Little Saigon Street Name Debate

A college professor’s proposal to honor the publisher of Little Saigon’s first Vietnamese newspaper by renaming a street after him was rejected after community leaders questioned how much the journalist had contributed to the community.

The Westminster City Council voted unanimously late Wednesday to table the proposal that sought to rename a stretch of Moran Street after Yen Do, founder of Nguoi Viet Daily News. It would have been the first street to have a Vietnamese name in Little Saigon, home to the nation’s largest Vietnamese population.

Members of the Vietnamese community who attended Wednesday’s council meeting said Do was just another businessman who didn’t deserve such recognition.

“He’s a very successful businessman, but he’s not a hero at all,” said Toan Thai, a member of the Vietnamese Community of Southern California, a nonprofit service group. “He has never made any contributions to the community.”

Do’s family said they were taken aback by the controversy and asked the council to vote down the proposal.

“My family and I were surprised,” said Anh Do, who followed in her father’s footsteps and is a columnist for the Orange County Register. “My father is a simple man. While we are grateful for the consideration, we did not ask for such a thing, nor do we expect it.”

Council members said they feared that naming a street after Do could open the door to a barrage of similar requests.

“If you start trying to change one, you are going to cause one heck of a riot,” said Mayor Margie L. Rice.

“He is a very honorable man and I’ll be the first one in line to honor him, but not by a street name,” added Councilman Frank Fry, who was opposed to the expense of changing street signs.

The proposal drew criticism since Jeffrey Brody, a Cal State Fullerton professor and family friend, asked the council last month to add it to its agenda.

Several people from Vietnamese news outlets that, like Do’s newspaper, are headquartered along Moran Street denounced the prospect of a rival’s name becoming part of their address.

Amid the backlash, Brody sent an e-mail to the council last week asking for his request to be withdrawn. But Fry wanted the matter discussed publicly. Brody, who was absent from this week’s council meeting, declined to comment.

Yen Do, 65, a journalist in South Vietnam, fled after the Vietnam War and started the newspaper in his Westminster garage. In 2003, he received the Asian American Journalists Assn.’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He pledged $30,000 last year to start a research fund at Cal State Fullerton’s College of Communications.

Do retired last year amid complications from kidney disease and diabetes.

The street name debate raised questions among some in Little Saigon over why a city best known for its Vietnamese community has no Vietnamese street names. Many feel it’s time.