Orange County wants the $1 million arch money back: the Little Saigon gateway you've waited 30 years for is on the line again

WESTMINSTER — Orange County wants Westminster to hand back $1 million. The county granted the money in 2023 to help build a welcome arch over Bolsa Avenue at Weststate Street — a landmark for Little Saigon (Voice of OC, July 2025).

The demand came in a letter dated August 4, 2025, addressed to the Westminster City Attorney's office. Who signed it, and on what grounds: not yet public.

On Wednesday, August 26, 2026, the council takes the matter up in closed session. That's the part of a meeting the law lets officials hold behind closed doors when they discuss legal threats. The agenda lists the letter under "significant exposure to litigation" — meaning nobody has sued anybody, but the lawyers are in the room.

This is not just a fight between two law offices. The $1 million is public money. Whether it stays or goes will decide whether the arch — a landmark this community has chased for 30 years — has real funding.

Where the money came from

In 2023, then-Supervisor Andrew Do proposed the arch project and put in $1 million from county funds (Voice of OC). The county also commissioned technical work that year, which the city still uses as its starting point (per CitizenPortal's machine transcript of the June 25, 2025 council meeting).

The arch itself is an old dream. Real estate developer Frank Jao — owner of Asian Garden Mall (Phước Lộc Thọ) — first proposed one around 1996, then stepped back after community pushback over the project's scope. The city tried again in 2006; fundraising fell short (Voice of OC). The 2023 grant was the first time the dream had real money behind it.

How a gift became a dispute

Then the project stalled before construction. A city staff report estimated it needed roughly $700,000 more as material and labor costs climbed (Voice of OC). City Manager Christine Cordon added a key detail: the city never got the chance to ask for more. Before staff could bring the project report to the council, Do's office asked to pull the funding back. Per the same staff report, the city still holds the full $1 million.

About Andrew Do: he pleaded guilty to taking more than $500,000 in bribes. In exchange, he steered more than $10 million in county contracts to organizations where his daughter worked (Voice of OC). Much of it was COVID relief money meant to feed needy seniors (LAist). In June 2025, he was sentenced to five years in federal prison.

One distinction matters, because the sums are easy to confuse. Do's criminal conviction is about COVID relief money meant to feed needy seniors — it does not involve the arch grant. A separate $1 million, also awarded by Do in 2023, went to the nonprofit Viet America Society to build a Vietnam War memorial at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley. That memorial sits unfinished, and the county is suing the nonprofit over the money in a civil case (LAist, November 2025). Per LAist, even the memorial money is not part of the criminal conviction. The arch grant, by contrast, went directly to the City of Westminster — and sits in the city's account.

The timeline then gets tight. In late July 2025, the county asked a court to make Do repay more than $10 million (LAist, July 28, 2025). The letter demanding the arch money back is dated August 4, 2025 — one week later. Whether the county's demand is connected to the Do case: no public document says.

What is the city doing with the money?

Westminster reacted fast — the council met in closed session about the "litigation exposure" on August 13, 2025, nine days after the letter's date (special meeting agenda, closed session item 3). But the city did not stop the project. The opposite:

June 25, 2025: the council voted 4-0 (Councilmember NamQuan Nguyen absent) for a feasibility study of up to $10,000 and kicked off a design-build selection process (Voice of OC). On the county money, Councilmember Carlos Manzo said it is still "in the bank" (per CitizenPortal's machine transcript of the meeting video).

April 23, 2026: the city held a community information meeting with consultants HKLA, MIG and Ontes Creative (per the city's project page).

Now: the city has a request for proposals out for the "Little Saigon Gateway Arch Project," under a guaranteed-maximum-price (GMP) design-build contract (per the city's RFP page).

Residents have weighed in, too. Per CitizenPortal's account of the August 13, 2025 meeting, one resident argued the grant sits inside a contract valid through 2026 and was lawfully awarded. That article has since been taken down; only a search-engine summary survives. At the June 25, 2025 meeting, resident Thanh Tran backed the arch as a boost for local business, while resident Donald Link cautioned: "Tax money needs to be spent for the benefit of all the residents, not just half the residents" (Voice of OC).

What could happen next

Neither side has stated a public position on the letter. On paper, the paths are: the county drops the demand, the two sides negotiate, the city pays, or someone goes to court. The August 26 closed session doesn't have to pick one. But it shows the matter is not going away — a year after the letter, the lawyers are still meeting.

One thing the agenda already promises: any decision that must be disclosed will be read out by the City Attorney at the start of the 6 p.m. open session that same evening.

The next move doesn't belong to Westminster alone. The county holds the right to demand; the city holds the money — and keeps the project moving. Until the two sides settle it, the arch once again sits inside a story bigger than itself. This community has waited 30 years for that landmark, and this $1 million is the closest the dream has ever come to being funded.

Want to watch or speak on August 26?

Speak on the closed-session item: arrive before 4:30 p.m. — "Oral Communications for Closed Session" lets the public speak before the council goes behind closed doors.

Hear the report: the 6 p.m. open session begins with the City Attorney's closed-session report.

Comment in writing: email eComments@westminster-ca.gov at least 2 hours before the meeting.

Need a Vietnamese interpreter for public comment: request one at least 48 hours ahead.

Where: Council Chambers, 8200 Westminster Blvd. Watch live: the city's YouTube channel or Granicus.

City Clerk's Office (speaker slips, procedures, interpreter requests):
(714) 548-⁠3237