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 out during the garden’s monthly flag raising ceremonies, which have become an emotional symbol for Vietnam War refugees and a publicity tool for local politicians. Now Doan wants to limit one private group’s hold over the event.
That group, the United Vietnamese American Community of Northern California, is led by one of Doan’s critics, Ha Trieu. For years, Trieu has used the garden for flag raisings on the first Saturday of every month. Arguments at those events – and Trieu’s rocky relationship with Doan – played a key role in a June restraining order trial where Doan unsuccessfully sought protection from another outspoken critic of his, a bail bondsman named Hai Huynh.