cao, Tue Phan, and My Linh Pham refused to attend.

Secrets meetings were held since July without Loc Vu's knowledge and plans of how to remove him were discussed.   A few members of the board expressed their frustration on the the disrespectful treatment of Vu, they had stopped attending the secret meetings and worried openly about the board's scheming way.   

Common sense of decency and respect for an old man spending his life bringing the community up would suggest an open discussion and heart-to-heart talk.  But instead, holding secret meetings, behind the back actions trying to divide,  and refusing communication with Vu by a few board members aiming to remove him at all costs have built a deep moat filled with pride and ego.

 Who are the Board Members of IRCC

It has been difficult to determine who are the current board members of IRCC.    Emails and phone calls went unanswered.  Only a few board members are now involved in the dispute.  To further obscure the matter, letters sent to the public were without signatures or names until being questioned by the community.

Information gathered from the board members who are disgusted with the actions of the other board members in their treatment of Loc Vu have shed some light on the causes behind the conflict.  Here are brief backgrounds of the board members.

Philip Nguyen is the ED of the Vietnamese American Roundtable.  He has not been active since February 2024 and resigned in September 2024.  He did not know about the conflict since nobody included him in the communication.

Nhut Ho is a retired insurance agent in San Jose and a long-time board member. He is uncomfortable by the whole episode and decides to stay out.  He told Vu that since you did not bend your knee to them, he would suffer the consequences for they are determined.

Tanya Thai Ha is a well-known community activist who in the past has been a reliable fundraiser for IRCC.  She could not stand the “That duc” actions a few board members were doing.   “That duc” in Vietnamese means a lack of morality and unethical.

Cuong Nguyen, 83, owner of Pho Wagon Restaurant in Sunnyvale.  He is trying his best to resolve the conflict but feels powerless.  He and Nhut Ho tried unsuccessfully to get the other board members to resolve the conflict peacefully. 

Hong Cao, My Linh Pham, and Tue Phan are the three known board members who are proponents of adversarial tactics and public confrontation.

Tue Phan, 82, a retired administrative immigration judge, living in Danville.  He is distant in the community but always reminds people that he was the first Vietnamese American federal judge.  

Mentally not as sharp as he used to be,  his recent Op-ed letter to the community accusing Vu of mismanaging money while committing all kinds of misconduct showed his confusion of facts.    

Vu’s lawyer sent a letter requesting him to stop the public libel and pointed out the false accusations.   See the attached document.

Hong Cao was hired by Vu to help with maintaining the Viet Museum.  He has a knack for controversy. In the summer of 2024, he openly accused the head of the United Vietnamese American Community of Northern California of laundering money.  In response, the head of UVAC of Northern Cal sent a public statement asking Hong Cao to either provide proof or he should resign from being the head of the Viet Museum.   Hong Cao did not respond.

My Linh Pham is currently a Santa Clara County employee in one of their healthcare divisions.  She and her husband, Sam Ho, have a nonprofit organization called the Asian American Center of Santa Clara County.   She also claimed that UVAC of Northern Cal mismanaged funding.

Hong Cao and My Linh were members of the UVAC of Northern California.  They both resigned after getting tangled in a power struggle with other members of UVAC. But not to be forgotten, their departing gift was the accusation of money laundering and financial mismanagement by the head of UVAC of Northern Cal.

Money Laundering and Fund Mismanagement?   

The money laundering and fund misuse accusation is a familiar story in the community -

 Phuong (Peter) Nguyen, an aide to State Senator Dave Cortese, in the past, had told people in the community that My Linh Pham had mismanaged COVID-19 funding given to her nonprofit from Destination Home.  The truth is probably a vengeful action by Peter Nguyen as he felt he did not get what he wanted in his dealing with her. 

The controversial accusation by My Linh Pham and Hong Cao against UVAC when they resigned from the group.  The truth is probably hurt ego and damaged pride for they were on the short end of a power struggle.

The public accusation of Loc Vu by a few members of the IRCC board on the mismanagement of funding and IRCC itself.  The truth is yet to be fully revealed but the conventional wisdom is probably a smearing campaign to take over IRCC by hook or by crook.

Community Reactions

Most people are puzzled why the dispute between a few board members and Loc Vu had to be dragged out in public.   Loc Vu has helped build the community in the last 45 years.  He plays an important role in putting the Vietnamese American community on the map in San Jose.  

A few board members mentioned are his junior, and some are his children’s age.   Their public smearing campaign against an old man has caused anger in the community.  The disrespectful treatment of somebody older than your father and unwillingness to sit down for a conflict resolution is what people are questioning.

