March 6, 2008

Moving toward compromise

City Council moves to compromise on Vietnamese retail area

Large crowd, long meeting, no name chosen

By Carol Rosen
Editor

Nearly 300 people spoke to San Jose’s City council members on Tuesday night, the vast majority asking the city to rename an area of retail shops on Story Road “Little Saigon.”

Supporters of the "Little Saigon" name were in full force at the San Jose City Council meeting on Tuesday night. Photo by Joe Proudman

Despite more than five hours of speakers, a straw count of 286 people, the council voted unanimously to rescind its actions taken on Nov. 20 to designate the area Saigon Business District and the actions taken on June 5 referring to the area as a Vietnamese Business district. It then directed city staff to draft a policy outlining a process to officially designate and name areas and districts of the city.

It also voted 7-4 to support a substitute motion by Councilmember Sam Liccardo resolving that the council “recognizes the widespread support for the name ‘Little Saigon’ in the broader Vietnamese-American community, and expresses its appreciation to the thousands of people who have spoken out and expressed their views on this subject. Nonetheless, the Council also determines that it is up to the local members of any future business district to decide what they want to call their district. The identity of that district will be determined by members of that business district and identified stakeholders according to a pre-determined process, and not imposed by Council.”

The four against the motion, Vice Mayor Dave Cortese and Council members Kansen Chu, Pete Constant and Pierluigi Oliverio, favored Chu’s motion to name the area Little Saigon, despite statements from 92 business owners and a significant number of speakers that they were against the name.

It was an evening with strong statements. Following the public speakers, Mayor Chuck Reed calmly but firmly told everyone that he was not and never had been a communist, “I am offended by people who call me a communist,” he told the standing room only crowd. Citing friends and colleagues left dead in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, he said he never favored the communist Vietnamese government, but that he would “not be intimated” by threats from people in San Jose.

“It’s clear,” he said, “that the majority of businesses haven’t arrived at a consensus, but business owners have the same rights in creatively naming the district.”

Audience members throw signs of support in the air after a speaker addressed the chamber in support of the "Little Saigon" name. Photos by Joe Proudman

Councilmember Madison Nguyen then thanked all of the speakers for “coming and speaking out.” She said that the initial intent, to give San Jose’s Vietnamese community the recognition for what it had done, was not accomplished and that it was time to heal the wounds created by the naming. She had thought the name Saigon Business District was a compromise, she said.

She too was upset by some of the comments, “I can accept the criticisms, endure the personal insults, but I can’t tolerate the attacks against my staff, colleagues and family. Now is the time to bring closure to the issue…We have aired our grievances and disappointments and now it’s time to move beyond them. I appeal to you to embrace a new tomorrow so we can move forward as a community.”

There was some discussion about developing a naming process created some concern among several council members. Constant said the council already has a number of processes in place, adding that the majority of the community wants the name Little Saigon.

However, Liccardo noted that other city business areas had been named by the business owners citing Japantown and San Pedro Square as examples. “My point is that the 92 business owners are saying they don’t want the City Council naming their business district…Let them decide for themselves, community identity comes from the ground up.”

Reed concurred adding that he too is concerned about “imposing a name on businesses within the district.”

Councilmember Judy Chirco agreed saying that she is “concerned that we will make another misstep without connecting with the community. We need to turn this work over to the staff so we can do it properly,” she said.

"We owe the community a big apology," Chirco added. "We mishandled this. And for that I am truly sorry. You are an impressive community. Let’s come together and make this community as strong as you are."

Thamh Tran (above) address council members during the San Jose City Council meeting on Tuesday night. Photos by Joe Proudman

At the Nov. 20 meeting, Chirco criticized the “rude” behavior of many of the Little Saigon supporters.

However, other than loudly applauding public backing of those speakers in favor of Little Saigon and occasionally booing those who didn’t, Tuesday’s crowd was well behaved. It appeared that more than 1,000 people attended with much of the overflow crowd seated in the Rotunda and in wing rooms. However, a number of supporters were unable to make it into the building and awaited the outcome outside.

A number of the speakers explained they miss their motherland and want to bring part of their memories to their adopted county, hence the name Little Saigon. Some of the speakers appeared threatening with booming voices and slamming their hands on the podium and telling the council members their political futures depended on their vote, while others were calm and just mentioned the name they prefer.

About 10 speakers were children, one held up by his brother and another girl cried and had to leave because she couldn’t continue to describe her parent’s journey to the United States. At least 10 people came from outside San Jose, a couple from Hayward, to note the impact the name would have on the community.

Others encouraged Nguyen to continue to stand tall and asked community members to stop the name-calling and intimidation. One of them, a Santa Cruz city council member criticized the community, noting a number of issues that Nguyen has taken on in their favor.