Councilman apologizes to mayor

Mailer during election campaign implied Tran is a communist; ‘I am truly sorry for the lines I crossed several weeks ago’

“That hateful mailer could not have been any more painful for my family, especially my mother, who escaped communist rule in Vietnam, and risked her life at sea, losing her sister on the journey.” — Mayor Rich Tran

Milpitas Councilman Anthony Phan publicly apologized this week to Mayor Rich Tran and his family for sending a political mailer to voters implying Tran is a communist during the recent election campaign.

Because of the mailer, Tran — who was re- elected as mayor for a second term in November — has vowed to push for a recall of Phan if the councilman doesn’t voluntarily resign by year’s end, but Phan said he did not issue the apology in response to Tran’s threats, and doesn’t plan to resign.

“I am truly sorry for the lines I crossed several weeks ago,” Phan said at a Milpitas City Council meeting this week, addressing the mayor.

“It was a severe lapse in my judgement that I have no excuses for. I was by no means proud of it, and I take full, complete responsibility, and I am deeply sorry,” he said.

Phan was not up for election this year, but opposed Tran’s reelection and supported Councilman Bob Nuñez’s run for mayor.

The mailer featured a photo of Tran, with his eyes looking down, overlaid against a backdrop of the Flag of Vietnam; a red flag with a yellow star, and symbol for the communist regime that millions of Vietnamese fled to America and other countries to escape.

Vietnamese text on the mailer below Tran’s name and next to his image roughly translates to “A yellow star fighting for which side?,” Tran said.

It was sent to Milpitas residents by the South Bay SV Community Coalition political action

committee, which Phan was the spokesperson for at the time.

Tran, a first- generation Vietnamese American, said in an interview Thursday his mother fled Vietnam in the 1980’s with her sister, who did not survive the trek.

He said Phan, also a first- generation Vietnamese American, should have known better than to send a mailer that would evoke painful memories for himself, his family, and the greater Vietnamese diaspora in the city who received it.

“That hateful mailer could not have been any more painful for my family, especially my mother, who escaped communist rule in Vietnam, and risked her life at sea, losing her sister on the journey,” Tran said.

“It’s just as bad as a Jewish person escaping Nazi Germany,” only to see their family member’s image overlaid on a swastika, he said.

Phan said at the meeting that going forward he is “committed to engaging in productive political discourse” with the mayor.

“The recall is not my top priority, however it is for many Milpitas residents. I may not even need to put forth any significant effort.” — Mayor Rich Tran

“I apologize to your family who I know are good people, decent people, and they are very proud of you as they should be. You’ve accomplished greatly,” he said.

“And I want to say to them, and I’m sure you can relay this to them, that I apologize for my own lack of decency.”

He also apologized to the community members he “let down,” and said he would “work tirelessly to regain your confidence.”

Tran was sworn into office Tuesday evening at the same meeting, along with two other councilmembers, Karina Dominguez and Carmen Montano.

Tran did not comment on the apology at the meeting, moving on to other business almost immediately.

He said Thursday he’s seen Phan apologize multiple times for previous transgressions, including lashing out at the city’s former planning director during a meeting, as well as being combative with a resident who was criticizing him during public comment.

“Councilmember Phan’s history of apologies have only shown that has no regard for people in the community, and it seems that he makes bigger mistakes every time,” Tran said.

“And I’m not going to let this one slide,” Tran said, adding that he intends to still push for a recall of Phan.

Asked if collecting signatures and pushing for a recall against Phan is a good use of his time as mayor, Tran said there is a “coalition” of Milpitas residents mobilizing to make the recall a reality, and it won’t just be driven by him.

“The recall is not my top priority, however it is for many Milpitas residents,” he said. “I may not even need to put forth any significant effort.”

Phan had previously defended the mailer in a statement from the political action committee, saying it leveled valid criti- cisms against Tran, including that he doesn’t respect open-meeting laws, and has worn the Vietnamese Heritage and Freedom Flag as a towel and let it touch the ground.

“We believe the mailer is justified, and we stand by our decision. The mailer is controversial, it is provocative, you may disagree with it, but it is free speech that is only allowable in a free and democratic society such as ours,” the Nov. 5 statement said.

But in an interview Wednesday, Phan said he regretted the imagery.

“Going back, I would obviously not do that,” he said.

“The points made in the mailer, many of them were justified, but in terms of the aesthetics, and the symbolic tones — I’m really referring to the communist f lag — we could have made that point without all of that.”

Phan said he doesn’t blame Tran if he is angry with him and wishes him success as mayor, but said he will not resign from his post as a councilmember.

“I swore an oath to represent the people and I have no intention of not fulfilling that.”