Instead of de-escalating, Tue Phan is escalating and doubling down on false accusations in the name of the IRCC Board.  A board that nobody knows for sure who they are and working under a cloak of secrecy with an agenda that is so far not in the best interest of the community.   

On December 23, 2024, an IRCC held a public forum with an open invitation to all.  Leaders of the community including Hoang Co Dinh, the lawyer Bich Nguyen, Trieu Ha, Hoang Mong Thu, and Van Lan Truong, spoke in support of Loc Vu.   None of his accusers showed up to help the community better understand their sides of the conflict.

One of the lingering questions in their minds is why such a divisive and scorched earth donnybrook by the few members of the boards who have not contributed anything significant to IRCC but were using IRCC and Loc Vu’s name to gain their 15 minutes of fame.

Loc Vu said at the end: " I would like to apologize for everything, it is all my fault for building something to preserve our history and trusting people to be decent and do the right thing for the benefit of all..."

What's next?

With the alleged board with few members left refusing to have any communication with Loc Vu for conflict resolution and the recent defamation letter by Tue Phan with the intention to hurt Vu's reputation, it is difficult to know where this conflict will be heading.  

The community is afraid whatever happens, the damage already has been done by the few members of the board with their egoistic determination to shamefully destroy an honorable old man who has dedicated his life to serving the community proudly and generously. 

As the Vietnamese diasporic community in San Jose prepares for the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon for being on the losing side of a bitter and divisive war among brothers, it is ironic that the Vietnam Museum and its collections of Vietnam War history and refugee experiences is now a battleground to the death among brothers.  

 

The Vietnamese Americans in California – A New Political Wind

 In 2024, the Vietnamese-American communities in Orange County and Santa Clara County saw a change of the guard in their political fortunes.   The political results from the 2024 election brought changes whether for better or worse depending on your political affiliation and allegiance.  The trend shows a matured voting bloc less favoring the Republican Party and the anti-communist rhetoric that has been the main political bend of the community since it first arrived in the US.   It also re-affirms that the high turnout myth of Vietnamese American voters is simply a myth.  Nevertheless, due to the redistricting efforts to create Asian-dominating congressional and supervisorial districts in the 2020 census, the communities in both counties have the swing vote influence but also become a majority-minority voting bloc in their respective regions.   

Swearing in Ceremony on Dec. 3rd for the seat vacated by former Supervisor Cindy Chavez
  (Betty Duong's Facebook)

Santa Clara County

Betty Duong, 43, became the first Vietnamese-American elected to the Board of Supervisors of the 6th most populated county in California.  The county has over 185,000 Vietnamese Americans with more than 130,000 living in San Jose.  The District 2 was the home of her mentor and former boss, political stalwart Cindy Chavez.  It was designed to be a Hispanic dominating district with over 34% of the registered voters being Latino.  The next largest minority voting bloc is Vietnamese-American with 18%.  In the general election, Betty Duong routed a well-known but polarized candidate, former SJC Councilmember Madison Nguyen, 49.  In winning the election, she also became the first generation Vietnamese-American born in the US after the Vietnam War to hold office in the county.

In the San Jose City Council race for District 8, Domingo Candelas, 35, crushed Tam Truong by 15 percentage points. This is a noteworthy result because the district is 25% Vietnamese-American and 43% Asian overall.  Tam Truong, 42, is a policeman receiving strong support from Mayor Matt Mahan and SJC Councilmember Bien Doan.   And yet, he lost every precinct (including the Vietnamese predominately Evergreen precinct) except for 2 by a sizable margin.

Truong’s campaign theme, Vietnamese supporting Vietnamese candidates along with anti-communist rhetoric did not help him win his ethnic base since the Vietnamese American voters in D8 tend to be more selective in their candidate choices.

Orange County

The era of Van Tran, 60,  playing Godfather along his political gang in Little Saigon finally ended with the loss to Janet Nguyen in the head-to-head campaign against his long-time nemesis.  The supervisorial race to replace the term-out Andrew Do ended with Nguyen trouncing Tran by 43.5% to 18%.  Tran was so badly beaten that he did not qualify to be in the general election in a county district where Vietnamese-American is about 17% of the total registered voters.  One of Tran's campaign themes was the worn-out story of Janet Nguyen visiting the Vietnamese Consulate in San Francisco 16 years ago and asking for financial contributions to support her campaign against Van Tran's gang.

Janet Nguyen, 48, won the election and took over her old D1 supervisorial seat she left 10 years ago to run for state senator.  During the 10 years in between, she won the state senator race, lost the seat in an upset with Andrew Do engineering her defeat, 2 years later ran for state assembly against the incumbentTyler Diep (R) and won, and then in 2022, won the state senate seat again due to redistricting.  Nguyen was hoping to serve as supervisor in a district that overlaps with the 45^th congressional district so that when Michelle Steel (R), 69, retires 8 years from now, she can take over Republican Party mantle to be the first Vietnamese-American Congresswoman in California. But her political road rises to meet her earlier than expected with the defeat of Michelle Steel by an unknown and novice Democratic candidate Derek Tran.

