Redefining Her Image (Feature) APAs Want a Seat at the Table for Rebuilding Efforts (in National News) Elaine Chao Says APA Community Needs Political Development (in Bay Area News) Ultimate Diversions: ‘Warcraft III’: Blizzard Does it Again (in Business) APAs Should Not Ignore Steroid Controversy (in Sports) Adventure to ‘The Floating World’ (in A&E) Emil Amok: Have You Had Your Tiger Moment? (in Opinion)

HOPE-less

DEAR EDITOR: Pacific Investment Properties CEO Sarosh Kumana, “APA Property Manager Sees HOPE for City Renters” (July 18), must think us tenants to be total fools. For tenants, accepting his proposal (now HOPE, formerly HOT) is rather like the mouse accepting an offer to cozy up and enjoy a bite of cheese.

After all, as Bay Guardian reporter Ann Hall highlighted in a Nov. 17, 1999, story, Kumana attempted to pass through a $63,975 paint job to his 46-unit Hyde Park Apartment tenants. He wanted to increase the rent by $320 per year for the next decade. In 1998, he had forced Section 8 tenants in the same building to pay higher rent and security deposits. At the same time, Kumana had also been cited for “24 violations, including damaged walls and ceilings, a broken roof door lock, crumbling walls, cockroach infestation and fire hazards.” He also appears to have been behind the defeat of Todco’s proposal to build theater space and affordable housing on Sixth Street. This man, however cunningly he may try to style himself, is no friend of tenants! He lives, eats, breathes and sleeps gentrification.

We all know that average people cannot afford to buy their own apartments. They are way out of reach. Especially if there is some sort of management fee on top of the mortgage to pay.

Of course, Kumana will benefit personally from HOPE’s passage. His company owns over a hundred of these properties. Realtor Kumana predicts that 10,000 units will be converted annually. The “lifetime-lease units” will be transformed into condos as soon as the remaining tenants, who do not wish to purchase units, move. And, as everyone knows, that will not be long. The result? Higher rental prices for everyone in the decades to come as the rental supply diminishes. Only a fool or a realtor would support this ballot initiative. Instead, tenants should get behind the Community Land Trust Collaborative proposal.

And tenants need to remember that Gavin Newsom and Tony Hall are behind this Trojan horse proposal. Shame on them! We should reward them for their sellout by showing them the door as soon as is electorally feasible.

Harry S. Pariser
San Francisco

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Re-open McAteer and Do It Right

DEAR EDITOR: The irony in the SFUSD using its perversity — er, diversity index, is that it didn’t apply it to where it was most needed and to where it had the most chance for success: McAteer High School.

McAteer was artificially “integrated” by arbitrarily assigning all 94124 zip code (Hunter’s Point) high schoolers there, together with beginning-level, non-English language learners (many of who are low income). With such a mix, most other students, even those from McAteer’s neighborhood, did not want to attend McAteer.

So McAteer, a school situated in a nice neighborhood in a nice part of town and with a nice enough school plant, never had a chance to integrate naturally. And the SFUSD’s “solution”? Close McAteer down instead of dropping artificial, unworkable student assignments and letting students choose the school on its own merits.

After all, what other high school site in San Francisco was in a nice neighborhood and had potential for natural growth and natural integration? Had McAteer been kept open, gotten rid of its artificial student assignment system and been infused with good faculty members — the diversity index would have naturally attracted a diverse student population. In addition, had it stayed open, McAteer would have relieved the tight crunch of students clamoring to get into the two remaining popular comprehensive high schools, Washington and Lincoln high schools.

My proposal is easy to infer. Reopen McAteer ASAP, and do it correctly.

John Lum
San Francisco

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Sports Soapbox

DEAR EDITOR: If your sports writer Ethen Lieser is going to climb up on a soapbox, as he did in “APA All-Star Snubs” (July 11), can he at least do his homework before he opens his mouth. The reason Matt Morris got selected to the All-Star team is because every team has to have at least one person selected, and Morris was the most qualified for the Cardinals — it had nothing to do with bypassing Ishii. Also, the criticism of Yao Ming, “Time for APAs to Embrace Yao Ming” (July 18), is not racial. Shawn Bradley — white — has gotten it, as has Yinka Dare, African. But in the Olympics, Ming did not do that good against other big men, and he is not a shot-blocker, considering he’s 7 feet 5 inches. And what do you think he can do against Shaq?

Gregory Sendelbach
Oakland, Calif.

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In Recognition

Congratulations to AsianWeek staff writer Andrew Chow, selected as the first-place winner of the Chinese American Journalist Award contest. Andrew will be honored at the Organization of Chinese Americans’ National Conference on Friday, July 26 in Salt Lake City.