WESTMINSTER : Plan for Refugee Shelter Opposed

About two dozen residents, mostly senior citizens, have criticized a request that the city Redevelopment Agency purchase a house that a group of former Vietnamese prisoners hopes to convert to temporary housing for newly arrived refugees.

“It is up to the federal government, not the taxpayers of Westminster, to take care of these people,” Lola O’Connor, 72, said at a Redevelopment Agency meeting Tuesday.

The Vietnam Political Detainees Mutual Assn. is requesting more than $170,000 from the Redevelopment Agency to purchase a four-bedroom house on McFadden Avenue. The house would then be leased to the nonprofit group for $1 a year.

Hau Nguyen, the group’s president, said that about five refugee families arrive in Westminster each week from Vietnam. He said the group has relied on private donations for the last eight years, but their needs, particularly for housing, have grown.

Under the association’s plan, the Redevelopment Agency would pay $2,000 a month to the Westminster-based Shelter for the Homeless to manage the house and help the immigrants adjust to their new surroundings.

The immigrants, who would be allowed to stay in the shelter for as long as two weeks, would be trained to operate appliances, shop for groceries and prepare food, and would take English classes, according to John Hjelm, the city’s housing coordinator.

The program would help about 52 families each year, Hjelm said in a report to the agency.

Money would be taken from the city’s first-time home buyer and rental-rehabilitation programs, and from excess funds of the La Pat Street improvement project.

But Westminster residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting were outraged by the proposal.

“It’s uncalled for,” said Marlene Dietrich “We have U.S. citizens out on the streets, needing food and shelter. Our citizens should come before anyone else.”

Charles Billstrom said it is not proper to single out a particular group of people to help with public funds.

Agency members postponed action on the request, saying it must be studied further.

“We have to make sure that this is not a drain on taxpayers’ money,” said Councilman Tony Lam.

Agency members also decided to delay a response to the Asian American Merchants Assn.’s request for money to develop a marketing plan for Little Saigon and promote the business district as a tourist attraction.

The merchants’ group, which organized this year’s Tet Festival, also wants to install decorative sidewalks, lighting, signs and new landscaping to lure more shoppers into the hundreds of shops and restaurants in Little Saigon.