March 27, 2008

City Council ratifies signs for Little Saigon

By Carol Rosen
Editor

For the third time in less than a month, the Viet-namese-American business district at Highway 101 and Senter Road made the news, this time likely the end of a nearly yearlong effort to name the area.

On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to ratify the March 13 agreement (see Almaden Times, March 21-March 27 issue) allowing construction and installation of temporary community signs with the name Little Saigon at or near the Story-McLaaughlin Road intersection. In the compromise agreement, private citizens agreed to find funding to pay for, construct and install the signs.

The decision to go with temporary signs allows the area to get signs up quickly with less money than will be needed for permanent signs, said Mayor Chuck Reed. “Anyone who wants to move ahead with permanents signs can do so tomorrow,” he said.

“We spent lots of time trying to figure out how to get the signs up quickly,” said Councilmember San Lic-cardo, “Temporary signs al-low the community to raise the signs quickly. We didn’t want to wait,” he added.

“Designs [for permanent signs] could cause delays,” said Vice Mayor Dave Cortese, adding that permanent signs would create the need for even more money, leaving “less hoops to jump through for temporary signs.”

Shuttle diplomacy
Reed noted he used “shuttle diplomacy” following the March 4 council vote to bring an end to the situation. “I started directly after the last city council vote…and spoke with dozens of people in various Vietnamese groups including Madison Nguyen. I spoke with lots of people and Sam Liccardo, Madison Nguyen and Dave Cortese were doing the same thing,” he responded to a question from Council member Kansen Chu.

“The mayor worked hard to bring all sides together,” said Liccardo, “and there was a window of opportunity that appeared, dovetailing with the mayor’s work. Michael Loo and various members of the Vietnamese community also were involved,” he added.

"This is the first positive step to solve the conflict and reduce the tension between the city and the Vietnamese-American community," said Barry Hung Do, spokesman for San Jose Voters For Democracy, the main group pushing for the Little Saigon name.

Fewer speakers
This time, public speakers numbered 45 instead of more than 300 to 1,000 members of the community that showed up to ask the council to call the area Little Saigon. All asked that the signs be made permanent, and many said they would like the city to help with the fundraising by matching or donating $100,000.

However, the process still was not without questions. Many of the public speakers continued to deride Nguyen because she supported naming the center Saigon Business District. In addition, they called the petition presented by business owners Henry Lee fraudulent. Ninety-two business owners signed the petition, which Lee had characterized as business owners for Saigon Business District, which in turn forced the council’s hand to come up with a compromise at the March 4 meeting.

After that meeting, a number of the business owners claimed they had never signed such a petition, although several, in public statements, said they had signed a document but it had not dealt with a name for the business district.

Questions dealing with that petition will be taken up at the April 2 Rules Committee meeting by City Attorney Rick Doyle, said the mayor.

Nguyen opened the day’s discussion stating that she is “filled with optimism and hoping that these [compromise] actions will help rebuild the community.” Adding that she has learned a lot through the “trial and error” Nguyen said she “will fully support the name…” She then moved for approval of the March 13 compromise memo.

Later during the discussion, Nguyen told Chu that she had already had a number of conversations with an assemblyman who was going to help get highway signs directing shoppers and tourists to Little Saigon.

Protests
Initial protests began last November when the council voted to call the area the Saigon Business District, which had little community support. The action created a backlash in the Vietnamese community in San Jose, with many in the community complaining that their voices were not heard and condemning and calling Nguyen a “communist” as well as behaving in a what some called a rude and threatening manner. A number of community members continued to protest during the next four months, at times behaving in ways that many considered to be rude.

While there were no actual disruptions, community members protested inside the McHenry Convention Center during the mayor’s State of the City address. They were present outside city hall and even, at times, in the corridor by the council chambers while meetings were taking place.

In February, a former South Vietnam soldier named Ly Tong began a hunger strike allegedly not eating, and after council members again voted down Little Saigon on March 4, said he would not drink either. He was said to be without food for 28 days and without any liquids for eight days.

After signing the compromise, Tong spent a week in the hospital but appeared healthy on Tuesday when as one of the speakers he thanked everyone for helping develop the compromise that led to the end of his hunger strike.

Although two council members were absent, Forrest Williams was traveling and Pete Constant had to leave early for a meeting, Reed noted that both would have supported the action.

Permit improvement
In other business, the council discussed a report from Planning, Building and Code Enforcement Director Joe Horwedel describing improvements in the department’s permitting process.

The report delineated customer satisfaction based on a survey conducted in 2006. The survey determined satisfaction levels using a sample of 1,000 customers using development services. This year, its second, the survey is helping the staff determine specific improvement areas but areas of strength allowing the department to make the most of what is working well and allowing the department “to base and track operational and process improvements.”

After Horwedel discussed the report, a parade of speakers thanked the department and the council for the improvements. Public speakers, including developers and business owners, noted how the department had helped with positive solutions and by finding methods to resolve issues.

“They provide good customer services whether it is for a large development or a small, community project,” said one speaker.

Another stated, “the new programs improved the entire process. Customer service is outstanding with well trained and knowledgeable staff that consults, coordinates and makes sure everyone knows what is necessary before a meeting.”

During the discussion Horwedel noted that several areas still need improvement including the project tracking system, “there’s a problem there with some things getting lost and we also need to improve historic building permitting and make it more predictable.”

A decision was made to increase reporting to the council on the improvements. Up to now, the department provided an annual update, but from now on Horwedel will report quarterly on its progress.

The council accepted the report unanimously.