Nearly everyone who is Vietnamese American in San Jose is aware of the controversy over the naming of a business district at the Story Road entrance of San Jose, the tenth largest city in the United States and the recall effort of the initiator of the name Saigon Business District instead of Little Saigon Business District as preferred by community petitioners, Councilwoman Madison Nguyen (7th District). 
 
San Jose has an estimated 84,000 residents of Vietnamese ancestry according to the biennial census of 2006.  This is the largest single Asian population within the total San Jose estimate of 279,350 Asians.  The total population of San Jose is 916,220.  All these data are from the American Community Survey released in September 2007.  The report is available to anyone on the City of San Jose website. 
 
These totals include people of Vietnamese ancestry born in the United States as well as those born in Vietnam.  They include citizens and noncitizens.  They include people of all ages.  The statistics by age in the ACS survey are aggregate, which is to say that all age groups are counted but not by ancestry, only by gender.   
 
Many San Jose residents of Vietnamese ancestry are gathering signatures for recall petitions for Councilwoman Madison Nguyen on December 9.  I am not sure what the basis for the recall will be on the petitions.   The San Jose Mercury-News wrote recommending referendum as democratic practice on the vote of the City Council on November 20, 2007.  Referendum would be less debilitating to the San Jose population and particularly to District 7, who will be the only people eligible to vote if a recall election is accomplished.  The differences in the process are described in the San Jose Mercury News in English: on
 
There are two articles in Vietnamese in the current issue of Viet Tribune and Viet Bao which discuss Madison Nguyen, who is the target of the recall campaign. 

Here is the correction for the link to Viet Bao, with the article by Bui Van Phu  Truất Nhiệm Nghị Viên Madison Nguyễn?  

 http://www.vietbao.com/?ppid=45&pid=115&nid=119618

The article in Viet Tribune by Vy Truonggia Trao ðổi với nghị viên Madison Nguyễn

is

http://www.viettribune.com/vt/index.php?id=1730

I encourage all Vietnamese language readers to consult these articles while participating in the democratic process of community meetings and possible recall.

If a referendum had occurred as recommended by the San Jose Mercury News, it would not have affected the position of Madison Nguyen as Council member until time for election in 2010.  It would only have involved the name of the business district as voted by the San Jose City Council on November 20.
 
Those who have called the community meeting have stated that it is open to all points of view and media. 
 
G.I. FORUM
765 Story Road, San Jose, CA 95122
December 9, 2007