Azevedo gave a commendation last year to business group backed by Duongs

Five months before the FBI raids in Oakland, the San Leandro official wanted to honor David Duong with a commendation; Emails show San Leandro's concern about PR fallout from raid on Azevedo's home

☕️MORNING BUZZ

—In the days after the indictments of Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao; her partner, Andre Jones; and David Duong and Andy Duong, in early January, San Leandro staff appeared to be circling the wagons in anticipation of a public relations disaster.

On the morning of Jan. 15, roughly a week after FBI agent searched San Leandro Councilmember Bryan Azevedo’s home, and two days later, when federal indictments were announced in Oakland, the city sought help from a crisis-management public relations firm.

A representative from Quintana Saragoza Public Affairs, a Sacramento firm, provided a draft statement, talking points, and Q&A, and recommended the city manager or city attorney serve as the city’s spokesperson.

Additionally, there were worried about the city’s previously business ties to California Waste Solutions, according to the emails, according to emails released by the city this week related to a federal subpoena.

The impetus was allegations made at the time by Mario Juarez, who was a co-founder, along with the Duongs, of Evolutionary Homes, that David Duong failed to compensate workers at the companies factory in Mexico, according to the emails.

Evolutionary Homes, a company that sought to help solve the homelessness crisis with $300,000 container homes to Oakland and San Leandro officials, is a key part of the FBI’s public corruption probe.

A search by the city’s finance department ultimately found no previous business connections between San Leandro and David Duong, California Waste Solutions, or the Vietnamese American Business Association, a group associated with the Duongs.

The activity, though, showed the city’s growing concerns about the fallout and its exposure to the FBI probe, in addition to what may come next. Indictments in San Leandro? Azevedo, himself, told ABC7 Bay Area last week that he’s counting the days to be arrested. According to his specific calculations, the day is Aug. 5.

—Councilmember Bryan Azevedo asked San Leandro city staff to prepare a commendation in support of David Duong, the owner of California Waste Solutions who was among four indicted earlier this year as part of the FBI’s ongoing public corruption probe.

The request, included in a large batch of emails released by the city of San Leandro on Wednesday, was made in January 2024, a period of time when the alleged public corruption scandal in Oakland was not yet in the public’s consciousness.

Azevedo asked the city’s assistant city manager to assist in creating what Azevedo called an “accommodation” to honor David Duong and the Vietnamese American Business Association.

The commendation was not made through the city council. Councilmembers, though, have the ability to issue their own commendations.

The so-called “trade mission” to Vietnam in July 2023, that included Azevedo and over 50 local officials and businesspeople, was organized and paid for by the Vietnamese American Business Association.

—More inside: Dispatches for San Leandro, Pleasanton, Livermore, Berkeley, and the Alameda County Board of Supevisors.

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