San Jose’s District 7 Councilman Tam Nguyen outpaced all six of his challengers in the first found of fundraising with $80,000 raised in contributions and $5,000 he loaned to himself. Former Franklin-McKinley School District trustee Maya Esparza finished a distant second with $16,000 in donations and a $5,000 loan. The rest—Jonathan Fleming, Chris Le, Thomas Duong, Omar Vasquez and Van Le—trailed far enough behind that Nguyen says he’s not too worried about money right now. But he is a little uneasy with the ongoing war of words between him and Van Le, an East Side Union High School District trustee who’s been feuding with him ever since he spearheaded a ban to keep the Vietnamese communist flag off of city flagpoles. Le, who initially supported Nguyen’s policy, later said it didn’t go far enough. Now, she’s threatening to sue the D7 incumbent for allegedly casting her as an associate of the North Vietnamese communist regime. In a Feb. 8 letter from her attorney, Susana Hamilton, Le accuses Nguyen of “moral turpitude” and of breaking the law by using public resources to push his personal political agenda. She also questions why the City Council never investigated or disciplined Nguyen when he was disbarred from practicing law last year. “Will the San Jose City Council continue to fail to reprimand or censure Mr. Nguyen?” the letter asks. Nguyen shrugged off the latest volley, saying his opponent is beating a dead horse. “None of this is new,” Nguyen says. “She wants to talk about all these things that have nothing to do with city issues.” If Le makes good on her threat, he says, he’ll countersue. “I already told the Vietnamese media that if she sued me, I would sue her back for malicious prosecution and malicious practices,” he says. “I’m very prepared.”
Councilmembers received a letter from Van Le — who’s running for the District 7 council seat — asking the Council to censure #SJD7 Councilmember @TamNguyenD7 for something he did before taking office. She’s also suing him for defamation. Damn, Vietnamese candidates play for keeps
— Lân Diệp (@LTDiep) February 13, 2018
Tempest found a teapot. But the numerous entries and actions on the State Bar website are disturbing.
We look like a backwater town.
Starting with Madison, the Vietnamese candidates have been steadily worse and worse… very petty, self-serving and malicious.
These folks are a poor reflection of their community and are not representing their Districts very well.
You would think the awful job done by Reed and now Liccardo would make just about any louse look good by comparison, but apparently they’re all determined to run the city of San Jose into the ground and act like petty spoiled children doing it.