Considered by many a shoo-in to win one of two seats at stake on the Westminster City Council, Truong Diep (pictured) tempered the expectations and told the Bolsavik that he’s “cautiously optimistic” of victory, in an interview conducted over the week-end.
The Bolsavik prefers face-to-face interviews, but was unable to find a mutually convenient time and place, so the interview ended up being over the phone and as a result was rather brief.
“Cautiously optimistic” was how Diep described his chances of making Westminster, California the first city in the United States to have a Viet-majority city council. Of the five seats on the council, two are already held by Vietnamese councilmen Andy Quach and Tri Ta.
Admitting to having “butterfly in my stomach,” Diep still likes his chances and says he’s “fortunate to have the resources to run the campaign I want to run from the beginning.”
Those resources would include a $10,000 seed money that his boss Assemblyman Van Tran gave him (read here and here) back in June, allowing Diep to hit the ground running.
Diep laid out his platform: “public safety, low taxes, more parks.”
For parks, Diep identified city land near the old Edison yard – but also added that the city owns land all over the place, good enough for neighborhood pocket parks. “Maybe half an acre, good for small picnics,” he said.
Low taxes is, well, low taxes. What Republicans (or what politicians, for that matter) would admit to a preference for high taxes? Don’t we all know that higher taxes are always imposed by necessity and with regret?
It’s in the public safety area that Diep shows that he’s not just parroting a vote-getting line. Not just more cops and more jails.
Diep told the Bolsavik he wants to “invest more focus on white-collar crime like insurance fraud, ID theft, bank fraud, fraud targeting senior citizens.”
He explained, “We can’t just go after people who hold up a 7-11 and maybe get away with $300 but don’t have the resources to go after credit card fraud or fraud against Vietnamese with limited English that cheat people out of tens of thousands.”
Just at that point in the conversation, though, Diep started sounding like a Democrat and suggested creating a task force for the issue.
On an issue still embroiling Bolsavikland politics, Truong Diep stood by his decision, in the Westminster traffic commission, to vote against the bridge across Bolsa Avenue.
On another hot-button issue, though, Truong Diep declined to give an opinion on Measure O, a $130 million bond proposal for the Westminster School District. (Full text here; impartial analysis by County Counsel here)
The measure has the support of the School Board, but has drawn opposition from such quarters as former School Board member Judy Ahrens and from School Board candidate Frank Tran (here).
Diep said he lives outside the boundaries of the Westminster School District (the City of Westminster is served by four school districts: Westminster, Ocean View, Huntington Beach Union and Garden Grove Unified) and wouldn’t be voting on it. Pressed for an opinion, Diep said he didn’t have one because, living outside the district, he didn’t get ballot information about the measure.
One question on many people’s mind but not asked: Is Truong Diep the Jung Kim on this blog? It wasn’t asked because, as long as bolsavik.com allows anonymous commenting, the Bolsavik believes that it would be inappropriate to inquire into the identity of commenters.
So, anyway, back to that cautious optimism. Where’s the caution from? Diep identified incumbent Frank Fry and candidate Penny Loomer as his two “most formidable opponents.”
Fellow Traffic Commissioner Alin Hamade, who’s on record supporting the Bolsa bridge, is not on this short list? Guess not.
Truong Diep is no Jung Kim. He may or may not be Tomahawk on Red County, as some would suspect, but the writing styles of JK and Hawk are very different.
I am Jung Kim..an independent guru not attached to anybody in this planet.
I do appreciate my friends/Bolsavik on this blog.
Lord have mercy on our community. The Van Tran mafioso has got some of the ugliest mofos from Little Saigon to run for elected office. Bolsa Cute Girl says we need to better represent.
Really Jung Kim, I thought that in the privacy of your own basement you were Black Helmet from Planet Spaceball leading the Imperious Forces against Planet Druidia.
The last thing we want to vote for is “Walking Bolsa Cute Girl” in the middle of the night!
How is your solitary confinement life these days? I guess it’s not too bad considering your mental condition…..still barking fine with a little TJ accent!
Cute Girl,
Let’s join the Janet nguyen-Andrew Do-Do-Nick Le Cong mob gang. They got some cute boys and girls over there. They all hang out with their steam noodles friends and cholos down in Santa Ana. Oh, janet is so cute that she needs to do a face lift. Endele, Endele! Ha ha ha!!
Bolsa Girl,
Throw me a Janet gang sign will ya? I don’t recognize your handle, *itch. Does Andrew Do, your boy, have a gang tatoo? I hear he’s real *itching!
Why the hate guys? Don’t hate me cuz I’m beautiful. You guys need to stop being so sensitive. I guess if you look like a Vietnamese Gollum, you gotta be sensitive.
