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From the Front Page
DECEMBER 15-21, 2017 • NORCAL ASIAN JOURNAL
SF’s first Asian American mayor... PAGE A1 t cisco Gate. “It is with profound sadness and terrible grief that we confirm that Mayor Edwin M. Lee passed away,” read a statement from the mayor’s office. “Family, friends and colleagues were at his side. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Anita, his two daughters, Brianna and Tania, and his family.” City Hall flags were brought to half-mast on Tuesday as condolences poured in for the city’s 43rd and first-ever Asian American mayor, who was the son of immigrant parents from the Chinese province of Guangdong. “On behalf of all Californians, Anne and I extend our deepest condolences to Mayor Lee’s family, his many friends and the entire City of San Francisco,” tweeted California Governor Jerry Brown. “Ed was a true champion for working people and epitomized the California spirit. He’ll truly be missed.” Condolences also came from Hillary and Bill Clinton as both were good friends of Lee. “Saddened by the loss of my friend, Mayor Ed Lee. I’ll always be grateful for his leadership and his steadfast support. It was a privilege to spend time with him earlier this month at the @aids_memorial on #WorldAIDSDay2017. He will be missed,” tweeted Mr. Clinton. Hillary Clinton tweeted Tuesday night, “Mayor Ed Lee’s death is a terrible loss for the people of San Francisco. He was a good friend & a vocal advocate for the city he served & loved. My thoughts are with his family.” After serving as City Administrator of San Francisco, Lee was appointed Mayor of San Francisco in January 2011 to serve
out the remaining term of former Mayor Gavin Newsom. Lee then won the election in November 2011, and was re-elected in 2015. Prior to being a civil servant, the Seattle native became the first in his family to attend college and graduated from Bowdoin College in 1974, and the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley in 1978. He then went on to work as a housing activist and civil rights attorney. In a 2011 interview with Northwest Asian Weekly, Lee recalled watching his parents work to provide for him and his five other siblings, and feeling compelled to pitch in. Lee’s father passed away from a heart attack when Lee was just 15, prompting Lee to work in restaurants to help his family. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) who served as San Francisco’s mayor from 1978-1988 said, “Ed was an excellent mayor of a great but sometimes challenging city. His equanimity and quiet management style was effective and allowed him to solve problems as they occurred.” Over 140,000 jobs were said to have been added during Lee’s tenure, creating the city’s most successful economic expansion in its history. Many homes were also said to have been added to the housing market under Lee than at any other time in San Francisco’s history, resulting in a decrease in eviction rates and average rental and home prices. Greenhouse gas emissions, too, dropped 28-percent under his leadership. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, whose district includes San Francisco, said, “Mayor Lee’s first priority was always the people. As a community or-
ganizer, civil rights lawyer and hardworking son of an immigrant family of modest means, Ed Lee understood that the strength of a community is measured by its success in meeting the needs of all of its people. He knew the rhythms and the workings of San Francisco at the most granular level, and dedicated decades to improving the lives of all San Franciscans.” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) also took to Twitter and said, “I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. He was a fierce advocate for civil rights and worked tirelessly for workers’ rights and his leadership will be missed. Keeping the mayor’s family in my prayers during this difficult time.” Having been a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors where he served as chair of the Technology and Innovation Task Force, Lee was known to have a close relationship with the tech world. TechCrunch described Lee as an “advocate to attract and keep tech companies in the city, luring them away from Silicon Valley in the South and also choosing San Francisco as their starting
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point.” The tech news site recalled Lee once telling them he visited a different tech company each week. Leaders from the Asian American community also sent their condolences, reflecting on their experiences with Lee. Assessor Carmen Chu who is also Chinese American and a daughter of immigrants said, “I remember how proud I was to support and see San Francisco elect its first Asian American Mayor. He is at the same time a friend and mentor and I will miss him.” San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim shared how when she first met him in 2001 when he was the Director of Public Works, Lee would personally deliver cleaning supplies every Saturday morning to youth leaders. “He was always friendly, humble and a dedicated public servant committed to getting things done,” said Kim. California Asian Pacific Islander Caucus (APILC) Chair and Assemblymember Rob Bonta (DOakland) called Lee a “stalwart leader for civil rights.” “His leadership will leave a lasting legacy for Californians for generations to come. But before anything else, Mayor Lee was a good person with a big, warm
University of California... PAGE A3 t Napolitano. UC efforts As the year comes to an end, the university has had its fair share of issues to deal with. Just this month, results from an investigation prompted by a whistleblower accused Napolitano’s office of meddling in an April audit came in. No evidence was shown to put the office in trouble. At Napolitano’s meeting with reporters on Tuesday, she shared a number of other efforts happening in the UC system. In regards to student body information, Napolitano shared that 42 percent of UC students are first in their families to go to college. Out of the university’s faculty population, 900 faculty members were themselves the first in their family to attend college. “From our first generation efforts, we want those students to see others who were once in their shoes, as possible role models,” said Napolitano. As many universities across the U.S. have had to face issues
