MILPITAS — Mayor Rich Tran received a warning from Santa Clara County officials in August for potentially violating the county’s indoor mask mandate, according to a letter obtained by this news organization.
The letter, which was sent to Tran by the county’s Business Compliance Unit on Aug. 19, stated the potential violation occurred when he hosted an indoor event.
But the mayor disputes that he violated the public health order. Instead, he claims a resident submitted photos of him maskless at a “karaoke with the mayor” event in July, before the county reinstated the mask mandate Aug. 2.
“That’s messed up [that] people are doing that,” Tran said. “I replied to the county that you got it wrong because these pictures are outdated.”
A spokesperson with the county wouldn’t comment on the specifics of the complaint against Tran, but said most warning letters are the result of submissions to the COVID complaint portal.
“Warning letters are designed to educate the recipient about the public health orders in effect at the time,” the spokesperson wrote in an email to this news organization. “If a recipient receives a warning letter and corrects any violation of public health orders they may have been committing, they generally do not receive a fine or penalty.”
The spokesperson said that Tran did not receive a fine or penalty.
The mayor has been accused of skirting public health guidelines in the past. Two days before Tran received the warning letter, he attended an in-person council meeting after being alerted that he had potentially been exposed to COVID-19 at a local bar the week prior.
Other council members found out about the exposure through social media after the meeting when the owner of The G — a bar on the city’s main thoroughfare — posted on Facebook that at least 15 people had COVID.
Before that, on Aug. 14, Tran was photographed maskless at an India Independence Day event hosted by The Association of Indo Americans.
The mayor attests that he did not break public health rules in either case, explaining that he wasn’t exposed to COVID and wasn’t required to wear a mask in the photograph.
“I think under the county guidelines when you’re giving a speech, you don’t have to wear a mask,” Tran said. “I have pictures of me with my mask back on, as well.”
According to the county’s health order, people are exempt from wearing a mask if they are “actively performing an activity that cannot be done while wearing a face covering,” such as actively eating or drinking, swimming or having a medical procedure.
Tran said he is fully vaccinated and wears his mask in public where it’s required.
