Board of Supervisor Asian American candidates on neighborhood issues
Many Asian Americans residents of District 1 (Richmond) have high hopes that come November they will have an Asian American supervisor.
The frontrunners to replace termed-out Jake McGoldrick – Eric Mar, Sue Lee and Alicia Wang – are a mix of a politician, a business leader and a teacher. Who can deliver as a supervisor?
Wang began her political life in an indirect way. Over 30 years ago, as a young English as a Second Language teacher fighting for affirmative action for Chinese teachers at City College of San Francisco, Wang learned fast that “if you want to make change, you need to do so politically.”
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Today she is the first Asian American woman to be vice-chair of the California Democratic Party and adds that she is happy to see so many Asian Americans are running for office today.
“I feel very proud that I’ve been part of this effort,” she says.
Lee got into politics after college as an ESL teacher in San Francisco’s Chinatown and a community organizer for the Chinatown Community Development Center.
“My political experience is really from the grassroots level advocating for the community,” said Lee, who today is the executive director of the Chinese Historical Society and serves on the city’s Planning Commission.
Mar was a student activist at UC Davis, and Vincent Chin‘s 1982 murder was his wake-up call to get involved in Asian and immigrant issues with the Chinese Progressive Association. Today, as an Asian American Studies teacher at San Francisco State University, Mar encourages the younger generation “not only to become activists but also to support community based groups and organize to make change in the community.”
Wang, who has been active in the Richmond district since the ’70s, believes that the district needs a new and more effective leadership instead of the “incompetent” current one.
“If you have politicians that don’t listen, it creates cynicism, and the current candidate is not listening,” Wang said. “My campaign is not about me, it’s about you, us. That’s what it should be about.”
As a supervisor she hopes to work on quality of life issues – such as cleaning out playground areas, creating affordable housing, improving neighborhood schools and increasing pedestrian safety – in order to keep families in San Francisco. She also hopes to make Richmond the most environmentally self-sufficient and green district of San Francisco.
Lee, a Richmond District resident since she was eight years old, said the new Supervisor needs to have a collective vision about how “the city is changing and growing.” As a member of the Planning Commission, Lee claims to have the citywide vision the district is lacking.
If elected, she promises to work on public transportation and traffic safety issues that include securing funding for district cleaning and neighborhood safety and enhancing parks. She also supports parents’ right to choose what school their kids attend.
Mar, a Richmond resident since 1984, said that the district needs someone who will voice its needs, as he has done at the School Board level.
“I have been a strong voice for students, teachers and parents to play more of a role in decision making at the school district as well,” said Mar, who has served on the school board since 2000. “I am going to bring this form of grassroots empowerment to the Board of Supervisors.”
Mar emphasized supporting the district’s small businesses, which he considers “the backbone of the economy,” better schools and after-school programs for young people and affordable housing.
Can the Richmond District elect an Asian American supervisor? Read more about the candidates’ views at asianweek.com.
David Lee, chairman of the non-partisan Chinese American Voters Education Committee and Richmond resident, believes that the District 1 race is not yet defined.
“The JROTC issue will be what defines the race because there are many families whose kids are in the program,” David Lee said. “Also, the school assignment issue brought up a lot of Chinese opposition, since many families wanted to send kids to Washington High, but because of the current assignment, they can’t. Parents are angry at Mar.”
In July, Mar voted to eliminate JROTC for P.E. credit, an unpopular move among many families. Mar said that the military should not be recruiting high school students. According to him, the schools district spends $1.6 million and receives $600,000 from the military for the JROTC program.
“I feel we could use that money for the Asian and non-Asian students in the program for better college access and career opportunities as well. I think we can create discipline and leadership options for these students and not have the military in control of it,” he explains.
Mar also proposed the current school assignment system, which was used in an effort to desegregate the public schools in San Francisco, but angered residents in the Richmond, who then had to send their kids to schools far away from home.
Mar’s popularity might decline with these two issues on the table, especially since more than 70 percent of the students who participate in JROTC are Asians, and since the Richmond District is 45 percent Asian.
But David Lee agrees that Mar is the most progressive and popular candidate.
But he also says that Sue Lee is the authority in planning and land issues, which are very important issues for the district, where more than 60 percent of its residents are homeowners.
Sue Lee is in support of the JROTC issue. “I think that raising children in the city is challenging enough, there are not enough programs that provide constructive pathways for students. It seems to me that JROTC is one of the pathways,” she argues
For David Lee, Wang is a small business advocate and in strong support of neighbors having a greater say in the planning process.
Wang, when talking about JROTC, is also a supporter of having choices available to students. “A thousand families move out of the school district every year, and in that sense I think that the School Board needs to reconsider parents. Parents are taxpayers, and they are essentially paying for the school. It is bad policy, and it is irresponsible on the part of the school to behave this way,” she asserts.
Tough choice for voters in District 1
On the one hand you have Mar, who has broad-based endorsement and support at the grassroots level in the district and who believes he is truly committed to the community.
“Raising money is the most difficult thing, and when people look at the money, they will see that I am not beholden to big businesses, downtown interests or real estate developers. I am someone who is genuinely in support of working families, the middle class and small businesses in the neighborhood,” he adds.
Lee, on the other hand, explains that the combination of her life’s work will be enough to keep the district afloat.
“I have accomplishments that I can point to that speak to my values and also speak to my approach in solving problems. I am currently the executive director of the Chinese Historical Society; I run a non-profit; I run a staff of five; and I know what it takes to run a business and to keep an organization afloat, and I think this is also needed in the Board of Supervisors,” she says.
