Local Asian American groups want full disclosure in landmark Tropicana eminent domain case

By Barbara Luis
Staff Writer

Amidst allegations of anti-Asian discrimination, the Silicon Valley chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans is demanding that San Jose city leaders release “the full, uncensored record” of public meetings at which the decision was made to sue local Asian American business owners citing “eminent domain.”

After dropping their civil case late last month during trial, the San Jose Redevelopment Agency must now pay millions of dollars in restitution to several Asian and Hispanic merchants and landowners of the Tropicana Shopping Center, located at the corner of Story and King roads in East San Jose.

After losing the first phase of the civil case, city redevelopment attorneys informed presiding Santa Clara County Judge Gregory Ward in his chambers that they would no longer pursue “eminent domain” over the small Eastside shopping center, which the city tagged as “blighted” many years before.

Trial began in mid October in a Santa Clara County courtroom in a civil case brought by redevelopment officials against primary owner Dennis Fong and a host of smaller Asian American landowners and Latino merchants who refused to accept the City’s financial “buyout” of their businesses for pennies on the dollar.

Fong holds a 46-percent interest in the center. When initially told about the city’s plans to turn the Tropicana over to developers, he presented his own ideas for redevelopment of the aging buildings and they were accepted. The City initially pledged to help with $1 million in funding, but Fong says they only came up with one-third of what was promised. Redevelopment officials also did not like his remodeling designs, saying they looked too much like a version of “Taco Bell.”

In June of 2001, city officials decided the project was moving too slowly. They gathered Tropicana merchants and landowners together and informed them of a new “plan” to tear down their existing businesses and replace them with new ones, all under the auspices of developer Blake Hunt Ventures.

According to Tropicana businessman and District 10 City Council candidate Rich De La Rosa, “That’s when all hell broke loose.”

Asian American groups say the council’s decision to sell to developer Hunt was reached behind closed doors, in violation of the Brown Act.

A group of angry Asian-American landowners then formed a grassroots coalition with their Hispanic counterparts to fight the city.

Landowners include Polly Kam, John Kim, Junior, Kayko Jane Kim, Katsuyoshi Murano and Ann Fumi Murano, Sangha Enterprises, Incorporated, Stanley and Sylvia Lee and Albert and Lily Wong Toy as well as Fong.
In November 2002, redevelopment officials filed suit against the landowners and merchants to acquire the Tropicana center by eminent domain, alleging that the properties were physically and economically blighted.
The plan directed Blake Hunt Ventures to retain two new pad buildings constructed by Dennis Fong, while tearing down the surrounding structures, including the newly-remodeled Mercado Grande de Tropicana, which had just opened that same month and housed 60 Latino merchants.

At trial, Judge Ward determined that the city presented inadequate evidence to support their decision to condemn newly renovated buildings or to transfer ownership to Blake Hunt. Judge Ward found the City’s decision “arbitrary and capricious,” which invalidated their actions. Judge Ward also determined that the City did not establish that condemnation of the Mercado was compatible with the common interests of the public or of the landowners.
Court filings also allege constitutional civil rights violations by the City against Asian American landowners, Latino merchants and primary owner Dennis Fong. That claim is pending in Santa Clara County civil court.

In a press advisory issued this week, Jeffrey Lee, spokesperson for the Silicon Valley chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans remarks, “The Organization of Chinese Americans in Silicon Valley will be vigilant in identifying government actions that racially discriminate or violate the civil rights of Asian Americans or any persons. This coalition of Asian American landowners and Latino merchants achieved the impossible by fighting City Hall. We hope the Tropicana matter presents an isolated case that will be remedied fairly for the landowners and merchants, but their allegations that the City has acted with racial animus elsewhere raise grave issues.”
According to Albert Lee, co-president of the Silicon Valley chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, “Asian Americans have faced historical discrimination by government officials in many ways, including enactment of laws limiting Asian Americans’ rights to use, develop—or even own—land here in California. Judge Ward’s findings and the allegations regarding the City’s actions at the Tropicana Shopping Center raise serious concerns that those days may not be gone.”

Co-President Lynette Lee Eng continues, “The public process involving closed-door decisions and condemnation of this property give the appearance of improper, racially-motivated actions by city officials. We request that the City make the full, uncensored record available for public review and scrutiny. Without such an act, the City’s actions regarding the Tropicana Shopping Center will continue to appear as a pretext to illegally take the land from the Asian landowners. We will continue to watch closely the outcome of these issues.”