WESTMINSTER

About 50 officials and residents toured Little Saigon by bus Tuesday to prepare for city efforts to make the region more visitor-friendly. The group strolled through the Asian Garden Mall--where some lingered to buy jewelry--and then stopped briefly at a coffeehouse. Afterward, City Council members asked city officials to schedule a “shareholder” meeting with residents, merchants, landlords and others with a stake in the region’s success. Council members said they want ideas to come from the grass-roots level.

Many of those shareholders, including leaders from the Vietnamese community, were invited on the tour, but few showed up. City officials were uncertain why, but Councilman Tony Lam said the city should have invited people by telephone rather than just sending out letters. Among the issues officials want to work on are parking, traffic, aesthetics, signage, customer service and public safety.