Brown Act Violation Verdict and Madison Nguyen

On Thursday, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Mark Pierce issued his order regarding the summary judgment motion on VACNORCAL's Brown Act claim against the City of San Jose and Madison Nguyen.  This is the first ruling on the lawsuit whether Nguyen and city council members violated the Brown Act during their refusal of naming a stretch of road on Story Road in San Jose  "Little Saigon".

Judge Pierce is a relatively new judge who replaced Judge James Emerson who had just retired last month. Judge Emerson was in charge of the case for the past 2 years.  Judge Pierce ruled against VACNORCAL  for an injunctive and declarative relief against the City Council. 

 Judge Pierce reasoned that there was sufficient corrective action taken by City Council when they capitulated to VACNORCAL's demand to have the name " Little Saigon" after realizing that they had violated Brown Act.  Thus, the City Council do not have to publicly admit that they had violated Brown Act and that there should not be any monetary judgement against the city. 

It is well known that VACNORCAL does not have money to hire the lawyer to take on the city.  Thus, they expanded the breadth of the lawsuit to include the demand for monetary relief so that they could pay the legal fees if they won.

 In doing so, their burden of proof is higher and Judge Pierce could not see any provisions in the Brown Act that can justify their cause of action.

Here are some of the main excerpts of the ruling by Judge Pierce:

...... The SAC (the Plaintiff) alleges and City Council demonstrates that City Council’s alleged use of a series of communications to deliberate on an item of business within the subject matter jurisdiction of the City Council was cured by its rescinding of Resolution No. 74127 on March 4, 2008. The Brown Act does not required – and Plaintiff does not cite to any section of the Brown Act that requires – a party to publicly admit any violoation.  The City's failure to cure its violation within 30 days is a one-time past offense that is unrelated to a present or future violation. Plaintiff has not clearly demonstrated that City and City Council have committed past actions and violations that are related to present or future ones, or that City and City Council's alleged violations are likely to recur....."


Councilmember Madison Nguyen, in her email to the Vietnamese-American community, declared the ruling showed that the City Council did not violate the Brown Act and it is now time to move forward.    The judge's ruling acknowledged that there was violation and it was not cured within 30 days as required by the Brown Act.  However, he sided with the City Council based on precedents and ruled against the public admission of  Brown Act violation and damages (or monetary relief) for VACNORCAL.

VACNORCAL has decided to appeal the ruling.

POLITICO & Quang Pham

13 up-and-comers in the '08 class
By CHARLES MAHTESIAN

1/6/09 4:28 AM EST

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17083.html

It’s far too early to know if the House Class of 2008 will have a collective identity, like the Watergate babies of 1974 or the revolutionary Republicans of 1994. With 55 members, the group elected in November is considerably smaller than those famed classes, and the 33 Democrats and 22 Republicans as yet don’t appear to have any central organizing ideology. 

But already, more than a few characters on both sides of the aisle are attracting notice, some for their unique backstories, some for their quick rise and others as players to watch in the future.

................Quang Pham (R), age 45, Independent Businessowner, Marine Corps veteran,community leader, and author of “A Sense of Duty: Our Journey from Vietnam to America” (Paperback coming from Random House on April 20, 2010).

Quang “Q” Pham is running for Congress in California’s 47th District. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lathian Health, a provider of pharmaceutical marketing data and services. He was born and raised in Viet Nam and arrived in California following the evacuation of Saigon.

He then graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Economics before serving as a Marine Corps helicopter pilot in Operation Desert Storm.  Quang sits on the board of THINK Together, an afterschool provider in Santa Ana, and current chairs the Marines Memorial Association’s Finance Committee.

Visit http://www.phamforcongress.com/.



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

          Rod McDermott, General William Lyon, Carol Rudat,
                                         and Brian Wilcox


                                          Special Guest


                                          Congressman Duncan D. Hunter


                                                   AT A LUNCHEON IN SUPPORT OF


                                                                 Quang Pham


                                   REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS (CA-47)


WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2010               
 THE CENTER CLUB

  650 TOWN CENTER DRIVE
  COSTA MESA, CA 92626

RSVP:
Alexandra Wilcox (714) 653-1140

Van Tran vs. Quang Pham for US Congress

A lot of spin on the fund raising successes and failures of the two candidates.  Ultimately, the key number is cash on hand to spend.   Right  now cash on hand for Quang Pham, the ex-marine pilot, a successful author and businessman is $246,777.  For Van Tran, an incumbent assemblyman, his cash on hand  is $314,798.