In an upset victory, Derek Truyen Tran (D), 44, won the 45^th congressional seat from the incumbent Michelle Eunjoo Steel (R) by 653 votes.  In a district where 35% is Asian, 22% Latino, and 42% White, the Vietnamese and Korean descendants ran the most expensive congressional race in the country with over $50 million spent.  Steel raised over $20 million while Tran over $12 million.  PAC’s spending for Steel was $17.4 million and Tran was $16.7 million.

The Democratic Party brought former President Bill Clinton to Orange County to rally for Tran. The district is comprised of 15% Vietnamese voters, and Tran used his ethnic base against Steel effectively enough to cause Steel to declare "I am more Vietnamese than Derek". Tran squeaked out the victory despite a multi-million dollar mud-slinging campaign by both sides. 

There are two other winners in this congressional upset  –

The Vietnamese-American Democrats who have been trying for the last 20 years to break the dominating political stranglehold of the Vietnamese American Republican candidates in Orange County.  

Within days after Tran was declared the winner, Janet Nguyen opened a congressional campaign committee even before she was sworn in as supervisor.  With Steel turning 71 in 2026 and the possibility of being appointed Korean ambassador under the Trump administration, the Republican Party will likely turn to a stronger candidate with an intrinsic Vietnamese base to take back a purple district.

And the two biggest losers in Little Saigon in 2024 –

Van Tran and his gang, including his right-hand man for the last 20 years, Lan Nguyen. After his poor showing against Janet Nguyen, the gang lost faith in him and there is now bitter fighting among them.  Lan Nguyen, a trustee for the Garden Grove Unified School District for 20 years, was soundly defeated in his Garden Grove mayoral race despite his strong name recognition and presence in the community.

Andrew Do, 62, and his shameful forced resignation from the Orange County Board of Supervisors for his bribery scheme that is still under investigation. He pocketed over $3 million in a kickback scheme for the Covid federal fund.  He pleaded guilty without going to trial to save his daughter (who was wittingly on the take) after a year of denying any faults.  Do is expected to serve a minimum of 4 years in federal prison in the upcoming March sentencing.  In prison, he will have time to reflect on his greed, and how it has destroyed his wife’s career and reputation as a superior court judge. But what will be with him forever is knowing that Janet Nguyen is having a last laugh at his downfall.  The complex mentor-mentee relationship of Andrew Do and Janet Nguyen and their entangled political fortunes have enough drama and subplots to make a good movie.  

Approaching the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, a fresh political wind is sweeping over the community under new political leaders born after 1975.  The old voters who built the community and laid down the political activism are now in their late70s and 80s.  The current majority of the voters are in the 50s and 60s and they are more attuned to mainstream politics, paying attention to the social and economic issues affecting everyday life.  In the next 25 years,  LSI will hopefully be around to see one of the future US presidents to be a Vietnamese-American. 

Madison Nguyen for Santa Clara County Supervisor D2?

 

VABA Reception 2024

In less than 30 days, Santa Clara County will have a first Vietnamese-American elected to the Board of Supervisors.  In the meantime, a battle is brewing for votes between Betty Duong, chief of staff for District 2 County Supervisor Cindy Chavez, and former San Jose City Councilmember Madison Nguyen.  

The name Madison Nguyen often evokes  divisiveness in the San Jose Vietnamese-American community with the unpleasant memories of the infamous naming of Little Saigon (which the city ended up paying almost $1 million for violation of the Brown Act) and her vote to reduce pension and benefits of SJPD which resulted in the leaving of more than 400 law enforcement personnel.  During her tenure in office, the community suffered a high crime rate with limited police protection. Many residents still remember how it was common for SJPD to not come to their aid unless the crime is considered to be violent in nature. 

Recently, her close association with the wealthy and powerful Duong family (not related to Betty Duong)  has given her more public attention.  David Duong, the CEO of California Waste Solutions, and his son Andy Duong are under investigation by the FBI, IRS and USPS for possible wrongdoings.  The Oaklandside news organization published their in-depth investigation on Duong illegally buying political influence in the Bay Area through straw donors.  

The news prompted an ad hoc demonstration against David Duong in front of the San Jose City Hall for his  alledged corruption, his lawsuit against businessman Hai Huynh trying to silent the community, and the close relationship with the current communist government.  

