S.F. mayor vetoes resolution that honors Vietnam flag
San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown took the unusual step Friday of vetoing a controversial supervisors resolution honoring the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam.
The so-called ``Heritage and Freedom Flag'' resolution was sponsored by Supervisor Fiona Ma and unanimously passed last week at the end of a 10-hour meeting in a low-key process with implications several supervisors said afterward they did not understand. In fact, a majority of six board members on Tuesday introduced a new resolution seeking to rescind the first vote.
The week in between saw both a rousing, flag-waving crowd of Vietnamese-American residents cheering Ma on the steps of City Hall and equally dramatic exchanges behind the scenes between city leaders and the Consulate of Vietnam.
A July 17 letter voiced ``deepest concerns'' about the message sent and asked for a meeting to discuss the situation.
Brown's spokesman has said the resolution could jeopardize what had become a ``cutting edge'' economic and political relationship between San Francisco and the Southeast Asian nation, including establishing the first sister-city relationship with Ho Chi Minh City.
Mercury News Wire Services - July 26, 2003.
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