3 Westminster Council members vote to censor mayor and deputy mayor – Orange County Register

In another resentful meeting, Westminster City Council voted 3-2 on Wednesday September 22 to prepare for formal censorship of Mayor Tri Ta and Deputy Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen.

Tai Do Council members Kimberly Ho and Carlos Manzo complained that Ta and Nguyen used the Vietnamese-language media to slander them, although they did not give specific examples.

Ho put the item on the agenda, again signaling his dramatic break with Ta and Nguyen.

“I just want to make sure you’re exposed,” Ho said, referring to Ta and Nguyen. “Because of your lies people are confused. “

Nguyen called the resolution a “personal vendetta”.

“This kind of thinking can only come from the minds of sick people,” he said.

Until last spring, Ho regularly stood with the two in tight decisions. But his relationship with his former allies has disintegrated on issues such as the redevelopment of Town Hall and the low-key appointment of politician Tyler Diep as a consultant to Westminster.

Yet the most poignant feuds at council meetings have revolved around something much less important to the city’s budget or to residents as a whole. In recent months, hours of public debate have been devoted to the construction of a memorial in honor of a South Vietnamese battle in 1972.

Ho voted last December to approve the Quang Tri monument at Little Saigon Freedom Park. Six months later, however, she demanded that the memorial be redesigned by a citizens’ committee.

Ultimately, the new majority, with Ho now joining Do and Manzo, voted to suspend the monument.

Controversy erupted over the summer with a recall effort – now in the signature-gathering phase – against Ho and Manzo.

On Wednesday, Do, Ho and Manzo took turns claiming that Ta, Nguyen and other Quang Tri monument organizers had spread misinformation about them through television, radio, social media and language newspapers. Vietnamese.

“I have heard a lot of lies about me from people who translate for me,” said Manzo, who does not speak Vietnamese. “I don’t have the opportunity to go to Vietnamese TV and tell my side of the story. How can I defend myself?

Ta dismissed the resolution as “a waste of staff resources”.

Do pointed out that Ta and Nguyen approved a similar resolution, condemning what Do said at a board meeting in 2019. “Don’t get on your high horse and start teaching people you don’t. that sort of thing, ”Do.

At the time, Ho voted alongside Ta and Nguyen. New to the board, Do took on the role of pot stirrer, regularly berating what dissidents have called “the gang of three.”

“I’m just happy that after all these years, City Councilor Ho sees the truth and wants to distance herself from all the lies,” Do said Wednesday.

Nguyen asked his colleagues who have expressed support for the censorship cases to name the cases where he and Ta lied about them. “Tell me, where did this happen?” ” He asked.

“Every time you open your mouth, lies come out,” Do said.

But city attorney Christian Bettenhausen said the resolution should be more explicit.

“I can make sure it’s the right format, but I can’t put the facts together because I don’t know them,” advised Bettenhausen. “You have to be very clear and provide evidence of what has been said. “

Answered Do: “Believe me, there are a lot of tapes. It is not difficult to prove.

Manzo alleged that Ta and Nguyen “are manipulating the truth for people who have come here as refugees (to) escape tyranny and communism”.

“Now you are trying to control their minds again, in order to gain power,” he said. “You take advantage of their vulnerability to having English as a second language.”

Do, whose family came here as refugees, confirmed, “All this filth that we ran away from – then we turn it into the same place we left behind. “