The difference is only $68,021.   Last quarter, Van Tran spent $67,444 while Quang Pham spent only $26,000.

A look at Van Tran's supporter list showed that he has more Vietnamese Americans  from San Jose donated money to him than his own base  in Orange County.  

For somebody who is considered to be the "Godfather" of Vietnamese-American politics in Orange County, his hometown and base, Van Tran's situation is puzzling.  And this is a race that County Supervisor Chairwoman Janet Nguyen has not even showed her hand who she is supporting.


What is the sentiment within the Vietnamese-American community in OC?   Van Tran will need to have a strong fund raising event in Little Saigon.  This is something he has been hesitated to do since he does not want to have a no show. 

There are about 18,000 Vietnamese-American registered voters in the contested district.  Chances are there will be 9,000 to 10,000 Vietnamese-American voters going to the poll.    Right now Van Tran cannot seem to capture their attention yet, despite having all the big name media like Nguoi Viet, Viet Bao, Viet Star, etc... behind him.   And of course, Van Tran and his group have their own radio show to blast their propaganda everyday.

Five Candidates Vying for District 7 City Council Seat

Bryan Do, after months of indecisiveness, has now told people  that he is throwing his hat in the ring for the city council race to replace the incumbent Madison Nguyen.    There are now at least 4 challengers against Nguyen.  They  have either declared their intention or already filed their statement of intention with the city clerk. 

Michael Tran, a real estate investor from southern California, who is currently residing in the Evergreen area, publicly declared his intention since October of last year.  He is backed by Vietnamese American Community of Northern California.  VACNORCAL is the same group that is suing Madison Nguyen and the city for Brown Act violation.    A summary judgement is expected in February.  James Chadwick, one of the best lawyers in the Bay Area,  is the lead lawyer for VACNORCAL.

Phu Le, a long time community activist, a close friend and advisor of Councilman Kansen Chu, had filed his statement last week.  A resident of Milpitas and a county health commissioner, he is well known for  his supports of many politicians.  He is a serious challenger to Madison Nguyen according to a recent article by the Mercury News - http://www.mercurynews.com/internal-affairs/ci_14296808

Bryan Do, another community activist and one time a city council candidate for District 4, has many political ambitions.  According to Bryan, he is the chief strategist and unofficial advisor for Vietnamese-American Voters of Northern California Foundation.  This organization is formed by the Recall Team after their defeat by Madison Nguyen.  

The fourth candidate is Minh Duong, another well known community activist, a small business development commissioner and a one time District 8 city council candidate.   He is well liked in the community and is considered by the community to be less controversial than the other four candidates. 

The convention wisdom is that not all four of the challengers will actually be running.  The two challengers who are likely to drop out are Bryan Do and Michael Tran because they both know that they have no chance of winning.   On the other hand, they all could stay in and may the best man wins.   Bryan Do can play a spoiler for he has nothing to lose. 

No matter who is running, the real favorite in the election of course is Madison Nguyen.  It is almost impossible to defeat a Teflon incumbent.

Captain Phan Ngo Becomes Deputy Chief of SJPD

Captain Phan Ngo, a commander in the San Jose Police Department, has been promoted to deputy chief.  San Jose is a city where only 1/3 of the population is white, Captain Ngo is the only ethnic deputy chief.  The other three deputy chiefs are white.  The police chief and assistant police chief are also white.

The Mercury News noted that:

"And with the promotion, San Jose Police Department ceased to be a major police department with an all-white, all-male command staff. The San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon is a Cuban-American and his Deputy Chief David Shinn is Chinese-American. Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts is African-American, as is his assistant chief. One of Sacramento's deputy chief is a Chinese-American. The Santa Clara County Sheriff is a woman, Laurie Smith; her undersheriff is John Hirokawa, a Japanese-American."

In a period of incredible tension between the Latino and Asian communities (particulary the Vietnamese-American community) for a number of alleged police brutality cases, this is considered to be a positive sign by many community activists.