After her landslide loss to Ash Kalra in the 2016 assembly race where she outspent him 2 to 1, she found herself working for Michael Duong, who is the co-owner of the trash recycling empire that his dad founded.   He hired Madison as their EVP of business development for his media company, AsiaNet Media. 

David,  his family members, and their associates have donated thousands of dollars to all her past and present political campaigns. She is one of the main advocates for VABA, a controversial  Vietnamese-American business asscociation established by Duong family.  In June of this year, Michael Duong organized a fund raiser for her at The Crab Bay restaurant. 

The race to replace Cindy Chavez will be determined by many factors.  For Madison, she is determined to run on her reconstructing records of an effective leader as boasted in her recent mailer.  For Betty, it is all about knocking on doors, listening to people, and proposing practical solutions.   Whoever wins also will make history to be on the first  Board of Supervisors composing of 4 women and 1 man.  

Tam Truong for San Jose City Council in 2024?

Policeman Tam Truong, 42, has a history of making news in the Vietnamese - American community.  In 2012, he made the headline as a 30 year-old candidate running for the D4 City Council seat against the incumbent Kansen Chu.  Former Mayor Chuck Reed and his wife hosted a fund raiser at their house in D4.  Former Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen gave a nice speech endorsing him.  With all the powerful endorsements and funding supports, he managed to raise as much campaiging money as Chu.  San Jose D4 at that time had 25% Vietnamese-American registered voters.  He was walloped by Chu.

Now he is running for D8 City Council seat against the incumbent Domingo Candelas with a campaign slogan of safety, trust and integrity. 

In between his new campaigning endeavor, he managed to be charged with wage theft of $34,000 for not paying a former employee of his private security firm, Training and Protective Services.  He promptly declared bankruptcy to get away with paying the penalties and salaries.  

Recently, he was indicted by Santa Clara DA Jeff Rosen's office for alleged mortgage fraud.  The one count of grand theft of personal property filed on Sept 5 in a criminal complaint alleging that Truong defrauded title and insurance companies and pocketed $540,000.  The details can be read in San Jose Spotlight and Mercury News. 

The same day that the indictment was served, Truong and Candelas were having their debate hosted by the D8 Community Roundtable.  A question from the audience was if Truong has any skeletons in his closet that he should disclose.   He replied:"No, I don't".   It was about 7:00 pm when he answered as noted by the blogger who put the debate video on the Nexdoor portal.  The criminal complaint was received by Truong in the morning. 

As expected, Truong had his lawyer issued a statement denying the charge and blasted the criminal indictment as a political ploy against him before the voting begins. He went on Vietnamese-American media vowing to continue his campaign and again claiming
to be a victim of dirty politics by the DA office.  

Matt Mahan from tamsj.com

In the meantime, SJ Mayor Matt Mahan immediately withdrew his endorsement.  This is a serious charge that requires a fair, thorough and timely investigation,” he told San José Spotlight. “While I understand Tam Truong has stated he is innocent of this single charge, that must now be determined through our judicial system. Given these facts I am withdrawing my endorsement until such time as this case is resolved.”

Truong is now on administrative leave from his police duty.  He has not shown up for any debates or planned rallies.   His campaigning staff is on furlough until further notice.  

Interestingly enough, even before the criminal indictment, the SJ Police Officers' Association (POA) did not endorse him but his opponent, Candelas.

Some of the Vietnamese-American businesses around the area have expressed relief since some were approached by Truong asking for support.  He made them felt very intimidated if they didn't support him as he purposedly presented himself as the authority in position of power.

This criminal case will have a life of its own as Tam Truong will have his day in court to be proven guilty.  But the conventional wisdom tells us that he is cunning enough to cut the deal with the DA while hoping that he can still win the city council race.  

Anthony Phan for Milpitas Mayor in 2024?

 

Recently, the last-minute announcement by the termed-out Milpitas Councilmember Anthony Phan to enter the 2024 Milpitas mayoral race caught a lot of voters by surprise. 

By the city’s term limits, no person shall serve more than 10 consecutive years as an elected city official.  Phan is ending his 8 years as city councilmember and if he wins, he only can serve 2 more years as mayor.

Also, Anthony Phan is being linked by a recently released FPPC court document for allegedly receiving illegal donations from the Duong family as they tried to win waste recycling contracts in Milpitas.  The FPPC is the state commission responsible for investigating unethical and criminal election activities.

David Duong is the waste recycling mogul in the Bay Area where he is being investigated by the FPPC for illegally using straw donors to buy political influence in Oakland, San Jose, and Milpitas.  Three months ago, the homes of David Duong, his son Andy Duong, and their California Waste Solutions headquarters were raided by the FBI, IRS, and USPS as part of the on-going criminal investigation of corruption in Oakland city government.

