Denied Reimbursement for Legal Expenses, Lam to Sue Westminster

Westminster City Councilman Tony Lam on Thursday accused his colleagues of being un-American and said he will sue the city for refusing to reimburse him for his legal expenses during anti-Communist protests outside his restaurant last year.

After hearing Lam and his attorney plead their cause, the council considered the issue in closed session late Wednesday, emerging at 1 a.m. to announce the vote was 3 to 1 against reimbursement.

Lam had sought city help with $143,000 he spent for injunctions and restraining orders last year when demonstrators picketed his Vien Dong restaurant in Garden Grove. The protest was triggered by the councilman’s decision to stay away from Little Saigon’s anti-Communist demonstrations, which lasted 53 days in early 1999 after the owner of Hi Tek TV and VCR displayed a Vietnamese flag and an image of Ho Chi Minh in his store.

Lam, the nation’s first elected Vietnamese American official, left Wednesday’s meeting after an impassioned plea in which he said, “I would have earned more credibility with the Vietnamese American community if I did show up at the protest. I’ve been a victim of circumstance. Please don’t make me the sacrificial lamb.”

After the decision, he said he was extremely upset and considered the ruling “unfair and not the American thing to do.”

Lam said he was seeking repayment for expenses incurred as he performed his public duty and that the issue was not a personal one. He said he was following the advice of the city attorney, who urged him not to join in anti-Communist demonstrations.

Lam’s attorney, Edward Susolik, painted a grim picture Thursday of the local politicians’ future in the wake of the City Council’s vote.

“The decision will have a profound chilling effect on all individuals who have an interest in participating in local politics,” Susolik said. “The council’s action sends a message to activists that they can disrupt the political process by putting economic pressure on local politicians.”

Councilwoman Margie L. Rice, who favored reimbursement, said she believes the city should have helped Lam with the injunction fees because “what his family went through was terrible.” Rice said she witnessed a chaotic scene outside Lam’s restaurant, including taunting of employees and customers.

“I felt he had to protect his family with the restraining orders,” Rice said. “I certainly hope that I would be helped if I was in a similar situation.”

Longtime Westminster resident Edelgard Crozier, who serves on the city’s financial review and citizens advisory board, also said the city’s decision not to reimburse Lam was deplorable.

“I believe it was a cowardice act of injustice and unconstitutional in my mind,” Crozier said.

But Mayor Frank Fry Jr. said many residents called City Hall before the meeting to say Lam “doesn’t deserve to have his bills paid.”

Fry said he viewed Lam’s request for reimbursement as equivalent to asking the city to join in the councilman’s pending lawsuit against the protesters, accusing them of interfering with his business. Lam also is suing his landlord, Xiuan Dang, on the same grounds. Both cases are pending.