A resolution warning potential visitors from the Communist government of Vietnam that a trip to Garden Grove might prove costly is on Tuesday’s agenda of the Garden Grove City Council.
When it meets at 6:30 p.m., the council will take up the proposed resolution demanding that if leaders of the Hanoi government plan to visit the Little Saigon areas of the Big Strawberry they give the city a minimum of 14 days advance notice.
The resolution also states that if this notice isn’t given, the city would bill the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for all security costs associated with the visit.
“The City Council does not welcome or sanction high-profile visits drive-bys, or stopovers by members and officials of the Vietnamese communist government, or that of any delegations affiliated with or organized by the same, within the physical boundary of the city, which includes parts of Little Saigon,” reads part of the resolution.
In its recitals, the resolution points to the 53-day-long protest in 1999 in Westminster over a merchant displaying a picture of Ho Chi Minh and the communist Vietnamese flag as an example of the potential for expensive police presence.
The largest part of Little Saigon stretches along Bolsa Avenue between Brookhurst and Magnolia streets. Almost all of that is in Westminster (a small portion is within Garden Grove city limits) but there is another, smaller, all-Garden Grove commercial area generally along Brookhurst Street south of Trask Avenue south to the city limits.
According to a 2011 U.S. Census estimate, there are 54,029 Vietnamese Americans living in Garden Grove, with 33,819 in Westminster and 5,503 in Stanton. In Orange County the number is put at 169,182, making it the largest concentration of Vietnamese in the world outside of Vietnam.
Also on the agenda is consideration of spending $2,250,000 to purchase three properties on Harbor Boulevard and at Twintree Street for future development.
The council chambers are in the Community Meeting Center, 11300 Stanford Ave.
