PRESS CONFERENCE:

Celebrating Little Saigon's 35th Anniversary of the Unveiling of the Freeway Signs and Infrastructure Improvements to Turn Little Saigon into a World-Class Destination

(June 12, 2023) – On June 7, the office of Assemblyman Tri Ta and I hosted a press conference at the Orange County Community Service Center in Westminster to announce a few major improvement projects in Little Saigon.

Together with Mayor Chi Charlie Nguyen and community leader and attorney Lan Quoc Nguyen, we also announced and invited the public to the 35th-anniversary celebration of the State’s recognition of Little Saigon as a tourist and business district – which took place on Saturday, June 10, inside the Asian Garden Mall.

As more people moved to Orange County throughout the 70s, Little Saigon became more economically competitive. Having everything in one centralized location also made it easier to communicate with each other to do business.

On June 17, 1988, then Governor George Deukmejian came down to the Asian Garden Mall to recognize Little Saigon as a tourist and business district by putting “Little Saigon” directional signs on Interstate 405 and Route 22. My Chief of Staff, Van Tran, was on the staff for then State Senator Ed Royce who made it all happen and worked with CalTrans to install the signs.

At the press conference, Sheilah, CalTrans District 12 Chief of Public Affairs, presented the mockups for the Little Saigon freeway signs that CalTrans will replace after 35 years. Sheilah shared with us that her father was there at the 1988 ceremony as a CalTrans representative, unveiling the original Little Saigon freeway signs, and was the one who put up the signs.

To have all that continuity of history now is very meaningful to me. Below are some of the projects we discussed that I hope will elevate Little Saigon even further and help contribute to the rich history of Little Saigon and as part of a bigger community in Orange County.

***

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do represents the First District communities of Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Los Alamitos, La Palma, Seal Beach, Westminster, and the Unincorporated Communities of Midway City and Rossmoor. As Supervisor, Andrew Do has reformed Orange County’s mental health services, expanded access to health care, and led efforts to combat homelessness.