Chinatown Leaders Press Davis for Appointments
Seek over 42 percent in women and minorities
By Jason Ma

For the first time since the 1998 election, Gov. Gray Davis returned to San Francisco’s Chinatown Feb. 16 where he touted his education reform plan and in turn was lobbied for more Asian American appointments to the governor’s office.

Organized by S.F. Port Commissioner Pius Lee and Redevelopment Agency President Benny Yee, the $250-a-plate dinner fundraiser at the New Asia Garden added another $71,000 to the governor’s already swelling campaign finance totals.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Davis had raised $13.2 million in contributions for 1999 -- the most ever for a governor in a non-election year.

Noting that he had known Davis for 25 years and had been a supporter of his since he first ran for state controller in 1986, Lee asked the governor to adhere to his campaign pledge of giving more than 42 percent of the appointments to women and minorities -- the share that existed under former governor Jerry Brown’s administration, of which Davis was chief of staff.

“I’m going to focus on the minorities part,” Lee said. “I want to make sure they put more appointments for the Chinese American community. I’m going to demand something for our community. Gov. Davis has been a long time friend of the Chinese community. He said the office of governor should look like the rest of California.”

Lee added that there are still more than 1,000 appointments to be made on various commissions and offices. Lee said he will recommend appointments to Davis for the fish and game commission, the contract and license board and the architectural board, among others. And earlier this month, Davis named Lee to the state world trade commission.

“I am proud of keeping the promise that Pius Lee is holding me to,” Davis told the crowd, after placing a red envelope inside the mouth of a lion dancer costume. Davis added that he had named San Franciscan Janie Fong as the director of the Hong Kong trade and investment office on Jan. 28.

Gov. Davis’ appointments office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

At the dinner, Davis quickly changed the subject to his education reforms, particularly school rankings based on the academic performance index which the state released last month.

“I am a great friend of the Chinese community,” Davis said. “You take your elders seriously. You take your children’s education seriously.”

Emphasizing the benefits of providing incentives to improve student performance, he explained that schools that improve by 5 percent on the index next year will receive $150 per student. And schools at the bottom 50 percent of the academic performance index that improve by 10 percent will see their teacher’s receive a bonus of $25,000.

“The incentives bring the best out of what we have,” Davis said. “I am the kind of governor that wants everyone to do as well as they can do. You only do that by giving them incentives.”

In addition, Davis touted a program where more than 70,000 teachers will receive training at University of California schools in teaching the subjects of reading, math and English as a second language. And another U.C.-run program provides enrichment training for school principals, he added.

Overall, Lee said he was satisfied with the job Davis has been doing in the year that he has been in office. In particular, he said he was impressed by his advocacy for education and promotion of international trade.

Trade was also on the minds of other people present at the fundraiser. During the opening remarks, business owner Paul Lam pointed out that some 20 percent of California’s economy depends on international trade. Lam recalled a business trip he had taken to Taiwan that was facilitated by the California trade office, which had helped arrange meetings for Lam with Taiwanese businesses.

Both Mayor Willie Brown and District Attorney Terence Hallinan, who received endorsements from Davis during their respective re-election bids, also made appearances at the fundraiser.

Referring to his capturing 80 percent of the Chinese American vote, Brown said: “I’d like to welcome Gov. Davis to our Chinatown. I say ‘our’ Chinatown because I spend more time here than in any other part of San Francisco.”