Internal Affairs: Guess Who's Coming to the Tet Parade Friday, February 08, 2008 By the Mercury News Sunday's big Vietnamese Parade and Festival in downtown San Jose has a juicy political subplot. Organizers say they want the theme to emphasize "the richness of our ethnic diversity highlighting Vietnamese and Asian cultures." But the people behind the parade dissed Councilwoman Madison Nguyen - refusing to invite her to the city's largest Vietnamese gala. Yet Nguyen - who's fallen out of grace with a large segment of the Vietnamese community since she voted to name a retail area "Saigon Business District" rather than Little Saigon" - is not alone. As reported this week, Mayor Chuck Reed in turn snubbed the parade, citing concerns about a possible "disruption" from Little Saigon supporters. Now council members Sam Liccardo, Nancy Pyle, Nora Campos and Judy Chirco have decided to also pass on the event. Liccardo, who represents downtown, apparently had a pre-scheduled trip, while staffers for Pyle - who riled Little Saigon supporters in November by accusing them of being rude - say she wasn't invited. Campos initially had planned to attend but later pulled out, an aide said. So for members of the public who are actually capable of recognizing a city council member, look for Forrest Williams, Pete Constant, Pierluigi Oliverio, Dave Cortese and Kansen Chu riding up Market Street in classic Thunderbird convertibles. Internal Affairs is compiled by Mercury News staff. This week's items were written by Joshua Molina and Deborah Lohse of the Mercury News and by Aaron Kinney of MediaNews. Send tips to internalaffairs@mercurynews.com, or call (408) 271-3638.