SANTA ANA – More than a decade ago, a gateway sign to the Little Saigon business district was approved in west Santa Ana over protests of angry residents who called the sign divisive.
The Santa Ana City Council now has approved without resistance restoring the monument near First Street and Harbor Boulevard that was damaged by a vehicle in 2008. It will be funded by the Little Saigon Business District Committee.
The swift approval surrounding the monument shows that, as Mayor Pro Tem Vincent Sarmiento put it, the city is “beyond that.”
Today, more than 22,000 Vietnamese call Santa Ana home, according to the most recent census figures. Sarmiento said the monument will go through a redesign to be consistent with Little Saigon signs in Westminster and Garden Grove. The Little Saigon Business District will submit plans to place the monument through the city’s street permit process.
“This monument symbolizes the roots that the Vietnamese community has here in our city, in our county and we share with two other cities in the area with Garden Grove and Westminster,” Sarmiento said.
But it also comes at a time when Latino businesses in Santa Ana – a city that’s nearly 80 percent Latino – are trying to promote their culture in a downtown business district, similar to what the Vietnamese community did 12 years ago.
The public in June 2003 filled the council chambers to speak in favor and against the sign.
Vietnamese speakers said the sign was a way to market the area and benefit all merchants while acknowledging the hard work and success of Vietnamese immigrants.
Those in opposition said the sign would open the door to an abundance of ethnic signs when residents should be united by the name Santa Ana alone.
Councilwoman Michele Martinez, although she was not part of the City Council back then, acknowledged the hardships the Vietnamese community experienced and what the Latino business community is trying to do.
“As we look at Little Saigon, and the fight that you guys have had in (making) sure we identify the culture of the Vietnamese community and its history … we need to continue to embrace other cultures like the Latino community in Santa Ana,” Martinez said.
Downtown Latino businesses are asking the City Council to approve a Wellness District, which aims to retain the Latino character of downtown Santa Ana by, among other things, identifying property downtown for a Latino mercadito and establishing La Calle Cuatro as the official and historical name of Fourth Street.
The East Fourth Street area that used to be known as Fiesta Marketplace was in 2011 rebranded as East End – a move to broaden its appeal beyond its core Latino clientele.
Still, across Santa Ana and Orange County, the area is simply known as La Cuatro, merchants say.
By affirming Santa Ana’s Latino heritage, the city will serve loyal Santa Ana residents – who are largely Latino – and attract a broader base of visitors who want a taste of the culture, merchants said.
Santa Ana resident Joesé Hernandez has defended the Calle Cuatro proposal.
“Is Little Armenia racist and un-American. … Is Martin Luther King Boulevard and Cesar Chavez?” Hernandez recently asked the City Council. “We’re not talking about renaming the whole city Mexico City or Aztlan Central.”
Hernandez said it’s about “recognition of a cultural legacy and present-day contributions of immigrant communities in Santa Ana.”
“Both the Little Saigon monument and Calle Cuatro are ways to stand by and manifest that same position,” he added.
The City Council has generally spoken in favor of the proposal, but some dissent remains.
Mayor Miguel Pulido has voiced his concerns with the Calle Cuatro branding.
“We need to be attracting people outside of the city, not looking inward and be myopic,” Pulido previously said.
There is no date set for City Council consideration for the Wellness District proposal, but Sarmiento expects it to occur soon.
Sarmiento said he embraces these discussions because other communities don’t have “those blessings that we do … that we have so many people from different backgrounds.”
“I don’t think anyone wants to brand any area Latino or Vietnamese. I think what people want to do is celebrate the multicultural assets,” Sarmiento said.
Added Hernandez: “I think that when folks realize that it’s not that big of a deal, they’ll get over it and eventually accept it as part of the community. We must learn to live in a world where many worlds are possible.”
Staff Writer Courtney Perkes contributed to this report.
Contact the writer: amolina@ocregister.com