Wang points out that the uniqueness of the Richmond’s geography needs someone like her, who has experience and contacts at the state and federal level, to run the district.
“On one side of the Richmond, there is the Presidio, on the other side, there is Ocean Beach, and there is Park Presidio cutting through the district. District One is bound by federal land and cut by a highway. My expertise and experience at the federal and state level will be very helpful in negotiating contracts for the district,” she emphasizes.
But nevertheless, being Asian does give candidates a boost, although voters should look beyond ethnicity and also pay attention to experience.
“My hope is that they also look at experience and who will be accountable to the community as well. One thing about that too is that the Richmond should be a place where there should be an Asian supervisor,” adds Mar.
Lee adds that, “There should be Asian elected officials throughout the city. We should not shy away from these leadership positions.”
Wang certainly agrees with that. “The City is reaching a point where the Asian community needs to take leadership in the community.”
Eric Mar has chosen to disenfranchise students who wish to serve in JROTC and has cast his lot with Chris Daly, the most divisive politician in San Francisco. He should not be rewarded with the District 1 Supervisor seat when a qualified and reasonable candidate like Sue Lee would do such an outstanding job!
I am curious as to the order in which the candidates were written in the article, leading with Alicia, Sue and then Eric.
Alicia was not re-elected to the Democratic National Committee this year so one can only wonder whether being a state party vice chair is window dressing.
Sue may be a planning commissioner but her record on city-wide and district planning issues is unexamined.
Both candidates were conspicuously silent and absent on the City College campus in Chinatown-North Beach when the community rallied and fought for the much-needed city-serving facility. Eric voiced his support early on and at several public meetings. That grass-roots support is on the record.
David Lee’s comments on parents and the schools are not quite accurate and misleading. Parents are not angry at Eric Mar, they are frustrated at the system. More than anyone, Eric has changed the system to give parents more voice. Leland Yee, in endorsing Eric, said Eric expanded neighborhood schools and improved curriculum and created more funding to restore arts, libraries and recreation to schools. That’s why Eric has grass-roots support and his opponents pay lip service.
On JROTC, that’s a matter that the Board of Supervisors has nothing to do with. It’s a red herring foisted by anti-Mar forces who see the Richmond District’s families as political fodder. Besides, the majority of the Board of Education over two terms has supported creating stronger leadership and community service programs that offer students a choice without being a captive audience for military recruitment by the Pentagon. The committee responsible for coming up with the replacement leadership program, d
I wanted to conclude that it is the committee, which school district staff and administrators, that has not moved fast enough for critics.
Alicia Wang and Eric Mar have shown the most leadership in advocating for the broader community. If you want to talk about disenfranchising people, Sue Lee has worked mostly for the big business and chamber of commerce corporations to gentrify our neighborhoods.
I hope Asian Week will improve its reporting with more facts.
Dear Editor,
I am the only Asian candidate in District 11. I am looking forward to speaking with you regarding the issues and problems confronting the Asian community in District 11.
Thank you for your consideration.
Regards,
Myrna Lim
(415) 816-7037
I respect Eric Mar’s public service on the School Board.
Eric Mar has demonstrated an ability to work with diverse constituents and make tough decisions.
He has broad support from a variety of political, business, and community leaders.
Even Assemblymember Fiona Ma, who was viewed as a “moderate” when she served on the Board of Supervisors, endorsed Eric Mar.
He is the only candidate in District 1 endorsed by The San Francisco Democratic Party.
While it is true the JROTC issue will not be decided by the Board of Supervisors, the actions taken by Eric Mar as an elected member of the Board of Education deserves to be examined. Eric claims he will be the champion for the interests of the community as a supervisor, but as a board member of Board Of Education, he voted to disband JROTC and disregarded pleads from students, parents, educators, Parents Teachers Students Associations, Student Body Associations, and all of the principals of the affected schools that JROTC should be retained. In this current article, Eric is quoted as saying he would like to divert the JROTC money to improve college access for students. Does he know or does he care the JROTC program graduates compile a 98% college enrollment rate, which is by far better than any other programs in the school system. When he said he could use the “money”, what money? Half of the JROTC instructors’ salaries are paid by the Department of Defense, once the JROTC program is abolished, the district will have to hire PE teachers at full salary which the district has not budgeted for. Eric Mar voted to abolish JROTC for ideological reasons; he and his so call “progressives” on the board dislike the military and blame the military for the current war in Iraq. Eric should review his civics lessons about our system of government, the military does not wage war, it is the elected officials that sent the military to war. Eric wants to abolish JROTC in order to make a political statement. He does not care about the best interest of the students when it crosses path with his political ideology. Will he be the best representative for the Richmond District? I think NOT.
Contrary to what one of the comments posted, I am a parent and am MAD at Eric Mar. His position on shuffling kids that would normally go to a better local school to a poorer performing school across town (and vice-versa) is just plain BAD policy. It just a SNEAKY way of gaming the system to bring up the test scores for sub-par schools. This strategy provides no aggregate benefit to the students. Has he ever thought about improving the schools with better teachers and administrators??? The problem is not the students…get rid of some and replace them with better ones OR sacrifice the education of some kids for the sake of others. It doesn’t make sense to assign kids across town when there is a school within walking distance. And Eric is supposed to be pro-family, pro-Asian??? HELLO…I DON’T THINK SO. Policies like these are what makes working families move out of the city. Don’t vote for him!!! We don’t need any more STUPID POLITICIAN GAMES. BTW Thanks to Eric, hundreds of families have to drive across town given the lack of school buses and muni’s poor on-time-performance. It’s tough on the kids and working families, especially with outrageous gas prices.