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Mabel Teng Inaugurated

Mabel Teng and supporters at the inauguration of the city’s first Asian Pacific American assessor-recorder. Photo by May Chow.

Plus, Gonzalez elected as Board president

By May Chow | AsianWeek Staff Writer

Light jazz and laughter reverberated through City Hall and celebrations were in order at the inauguration ceremony of San Francisco’s first-ever Asian Pacific American assessor, Mabel Teng.

Hundreds packed the rotunda to catch a glimpse of Teng, a former city supervisor, accepting her position at the helm of the city’s assessor-recorder office.

“Wow, I have to tell you guys that walking through City Hall is like walking down the aisle again,” said a gushing Teng. “It is a very, very happy day today.”

Teng will oversee one of the city’s key departments, one responsible for 179,000 properties in San Francisco County, which pay an estimated $1 billion in taxes, according to city estimates. The assessor’s office identifies and assesses the value of all taxable properties within its jurisdiction, making it a vital link between the property taxes paid by San Franciscans and the services they receive.

Eunice Azzani, who chaired Teng’s campaign, said Teng never backed down from the race, even when many said she wouldn’t have a chance to win against her running mate, longtime assessor Doris Ward.

But Ward fell under a blanket of controversy when a local newspaper alleged Ward had used public money to finance her previous campaign. As a result of this report, the FBI was brought in to investigate her office for misappropriating funds.

“It was a tough and wonderful campaign and Mabel was there all the way,” said Azzani. “I can tell you that this campaign team can be put up against any Fortune 500 company.”

Teng made her way through the sea of spectators to greet, thank and hug her supporters.

“Today we make history again,” said Teng, who is the first Chinese American to be elected to a citywide office in San Francisco. “It was made back in 1994 when I became the first Chinese American supervisor and it’s being made today as San Francisco gets its first Chinese American assessor.”

Teng graciously thanked the crowd, which gave her a standing ovation. Although Teng is diminutive, her voice was strong and loud and echoed through city hall, drawing tourists and bystanders to take a moment from their weddings or sightseeing to see what all the commotion was about.

“This victory belongs to you!” yelled Teng. “I thank the supporters who stood by me these past 15 months and gave me wisdom, time, contributions. I owe this victory to you all.”

Teng revealed her new appointments to the Office of the Assessor-Recorder, which include a handful of APAs. Teng said her first priority as assessor, is to “capture every dollar and last cent for the city.”

“I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves and get to work and get into the office, which will always have an open door,” Teng said. “There will always be open-door policy in my office where people will feel comfortable to come and know that we are there to help them.”

Pledging honesty and integrity, Teng acknowledged that the office finances and budget are a mess, with millions of dollars unaccounted for because of mismanagement and inefficient practices.

Her plans as assessor include eliminating waste and overhauling the assessor’s office to better serve the city’s taxpayers. An advocate for domestic partners receiving the same benefits as different-sex couples, she hopes to institute fair and impartial assessment to insure everyone is paying their fair share.

Teng also wants to improve on the customer service side of the office’s fuctions. She hopes to make it easy for property owners to ask questions through informed and helpful staff, and by implementing bilingual services.

Meanwhile, upstairs in City Hall, two new supervisors, Fiona Ma and Bevan Dufty, and three returning faces were being sworn in at the legislative chambers. Chris Daly, Gavin Newsom and Sophie Maxwell joined Ma and Dufty as they took their oath, to serve as supervisors for their respective districts.

Teng’s inauguration was actually postponed because the board was trying to elect a new president to take over Tom Ammiano’s seat.

With a vote of 6-5, District 5 Supervisor Matt Gonzalez became the new president of the board, after seven rounds of voting. In the initial six rounds of voting, Aaron Peskin, Sophie Maxwell and Matt Gonzalez were locked in a stalemate as votes were split among the board. Peskin and Gonzalez each received four votes to Maxwell’s three. Peskin — in a magnanimous move that garnered praise and admiration beyond the halls of the chambers — stepped down from his bid as a candidate so the board could move on and demonstrate unity.

A Green Party member, Gonzalez is regarded as the most progressive of the supervisors, and many say he is an important force in Mayor Brown’s machine.

Reach May Chow at mchow@asianweek.com.