Champion of change
Vietnamese-American, born in this country, says he has ‘mindset of a refugee’
SAN JOSE — He’s known around City Hall as Councilman Captain America and his email signature flashes a patriotic red, white and blue. Only weeks into his first term in public office, Lan Diep has already made a splash on national television.
San Jose’s flamboyant new councilman, who became an online sensation holding a “Captain America” shield at his swearing in last month, is making good on his pledge to “make government fun” in a job where land-use debates can stretch past midnight.
But in a country riven by political differences, Diep, the son of Vietnamese immigrants who fled the communist takeover in their native country, stands as a reminder of how much Americans of all stripes have to be grateful for.
“My parents always told me, ‘You have the benefit of living in America and having these opportunities that other people in Vietnam don’t have,’” Diep, 32, said in his council office decorated with bright green, orange and blue walls and a portrait of a woman sewing a yellow Vietnamese freedom flag. “I need to recognize that privilege and not squander it.”
Behind the superhero shield — a rare replica hidden in his closet for two years — is a man who grew up wearing hand-me-downs, practicing magic tricks and struggling to fit in. Diep’s parents fled the communist regime by boat in 1979 and landed in Houston, where Diep was born.
“Even though I’m American born,” Diep said, “I have the mindset of a refugee.”
Diep’s parents both worked for Shell Oil Co., and left Houston for Martinez when he was 11 years old. Four years later, his parents divorced, and Diep moved to San Jose with his mom.
The divorce, he said, was one of the hardest moments of his life. His mother “had a difficult time leaving my dad, and that was mainly because she was afraid of what society and the Vietnamese culture would say.”
But it instilled in Diep a lesson. “It taught me courage and that you have to be happy,” Diep said.
But Diep — who endured people telling him to go “mow the lawn” when he was young — gained confidence after learning English from watching TV and finding new friends in San Jose’s diverse community.
“Lan had a political awareness you don’t see among high school students,” said Martin Brandt, Diep’s English teacher at Independence High School. “He was a very confident young man who wasn’t shy about expressing his
“My parents always told me, ‘You have the benefit of living in America and having these opportunities that other people in Vietnam don’t have. I need to recognize that privilege and not squander it.” — Lan Diep, San Jose City Councilman
opinion.”
Diep went on to earn dual bachelor’s degrees in political science and history from UC San Diego and a law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.
After the Deep Horizon oil platform disaster on the Gulf Coast, Diep spent two years as an Equal Justice Works/ AmeriCorps legal fellow fighting to ensure oil spill victims received fair compensation. He calls it the highlight of his career — so far.
Diep was honored for helping Vietnamese fishermen who lost their livelihoods after the BP oil spill when President Barack Obama gave him the Champion of Change Award in 2011, followed by the Points of Light Award from former President George H.W. Bush in 2012.
“I knew that I was making a difference,” Diep said. “I’ve been chasing that sense of fulfillment ever since.”
Diep’s rise in politics was anything but easy. After losing a special election for the District 4 council seat in 2015 to former Councilman Manh Nguyen by just 13 votes, Diep took time off and drove across the country. One year later, when Diep saw no one challenging Nguyen’s re-election, he threw his name into the hat again. This time he won — by 12 votes — despite no major political support.
Before Diep could celebrate his victory, Nguyen demanded a ballot recount and then sued to challenge the election results. The lawsuit continues today, but Diep, the city’s first American-born Vietnamese council member, says he isn’t worried.
Diep is one of three registered Republicans on the nonpartisan City Council. But he isn’t a typical conservative. He worked on President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign and voted for the man he calls a “once-in-a-lifetime politician.” He missed his first City Council meeting last month to attend Obama’s farewell address in Chicago.
That had some fellow Republicans scratching their heads.
“I don’t care if it’s President Obama or President Trump,” Diep said. “If I have tickets to an event where the president of the United States is speaking, I will make every effort to go.”
On a City Council often divided between business and labor political camps, Diep aspires to bridge the gulf. He is a fiscal conservative who approved a hefty raise for cops, and asked six political figures from competing camps to swear him in. In voting this week to support a woman’s downtown club proposal over neighbor opposition, Diep made his point that “she’d done everything the city asked and they kept asking for more” by playing a two-minute clip from the “Rocky Balboa” film.
The shield at his swearing in got him TV billing on “The Daily Show” and “Today,” but also drew some sniping. “Doesn’t seem like he’s taking the position seriously,” one critic tweeted.
Diep’s explanation: “Whatever gets more people to pay attention to local government.”
“He’s getting so much attention and you can understand why others aren’t happy about it,” said former Vice Mayor Madison Nguyen, who was the city’s first Vietnamese council member and helped Diep’s campaign. “He’s admitted he is a comic geek and he’s sort of unleashing his inner geek. I think it’s very brave he’s showcasing that and it makes people relate to him.”
Active on social media, Diep has kept up an entertaining commentary on his life as well as his new job with Twitter accounts as “Councilor Lan Diep” and a personal account that shows him sporting jazz hands.
On his return trip from Obama’s farewell last month, Diep tweeted that Seattle’s airport had some pretty cool amenities for visitors in the terminal that San Jose’s airport could emulate.
“Lots of live music; spaces to lounge, eat, shop, pass the time, & spend money,” Diep tweeted. “Lessons for @FlySJC?”
One of his toughest critics on the council who worried Diep wouldn’t serve the Vietnamese community now says he’s showing strong leadership.
“I’ve seen him change totally in the past couple months,” said Councilman Tam Nguyen, who came to the U.S. when he was 18. “He criticized Manh for focusing too much on the Vietnamese community — I was a little bit worried about him. But when he got into the job, he seems to be a promising councilman.”