A COURTROOM BATTLE over an alleged ‘Godfather.’ A City Hall protest against one San Jose mayoral staffer. A fight for control of a Vietnamese cultural garden. The takedown of a renowned charity organization.
A common thread connected all these stories in 2024: unhealed wounds over the Vietnam War.
The Vietnamese community is more dynamic and complex than an ideological conflict during the 1970s. But labeling someone a communist for doing business overseas was enough to stir local defamation lawsuits, public protests and even scrutiny over San Jose’s multi-million-dollar recycling contract.
But there were also major victories and milestones, including the historic election of Santa Clara County’s first Vietnamese American supervisor and the unveiling of a long-delayed community monument.
History made
Betty Duong became Santa Clara County’s first Vietnamese American supervisor in December — starting early on the job after her predecessor and former boss, Cindy Chavez, stepped down to move into a new role in New Mexico. But the historic milestone actually happened in the March primary.
The top two vote-getters that month came down to Duong and Madison Nguyen, who separately made history as San Jose’s first Vietnamese councilmember. The primary results solidified the community’s milestone — regardless of which candidate emerged victorious.
Star-studded trial
San Jose Councilmember Bien Doan became a lightning rod for the issue in 2024. In March, Doan filed for a restraining order against a prominent Vietnamese leader, Hai Quang Huynh, known for his work in the bail bonds and gambling industries.
Doan alleged Huynh threatened him on multiple occasions, and at times during public community events, prompting him to install metal gates and security cameras at his house and look over his shoulder after leaving city meetings at night.
Over the course of a summer bench trial, Doan, with the assistance of city lawyers, made his case by painting Huynh as a “Godfather” organized crime figure who instills fear in the community. They called a number of who’s-who’s in Little Saigon to testify, including Cal Waste Solutions CEO David Duong, who testified in support of Doan in a rare public appearance after an FBI probe into his company’s political activities in Oakland went public.
But Huynh denied threatening Doan, chalking their confrontations up to verbal disagreements over doing business in Vietnam. Huynh has been critical of Doan for being close with Duong, the recycling mogul who has an amicable relationship with the Vietnamese government. The Vietnamese American Business Association, a major community organization that Duong chairs, once co-sponsored a 2023 trip to Vietnam for Oakland officials that included former mayor Sheng Thao. Duong operates a waste management facility in the county. The FBI raided Thao’s home in June alongside the homes of Duong and his son, apparently in the same probe focusing on Duong’s company and family members.
A judge ultimately agreed with Huynh, finding no basis for his mob boss caricature and no evidence of physical threats. But the fighting didn’t end there.
Dueling lawsuits
Duong separately sued Huynh for defamation after publicly labeling him a ‘communist.’ Duong argued that the label could put a target on his back. History has shown that such a charge incites violence. There was a string of political killings between the 1980s and 1990s of Vietnamese American journalists in the U.S., who in some cases merely printed advertisements for companies doing business with Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Tara Dang — a staff member at Mayor Matt Mahan’s office who testified in support of Doan during the June restraining order trial — launched her own lawsuit against nearly a dozen Vietnamese American community members for similarly labeling her a communist lackey.
The separate but interconnected legal dramas prompted a protest at City Hall by anti-communist organizers in August, who responded to Dang’s lawsuit with signs accusing her of trying to “silence” them. They also took aim at David Duong, calling for the city to cut ties with Cal Waste Solutions and end the company’s contract.
Embattled charity
Dang’s lawsuit later prompted her critics to look into a much-admired local charity that she helped lead. The San Jose Vietnamese Running Club has for years raised money for underserved children in Vietnam. But its overseas mission became targeted by anti-communist campaigns who discovered the club raised money illegally with a suspended tax status.
Debate over control
The political drama extended into a debate over control of San Jose’s public parks. Doan’s office in August announced he would be taking more control over who can host a monthly flag raising ceremony at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden on the first Saturday of every month. The problem: It was the same date for the popular event that Ha Trieu — a community organizer who testified in support of Huynh’s restraining order trial — had for years.
The dispute prompted scrutiny from state lawmakers and even a fellow councilmember over who controlled city park space.
One unified place
The community logged another major win this year, the unveiling of the Vietnam War memorial at the Vietnamese Heritage Garden. The life-size statue of two armed soldiers — one American and one South Vietnamese. It marked a major turning point for the garden at Kelley Park, as a communal oasis and tribute to San Jose’s Vietnamese enclave, the largest of any city outside Vietnam. It also marked the merging of two troubled projects that had been stalled by years of community divide into one unified place.
Contact Brandon Pho at brandon@sanjosespotlight.com or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.