The Mercury News commented:

"His selection also comes at a time when some in San Jose's sizable Vietnamese population distrust the police because of two controversial cases — the police shooting of a mentally ill Daniel Pham in the backyard of his home, and the violent and videotaped arrest of San Jose State University student Phuong Ho. Ngo also becomes the only non-white in Davis' top command staff, filling a job that has been open for months"

http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_14297961

Phan Ngo joined the SJPD since 1989 and became a captain in 2008 and had served as  a commander since.  He came to the US in 1975 when he was 8 years old.  His father, as soldier, died during the Vietnam War.


In related news, Assemblymen Joe Coto (D) and Paul Fong (D)  have asked the State Auditor Elaine Howe to investigate the SJPD.  The ground for investigation is their concerns on whether the police force is properly train and procedure for handling police abuse is adequate

Madison Nguyen vs ? in 2010

The primary election is fast approaching for the District 7 city council seat currently held by Madison Nguyen.  She is of course the overwhelming favorite to win the election as an incumbent.  Currently there are no Hispanic candidates to challenge her.   Meanwhile, the Vietnamese-American community has three candidates who are seriously looking to challenge her. 

Michael Tran, a real estate investor, has declared publicly in the Vietnamese-American community that he is a candidate for the seat.

Dr. Phu Le, a long time community activist, a Santa Clara County health commissioner and a very close friend and long time supporter of Councilmember Kansen Chu and his wife,  has decided to put his name in the ring for now.

Minh Duong, another community activist, member of the Small Business Development Commission for San Jose City and a one time candidate for District 8,  is also considering running for the seat. 

Of the three potential candidates,  Michael Tran is relatively unknown and is the weakest candidate.  Both Minh Duong and Phu Le have the name recognition within the Vietnamese-American community.  

At the end of the day, the Vietnamese-American votes (which showed from the last election to be about 45% of the total vote)  will be split 4 ways and Madison Nguyen will ride the Hispanic and White voting blocs to an easy victory.

Vietnamese American Bar Association Demands for Equal Representation

PRESS RELEASE BY: La Raza Lawyers Association, Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California and Black Lawyers Association

Rain or shine, Come and Join your Community to Demonstrate for EQUALITY and REPRESENTATION!

When: Wednesday, January 20, 2010. At 4:30 – 6:30 pm

Where: Santa Clara County Bar Association Office
31 North 2nd Street, (at Santa Clara Street), Downtown San Jose



Last month, the Minority Bar Coalition learned that the Santa Clara County Bar Association has eliminated the Vietnamese American community and significantly reduced the Latino community participation in the process of selecting judges. The County Bar Association took an unprecedented step in increasing its Judiciary Committee to 30 members. Yet there is no Vietnamese American attorney, and only 1 Latino and 1 African American attorney on this committee. This is the lowest representation of Vietnamese, Latino, and African American attorneys in decades. The County Bar Association has other Asian American members on the Judiciary Committee, but failed to meet basic standards of representation for these important underrepresented groups.

The County Bar Association established a Blue Ribbon Commission on Diversity and asked over 20 large firms and corporations in the Silicon Valley to extend their diversity efforts and to do more than they had been doing to ensure social equality in the profession, not less. Companies such as Intel, Sun and Google participated in the Commission and have led the way in showing that they care about diversity.

We urge the County Bar Association to follow suit.

Asian Americans, Latinos and African Americans make up nearly 60% of the population in the Santa Clara County, yet only about 18% of judges in the County. If we are to have an inclusive and representative judiciary, we must start with the premise that the gatekeeper committee for judicial appointments must also be representative.

The Minority Bar Coalition met and conferred with the County Bar Association and provided them numerous, extremely well-qualified candidates to appoint. Unfortunately, the County Bar Association insists that its Judiciary Committee need not be representative of the county or community at large. The appointments process is completely within the discretion of the President of the County Bar Association, Mark Shem. We urge him to act swiftly to remedy this disparity.

*Minority Bar Coalition condemns the lack of diversity on the Judiciary Committee of the Santa Clara County Bar Association and urges President Mark Shem to appoint a representative body that properly reflects the community in Santa Clara County in this important screening committee for local Judges.

* Minority Bar Coalition of Santa Clara County:

La Raza Lawyers Association; Vietnamese American Bar Association of Northern California; Black Lawyers Association; and Asian Pacific Bar Association of Silicon Valley.



Others groups in support:

ACLU of Northern California, San Jose Office; La Raza Roundtable of San Jose; National Latino Peace Officers Association, Santa Clara Chapter; Asian Law Alliance; Organization of Chinese Americans; Silicon Valley Chapter; and BAYMEC.