 Phan asked the Duong family to support his city council campaign.  Andy Duong arranged for political donations from a dozen people. The donors had neither addresses nor occupations.  Phan asked Andy Duong for information and never received any answers. Phan decided to create fake addresses and employment information in his Form 460 filing to the FPPC.   The campaign contribution laws required full disclosure in order to prevent illegal contributions and crooked elected officials from being bought.

The FPPC document can be found on the Oaklandside website as well as exposés detailing the federal investigation against Andy Duong/David Duong, their illegal activities and politicians that were involved.  The FPPC case number is 19/931.  

Phan was found guilty of FPPC rules previously for not reporting $43,000 of campaign contributions in 2016.  He claimed that his 14-year-old cousin who was his treasurer put the money in a Nike shoe box and forgot to report the money to the FPPC.  He was fined $15,000 for gross negligence.  To prevent such a loophole and making mockery out of campaigning laws, state legislatures passed new rules prohibiting anybody under 18 to involve in  fincial matters for election campaigns. 

His opponents for the mayoral race are the current Milpitas Councilmember Hon Lien and the current Mayor Carmen Montano. 

Councilmember Hon Lien is running with the endorsements of the Milpitas POA (Police Offices’ Association) and  Milpitas Firefighters Local 1699.  A successful busineswoman and President of the Milpitas Rotary Club, she also was a fomer trustee of Milpitas Unified School District.  

Mayor Carmen Montano has the endorsement of the controversial former Mayor Richard Tran who is in business development for companies in the US and Vietnam. She was a city councilmember from 2012 to 2020.

Milpitas has about 38,500 registered voters, ~60% Asian, ~15% Latino, and the rest are non-Asian/Latino.  Vietnamese American voters at about 23% are the biggest minority majority.

Viet Cultural Heritage Garden and Flag-Raising Ceremony Controversy?

 

In the Beginning

In 1999, the San Jose City Council designated 4 acres of land in Kelly Park to be built as Viet Cultural Heritage Garden.  The funding was supposed to come from the Vietnamese-American community and agency grants.  The fundraising effort was managed by an ad hoc committee under the leadership of Liem Nguyen, a now-retired engineer from Sun Micro Systems. A blueprint for the garden was drawn to include an imperial gate, a replica of a one-pillar pagoda surrounded by a lotus pond, a traditional Vietnamese community hall, along with statutes of Vietnamese heroes, and nine giant urns (replica of the Dynastic Urn of the Nguyen dynasty).  

First Round of Funding

Around 2002, former Santa Clara County Supervisor Pete McHugh helped approve $300,000 as seed funding from the county.  But everything fell apart with the lack of consensus in the community on how to fund the rest of the project. In the meantime,  Liem quit and folded the ad-hoc committee.

In 2005, the Viet Heritage Society was given a contract by PRNS (Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services) to build the garden.  Dr. Ngai Nguyen was the founder of the nonprofit. Board members included Victor Duong (brother of the owner of California Waste Solutions) and the now deceased Huong Le (brother of the founder of Lee's Sanchwiches).  Subsequently, the city agreed to contribute $1.7 million as a matching fund to a $1.3 million state grant.  Viet Heritage Society also claimed to raise an additional $1.6 million.

Unfinished Phase I Construction

Not until 2011 that Phase I construction began under the supervision of Nick Nghia Nguyen, a young volunteer who lived in the neighborhood next to the park.  He volunteered because he could not stand the eyesore piece of land that had been neglected for years with overgrown weeds and dumping. This led to the cheaply designed Asian-style arch gate, a 57-space parking area, and a half-built pond. In early 2013, former Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen asked Dr. Ngai Nguyen to remove Nick from the project and the progress stopped cold in its track. According to Nick, she wanted to put someone else in charge. The park once again was overgrown with weeds and a homeless encampment appeared. 

In 2014, two new Vietnamese-American council members were elected under the campaign promises of building a community center and VHG.  In 2015, Khanh Russo, Director for Strategic Initiatives, Performance, and Budget, threatened to audit the Viet Heritage Society for not carrying out the contract accordingly.  This prompted Dr. Ngai Nguyen to voluntarily terminate the contract with PRNS.  And VHG was once again under the city’s control. However, to this day, there are still a lot of questions about how the $4.6 million was spent. 

To help move forward, former Councilmember Tam Nguyen got approval to spend over $200,000 to build a fence keeping out the homeless, fill in the unfinished pond for safety reasons, lay gravel to control weeds, and separate a small area for a community garden.

A Lifeless Park

In 2016, to help keep the park lively since it was nonfunctional year-round behind a locked gate, Nguyen started the flag raising every first Saturday of the month.  In early 2021, after the COVID restriction was lifted, Nguyen and some of the people who attended the flag-raising ceremony disagreed bitterly on Biden and Trump. Mirroring the fractious and intense discord nationally, the argument got to a point where they asked Nguyen not to be part of the flag-raising ceremony.

