He said actions taken by Cupertino City Councilwoman Kris Wang played a large role in his decision to retire.

Earlier this year, Wang proposed that the Hsinchu Sister City Committee take over the running of the Moon Festival. But Lucia Wu, president and one of the founders of the Moon Festival, has fought vigorously for the Moon Festival Committee to maintain control.

Wan has been involved with the event since it began in 1998. "I loved working with the festival," he said. "It was a lot of fun."

Yet, amid all of the commotion, Wan believes a lot of the fun has disappeared.

"What [Wang] did was unwanted and uncalled for," he said. "If she wanted to be a part of the festival, she could have come to us personally."

"She is using her political muscle to get control of the festival," he said. "It's just not worth my time to chair anymore."

Wan said he became discouraged after hearing of Wang's proposal.

However, Wang has stated that she only suggested a merging of the two committees and that things were being blown out of proportion.

"I was only trying to do what was best for Cupertino," she said.

As a council member, Wang said, her duty is to the citizens of Cupertino, and she felt that her proposal might present a better way to involve and benefit the city.

Wan argues that the city already had a lot of involvement.

"She is wrong about not having city involvement," he said. "Other council members would participate in the festival. We did it for the people."

Still, Wang has pointed out monetary issues and community issues that she said could be improved upon to better the festival.

She said the event should be hosted by a Cupertino-based organization. Currently many of the board members don't live in Cupertino. And Wang said only 30 percent of the profits go to Cupertino.

Some in the community are saying that underlying the conflict is an old division, mainland China versus Taiwan. Wang is from Taiwan and Lucia Wu is from mainland China.

But in an effort to keep things moving along, another Moon Festival veteran, Jennifer Chang—Lucia Wu's daughter—has been elected by the committee to be Wan's replacement.

Chang has been endorsed by several community officials, including Cupertino Mayor Sandy James.

"She is pretty capable," Wan said. "I'm glad Jennifer chose to speak up and volunteer her efforts."

Chang has been involved with the festival since it began and has worked as a leader for the past few years. She ran the festival's Children's Village for the past two years.

Much of Chang's plans for the future festivals also involves youth.

Fernando Chen, one of the founders of the Moon Festival, said he hopes Chang's ideas will bring more youth to the event.

"It's good to have the second generation involved in the festival," he said. "We need to bring more young people."

Despite all the controversy, Chang and her associates, as well as Kris Wang, have all said that regardless of any problems, they still hope for a great festival this year.

"We have to find a way to do this together," said Chen. "We don't need to make enemies here. What we need is friends."

Even Wan said he would still be around to see how things are doing.

"I will probably be there at the festival to see how things are doing and help in any way I can," he said.

"Hopefully everyone can give up their personal agendas," Chen said. "This is not about the individuals, it's about the community."