CLOCK TOWER at Westminster Civic Center. (OC Tribune photo).

By JIm Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

The political issues that have sometimes dominated meetings of the Westminster City Council for months and even years surfaced again on Wednesday.

At a meeting that lasted nearly four hours, the council first approved a resolution by Councilmember Amy Phan West (District 1) in favor of the use of voter identification in elections.

“We need to make sure that every vote is legal and every vote is accounted for,” said West.

But Vice Mayor Carlos Manzo pointed out that state law prohibits cities from requiring identification to cast a ballot and that the city could find itself in an expensive legal battle.

Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen agreed that while the resolution was unnec

essary, he would support it on the grounds that it probably reflected the opinion of the majority of the public.
The vote was 3-2 in favor with Manzo and Councilmember Mark Nguyen opposed.

The council also took up a resolution opposing “VietRISE’s promotion of Communist propaganda in Little Saigon and Reaffirming the City’s Commitment to Historical Truth and Freedom.”

It was approved 4-0 with Manzo abstaining on the grounds of insufficient information.
Manzo argued that it was an attempt to suppress freedom of speech and thereby resembled the policies of communists.

Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen recounted his own experience’s fleeing Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and spoke of what he called “false and misleading” propaganda about the history surrounding the fall of the Republic of Vietnam.

Manzo said he didn’t condone suppression of speech or communism, but expressed concern about the lack of information about the specifics of what VietRISE was advocating.

Finally a resolution – again, put forth by West – “opposing any actions that dishonor the American flag” was approved by a 5-0 vote.