Ha Trieu, a retired Intel circuit designer, stepped in and continued the tradition. However, since his group was having difficulty in getting PRNS to have people available to open the gate early Saturday morning, PRNS suggested they join the Adopt-the-Park program.  This would allow him to keep the key to open for the flag-raising without PRNS spending resources on weekends. As a bonus, with Trieu belongs to the program,  the park gets a clean-up once a month at no cost to the city.  It was a win-win for everybody. 

In 2019, Santa Clara County Supervisors Dave Cortese and Cindy Chavez allocated $210,000 to the city for the construction of the “Thank You American” monument in the garden.  Delayed by COVID but in 2021, former Councilmember Maya Esparzar asked the city council for an additional budget of over $500,000 to start the project.  The monument was finally unveiled in July 2024 and the community celebrated with joy.

 A Manufactured Flag-raising Ceremony Controversy?

The ceremony usually takes about 15 minutes and is attended by 20 - 30 people at nine o’clock every first Saturday of the month.  A third of them are from the local Vietnamese Boy Scout troops helping with the flag raising, picking up trash, and clearing weeds to earn their merit badges.  The rest are elderly folks in their 70s and early 80s who were in their 20s during the Vietnam War.  On some special occasions, the ceremony would double as a celebration event and the crowd would swell to 70-100 people.  Ha Trieu and his group are responsible for opening the gate and coordinate the cereomony.

Interestingly, the ceremony attracts political candidates from all over the Bay Area running for office as well as elected officials wanting to show their connection with the community.   Somehow, they think it is an easy platform to get public attention and name recognition. Mayoral candidate Matt Mahan in 2022 showed up religiously for every ceremony.  Same with city council candidate Bien Doan.  They both won.

On the first Saturday in August of this year, Van Le, a school board trustee of ESUHSD, and members of AVVA (Associates of Vietnam Veterans of America), invited Assemblymembers Ash Kalra, Stephanie Nguyen, and Evan Low to the event so that they could give the community a framed resolution declaring the recognition of the Viet Heritage Flag by the State Assembly as the official flag of the Vietnamese-American community in California.

The event was well received but near the end marred by disturbing verbal arguments and actions.  According to attendees, Van Le asked the ASMs to take commemorative pictures. She wanted two pictures, one with Saratoga Mayor Yan Zhao, Councilmember Bien Doan and all attendees, and the other with ASMs and the group without the mayor and councilmember.  Zhao politely stepped out of the picture while Doan refused and insisted that he would be in all two pictures. Doan loudly claimed he had the rights since he was invited to the event plus this is a city garden in his district, and he refused to take himself out of the pictures.  ASM Stephanie Nguyen could not believe the unruly behavior.  She has never experienced anything this weird from an elected official who stubbornly wanted to bully his way.  Later that day, ASM Ash Kalra called her and apologized. 

A week later, Doan personally went to the garden with a PRNS official to change the lock and kept a key to the new lock.  He asked PRNS to take the keys back from Ha Trieu and his group.  Afterward, he put out an announcement declaring from now on whoever wants to do a flag-raising ceremony on the first Saturday of the month will have to be approved by his office. His reason is that his office had received complaints about groups not being able to use the VHG for their own flag-raising ceremony.  

 He called for a meeting and  invited any Vietnamese groups who wanted to do the flag-raising ceremony since there are now 12 Saturday slots per year that his office will authorize and is limited to one group per slot per year. 

Out of hundreds of associations in a Vietnamese-American community of over 130,000  people, only a handful responded. The meeting had representatives of VIVO, VAR (Vietnamese American Roundtable), IRCC, AASC, Vietnamese American Student Association at San Jose State, and United Vietnamese American Community of Northern California (the same group that has been organizing the flag-raising ceremony for the last 3 years).  After meeting, all groups  declined to take responsibility since they could sense this was a setup for a personal donnybrook.   

The question wondered out loud is why would anybody even bother to create a fight for an arbitrary date at an arbitrary time to reserve a slot in an unfinished park that is 99% locked up throughout the year to protect a lifeless space.

(To be continued)

San Jose City Councilmembers and Civil Harassment Lawsuits

 

Within a span of little over 6 months, TROs (Temporary Restraining Order) filed through the SJ City Attorney’s Office for Councilmember Peter Ortiz and by the SJ City Attorney’s Office on behalf of Councilmember Bien Doan appeared in the news for public peruse and debate.  The civil harassment  lawsuits were against constituents who expressed strong statements against the councilmembers.  It is quite rare for elected officials to file harassment lawsuits against public/press criticism and rhetoric. 

