I know that this may be a small step back, but try to think back to mid-June when the Westminster School Board hired and then fired Kimoanh Nguyen- Lam in the blink of an eye…making Nguyen-Lam the first Vietnamese-American superintendent of an Orange County School District, and then making her the first ex Vietnamese-American superintendent of an Orange County School District. [OC Register]
Back on June 15, The Westminster School Board met and there was a nice demonstration going on outside. And there was definitely one man missing: Assemblyman Van Tran. I blogged about Tran’s absence here.
You’d think that since this was a pretty hot topic in his district he might make an appearance or support Kimoanh, or support the Westminster School Board, or something.
But instead there was nothing from Tran.
I assumed that he was tied up with official businessâ€â€I imagined Tran with his shirt sleeves rolled up, sweating, running down the halls of the capital building in Sacramento, doing necessary tasks to keep California’s wheels of democracy rolling.
Then I stumbled upon this ad in the Nguoi Viet:
Thursday, June 15
Political Fundraiser
Jack Wu, a candidate for Newport Beach City Council, District 1, is holding a fundraiser. Featured guest: Assemblyman Van Tran.
Huh? Instead of coming out to support the School Board of his community, or to support the people of his community, Van Tran was at a fundraiser rubbing elbows with other affluent-types.
Tran does a lot of talk about supporting the Vietnamese community, but when push comes to shove, he’s simply only interested in one thing: the advancement of his own political career.
Or maybe Van had made a commitment and decided to keep it.
What a scoundrel!
You’re missing the point, Jubal. The point was that he was in town on the day that a controversy that affected his constituency and the community that he loves to say he supports was out protesting the school board that is in his district.
The event for Jack Wu was only 2 hours. You’re kidding me if you’re trying to say that he couldn’t have made time to come out to speak with his people.
And say what? Almost a month after the fact, the reasons behind the Nguyen-Lam hiring/firing still aren’t very clear.
What should Van have said to “his people”? Should he have done a little racial rabble-rousing to prove he’s a real Vietnamese?
And say SOMETHING.
His “people,” meaning those that he was elected to represent, were standing outside of the Westminster School Board meeting for hours. They were pissed and looking for some sort of explanation.
But instead Tran mucked it up with wealthy politicos in Newport. Maybe a gentle inquiry by Tran would have helped expose the real reasons for Ngueyn’s dismisal.
Why is it so important for politicians to rush in and “say something” for the sake of “saying something”?
Last I checked, Van Tran wasn’t elected to run the Westminster School District. And do you think Van has some special power to compel a complete explanation from those involved in the Nguyen-Lam brouhaha? Because no one else seems to be able to.
As for Jack Chu’s fundraiser — did you go? Do you know it was full of wealthy politicos with whom Van “mucked it up”? I give Van points to keeping a promise to headline a fundraiser for a good conservative rather than blowing Jack Chu off in order to “say something.”
As I said before, the Chu event was only a couple of hours, and Tran could have made it before or after. His people were out there for hours.
No, I wasn’t at the event. I can’t afford to give money to politicians. But I do know of at least two really wealthy guys that were in attendance.