Vietnamese American is a political pace-setter

Sacramento Bee ^ | March 15, 2004 | Laura Mecoy

[Cultural Jihad]

WESTMINSTER - Van Tran couldn't cross the street to his office without a woman stopping to thank him for helping her son. A man shouted his congratulations from his car window.

Shopkeepers also nodded in greeting as Tran wandered through a mall last week in Little Saigon, the largest Vietnamese settlement outside Vietnam.

[RonDog]

ping

[billorites]

I always get him confused with Van Heflin.

[Cultural Jihad]

Mayor Pro Tempore, City of Garden Grove

Van Tran

Attorney Van Thai Tran was elected to serve on the City Council in November, 2000. He is the second Vietnamese-American to be elected to public office in Orange County, and Garden Grove’s first. Van was appointed Mayor Pro Tempore in December 2001.

Van received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California in Irvine, and both a Masters degree in Public Administration, and a doctorate degree in law from Hamline University in Minnesota.

In the 1990s, Van founded the Vietnamese-American Voters Coalition, a nonprofit organization that promotes voter education and awareness. Van also served as a liaison between Westminster police and angry protesters during the 1999 demonstrations in Little Saigon. In his 15 years of activism and community service, Van has received many awards for his civic and political achievements.

Other Community Service achievements include serving as a Garden Grove Planning Commissioner, serving as Vice Chairman of the Orange County Boy Scouts, El Capitan District, and serving as a member of the fundraising committee for the Garden Grove Community Foundation. Van is a member of the Asian-Pacific Congressional Advisory Board of U.S. Congressman Ed Royce, and he has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Regional Center of Orange County (formerly Developmental Disability Center). He is also a former member of the Garden Grove Rotary Club.

Van has his own private law practice. He is also currently a contributing freelance editorial columnist for the Orange County Register and the English section of the Vietnamese newspaper, Nguoi Viet.

Van enjoys reading, playing tennis, and has a collection of Mont Blanc pens.

Community Goal:
To best serve the residents of Garden Grove
by bringing all diverse groups together.

Occupation:
Attorney

Community Service:
Orange County Boy Scouts, El Capitan District
Garden Grove Community Foundation
Asian-Pacific Congressional Advisory Board

Education:
B.A. in Political Science,
University of California, Irvine
Masters degree in Public Administration,
Hamline University, St. Paul, MN
Doctorate in Law, Hamline University

Birthplace:
Vietnam

Garden Grove Resident:
Since 1996

Time in Office:
Elected to Council in 2000

City Hall Phone:
(714) 741-5103

Updated March 2002

Source

[Cultural Jihad]

Vietnamese shopkeeper with Ho Chi Minh display vows to fight eviction

February 19, 1999
Web posted at: 9:37 p.m. EST (0237 GMT)

WESTMINSTER, California (CNN) -- Lingering passions from Vietnam's civil war are being rekindled on American soil, in a Vietnamese enclave near Los Angeles known as Little Saigon.

In January, video shop owner Truong Van Tran hung a Vietnamese flag and a portrait of the late communist leader Ho Chi Minh in his store, enraging anti-communist emigres.

A judge first ordered Tran to remove the flag and picture, calling them a public nuisance, but eventually reversed the order, saying the First Amendment protected Tran's actions.

His court victory however, hasn't stopped the controversy, which has been kept alive by daily protests outside the store.

The last time Tran tried to enter his shop, he was assaulted and had to be hospitalized. Tired of the protests, the landlord of the shopping center ordered Tran to vacate the premises by the close of business Friday or face an eviction suit, claiming that Tran owes thousands of dollars in unpaid rent.

Tran, who disputes the contention that he owes back rent, has vowed to fight the eviction in court, and his attorneys allege that police aren't doing enough to protect Tran and control protesters. He is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The Vietnamese community in this country must understand that freedom means we are all free to express our opinions," Tran said. "Most people in the Vietnamese community do not speak their mind because they are afraid that they will be attacked by other people in the community."

Correspondent Susan Reed and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source

[billhilly]

This nation has been blessed by the Vietnamese who fled to our shores after the American Congress spelled their doom by cutting off funding for the war. By that time we had won the war in Asia, but lost it in the media, and in congress.

Nonetheless, the Vietnamese who came here exhibited all of the qualities of their predecessor immigrants, who had built this nation. I consider myself blessed to know, and to have known, Vietnamese since 1975.

[kabar]

The Vietnamese-Americans have no love for Kerry and his ilk. They pose a potent political force in California and a growing one as the chart indicates.

[billhilly]

This nation has been blessed by the Vietnamese who fled to our shores after the American Congress spelled their doom by cutting off funding for the war. By that time we had won the war in Asia, but lost it in the media, and in congress.

Nonetheless, the Vietnamese who came here exhibited all of the qualities of their predecessor immigrants, who had built this nation. I consider myself blessed to know, and to have known, Vietnamese since 1975.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

.

TRAN poised to make history = 1st Viet-Amer/State Legislature..

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1090239/posts

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[DallasMike]

I live just north of the largest Vietnamese community in the Dallas area. I would swear that there's a lot more than 21,000 of them though. Every Vietnamese that I know is a hard worker, a good neighbor, and very conservative. I'm proud to have them here and tell them so every chance I get.

[ALOHA RONNIE]

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Garden Grove votes Free South Vietnam Flag -IN-, who's next..?

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/news/863430/posts


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[ALOHA RONNIE]

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Rally against NGUYEN CAO KY's support of Communist Vietnam

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1077616/posts



...and against JOHH KERRY as well.

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[ALOHA RONNIE]

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VAN TRAN for Assembly Website =

http://www.VanTran68.com


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[ALOHA RONNIE]

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"HATE War, LOVE the Warrior" = 1st Amer & Viet War Memorial

http://www.Freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/902879/posts


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[neb52]

I was thinking the same thing here in Arlington. But a lot of Chinese live in the Vietnamese Quarter, too. Makes a little bit difficult. Use to take a Chinese kid to work several years ago. Him and his brother live with a Vietnamese family, working to get the rest of their family over here from China.

[AmericanVictory]

Bump for all those who died on the way.

[DallasMike]

But a lot of Chinese live in the Vietnamese Quarter, too.

Yes, they do. I dated a Chinese girl for a couple of years though and quickly learned to tell the difference between the various Asian peoples! There is some co-mingling though -- the girl who cuts my hair grew up in Vietnam but is 3/4 Chinese and 1/4 Vietnamese. She confused me at first because she looks Chinese but has a Vietnamese name and speaks with a Vietnamese accent.

Everything I said about the Vietnamese applies to the Chinese as well. They're generally very moral, principled people who value God, family, education, and hard work. A Chinese friend bent my ear a while back because his "lazy" high school son only scored 1500 on the SAT. His harder-working daughter had scored 1540 several years before.

[VOA]

bump for publicity

[kahoutek]

They also have a saying: "The government stops at the village gate"