The Brief

The memorial to Vietnam veterans in Mile Square Park was supposed to be a smaller version of the revered Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C., with an Orange County addition: the memorial would pay special homage to the South Vietnamese army and allies — tens of thousands of whom settled in O.C. as refugees after communist forces took over South Vietnam 50 years ago.

Former Supervisor Andrew Do awarded $1 million in taxpayer dollars for the memorial in 2023 to a nonprofit where his daughter, Rhiannon Do, was an officer. Now, Andrew Do is in prison on a federal bribery charge; the head of the nonprofit is a fugitive; and the memorial stands unfinished, surrounded by caked dirt and dry grass. The county is suing for damages, alleging that most of the money allocated for the memorial was diverted for personal gain.

A hairline crack runs down the surface of one of the black granite-looking slabs that make up the memorial (neither the county nor the monument maker has confirmed the type of material used). The eternal flame sculpture at the center of the memorial is covered in bird poop. The names of soldiers were never etched onto its surface.

“I’m very sad, very, very sad,” said Doàn Trọng upon seeing the unfinished memorial this week. Trong is an Orange County resident and local television host who worked with U.S. troops in Vietnam during the war.

“Who’s going to take responsibility for this?” he said.

Trong and other reporters, including from LAist, saw the memorial up close for the first time on a media tour organized by Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who won Do’s former seat in an election last year. It’s in an area of Mile Square Park currently closed to the public for renovations.

The granite surface of the monument is starting to crack, only about a year after the walls were erected. The etching of soldiers' names was never completed.

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Jill Replogle

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LAist

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LAist was the first to report on the unfinished memorial and raise questions about its $1 million price tag in August 2024. One architect who visited the site with LAist at the time estimated the work cost around $185,000 or less.

Pham returned $150,000 of the initial $1 million to the county last year, saying the project came in under budget. (Pham’s lawyer at the time said the memorial was on track to be unveiled in October 2024.) But that still raises questions about the rest of the funds — and why the project remains unfinished.

On this week’s visit, the tarps and fence had been removed, leaving the memorial exposed to the elements. Vinyl stencils that had previously covered the blocks, printed with the names of Orange County-based Vietnam veterans, had also been removed.

Nguyen called the unfinished memorial a “disgrace.”

“This is not how we honor our veterans by any means,” she told LAist.

Nguyen said the memorial would likely be demolished, given the high cost of repairing or relocating it.

“Let’s restart and do it right,” she said.

How the memorial came to be

In September 2023, the county signed a $1 million agreement with the nonprofit Viet America Society, or VAS, for the "design, construction, and maintenance" of the memorial. Do later posted a video featuring himself and others reviewing plans for it.

Do did not publicly disclose that his daughter, Rhiannon Do, was an officer of VAS at the time. The failure to do so would be at the heart of an unfolding scandal involving millions in taxpayer dollars that have yet to be fully accounted for.

A mockup of the planned Vietnam War memorial in Mile Square Regional Park, provided in 2024 by Pham's previous lawyer. The memorial was never completed.

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Courtesy Mark Rosen

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The former supervisor would ultimately direct at least an additional $12 million in taxpayer funds to VAS, according to an LAist investigation. Those funds were supposed to be used to pay for meals for needy seniors. But federal prosecutors and county attorneys say most of that money was diverted for personal gain by using VAS as a cover.

The money for the memorial came from federal pandemic relief funds, a portion of which was assigned to each supervisor to dole out in their respective districts to organizations supporting veterans and infrastructure projects, among other work.

Do is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in Arizona on a federal bribery charge stemming from the misuse of millions of those funds, though not including the $1 million spent on the memorial. Meanwhile, the county is still seeking to recover the money allegedly misspent by Do, including the memorial funds, through a civil lawsuit.

LAist tried to contact Do’s lawyer, Eliot Krieger, by phone but has not heard back.

Pham’s lawyer responds

Peter Pham, the founder of VAS, was indicted earlier this year for allegedly bribing Do to keep the money flowing to VAS. Pham left the U.S. on a one-way ticket to Taiwan in December 2024 and is still a fugitive.

Pham, through his O.C.-based lawyer, Hoa Truong, has denied wrongdoing, alleging he was tricked by Do into creating VAS as a shell organization through which to funnel county funds back to Do. Truong also told LAist that Pham left the country on bad advice from his previous lawyer.

Earlier this year, Truong filed a cross-complaint on behalf of Pham in the county’s civil lawsuit against Do, Pham, VAS and others. In that complaint, Truong alleged that Do took advantage of his friendship with Pham to involve Pham in the scheme to steal taxpayer money.

Truong told LAist that even though Pham is credited on the Vietnam War Memorial as the designer and builder, Pham merely signed the contract, relegating the rest of the work to his longtime business partner, Le Dan Hua.

Hua, who also served as an officer of VAS, is also a defendant in the county’s civil lawsuit over the memorial and other allegedly misused taxpayer funds. LAist left a voicemail for Hua’s lawyer.

“His English is very limited,” Truong said of Pham. ”Do asked him to sign, he just signed because he saw so much money coming in.”

Hua and Pham also did renovations on the North Tustin home that Andrew Do shared with his wife, Orange County Superior Court Judge Cheri Pham, in 2021, according to records obtained by LAist.

Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen called the abandoned memorial a "disgrace" and vowed to replace it, perhaps at the future veterans cemetery planned for Gypsum Canyon.

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Jill Replogle

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LAist

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The memorial’s uncertain future

The new section of Mile Square Park where the memorial is located is scheduled to open by the end of 2026. It’s unclear whether the memorial will still be there by then. Nguyen, the county supervisor, estimated it would cost $25,000 to $30,000 to demolish, and might be unfeasible to move elsewhere.

If the memorial were to remain in place, the county would likely have to come up with even more money to repair it and put in pathways and other infrastructure to make it compliant with accessibility laws. Nguyen thinks a better option is to build a new memorial, perhaps at the new O.C. veterans cemetery planned for Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim.

Nguyen is among the some 130,000 Vietnamese refugees who settled in Orange County after the Fall of Saigon. She said she’s determined to come up with a new plan for a memorial, though she’s not yet sure where the funds would come from.

“The 58,000 American soldiers who sacrificed for the land I was born in, that’s why I’m here,” she said. “This is not how we honor them, by any means.”

How to watchdog your local government

One of the best things you can do to hold officials accountable is pay attention. Your city council, board of supervisors, school board and more all hold public meetings that anybody can attend. These are times you can talk to your elected officials directly and hear about the policies they’re voting on that affect your community.

• Read tips on how to get involved .
• The Orange County Board of Supervisors typically meets on alternating Tuesdays mornings at 400 West Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana. You can check out the O.C. Board of Supervisors full calendar here for exact dates.
• Learn how to submit a public comment to the O.C. Board of Supervisors.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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The LA Local

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.