Like the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies, “Harmony” is a theme with Supervisor Carmen Chu’s campaign. Out of San Francisco’s last three District 4 (Sunset) supervisor elections, Chu’s campaign will be the least fractious, at least among Asian Pacific American insiders. Major APA political leaders like State Senator Leland Yee and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma have rallied behind Chu. For her campaign at least, the two have put behind differences with Gavin Newsom, the mayor who appointed her. Former Newsom police commissioner Doug Chan, who ran in 2006, also endorses her. Chu’s defeat would not only be a loss of APA representation but also an embarrassment to Newsom’s ability to sustain vetoes of board legislation with at least four loyal supervisors….FRACTIOUS PAST: The lack of any APA challenger to Chu is good, considering that in 2000 incumbent Leland Yee overcame APA candidates Tom Hsieh Jr., Darryl Honda and Vu-Duc Vuong (yes, that AsianWeek columnist). For an open 2002 seat and with Hsieh running her campaign, Fiona Ma brushed off Andrew Lee (Julie Lee’s son), Marks Lam and Ed Jew. The latter won the seat in 2006 by upsetting Doug Chan, Jaynry Mak with Houston Zheng on the fringe….NO RANK, NO SYNERGY? On one hand, no community divisiveness is a good sign. However, in the age of ranked-choice voting, is it good to not have more than one APA candidate? What happened in 2006 illustrated a benefit of RCV - runner-ups Doug Chan and Jaynry Mak’s voters used their second and third choices to buoy their consolation choice, Ed Jew, to victory over Chu’s major November challenger, businessman Ron Dudum. This year, Chu doesn’t have the benefit of synergy from multiple candidates in the race; there are only three - herself, David Ferguson and Dudum, a three-time candidate since 2000. Dudum could benefit from any backlash against APAs over Jew’s resignation and the recent conviction of S.F. Neighbors Association community leader Julie Lee…
‘STOP’ IN THE NAME OF LOVE? Firefighter Scotty Hua has designed campaign tee-shirts reading, “Serving the Sunset block by block,” earning him a love tap from girlfriend-supervisor Carmen, who said, “Every single block is not neglected. If you want a stop sign at 29th and Santiago, that stop sign will be put in”…. FROM GEEZER TO A NEW GENERASIAN: Reflecting on how personal it is to support Chu’s “young fresh face,” State Senator Yee said some will likely ask, “What about Leland Yee?” The officeholder since 1989 suggested, “What you should say is that he’s too old now. And Fiona Ma? Well, she’s now middle aged” to jeers from a partisan Chu crowd, to whom Leland quickly reassured, “[Fiona] and I are OK.”
WHO YOU GONNA CALL? An uncle and his 19-year-old nephew called me on August 1, seeking advice for an alleged anti-Asian hate crime and wrongful arrest. After querying Asian Law Caucus staff for help, the executive director Titi Liu and attorney Angela Chan responded in a couple of hours … Kudos to the Caucus, leaders in the successful prosecution on behalf of the Sunset Five for a 2003 anti-Asian hate crime. And hopes the teen got good advice and reassurance….
MA & YEE FOR CHU: The lack of Chinese American internal fractiousness nevertheless will help Chu focus on defeating Dudum. It was significant that the very public endorsements of previous occupants of the seat to help Chu, a Mayor Gavin Newsom’s appointee. State Senator Leland Yee and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, through her father Bill Ma endorsed her. Yee and Ma don’t necessarily have solid allies in Newsom, even though they are probably closer politically than most of the progressive-leaning supervisors. Yee supported incumbent Jake McGoldrick and opposed Newsom supervisor candidate Lillian Sing in 2004 and endorsed Jaynry Mak over Newsom’s Doug Chan for supervisor in 2006. And Fiona Ma wasn’t happy with Newsom’s firing of friend and longtime ally, Susan Leal, as the powerful executive director of the city’s Public Utilities Commission….. NO ENTANGLING ALLIANCES: This time, Newsom’s pick is also Fiona and Leland’s. That helps validate the questions raised among political insiders as to the mayor’s selection of his staffer Carmen Chu as the interim and then permanent choice to replace Ed Jew, who resigned over his questionable involvement in transactions with franchise permits and his residency. Chu - like the mayor’s selection of police chief Heather Fong and Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting - had no significant ties with a minefield of Chinese American political factions - including the former Julie Lee and S.F. Neighbors Association alliance, Chinatown powerhouse Rose Pak, the coalition of Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Chinatown Community Development Center, Fiona Ma and her ties with the “Burton Machine” or the Westside Chinese Democratic Club, or even Jew’s ties with the Chinese American Democratic Club, whose small business constituency is closely linked with the Council of Asian American Business Associations and ASIAN Inc. Chu didn’t have any ties with Leland Yee, except through his old aide Colleen Crowley, Yee’s former supervisor aide….
YOU CAN STOP ASKING? BART Director and AsianWeek president James Fang is not running for supervisor, now that the filing deadline has passed. Now, folks can quit asking me. But then again, do you think he’ll run a write-in campaign? Please, don’t ask this columnist.
Reach Samson Wong at (415) 321-5886 or swong@asianweek.com.