Jenny Do and her Commendations

Vietnamese American Service Center of Santa Clara County

Dear Neighbor,

The Office of the County Executive, the Santa Clara County Department of Behavioral Health, the County’s Department of Public Health, the Social Services Agency, and my staff have been hard at work gathering community input through stakeholder sessions and surveys to help create a design proposal for a future Vietnamese American Service Center. I had the pleasure of kicking off the Vietnamese American Service Center Stakeholder process back in September and look forward to seeing the operational and service model blueprint informed by your feedback.

Our most recent stakeholder sessions were held at the Social Services Agency on November 19 and November 21. Both sessions were rousing successes with community members and service providers both in attendance. There remains two opportunities to attend a stakeholder session on December 6th and December 8th – both sessions will be held at the Social Services Agency campus located on 1879 Senter Road.  Refreshments and heavy appetizers will be provided with County staff ready to receive your input. If you are not able to attend a stakeholder session, you can still participate by taking our online survey by clicking on one of the links below.

Online Surveys

Vietnamese - https://www.sccgov.org/sites/ceo/vasc/Pages/vascv.aspx

English - https://www.sccgov.org/sites/ceo/vasc

Vietnamese American Service Center Stakeholder Sessions

December 6, 2015

1:00 pm – 3:30pm

1879 Senter Road

December 8, 2015

6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

1879 Senter Road

Be Well,

Cindy

Cindy Chavez

County Supervisor, D2

Board of Supervisors

Santa Clara County

New Year's Eve Party

A Mansion Sold for $35 Million in Saigon

Earlier this month, a turn-of-the 20th century mansion in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) was sold for $35 million.  The asking price was $47 million.  

The 28,00 sqft mansion was built in French colonial style by a wealthy jewelry and pawn shop merchant.   The mansion needs some TLC due to age and neglect.  The undisclosed buyer bought it from the descendants of the merchant.  Some of the descendants are residents of San Jose.  This is big new  in Vietnam since real real estate transaction is rarely disclosed.   

A lot of Vietnamese-Americans in the Bay Area own real estate and have become wealthy in the last 5 years through an incredible hot market.  The largest real estate transaction in the Vietnamese-American community in the Bay Area  is by Tram Be (a bank CEO and investor from Vietnam).  He sold the interior mall of Vallco shopping complex for $120 million late last year.   He bought the interior mall for $64 million in 2009 as a foreclosure.

INTERNATIONAL SOUTHEAST ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL

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The I-SEA Film Fest (International Southeast Asian Film Fest, Nov 21-22, 2015) highlights the histories, imaginaries and identities of those with ties to Southeast Asia and its diasporas.

Featuring work by award-winning directors (Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or, Prince Claus Foundation, MacArthur “Genius" award), Oscar nominees, rebels and art-world stars, I-SEA  showcases world- class feature films, cutting-edge experimental shorts and controversial documentaries.

The Opening night gala will take place on November 20th at Artists' Television Access. The festival takes place at New People Cinema in Japantown from November 21-22nd, 2015--select screenings will have post-screening Q&A with filmmakers and panels.

Ash Kalra on Creating Small Business Opportunities in Silicon Valley

Here in Silicon Valley, the economy is booming. The freeways are full and companies like Apple, headquartered in Cupertino, are making record billions of dollars in profits.  However, sometimes lost in the euphoria of the market boom are small businesses and start-up ventures trying to survive in a hyper-competitive environment. 

While on the City Council, I have certainly made an effort to support economic development. In my Council District is the thriving Edenvale Technology Park, the third largest economic engine of our city outside of north San Jose and downtown.  I have worked to ensure that we remove burdens and lessen taxes for companies who want to invest in our city by locating their research facility or manufacturing plant in San Jose. I have personally taken CEO's and COO's on tours of our city to identify locations where we can help them find their new home to grow. 

At the same time, I have been keenly aware of the need to also provide the same customer service and incentives for small businesses and start-ups to find a home here in San Jose. 

Earlier this year, I was pleased when the adopted city budget included a small business liaison in the planning department. I have learned over the years that it is often times in the planning department where businesses get mired in the bureaucracy of plan checks and building permit inspections. This new business ambassador was specifically tasked to focus on immigrant owned businesses. Approximately two-thirds of small businesses are immigrant owned and, often times, city services and resources do not find their way to these hard-working entrepreneurs. 

I have also worked to bring opportunity to businesses that often times been shut out of government contracts. While the Chair of the Valley Transportation Authority, which doles out many millions in private contracts a year, we initiated the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program. It is through this program that we increased our target goals for contracts to be earned by women and minority-owned businesses. 

This year, I was proud to bring forward the same program for expanding opportunities to small and minority owned businesses to the city of San Jose. I am also working with Council Member Manh Nguyen to ensure that businesses the city contracts with, such as vendors at the airport, reflect our community and give an opportunity for minority-owned businesses to share their quality food and products. 

An thriving economy needs to work for everyone, not just those with special knowledge or relationships with the right people. Those who work hard to invest in our local economy deserve a fair shake. For seven years, I have worked hard to ensure we are creating an economy that rewards the hard work of small business owners and entrepreneurs. It is great to see, as the economy grows, that many of those businesses are thriving and positioned for long-term success.

The article is written by San Jose City Councilmember Ash Kalra for LSI

Bao Nguyen for US Congress

Los Angeles County Democratic Party Chair & California Democratic Party Vice Chair Eric C. Bauman and Michael Andraychak cordially invite you to a house party supporting the Honorable Mayor of Garden Grove, Bao Nguyen, Candidate for U.S. Congress (CA-46), on Sunday, November 15, 2015, at 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., at the home of Eric C. Bauman & Michael Andraychak, at 12777 Victory Blvd., in North Hollywood.

Bao was born in a UN refugee camp while his family escaped communist Vietnam to seek freedom and opportunity in America.

Michael Andraychak and Eric Bauman

Bao grew up in the district and is a proud product of public schools. After graduating from UC Irvine with a bachelor’s degree in political science, then a master’s degree in Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies from Naropa University, Bao came back home to Garden Grove to teach, before turning to public service.

Bao is trilingual in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. He served on the Garden Grove Unified School District Board of Education prior to his 2014 election to a two-year term as the first Vietnamese American Democrat LGBTQ mayor in the United States.

For more information, please visit Bao2016.com.