GROUP TAKES STEP ON ROAD TO RECALL
By Joshua Molina
Mercury News
About 2,000 supporters of naming a sliver of San Jose "Little Saigon" packed an auditorium on Sunday and threatened to try to recall Councilwoman Madison Nguyen unless the city council backpedals on a controversial recent vote.
Nguyen, the first Vietnamese-American woman elected to office in California, has come under fire since the council voted 8-3 on Nov. 20 to call the strip of about 200 businesses "Saigon Business District."
"I have no idea why she went against the will of the people," said San Jose attorney Minh Dovan, who attended Sunday's four-hour rally at the American G.I. Forum in San Jose. "She lost a lot of political capital."
Sunday's crowd was one of the largest in San Jose in recent years to address a municipal issue.
By a nearly unanimous show of hands, Little Saigon supporters in the auditorium voted to send a letter to the council asking the city to vote again on the issue. If that doesn't work, Little Saigon boosters will ask Nguyen to resign. If she doesn't, they vowed, they will launch a recall.
"The community is outraged," said Barry Hung Do.
Nguyen, reached at her home on Sunday night, fired back, saying that she felt confident her decision was a sound one. She said she was upset that the Little Saigon supporters have not moved on.
"I am disappointed because there are other issues in District 7 to focus on, such as gang activity, affordable housing and economic development," Nguyen said.
But to the boisterous crowd on Sunday, Little Saigon was all that mattered.
"Restore Democracy in San Jose Now," one sign said. "Madison ignores the people's voice," said another.
In one of the more striking visuals, a cartoon drawing depicted a scowling Mayor Chuck Reed pointing at an audience full of Little Saigon supporters. At Reed's side was a depiction of a cowering Nguyen, with beads of sweat dripping from her face.
At one point the huge crowd broke out into a lengthy "recall Madison" chant.
To those who fled Vietnam during and after the 1975 fall of South Vietnam, Little Saigon is a comforting term that reminds them of their homeland before the communist takeover. Many say they see America as a democratic utopia and were stung that Nguyen and the council voted against them despite what they perceive as widespread support in the emigre community.
San Jose is home to about 100,000 Vietnamese-Americans - the largest number of any city outside Vietnam.
Little Saigon is a well-branded name in a handful of other Vietnamese retail areas in California. The majority of council members, however, opted to name the area Saigon Business District because they believe the area should have its own identity - separate from other Little Saigons. And business owners, they said, prefer that the name have "business district" in it.
The name Little Saigon was opposed by the Story Road Business Association and the San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which has members in the area.
But Little Saigon supporters were clearly in the majority among those with roots in Vietnam. Nearly 1,000 people turned out at City Hall the night of the vote. In addition, a survey of District 7 residents done by San Jose's redevelopment agency, which has budgeted $100,000 for signs and marketing, showed that Little Saigon was the most popular.
Community members are befuddled over why the council disregarded the results of its own survey and voted against the wishes of so many residents.
My Phuong Le said that Nguyen has sidestepped the Democratic process and inexplicably gone against her own community. "We feel she has some issue with the Vietnamese political identity," she said.
City Councilman Kansen Chu, one of the three council members to back Little Saigon, attended Sunday's rally. He stressed that he does not support a recall of his colleague but believes the council should revisit the issue.
"I would try to go back to City Hall to see if there's a political will to bring this issue back," said Chu, adding that he is disappointed at all the attacks on Nguyen.
For her part, Nguyen said that people have the right to launch a recall but that she's not worried. "My goal is to serve out my remaining three years and leave District 7 a better place," she said.
To some younger people in the audience, the flap over the issue didn't make a lot of sense.
"This is just politics," said Minh Huynh, 27. "There's always one side that is going to win and one side that is going to lose. Whatever side campaigns the best and has the most money is going to win."
His friend Jimmy Luong said that he sees little difference between the names since both have the word "Saigon" in it.
"Saigon Business District might actually be better for the businesses," he said.
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Contact Joshua Molina at jmolina@mercurynews.com or (408) 275-2002
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