Amid funding questions, Westminster City Council is pushing forward with the development of an archway to welcome visitors to the city’s Little Saigon community.

Little Saigon, which grew to also include parts of Fountain Valley, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, is the largest population of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam, and the proposed archway is intended to serve as a southern entrance along Bolsa Avenue.

Mayor Charlie Chi Nguyen and Councilmember Carlos Manzo, who formed an ad-hoc committee in early August, reviewed applications from five interested consultants.

During a special meeting last week, the City Council voted to begin working with landscape architecture firm MIG on a cost estimate and scope of services to initiate the early stages of the archway’s development.

But the city has been asked to return $1 million in funding for the project, raising questions about whether the archway is feasible.

City leaders have been working with the county of Orange since 2023 to advance the archway project. That June, former First District Supervisor Andrew Do made a $1 million contribution out of his district discretionary funds to fund the archway.

But by November 2023, the effort was abruptly halted when the design cost estimates reached nearly $2 million.

Do requested the $1 million back in 2024 and the county has been in back-and-forth communication with Westminster regarding those funds, with Supervisor Janet Nguyen, who now represents District 1, supporting the return of the funding to the county.

“First District Supervisor Janet Nguyen is resolutely committed to recovering all county funds distributed by convicted felon Andrew Do,” County Counsel Leon Page said in a recent letter to the city, referencing Do’s guilty plea in a bribery scandal that emerged. “We reiterate our demand for the immediate return of the funds provided to the city.”

The county’s demand for the return of funds was not discussed at the recent council meeting as officials talked about working with MIG on planning for the archway.

Westminster city staff will work with MIG over the next few weeks to “obtain a more accurate cost estimate” and flesh out what is needed for the development.

“I feel confident,” Assistant City Manager Adolfo Ozaeta told councilmembers, “that we’ll be able to bring that to you at the next meeting.”

Originally Published: October 23, 2025 at 3:50 PM PDT