The Westminster City Council said no to flying the LGBTQ Pride flag and yes to reviving their old formula for placing items on their regular agenda.
But during a long and contentious meeting on Wednesday, June 23, the most heated discourse involved allegations of impropriety by city officials.
In one confrontation, Councilwoman Kimberly Ho and Councilman Tai Do teamed up to scold Mayor Tri Ta and Councilman Charlie Nguyen for co-hosting an event at Sid Goldstein Freedom Park, June 6, without inviting the public. Ho called it “a private party on public land.”
The other three council members “were not invited,” Ho said, adding: “Worse than that, this was happening in my district.” Ho said she only learned about the event when someone asked her “‘What is that loud music at Freedom Park?’”
“I knew nothing about it,” she said. “How embarrassing.”
The groundbreaking, held by a foundation that is raising funds for a Vietnam War monument scheduled to be installed later this year, added fuel to a growing city controversy. Approved last year by all members of the council, the monument will recognize the 1972 battle of Quang Tri Citadel, in which South Vietnamese troops defeated North Vietnamese forces.
But on Wednesday, Do, Ho and Manzo – who all had voted in favor of the monument – said they’d heard from critics and now want to see more information about it.
Some residents complain that because the small park already has three monuments there isn’t room for another. And some Vietnam War veterans groups oppose the Quang Tri Citadel monument, arguing it dilutes the park’s original theme as a Vietnam War Memorial.
“There was never any intention of building additional monuments from inception,” members of Vietnam Veterans of America wrote in a joint email to the council, adding that “second- and third-generation Vietnamese” are “building monuments to honor themselves.”
According to the plan submitted last year, the monument would include plaques dedicated to the mayor and city council members and to donors.
When the item came up for discussion Wednesday, Ta announced that attorney Van Tran, chairman of the Quang Tri Monument Foundation, would join the Zoom meeting – catching colleagues by surprise. “He had his five minutes,” Manzo said, referring to Tran’s earlier participation in public comments.
When that discussion devolved into a squabble, Manzo dubbed the meeting “The Jerry Springer Show.”
Do asked city employees to explain how the groundbreaking event came about without full knowledge of the council. One of his concerns, he said, was that the gathering might have violated coronavirus safety protocols that were still in effect at that time by bringing in more than 100 people.
Community Services Director Diana Dobbert said Nguyen called her office on June 4 “requesting that the restroom and kiosk be open, and the electricity be turned on” for June 6. She said the department had not approved any requests for use of the park since pandemic shutdowns in March of 2020.
“I thought it was a city-hosted event,” Dobbert said.
Later, when Nguyen asserted that fewer than 100 people attended, Do played a video on his cellphone in which a member of the Quang Tri Citadel Monument Foundation was heard saying: “We were very touched that almost 200 people were in attendance.”
The debate over both the monument and the gathering culminated in a hastily scheduled special meeting – to be held at 5 p.m. Friday, June 25, for the council to “provide direction regarding the construction of the monument.”
In another confrontation, Ho asked City Manager Marwan Youssef to “clarify the process of interaction between council members and city staff related to inquiries about projects under submission.” The council unanimously approved Youssef’s recommendation that officials go through department heads rather than subordinates.
During her comments, Ho alleged that unnamed colleagues had inappropriately pressured city employees to meet with “developers and other applicants.”
“We shouldn’t create an environment where staff members feel intimidated,” Ho said. “Do not hound staff.”
Ho didn’t specify the project or projects she felt had been mishandled. In April, she helped kill a proposal to redevelop the Westminster Civic Center.
The council also voted to revive old rules for putting items on their public agenda, with Ho voting against a process she once endorsed. “I really don’t think it is efficient,” she said.
In June of 2019, Ta, Ho and Nguyen voted for a two-step process after becoming frustrated with controversial items offered up by then-newcomer Do. For the past two years, ideas had to be presented verbally and approved by three members for future discussion.
Do labeled the system “undemocratic,” and Manzo said it made addressing constituents’ concerns too time-consuming.
While Ta and Nguyen wanted to continue with that system, or a variant of it, their three colleagues voted to return to using the previous procedure with some minor tweaks. Now, once again, a single member of the council may place an agenda item by simply contacting the city clerk.
Finally, the council balked at following the lead of other Orange County cities that in recent years have chosen to fly the rainbow pride flag. Manzo submitted the item, calling the flag “a simple way to show we support people who identify as LGBTQ.”
But Ho, the only other council member to offer a comment, said, “We cannot display a flag for everything we support.”
Ultimately, Manzo was alone in voting for his proposal.