(Vài lời của người post: Để bạn đọc có thể đọc được toàn bộ bài viết “Vote urged on 'Little Saigon'”của Joshua Molina, chúng tôi xin đăng lại toàn bộ bài viết của Joshua Molina ở đây. Câu thần chú “Madison Nguyễn không thích tên Little Saigon v́ nó có âm hưởng chống cộng” được mấy bác trong nhóm Little Saigon suy ra từ một câu (đă được chúng tôi tô đỏ) trong bài viết này. Việc làm này có thể được coi như lưu lại một bản copy của bài viết, để nếu San Jose Mercury News xóa hết các dữ liệu trong server của họ, chúng ta vẫn c̣n một bản lưu ở đây để con cháu chúng ta có thể tham khảo khi cần. – ĐK6)
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Vote urged on 'Little Saigon'
MAYOR REED, NGUYEN REVERSE STANCE ON VIETNAMESE DISTRICT
By Joshua Molina
Mercury News
POSTED: 02/12/2008 01:45:04 AM PST | UPDATED: 6 YEARS AGO
San Jose councilwomen Madison Nguyen and San Jose major Chuck Reed address the... ( Nhat V. Meyer )
In a turning point to a drama that has paralyzed the San Jose City Council, Mayor Chuck Reed and Councilwoman Madison Nguyen called Monday for the council to rescind its controversial "Saigon Business District" vote - and let residents of the entire city decide whether a one-mile retail strip in a low-profile neighborhood should instead be called "Little Saigon."
The reversal, after repeated insistence that the council's November vote was not open to negotiation, appears to be a concession to the enormous political pressure generated by Little Saigon backers, who have called for Nguyen to resign or face recall.
But it also could turn out to be a wise strategic move.
Putting the matter to voters would reveal whether the Little Saigon proposal has appeal beyond the vocal supporters who have held weekly protests in front of City Hall.
"There are people who think they speak for the majority," Reed said. "This is an opportunity for the majority to speak for themselves."
Reed and Nguyen's backpedaling comes amid allegations that the council broke state law when it approved the name Nov. 20. It also comes amid a growing sense in the community that City Hall mishandled the decision and let it balloon into a political fiasco.
Monday's developments appeared to do little to ease the turmoil. Nguyen's foes continued to demand she step down. And Vice Mayor Dave Cortese - who originally backed Nguyen's Saigon Business District proposal but on Monday implied she had misled him - called for the council to vote again on the matter rather than put it on the ballot, where it might face a more uncertain outcome.
If a majority of the council sides with Reed at its March 4 meeting, the earlier vote would be rescinded and the matter put to a citywide vote in November. Residents would be asked: "Shall the Story Road retail area between Senter Road and US 101 be named Little Saigon?" They would not be asked to approve or reject "Saigon Business District," which is now off the table.
It would cost the city $214,000 to place the issue on the ballot, part of which would be paid for with money the city had set aside to erect signs in the business district.
The extra money would cover the costs of printing and inserting additional pages into the ballots San Jose residents receive. Cortese, who is running for a seat on the county board of supervisors, called it an unnecessary expense.
"The paramount issue here is peace and bringing harmony back to the community," Cortese said.
The dissent among council members is the latest indication of how the council underestimated the community backlash against Saigon Business District - and how some are now scrambling to rebuild credibility with the city's 100,000-strong Vietnamese community.
During Sunday's annual Tet parade marking the Lunar New Year, Cortese at one point left the officials' grandstand to greet people walking alongside a Little Saigon float. Already aboard the float were three of his opponents in the supervisor's race: Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves, Sunnyvale City Councilman Otto Lee and Daisy Chu, wife of San Jose Councilman Kansen Chu - who in November voted against the Saigon Business District name.
Cortese said his change of heart is not politically motivated, but rather a sign that he's come to better understand the community's perspective. "She certainly didn't have the support out there that she claimed to have," he said of Nguyen.
Barry Hung Do, spokesman for San Jose Voters For Democracy, the group pushing to oust Nguyen, initially backed Reed and Nguyen's proposal, saying it was "the best way for City Hall to save face." But he later said Cortese's idea is better.
"We don't want to drag out this issue," he said. "It may cost the city money. The city council members should realize by now what is the people's voice."
Cortese's proposal would remove the possibility of Little Saigon being voted down by residents who have grown weary of the controversy and have questioned spending city money to honor a specific ethnic group.
San Jose's Vietnamese community long has yearned for official recognition of their contributions to the city. Arriving as refugees after South Vietnam fell to communist forces in 1975 and its capital, Saigon, was renamed Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnamese immigrants helped rebuild run-down areas of town.
It was the heart-felt attachment to the name Saigon - along with suspicions that the council didn't give other alternatives a fair hearing - that led hundreds to picket City Hall, even on New Year's Day.
Nguyen, a refugee herself and the first Vietnamese woman elected to office in the state, fell from favor over her opposition to Little Saigon. She said a silent majority of business owners and others in the district disliked the name, with its anti-communist connotation, but she was never able to build community support for her idea.
Questions about the purity of the council's vote intensified last week after Councilman Forrest Williams admitted he told Nguyen prior to the vote that he would support whatever decision she made regarding the district.
His admission was trouble for Nguyen, who had publicly rallied the support of four of her colleagues - including Reed and Cortese - for Saigon Business District. Williams' secret backing would have meant she had locked in a majority of the council prior to the public vote, a violation of the state's open meeting law.
City Attorney Rick Doyle is set Wednesday to weigh in on whether the council violated that law, known as the Brown Act. But his findings may be moot if the council agrees with Reed and Nguyen to rescind the vote.
In a news conference Monday, Nguyen insisted she has done nothing wrong.
"Our focus right now is to put this on the ballot," Nguyen said. "This is the truest form of democracy."
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Contact Joshua Molina at jmolina@mercurynews. com or (408) 275-2002.
Nguồn: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_8238025
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