recalling irresponsible political action

by cecilia tran

Why District 7 should not recall Councilwoman Madison Nguyen

Thousands of Vietnamese residents from San Jose’s District 7 have been rallying for political change via petitions, grassroots campaigning, and even protests for almost a year now. The height of the ordeal was when prominent, anti-communist activist Ly Tong decided to stage one of his notorious hunger strikes to capture international attention. If this is activism, then why does it resemble something of a circus show?

The reason for all this hoopla is due to Councilwoman Madison Nguyen’s controversial decision to name the shopping district on Story Road the “Vietnamese Business District” instead of “Little Saigon” as a considerable portion of her Vietnamese constituents wanted. While all sorts of recall-proponents have dug deeply for countless grievances to discredit Nguyen, it is undeniable that it always comes back to the shopping district title. For many Vietnamese, the name “Little Saigon” represents hope and reverences the pre-Communist era of their homeland. Instead of listening to the people, Nguyen favored the businesses. Tieng Dan Weekly quoted Nguyen as saying, “The people who are doing business on Story Road right now, the merchants, and the people who live within one thousand feet of this area, will have the biggest input, in regards to what the name will be.” Thus, when the majority voted for the title “Vietnam Business District” it was passed. Nguyen’s pro-business choice marred her reputation as a voice for the Vietnamese community and caused more than 5,000 people to petition for her removal from the council.

Clearly Nguyen made a stupid move, but the community’s reaction was nothing short of melodramatic. According to San Jose Mercury News, after it was released that businesses had voted for the Vietnamese Business District title, sales dropped 20 to 30 percent due to consumer boycotts. The irony is that non-Vietnamese members of District 7 are also boycotting Vietnamese businesses … because they are against the recall election. Joel Ruiz Herrerra wrote to the Mercury News saying, “Since the recall proponents have qualified for the recall election, I have not shopped in the Little Saigon area and I don't know if I will ever return. It's wrong to misuse our city's funds this way and it bothers me greatly.” Is it not ridiculous that a battle over titles cause a development project to divide the community and cause actually hurt the businesses we are trying to stimulate?

We simply can’t afford this recall process. The Silicon Valley is being devastated by the recession with a 7.7% unemployment rate. San Jose’s budget deficit is over $60 million. How could it make sense then to spend upwards of $500,000 on a recall election? Proponents of a recall election combat this statement by saying that they would agree to simply appointing a replacement without an election. Let’s review: the community wants to boot out Nguyen because she named a shopping district through an undemocratic process but does not mind putting an unelected official into power? That, my friends, is slightly problematic.

Fiscal reasons aside, it’s incredible to me that of all things, this has been the cause of unprecedented Vietnamese activism. How is it that the same group of people who did not create nearly as much commotion over the Vietnamese deportation laws be up in arms about a title? We cannot have our politicians walking on eggshells when it comes to titles while letting incredibly detrimental public policies escape us.

Furthermore, Nguyen is the first Vietnamese councilwoman to be elected in the district. With so few Vietnamese representatives in the political sphere, it deeply saddens me that a community that I identify with would be so quick to recall one of their own over reasons that I quite honestly do not think are legitimate enough. It is understandable that a Vietnamese politician should be held to a higher standard when it comes to representing their Vietnamese constituency. However, does the district really think that a non-Vietnamese councilperson would have ever been as active as Nguyen was about creating a Vietnamese shopping district to begin with? The message that this sends to any Vietnamese person who aspires towards a career in politics is that the community that is quick to celebrate your success will be even quicker to shun you with any misstep.

We these points in mind, I urge District 7 to say yes to responsible and sensible political activism and no to recalling Councilwoman Madison Nguyen.