I’m preparing a feature for the weekend paper on the race for the First District supes seat. Because of that age-old issue of white space in the deadwood edition, you won’t get to read everything each of the three candidates said.
So I’m offering up my my interviews, in Q-and-A form, here on TBuzz, starting with incumbent Supervisor Janet Nguyen. I asked all three candidates the same three basic questions:
1.) What’s your opinion on the Board of Supervisors lawsuit seeking to cut deputies’ retroactive pension benefits?
2.) What do you think about the search for a replacement for former Sheriff Mike Carona?
3.) How do you feel about the ongoing protests at Nguoi Viet Daily News and were you offended by the artwork that triggered the controversy?
Click below for part one. My interviews with Dina Nguyen, the Garden Grove City Councilwoman, and Hoa Van Tran, a Little Saigon lawyer, will be coming tomorrow.
Janet Nguyen (taped April 30)
Q: On the pension lawsuit, you obviously voted for it. It was a 5-0 vote. It’s going to court, it’s been moved to LA. How do you see it going in the future? If the lawsuit doesn’t prevail, would the board do something and would you support that?
A: I think there’s a lot of things that I need to know on the lawsuit, the evidence that’s out there, the information that comes out of the lawsuit. Say we don’t win, me Janet Nguyen, before I make my next move, I need to know the outcome. What the statements were. What was used as the evidence, why we lost. If there’s anything that open up for questioning, then I might vote to appeal it, or I may not. It just depends on the outcome.
Q: Do you think it’s worth the county’s money – the legal bills are adding up, about $600,000 at this point.
A: If we can go through and find out, first, we need to make sure the county is not violating the constitution. And second, if we prevail we’ve saved $180 million. Because of those two things, it’s worth it for us to look at it. And my main concern is the constitutionality and saving $180 million. Am I going to move forward beyond that? I’ll have to wait and see.
Q: Do you believe that the public pensions are overly generous, as critics suggest?
A: I think we need to live within our means. We cannot make promises in the future that we cannot keep, promises that would bankrupt the county. We need to live within our means, so we need to make sure we don’t over-promise.
Q: On the search for a new sheriff, are you looking at anyone to endorse at this point?
A: No. I was the one who came out and asked for a national search. I have not met with anybody since the sheriff’s indictment. The last person I met with was (Santa Ana Police Chief) Paul Walters and that was on the day of the indictment. But that was scheduled three weeks in advance. So he was the last person I met with and spoke to as one of the candidates. I’m going to honor what I’ve asked, which was a national search. I want to wait for the process, I want to make sure that we get … I think there’s 50 candidates…and from there they’re going to go lower…I want to see what everybody has to say. We owe it to the people of Orange County. We owe them that we do this in a positive way, give due diligence, taking out politics, and making sure there’s no criminals here. And we need to be unbiased. I made my statement back then and I voted on the national search and championed it and I’m going to honor it.
Q: What are you looking for in a new sheriff?
A: The first is strategy on how that individual, he or she, will go in and try to clean up the department. It’s now very apparent that this issue of corruption not only lies at the top, it filtered down. It’s the mentality of dictatorship and we’re better than everybody else. Inmates, for whatever reason they are in jail for, are still human beings. You should not treat anybody in a way we wouldn’t want to be treated. So first of all, it’s how they are going to get the department back. This department has always been known as one of the premier law enforcement departments in the nation. We can get back to it. People need to trust the sheriff’s department again. That person has to be able to stand up there and say, ‘I was chosen from the best of the best in law enforcement. I’m here to work for you. I’m here to clean up the mess. I’m here to make sure politics is set aside, cronyism is set aside and with the understanding that corruption is not allowed.
Q: The protesters in Little Saigon. None of the elected officials have denounced what they’re doing. Are you still of the same opinion that you’ve said about the First Amendment.
A: The South Vietnamese flag is very personal to me. My uncle was executed for using that flag. My father fought in the war. We are in America because we lost the war. But it’s a good thing for me, for my family, because I now get to be in a country where I have the opportunity … (of) the American Dream and freedom and democracy that we are given here. So I honor the First Amendment, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, but in a peaceful way.
I participated in the protests in Dana Point, (where Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet appeared last year) and that was very peaceful. There were over 3,000 people. We made sure it was peaceful. I made sure that I was the barricade between the sheriffs and the protesters. When I was there the sheriffs came up to me and quietly said, ‘Supervisor, if anything happens, that officer is going to take you out here, because we don’t want anything to happen to you.’ I said ‘No, you can’t do that. Once you take me out, it’s going to get worse. It could be worse if the protestors have no leader there to say ‘You do not cross this line. We’re here to peacefully protest, to let this president know that here in America, we can do that. That’s the difference.’ So my staff became the barricade between the sheriffs and the protestors.
