Some Little Saigon activists are in uproar after a San Jose councilmember’s office changed the locks and the rules for reserving events at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden. Councilmember Bien Doan announced those new rules last month after becoming the center of political divide over anticommunism earlier this summer among older Vietnamese Americans. The divide has partly played...
San Jose mayor’s staffer sues over communist label
A worker in the San Jose mayor’s office is caught in a political storm surging through Little Saigon’s war refugee generation over claims of communist sympathies. Tara Dang, who conducts neighborhood outreach for Mayor Matt Mahan in a city with the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam, sued 8 people in May for defamation. The list ranges...
Silicon Valley candidates backed by Vietnamese American heavyweights
The FBI probe into a Bay Area recycling hauler — and the showdown between its owner and another influential Vietnamese figure — has sent a ripple through one of Santa Clara County’s hottest elections. It’s also revealing how two of Silicon Valley’s most powerful Vietnamese figures are backing competing Vietnamese American political candidates in a...
San Jose unveils war monument at Vietnamese Heritage Garden
San Jose’s Vietnamese community is celebrating a long-anticipated monument symbolizing its post-war roots in the city after the project faced years of delays. The statue, unveiled Saturday at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden, features a Vietnamese soldier and an American soldier, both armed and standing beside each other atop rocky terrain in front of the flags...
San Jose businessman says he didn’t defame embattled CEO
A feud is heating up between two businessmen with big reputations in San Jose’s Little Saigon, including David Duong — the subject of an FBI probe involving Oakland’s mayor. Duong, CEO of trash and recycling hauler Cal Waste Solutions, has hurled a defamation lawsuit against Hai Huynh, a bail bonds businessman described by some in...
San Jose official denied restraining order against business owner
San Jose Councilmember Bien Doan’s request for a restraining order against a well-connected Vietnamese American businessman has been denied — capping a trial that laid bare the political rancor within Little Saigon’s older generation. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Eric Geffon ruled on Wednesday there is insufficient evidence that Hai Huynh — a bail...
San Jose official’s restraining order hearing nets notable witnesses
What started as one San Jose councilmember taking out a restraining order against a well-connected Vietnamese American businessman is morphing into a trial that has brought some of Little Saigon’s most well-known figures out to testify. Councilmember Bien Doan has requested a restraining order against business owner Hai Huynh, which set the stage for Tuesday’s...
San Jose war monument marks milestone for Vietnamese community
A long delayed monument to fallen Vietnam War fighters will finally be unveiled at San Jose’s Vietnamese Heritage Garden, a planned cultural gathering space waylaid by community divide. The life-size statue of two armed soldiers — one American and one South Vietnamese — could be ready for public viewing this month or early July. It...
San Jose Tet festival brings together community and politics
Scores of people in colorful dress basked in the light of lanterns of San Jose’s History Park, as fragrant white smoke from grilled pork skewers scented the air in celebration of the Lunar New Year, also known as Tết. The Year of the Dragon might bring greater representation to residents with the potential election of...
A historic election could split Silicon Valley’s Vietnamese voters
Little Saigon may be on the precipice of electing its first-ever Vietnamese American to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, and a potential key voice in decisions on homelessness, mental health services and law enforcement spending. The two candidates seen as frontrunners in the race for the District 2 seat are Vietnamese American women: Betty...