The April 11 Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Legislative Institute dinner honoring Norman Mineta was a wonderful occasion to see some L.A. icons in Sacramento like Bill Watanabe, Kerry Doi, Ford Kuramoto,Warren Furutani and Kazue Shibata. Other statewide leaders like C.C. Yin, Bill Wong, Lance Izumi, Marissa Castro-Salvati, Yvonne Lee, Daphne Quock, Sonney Chong, Julie Soo, Ruthe Ashley, Linda Ng, Munson Kwok, Debbie Tom and Dr. Albert Wang gathered for the occasion. California APIA commissioners Paul Osaki, Francisco Hsieh, Diane Ujiiye, Alexis Wong, Dr. Norman Hui, Nitasha Sawhney and President Arakaki Akemi also made appearances.
Board of Equalization members Betty Yee and Judy Chu, Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Senators Ellen Corbett and Tom Torlakson, and Assembly member Wilmer Amina Carter and former U.S. Marshall Jerry Enomoto were also present.
Local elected officials attending included Blong Xiong, Fresno City Council, Otto Lee, Mayor of Sunnyvale, Laura Lee, Mayor of Cerritos, Evan Low, Campbell City Council, David Mineta, Jefferson Unified School District, Pearl Cheng, Cupertino Union School District, Sukhee Kang, Mayor of Irvine, Ivy Wu, Fremont Unified School District, and Arlie Ricasa, Sweetwater Union High School District, Mariko Yamada, Yolo County Supervisor and Christopher Cabaldon, Mayor of West Sacramento. Four of these have already declared their intention to run for the State Assembly: Fong, Ricasa, Yamada and Cabaldon.
Bipartisanship at its best: Having served under two administrations, Mineta epitomizes the bipartisan spirit for public good that is often missing in politics today. Republican support for Mineta was evident at the dinner with California’s highest-ranking APIA appointee Secretary of Agriculture A.G. Kawamura’s tribute to Mineta starting off the evening. Also present was Governor’s deputy Hong Chang from San Francisco.
Republican Assemblyman Van Tran invited Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines from Clovis and the Republican Caucus Chair Assemblyman Bob Huff of Diamond Bar to attend the dinner. The special smile on Assemblyman Tran’s face is due to the expectation of his first child with his lovely wife Cindy, due this golden year of the pig in July.
Memorable moments: This tribute gave a rare glimpse into Mineta’s life as a young child sent to internment camp during World War II; as a hero to a community searching for a political identity; and as a man whose fame and success did not come without pain and sacrifices affecting his personal life. The three presenters, Carole Hayashino, President of the API Legislative Caucus Institute, Dale Minami and David Mineta, captivated the audience with poignant tributes. What was simply amazing was that so many of the younger generation in the audience were unaware of what the Japanese Americans endured during World War II. To many of the young non-Asians in the audience, it was truly a lesson in history.
Mineta’s highlight: The audience listened to Mineta’s detailed description of the sequence of events that led him to accept President Bush’s offer to serve as his Transportation Secretary. Not very many were aware of the thoughtful, agonizing process Mineta went through before he agreed to accept this surprising offer from a Republican president. He personally made about 100 calls starting from President Clinton, Vice President Gore, to all the members of the Black Congressional Caucus, congressional colleagues, various democratic leaders and APIA leaders. I can vouch for that because I received one of the calls. Mineta and I discussed that it is better to have a voice somewhere than no voice at all. I also remember Mineta telling me that he made it clear that he would only accept if there were no politics involved in his role as Transportation Secretary. The funniest part of the story was when he received the initial call; he was told that the vice president was on the line. Picking up the phone, he said “Hi Al.” The voice on the phone replied, “No Norm, it’s Dick Cheney.”
The closing remarks were made by State Controller John Chiang, a true a symbol of Mineta’s legacy. Thanks to the hard work of the co-chairs of the API Legislative Caucus Assemblyman Alberto Torrico and Alan Nakanishi and the Institute’s President Carole Hayashino, Treasurer Georgette Imura, Secretary Dale Shimasaki, and event co-coordinator Carmen Cataldo.