Tomahawk CRA Jung Kim Republican Anonymous:
How are you and the two brothers, JK and Hawk, doing? Still running that “objective and impartial” Red County website scam? Akin to the usual insurance fraud by setting up the scene of the crime and having a designated blogger infuriate other bloggers and selling the site as the de facto Republican blog website?
I have to hand it to you fraudsters; very clever!
Cute Girl from Bolsa,
Lots of Family Members love you. Just thorw us a Janet Nguyen Gang sign from Santa Ana. Where’s her associates from SA?
Anybody interested in reading Jubal and Tomahawk get KO’d by a professional? The crew assumes two handle names, CALREPUBLICAN and SOMEDUDEINANAHEIM, and Colony Rabble routes the crew single handedly. What a couple of chumps! Keep up with the water boy duty; you’ll need this job.
You know their usual routine, repetitive mind numbling superficial fact manipulation and outright lies to wear down the opponent, not that the topic at hand is of relevance.
http://www.redcounty.com/orange-county/2008/10/disney-pumping-money-into-anah/
So Pancake Face above is Tomahawk and Jung Kim. And now I heard he’s close to being elected. C’mon people get real!
I mean haven’t we had enough with the bigotry and corruption of the House of the Original Pancake Face (aka Van Tran)? WTF!
Enough already with fugly people. I think we just need pretty, beautiful people to be our leaders. I mean seriously, like Barack. He’s hot.
Oh Cute girl, such ugly and uncute language. Why such hatred with such a cute name. Just throw us a gang sign to show that you’re in with us and Janet Nguyen and her low rider crew in Santa Ana.
Why Barack, who nobody seems to know where’s he borned? Plenty of Nip Family members who are cute in Santa Ana. They like girls from Bolsa. Janet Nguyen and Andrew Do promised, again, but have not delivered any cute ones yet.
Pancake Face/Jung Kim/Nip Family, you make absolutely no sense. BTW, take it easy on the Pancake syrup…cuz you left a syrup stain on your forehead.
It’s funny to see underperforming Janet and her “gofor” boy Andrew Do scrambling to make a cheap porno.. I mean a political flick in our Garden Grove city by defrauding the residents living here……
“Vote for Santa Ana resident Andrew Do Do for the Garden Grove Council!”
Give me a break!
Pancake Face/Jung Kim/Nip Family,
Why change the subject? We were having fun. Again, please wipe off the syrup stain on your forehead.
Looking For Work Bolsa Girl…… please wipe off bowney stains from your hairy sheen before showing off your missing tooth mouth piece with discolored yellow foam leaking/dripping….. covering moth growing thick lips.
Can you say good morning? or say.. Are we having fun?
Pancake Face/Jung Kim/Nip Family,
Judging from that suit you’re wearing, you wouldn’t be able to afford me, honey.
Jung Kim, resorting to filth again. Upset that Colony Rabble took you, Tomahawk, and Jubal to the cleaner and never came back to pick up? Better keep up with the filth or Van Tran will dock your pay. Earn your keep, boy.
Andrew Do Do…..getting little scared of this fraud election attempt?
Can you say you are endorsed by OC GOP or now President Bush? Hello?
That’s right Jung Kim, so I put in a request to your boss, Van Tran and had him stage that ruckus to deflect the heat I am getting. I better tell my wife to turn down the central heating in our Garden Grove residence.
Anrew Do Do I thought your sleeping sofa had a heating pad …..and how can your wife in Santa Ana can turn down central heating in your GG rental room?
Do you have wife #2 in our city?
How come you know so much about sleeping sofas? You own a few?
As for the wife thing, watch where you tread!
Don’t you read? Everyone lives here knows Andrew Do is sleeping on the sofa alone…..in his Garden Grove rental room.
One luna thinks I get paid from a office holder. People can not pay me enough to buy my conscience….. ask Janet!
If you only had a conscience…
Losers, all of them. These conservative republican right wing idiots of Little Saigon are going extinct. The younger generation will take over once all of these crooks die. The younger Vietnamese on Bolsa are going Democrat. We are much smarter, much wiser. We know not to side with the right wing because they are corrupt. Truong Diep is going down, along with his corrupt brothers, Van Tran and Trung Nguyen. Thank God for change in Little Saigon. Change!!!!
vinh, I think Truong Diep is a still young man like you.
Your left wing is only valuable in communist countries. My recommendation…. start packing !!! adios commie boy!
Jung Kim,
Truong Diep is 180 ballots away. What is your prediction?
I hope he can gather more votes in next few days and we will have one more viet councilman in Westminster. Go Truong Diep!
Vinh PhucK,
And how are these guys corrupt? Where’s the pudding other than your spew? Throwing mud and dirtying your hand. Not so smart as you claim.
Where’s the beef, boy?