Prolong council meeting leads to Westminster mayor censorship – Orange County Register

Westminster City Council meetings, which usually go well past midnight, run until 2:30 a.m., followed by closed-door discussion of legal issues for another 45 minutes.

Big results of the night? Mayor Tri Ta was censored, by a score of 3-2, for allegedly making false statements about his colleagues in the Vietnamese-language media.

“I took a cat nap,” Deputy Mayor Carlos Manzo said on Thursday, after starting his construction management job about two hours after council work ended.

In addition to reprimanding Ta for his public statements, Manzo and council members Tai Do and Kimberly Ho approved the final reading of an ordinance protecting city employees “from influence or interference.” inappropriate paragraphs from public officials.

The decree is derived from the surrounding actions proposed renovating the Administration Center – an idea supported by Ta and Councilman Chi Charlie Nguyen but killed by their colleagues in April – may involve the sale of city land for residential development. Detractors say Ta and Nguyen pressured city staff to meet with developers and sign off on that and other projects.

A resolution passed in October provided similar guidelines for interactions between employees and elected officials.

Council members Do, Ho and Manzo also requested that the mayor’s office be moved from City Hall to the Council Hall building as a way to create physical distance between Ta and city staff.

But on Wednesday, three colleagues unanimously agreed to postpone plans to relocate the office until after the November election. Their decision followed an employee report estimating that renovating the building City Chambers for mayor’s office will cost about $45,000.

Do said: “I don’t see any rush. “There can be a lot of change happening this year. Let’s talk about it in the next few months. ”

Those changes depend on upcoming elections.

In June, Westminster voters will have the opportunity to determine if they want to continue to elect four council seats by district during the general mayor election or if they will choose five counties to choose all five council positions. If voters go for the transition, mayor of Westminster will be a ceremonial position chosen by colleagues once a year – the same process used in most large California cities.

Create another question mark, Ta and Ho both announced last week that they plan to run to represent California’s 70th District..

Apparently, Ta could also run for mayor again if that position remains large, and if he loses his bid in Congress in the June primaries. In a text message on Thursday, Ta said: “I’m focused on my Council race.”

Some of the items on Wednesday’s agenda are issues that cities typically deal with: How to comply with new state law, accept a grant from a business, approve base money Infrastructure. Those who pass without conflict.

But, as has become the norm, many issues culminate in quarrels between council members – often Do, Ho and Manzo sided with Ta and Nguyen. Even a seemingly undisputed topic – the renaming of the park – has generated debate.

Jamison Powers, Do’s appointee on the Community Service Committee, recommended renaming West Park after Tony Lam, who in 1992 became the first Vietnamese-born person elected to a political office in the US by winning a seat on the Westminster City Council.

Council members approved the change, only Ho disagreed – saying she needed more time to review it. But only Do and Manzo were in favor of setting aside $20,000 from park funds for a placard.

When Nguyen suggested the city’s homelessness problem as a reason to spend frugally, Do, his frequent critic, retorted, “We’re going to feed the homeless with the money we make. Park?” The park fund is separate from the city’s general fund.

Other items on the agenda carry more obvious flashpoints. The hottest issue is My criticism.

Do, Ho, and Manzo allege that Ta and Nguyen falsely accused them of evicting the mayor from his office without any other means. We can be seen giving interviews in the City Hall parking lot while standing outside our “mobile office” – an SUV with a desk inside.

Do allege that Ta and Nguyen “manipulate the Vietnamese-speaking community” with “fake news,” while avoiding potential skeptics who don’t understand what the officials are saying.

“It’s like working on the dark web,” Do said.

But Ta argued that the October resolution banned him from City Hall.

“I am in a limbo,” Ta said.

“You are trying to criticize us for doing nothing,” said Nguyen, who had been censored two weeks earlier. “You know what you become to lie so much? A liar. ”

Do said Nguyen and Ta acted like “murderers”. Ta told him, “I feel sorry for the people who voted for you.” And Manzo considers the repeated blows “disgusting.”

In another controversial agenda item, Do demanded that meetings be translated into Vietnamese in real time. He said it would combat the “fake news” that he believed Ta, Nguyen and their supporters had spread. But his colleagues rejected the idea, expressing concern that it would be too expensive.

City Interim Superintendent Christine Cordon pointed out that hiring an interpreter would take a lot of billable hours “when considering our meetings, like half a day.”