SHORTCHANGED AGAIN: According to the Secretary of State’s latest report on campaign spending, this year’s special election campaign spending will top $200 million. And yet, I have barely seen any outreach efforts or campaign resources devoted to the second fastest-growing ethnic minority community in California, the Asian Pacific American voters.
Tons of dollars are being spent to target different population groups. And yet, APA print and media resources get a miniscule share and are often ignored, even though over 60% of the APA population depends on the ethnic media for their news and information.
With the exception of Dave Low, Courtni Pugh (Prop. 75) and Alicia Wang (Prop. 74), the majority of the campaign teams who are raking in millions does not include APAs on their staff, nor do they dedicate resources to target the APA community vote. And then they wonder why APA voter participation is low.
The governor visits the black churches and attends Latino celebrations, but only made his first appearance at an APA public event over Halloween weekend.
But I refuse to let this lack of attention keep me from exercising my right to have my voice heard on Nov. 8. I hope the rest of the APA community responds the same way. Our voter participation drives our importance to the elected powers that be.
STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE: Congratulations to Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) and Vision New America (VNA) in Northern California, and Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment (CAUSE) in Southern California for organizing successful public forums to educate the APA community on the Special Election initiatives.
I was impressed with the APAPA forum in Sacramento and the number of state-elected officials who showed up. Among them: candidates for Attorney General Mayor Jerry Brown and Sen. Chuck Poochigian, and gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides, currently State Treasurer.
Debate panelists included Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, State senators Liz Figueroa, Deborah Ortiz, Tom McClintock, assembly members Wilma Chan, Dave Jones, Alan Nakanishi, Roger Niello, Alberto Torrico and Alicia Wang, vice chair of the Calif. Dem. Party.
I was also pleased to see the APA officials of San Francisco and San Mateo County put together a press conference to publicize their platform on the eight propositions. Their clever theme was Nix the Six (no on Props. 73, 74, 75, 76, 77 and 78) and Do the Two (yes on Props. 79 and 80).
HOW WILL APAs VOTE ON NOV. 8?? The only initiative that has a strong APA community presence is the No on Prop. 77 campaign because the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California has taken a major lead in opposing Prop. 77. This well-respected organization has been in the forefront protecting the APA interest in the state reapportionment process for decades, so their position carries a lot of weight.
Sentiments are mixed on Prop. 73, which deals with parental notification requirement for teenage abortions. Putting aside the pro-life versus pro-choice issue, I sense that the more progressive APA voters acculturated to the American way of life understand the broad ramifications of this initiative and will oppose 73. Whereas, new immigrant voters who still abide by strong parental cultural attitudes of their homeland will tend to support Prop. 73.
Alicia Wang, a lifelong educator, has been a visible force campaigning against Prop. 74 which lengthens the tenure status requirement for public school teachers. There are large numbers of APAs in teaching, which command a lot of respect among this community where education reigns. I predict most APA voters will oppose Prop. 74.
It will be tough to predict our community on Prop. 75, which deals with public employee union dues. Many APAs are business owners or are in private practice professions, and this segment might be inclined to support Prop. 75. However, many APA employees in the public sector are represented by unions and the number is growing.
Personally, I oppose Prop. 75 because I want a fair political playing field between the public and private sectors. The public sector represents our teachers, public safety workers and other employees whose only voice in government is through their labor organizations. The private sector representing big business already has a political advantage of having unlimited dollars to spend on protecting big business interests. Prop. 75 unfairly tilts the political advantage of big business interests over the public sector interests even more.
NO MATTER WHAT YOUR POSITION IS ON THESE BALLOT MEASURES, EXERCISE YOUR PRIVILEGE AND RIGHT TO VOTE ON NOV. 8.