Coincidentally, both of the TROs were approved by Judge Johanna Thai Van Dat of Santa Clara County Superior Court and subsequently struck down by Judge Eric Geffon. 

Peter Ortiz vs. Robert Saenz

In a Dec 2023 court filing, Peter Ortiz claimed Robert Saenz, a local blogger (East Side San Jose Times), harassed him with defamatory statements against his support of LGBTQ issues.  Ortiz claimed that the harassment caused him to be in fear of possible violence from right-wing extremists which might lead to physical harm to him and his girlfriend.   Judge Geffon dismissed the case in April 2024 citing that the harassment is nothing more than political speech protected by the First Amendment on a topic of public interest.  Furthermore, there was no evidence that Saenz’s statements constituted threats of anything other than political consequences.

As reported by the Davis Vanguard News, Saenz said: “Peter Ortiz misused his power and disrespected those who put him in office by trying to silence criticism from San Jose’s East Side community”

Bien Doan vs. Hai Huynh

The civil harassment lawsuit of Bien Doan vs. Hai Huynh was filed in March 2024 with SJC Councilmember Doan requesting a temporary restraining order prohibiting 300 yards of distance. Doan alleged that Huynh had threatened him on three different occasions and caused him to fear for himself and his parents.   He alleged that Huynh is a gangster, and his associates are known to commit violent crimes.  In the July 2024 two day court hearing in front of Judge Eric Geffon for a permanent restraining order, SJC Deputy Attorney Maren Clouse representing Doan and Huynh’s legal defense team of Minh Steven DoVan, Patrick J. Evans and Michael Luu tried to convince the court of their side of the story.  

He Said, She Said Incidents?

To establish a credible threat to be granted a permanent restraining order, Doan tried to show the court the recurring threats received and how they had jeopardized his safety.  His claim of three incidents were rebuked by Huynh’s legal defense team that they did not occur and had they happened, it would have been politically speech in nature.   On the first day of the hearing, Doan tried to paint the picture that Huynh is a criminal because of a criminal indictment (which was later dropped) while working for Bay 101 Casino more than 25 years ago. Doan also testified that Huynh in the past also had threatened Bryan Do, a campaign supporter advising Mayor Matt Mahan during the 2022 San Jose mayoral race, and June Tran, owner of Crema Café, also a strong supporter of Mahan.

12/18/2022 Phone Call

A December phone call between him and Huynh occurred where Huynh allegedly said in Vietnamese:” Don’t mess with my brother.”   The term was perceived to him as a threat.  Huynh showed cell phone records where no calls were made or received.  Doan did not show any evidence of any existing phone calls.

 Huynh however recalled a conversation with Doan on June 30, 2022, where Phuong (Peter) Nguyen, an aide to State Senator Dave Cortese, asked him to speak to Doan.  Phuong (Peter) told Doan that he had evidence that Doan might violate campaign finance law and he would expose him.  Doan threatened to sue Phuong (Peter) for libel at which Phuong was afraid and asked Huynh to help settle the dispute. 

9/12/2023 Paloma Café Meeting

According to the complaint, a September meeting was set up by David Duong, CEO of California Waste Solutions, at Paloma Café.  Doan alleged that Huynh told him in Vietnamese, “You better be afraid of me.”  Doan testified in court that he understood the statement to mean that he could or would cause Doan physical harm

David Duong was subpoenaed by the City as their star witness.   He testified that he had not talked to Huynh for over 8 years, but texted Huynh 3 times in September to arrange a meeting to discuss Huynh’s writing in an email group that his community organization, Vietnamese American Business Association ((VABA), has a close tie with the Vietnamese communist government.   He said they resolved their differences at the meeting and subsequently texted Doan to join them for he wanted to make peace between the two.  Doan and Huynh met and talked briefly at his behest, but he did not listen to the conversation since he had to step outside to take a phone call. 

When asked about Huynh’s reputation by City Attorney Clouse, he said Huynh is known as a “Godfather” figure for his criminal reputation.  When asked if he is afraid of Huynh, Duong laughed and said: “… everybody is afraid of Hai Huynh in the community except me because I am richer”

Huynh’s defense showed the meeting never took place on that date and even if it did, Huynh never said those words.  However, Huynh testified that he had text messages from Duong asking for a meeting on  June 30, 2023.  Duong took Doan with him and met with Huynh for over 40 minutes at Paloma Café but again no threatening language was used, according to Huynh. 

