San Jose Councilmember Lan Diep is the target of an anonymous political poll released late May that alleges he “violated city policy” by dating a senior staffer and taking her with him on last year’s taxpayer-funded sister city trip to Japan.
The three-day telephone poll — released to more than 400 households in Diep’s District 4 — asked participants how convincing the statement was as a reason to vote against him in 2020. The options were: Very convincing, somewhat convincing, not too convincing, and not at all convincing.
The trip celebrating San Jose’s 60th “sister city” anniversary with Okayama took place from April 8 to 12. In addition to Diep, councilmembers Johnny Khamis, Sylvia Arenas, Raul Peralez and Sergio Jimenez also participated, each member taking a staffer with them.
Many councilmembers, including Khamis and Arenas, extended their trip to Tokyo for personal travel, using their own money to pay for the additional days. They took their families with them to Tokyo, a visit that was unrelated to city business.
Instead of a family member, Diep took his senior council aide Thulien Dang — who goes by “TL”– to Tokyo for personal travel, raising eyebrows from colleagues at City Hall who said the two are allegedly dating. According to travel records requested by this news organization, Diep and Dang traveled by train to Tokyo after the business leg of the trip and stayed there until April 15.
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