surrounding sexual harassment and misconduct, the UC system was not exempt. “We totally redid the framework for handling those cases, whether they involve students, or faculty, or staff. We reformed the way they’re investigated, they’re adjudicated, they’re sanctioned. We’ve put things on timelines,” said Napolitano. “We’ve made clear that the complainant has access to what’s going on. We’ve provided survivors all with what we call a care advocate that provides counseling and other types of support. We have our first ever system-wide Title 9 officer. We’re now constituting a system-wide student advisory panel. I think we’re making some real progress,” she added. Free speech has also been a big issue in the past couple of years. Controversial right-wing speaker Milo Yiannopoulos, for example, had been slated to speak at some campuses at the invitation of certain student groups. Many other students did not take it well — students at UC Berkeley particularly started
heart,” said Bonta. Assemblymember Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley) who serves as APILC’s parliamentarian described Lee as an “incredible leader, mentor, trailblazer, advocate, and most importantly, a wonderful friend”, while Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) described Lee as a “devoted public servant who just got things done with a deep love for our city.” “Mayor Lee worked tirelessly to improve the lives of every San Franciscan during time of both great prosperity and extreme hardship, and his legacy will persist in the years to come,” said Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco). Friend of SF Fil-Am community “The Filipino community has a long and storied history in the city of San Francisco,” said Lee in a June statement when he earmarked $150,000 for the Filipino Cultural Heritage District in San Francisco called SOMA Pilipinas. “These investments signify our commitment to preserving the neighborhood as the cultural, economic and social core Filipinos in the city and the families and seniors who call it home,” Lee added. These remarks for the Filipino
community were common during his term, as Lee often tweeted photos of himself participating in community events. Just last month, Lee praised the monthly Filipino Night Market in San Francisco, calling it “the best party that has ever happened at the old mint” as reported by Balitang America. “I think it’s incredible, but to give it that energy with the Filipino culture, the family of the modern artists, with some of the traditional things they want to present, performances… I think this is a really great use of an old building but also a special thing for San Francisco, of our Filipino community coming out.” Lee is survived by his wife Anita, and his two daughters Brianna and Tania. San Francisco Board of Supervisors President London Breed has stepped in as acting mayor and is the city’s first black female to take the position. A vote on who will assume mayorship will come in the following weeks. The Lying in State of Mayor Lee will take place on Friday, December 15 from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., while the memorial celebration will be held on Sunday, December 17 at 3:00 p.m. Both events are open to the public and will be held at the Rotunda of the San Francisco City Hall. n
headline-making protests. “We’re actually standing up something we’re calling the National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement. It’s designed to sponsor research on free speech, particularly understanding what students understand free speech to be, what is their understanding of the first amendment, where did those understandings come from, what are best practices in terms of how campuses handle hate speech and at the same time, protect the values of inclusiveness and safety for students,” Napolitano said, adding that they were getting ready to appoint the center’s first group of research fellows. Of course, Napolitano answered questions regarding the university’s efforts in maintaining its reputation as a research leader. “We’ve always been at the cutting edge of research. There are new fields that are emerging all the time. And new types of jobs — jobs that we can’t even imagine today — will be jobs that emerge 10 years from now or 15 years from now,” said Napolitano.
“So that’s part of the challenge of the university — to be a premier research institution that actually is helping create that new knowledge on which those new jobs and new technologies will be based,” she added. “We have a whole initiative dedicated to innovation and entrepreneurship. We do things from funding student competitions, to investing in our own companies that come out of UCrelated research. There’s a lot of activity going on there.” (Rae Ann Varona/AJPress)
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Impeachment complaint... PAGE A3 t The complainants also accused Morales of “selective prosecution” and “failing to act on complaints to the great prejudice of the Filipino people.” They claimed that Morales was being partial to the cases involving former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. They noted that the Ombudsman cleared Aquino of liabilities over the P72-billion Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) controversy yet charged former Budget Secretary Florencio Abad for violating the Revised Penal Code for usurpation of legislative powers. They further claimed that Morales was partial in the Mamasapano massacre case, saying she “downgraded” the charges against Aquino when she only filed graft and usurpation of authority charges against Aquino and dismissed the VACC’s complaints of multiple homicide. “The Office of the Ombudsman sat on the complaint as well as turned a blind eye on the criminal responsibility of former president Aquino III for the death of the 44 PNP-SAF and the wounding of fifteen others, during the conduct of the botched Oplan Exodus,” the complaint read. It was Aquino who appointed Morales as the Ombudsman in 2011. Morales, meanwhile, refused to comment on the impeachment complaint against her, saying, “Until I get hold of a copy of the complaint, I have nothing to say.” n