As a side note, David Duong and his son, Andy Duong,  are being investigated by the FBI, IRS and US Postal Services for possible illegal political campaign contributions. A grand jury has been convened to look at possible criminal charges based on documents and information obtained from a recent raid by search warrant of his house, his son’s house, and California Waste Solutions headquarters.  To further the legal drama,  Duong has recently filed a defamation lawsuit against Huynh for calling him a communist lackey.  The anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss the case will be heard on August 6 at Santa Clara County Superior Court.

Sept 2023 Flag- Raising Ceremony

Doan claimed that Huynh confronted him at a flag-raising ceremony in the Vietnamese Heritage Garden, San Jose, with finger-pointing and yelling at him. The video obtained showed no such confrontation.  The testimony from the ceremony organizer, Trieu Ha,  and one of the attendees, county supervisor candidate Betty Duong, also collaborated there was no such incident.

To support the unsubstantiated story, City Attorney Clouse subpoenaed Tara Dang as a last-minute rebuttal witness.  Dang is an aide to Mayor Matt Mahan who was at the ceremony with the mayor.  She claimed to have witnessed a heated argument between Doan and Huynh.  She could not hear the two men because she was too far away and also was in the process of leaving.

“No Sufficient Evidence to Sustain the Proof”

It took about 15 minutes for Judge Geffon to reach his decision of not granting the permanent restraining order.  He stated he did not believe that Huynh is a gangster as being portraited, especially with all the business licenses Huynh has (Real estate broker, tax prepare services, and bail bond).  He emphasized two things that helped his conclusion that the petition (Doan) was not in danger of physical threats and his safety was not jeopardized to warrant a restraining order.   

First, the texting between the petition and respondent on June 18, 2023, where Huynh told Doan not to tell people incorrectly that Huynh is a convicted criminal, if continues, he will sue for defamation.  And Doan responded: “I will advise the City Attorney and SJPD of your threats.” 

 The judge pointed out that this was almost 7 months after the alleged threat of “Don’t mess with my brother” which caused Doan to be in fear of his life.  Along with Doan attending a Feb 2024 campaign fundraising event for Betty Duong that Huynh organized and both sitting at the same table cordially, Judge Geffon concluded: “This is not a person who is walking fear of someone”

The second thing Judge Geffon noted: “One thing that stood out during the testimony was Mr. David Duong’s statement that everybody is afraid of Hai Huynh except me because I am richer.” This comment helped change the context of the alleged threats by Huynh.   To him, David Duong meant that people are perceived to be afraid of Huynh because of the wealthy businessman image he conveys and the political power that comes with it. Thus, whatever the alleged threatening comments by Huynh to Doan, if they happened, “… is not a threat to do bodily harm, a person would not show their wealthy side if they intend to physically harm someone”.  

 Anti-Communist Sentiment and Divided Politics

Huynh’s defense team tried to paint the alleged incidents have their roots in anti-communist political discourse between Doan, David Duong, and Huynh. 

Attorney Minh Steven Dovan spoke about the anti-communist sentiment in the community and how Huynh called out David Duong and his community group VABA for their close working relationship with the communist government.  The conspiracy Dovan tried to bring up but could not articulate because Judge Geffon did not allow it since he did not see the relevance to the restraining order hearing - Councilmember Doan is close to David Duong, which makes the anti-communist activists perceive him as a pro-Communist. The community does not like an elected official to be pro-Communist, especially one of their own.  This lawsuit is about silencing Huynh and his anti-communist rhetoric.  The strong support for such a claim was heightened when David Duong took a stand as the star witness against Huynh.

Huynh gave a short interview to San Jose Spotlight right after the hearing, he said: “I’m very happy. This is the right ruling. People tried to silence me because I tried to expose pro-Communists and pay-to-play in the city of San Jose for a long time.” 

San Jose Spotlight also reported that Doan declined their interview request.

Epilogue

The Vietnamese-American community in San Jose is active politically in their anti-communist stand and the vocal community activists are staunch anti-communist in their rhetoric.  Most elected officials are aware of such sentiment and trying to play to this by promoting the former Republic of Vietnam flag and declaring resolutions of not associating with the communist government.  David Duong in the last 15 years has been a thorn to the anti-communist activists for flaunting in the media his relationships with paramount communist leaders. The paradox of course is that Duong supported so many Vietnamese-American elected officials with generous campaign donations that in many ways, he is politically influential and considered a kingmaker in the community with his connections and lavish spending on politicians.

Attorney Dovan lamented in his closing statement that the Viet community is not united. He declared: “That is a fact” and the lawsuit is a microcosm of the ongoing division among members of the community, specifically the older generation who were in their 20s and 30s during the Vietnam War, on the anti-communist issue.

Even though the court hearing was only attended by a dozen people, one of the attendees who did not want their name disclosed noted poignantly: “The crux of the trial is more about political speech and the First Amendment from being abused and silent”.