San Jose, CA: 2,000 push for ‘Little Saigon’

As I had mentioned in my posting in November, “San Jose: ‘Saigon Business District’ wins“,the San Jose City council voted to name a part of San Jose “Saigon Business District” instead of “Little Saigon.” Well, in yesterday’s San Jose Mercury News, the newspaper reports that ” 2,000 push for ‘Little Saigon’“:

“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.”

I can’t even imagine the fervor the Vietnamese-American community in San Jose has on this issue – to push this issue and vow for a recall of city council member Madison Nguyen. Then again, I don’t quite understand why Nguyen go against the will of her community either. Personally, as I have mentioned before, “Saigon Business District” just pretty archaic to me, while “Little Saigon” sounds more natural. Anybody in San Jose, especially if you live or work in this area, have any comments?