Q: But don’t you think that at this point, the protestors are violating (Nguoi Viet Daily News editor) Anh Do’s First Amendment rights and her paper’s First Amendment rights? They’re saying very threatening things, like digging up her (dead) father.
A: I haven’t seen anything. I would presume someone is innocent until proven guilty. I’ve heard there were threats of violence, but there’s a court system and you can go to court for it. Those who don’t want to read the papers, don’t read the papers. Those who want to express their First Amendment rights, then let them do so, but in a peaceful way, without violence.
Q: Would you support the DA investigating some of those protestors?
A: If he wanted to do an investigation, that’s his right as a DA. But that’s his decision.
Q: So you wouldn’t support it or condone it or you wouldn’t have an opinion on it?
A: I don’t go around and tell the DA here’s who you should investigate. I’ll wait until he comes up with the findings, then I can make my opinion. But that’s his job, if he finds enough evidence to do so, then he can make the decision.
Q: (asked later, by email, because I forgot to pose this question) Did the artwork that triggered the controversy offend you?
A: Yes, I was offended. The flag of a nation, no matter which nation, is something that is revered and cherished by many people. Given the history of conflict and suffering that the flag of The Republic of South Vietnam stands for, we must respect that symbol and be sensitive to its symbolic value. Putting the image of the flag in a footbath with the image that the flag is being trampled on everyday is offensive and inciteful.
Well at lest Janet will take a stand on the flag issue, all other look like she is going to wait untill after the election. It’s sad she is hiding what she stands for.
One thing Chief Paul Walters is NOT: Shady and Corrupt. I have worked with that man and for him and so have many others I know. He has NEVER run his department in a corrupt or immoral fashion. He has always been honest and fair. I think everyone who works under him at the Santa Ana Police Department would agree.
Janet Nguyen does not appear very bright or thinking for herself when it comes to important issues in our county.
She reads from her laptop during the board meetings, many people wonder why this lady can’t formulate her own thoughts. Look at her responses here, no commitment, no leadership.
If you watch online streaming of the Board of Supervisors meetings, she reads from her laptop, and her Chief of Staff Andrew Do has his own laptop in the audience EMAILING her what to say. Or else she doesn’t know how to respond. Compare her to the vast knowledge of someone like Bill Campbell and John Moorlach. Pat Bates and Chris Norby are also far more experienced than her.
Janet Nguyen is a token on the board. No original thoughts, if any, and few thoughts that she can claim ownership of.
When she makes a big mistake, her chief of staff has to step forward to whisper to her how to correct it.
This is the woman representing knowledgeable voters?!!
Republican Central Committee members and AARP, now you know why she doesn’t accept any debate invitations. How can her responses be emailed to her then?
This interview confirms what a lot of people already knew. This woman has no mind of her own. She is told what to say and how to vote. We would be better off with the Governor played by Mel Brooks in Blazing Saddles.
OCGator, Michael and sofedup: You people are amazing. That she looks at her laptop during meetings so Andrew Do can “email her what to say”; or her Chief of staff whispers in her ear on how to correct what she has said…where do you people pull this stuff out of? I work in another environment that it is standard operating procedure for all 40 attendees at a high level meeting to have their laptops open in front of them; when the meeting is going on they are not being emailed what to say, they check stats on the web; they take notes, and these are people all with PhD’s. When they whisper to each other during these meeting they are not telling each other what to say or how to say it, they are sharing points; they are considering ideas, collaborating, etc.
But every move Janet Nugyen makes is under your little microscope. Get a life. She is pretty bright to have outmanuevered the political machine that is/was out to “get” her. Give her some credit. She didn’t get where she is by being stupid, as you claim. She is bright, energetic, and possibly just slightly too honest which in politics can cause you a bit of liability when speaking the straight truth in an “unspinful” way.
I’m not talking about looking at a lap top, emails, or whispers. I’m talking about this article. She said NOTHING. She skirted every question, except the last one, which could be answered by every vietnamese immigrant in the county. NOT impressed.
Right on Sofedup, “She skirted every question” my point. If thats the best she can do its time to pack her bags. I wounder if USA 123 works for Janet??
She needs some more ESL classes.