With Asian Americans comprising approximately one-third of the city’s population, the next mayor of San Francisco should have plans to address issues relevant to this robust community.
To ensure that they do, AsianWeek.com has invited all of the 16 mayoral candidates–including six well qualified and prominent Asian Americans: Mayor Ed Lee, California State Senator Leland Yee, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, President of the Board of Supervisors David Chiu, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, Wilma Pang a longtime community activist and college professor–to share with our readers their solutions to what they deem the most prevalent problems in the Asian American community.
Beginning Oct. 24, 2011 and leading up to the Nov. 8 election, AsianWeek.com will be highlighting a different mayoral candidate.
Featured in this installment is Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors John Avalos.
1. What is (are) the greatest health issue(s) facing Asian American Pacific Islanders (API’s) and what will you do as mayor to address it (them)?
The number one health issue affecting the API community right now is access – both to healthcare and health insurance. There are two ways I can make a difference on this issue as mayor. The first is closing the loophole in Healthy SF that allows businesses to pocket the money that they should be putting towards health insurance for their employees, while defrauding customers with claims that their price increase goes to employee healthcare. The current mayor is on the record in opposition to closing this loophole, and as mayor I would work to make securing the rights for our most vulnerable workers my top priority.
The second thing I would do as mayor is make sure that as the City signs agreements with large hospital complexes, they set a real standard for the amount of charity care that the hospitals are obligated to provide. Right now many members of the API community are forced to endure long waits at SF General to get the care they need. Often they are confronted with language barriers and a lack of translators, forcing them to bring family members with them. We need to ensure that our hospitals are prepared to serve all members of our community, regardless of their insurance status or language needs.
Lastly, Our City’s and our citizens’ health is also inextricably tied up in the environmental health of the Bay. As more and more members of the API community move into the Southeast part of the City, we are seeing increasing asthma rates as a new health risk for API children. As the newest member of the BAAQMD Board of Directors, my first responsibility is to ensure that the air in the Bay Area is clean, and I will be working closely with the Bay Area Environmental Health Collaborative and BAAQMD and City staff to ensure that the plans to decrease air pollution in the Bayview Hunters Point area are effective in reducing the area’s cancer and asthma rates.
2. Why should Asian American voters choose you as their next mayor?
I have a new vision for a working San Francisco, one that values people over corporations. I am a family man, a public servant, and a community organizer; I am driven by my values am accountable to the people I represent. I have the courage to stand on my own convictions, to stand up against the greed of big business, and to stand up for our children and future generations.
Since moving to San Francisco in 1989, I have dedicated myself to helping my fellow San Franciscans improve their lives and transform their communities. I have worked as a counselor at both the San Francisco Conservation Corps and the Columbia Park Boys and Girls Club, and as a community organizer with Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, and as an organizer with the justice for Janitors Campaign of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1877. In 2005 I began work in City Hall as a legislative aid to Supervisor Chris Daly, helping to craft the City’s budget as lead staff on the Budget and Finance Committee, expanding funding for affordable housing, childcare, health and mental services, park restorations, and senior programs.
In 2008 I was elected to the Board of Supervisors to represent District 11; in my first two years I served as the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, leading the City’s efforts to close a one billion dollar shortfall while preserving City jobs and services, preserving essential senior and children services and saving vital health programs. As Supervisor I championed the nation’s strongest Local-Hire legislation, which provides thousands of employment opportunities for San Franciscans on city-funded construction projects, and which as Mayor I plan on expanding into all sectors. I’ve also passed protections for tenants in foreclosed properties and need-based rental assistance to low-income families at risk of becoming homeless. My recent Real-Estate Transfer Tax on high-end commercial buildings has brought in $50 million in new revenue this year alone, and without it we could not have balanced the budget.
As Mayor my top priority will be to create living wage jobs for San Franciscans, to put local residents back to work with good green- and blue -collar jobs, as well as in the public sector. I plan on replacing the Payroll Business Tax, which discourages job growth, with a revenue-generating Gross Receipts Tax, to level the playing field in favor of small businesses. I will also create our own local bank to enable San Franciscans to decide where their tax dollars go, and whom they benefit. I want to expand and improve Muni by putting a stop to non-essential work orders so that we can provide riders with the service they deserve; every neighborhood should have access to timely, affordable, and accessible public transit options, and school-aged youth should have free passes to get to school.
These are only a few of my plans to make San Francisco a truly vibrant, livable city; read more at www.avalosformayor.com/issues.
3. What type of relationships do you have with San Francisco’s Asian American community?
In my years as a public servant, I have always worked and partnered with Asian Pacific American community groups, such as the Filipino Community Center, ChinatownCommunity Development Center, Chinese Progressive Association, Asian Law Caucus and many others to fight for tenants and workers rights, affordable housing, immigrant rights, and to preserve culturally competent services for the APA and other communities. The most recent examples are the 2008-09 and 2009-2010 City Budgets, where we built a broad coalition to craft a balanced budget that restored over $40 million in essential services. Before that, I worked closely with APA community groups and leaders to create the San Francisco Immigrant, Legal and Education Network. The purpose of my local-hire legislation was to expand opportunities to all communities, especially the Asian immigrant community, which faces many barriers within the construction industry, and currently, I am working closely with the Filipino community to advocate for transit-oriented affordable housing and workforce development for our diverse communities.
4. What are some prevalent problems in SF’s Asian American community?
Loss of affordable housing is a major issue, and the fight to keep our working families in San Francisco is why I am running for Mayor. As Mayor I will champion the Sustainable Communities Affordable Housing bond to create a permanent stream of funding for affordable housing in our City. If San Francisco is to be a true Sanctuary City, we need to address institutional racism where it exists, as well as the violence and prejudice between community groups. I will opt out of S-Comm on misdemeanors and ensure no City money goes towards this infringing federal program. Promoting relationship building within communities through neighborhood programs and services will go far in increasing awareness and amity between communities in San Francisco.
5. How do you plan on responding to these problems?
As Supervisor, I made a public commitment to attend every meeting of the District 11 Council (which represents all the neighborhood associations of the district). If elected, I will create an administration whose approach to governing is through collaboration and community. I will work closely with community and labor leaders, elected officials of the past and present, and local business-owners. I will create an office of Community Development and Civic Engagement that will unite our city departments, organized labor, educational institutions, local businesses and non-profit organizations, so we can together serve San Francisco’s neighborhoods and communities.
No comments:
Post a Comment