Paul Kozakiewicz: Vote for Lee, Wang for District supervisor

It's the year of the woman in the Richmond District, with two strong candidates vying for district supervisor.

Sue Lee and Alicia Wang are vying to represent District 1 residents; both have strong credentials and either one would be a strong proponent for the points of views and values represented in the Richmond.

With ranked choice voting, voters will have three votes when they go to the polls Nov. 4. Sue and Alicia should be two of those votes. There are several other qualified candidates to choose from to round out your ballot.

Sue Lee
Sue Lee has been working for Richmond District causes for the past four decades. She was instrumental in the development of the Richmond Neighborhood Center on 30th Avenue and served as the center's president.

Lee has worked as an economic development officer for three San Francisco mayors. She published the guidebook "Getting Business Started" to assist budding entrepreneurs and created the Green Ribbon Panel to promote good environmental practices. She also has extensive knowledge of the problems and pitfalls faced by business, having worked with the SF Chamber of Commerce.

Lee supports neighborhood schools for our children and would work to improve Muni by implementing a version of Bus Rapid Transit on Geary Boulevard that would bring immediate results without spending $200 million to tear up the center of the boulevard and without hurting the lifeblood of our community, our local merchants. She attended Roosevelt Middle School and George Washington High School.

Lee would work to expand the city's affordable housing stock, actions she can back up having been a member of the SF Planning Commission for six years, and is dedicated to improving the city's parks.

Currently, Lee is the executive director of the non-profit Chinese Historical Society.

"I grew up in the Richmond District, walking to school down Clement Street and playing in Rossi Park. I raised my son here and my involvement in civic life grew out of my desire to help improve our community," she said.

Lee is endorsed by SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Geoff Brown, Matt Tuchow, SF supervisors Bevan Dufty, Michela Alioto-Pier and Sean Elsbernd, former U.S. representative John Burton, Amy Meyer, Ron Miguel, Paul and Sherrie Rosenberg, Jim Lazarus, Assemblywoman Fiona Ma and dozens of other civic-minded Richmond residents.

For more information or to volunteer, visit Lee's campaign headquarters at Clement Street and Third Avenue or go to her Web site at www.sueleeforsupervisor.com.

Alicia Wang
Alicia Wang is another neighborhood leader who has been involved in Democratic politics for decades. As vice chair for the California Democratic Party since 1991, the first Asian-American woman to ever hold that post, she has been involved with many of the issues of importance to working men and women. She recently attended the Democratic convention in Denver as a super delegate.

Wang also supports neighborhood schools and she served on the board of Coleman Advocates for Families and Children, where she helped pass Proposition J to ensure adequate funding for children's programs in the City.

Currently, Wang teaches ESL and citizenship classes at City College of San Francisco, where she is the political director for her teacher's union.

Wang also supports neighborhood schools.

"We need a new school assignment system that supports families and neighborhoods," she said. "We also need affordable housing, safe streets, clean parks, libraries and after-school youth programs."

She has supported park bonds and is working to pass a bond in this election to rebuild SF General Hospital, the lifeline for many of the city's poorest residents.

Wang is also a member of the Park Presidio Lions Club, which has been serving residents of the neighborhood since 1945, and the Argonne Playground Advisory Committee.

Four Other Good Candidates
With your third vote, there are four other candidates whose views match up with the mainstream views of the district: Nick Belloni, Brian Larkin, Fidel Gakuba and Jason Jungreis.

These candidates would work to improve the quality of life in the Richmond and support neighborhood schools and the JROTC program in our city's high schools.

Because the city's far left Greens and uber Democrats have tried to game the system with ranked choice voting, it is important to put the two most-likely top vote getters amongst your choices. In any order, Lee, Wang and one of the other four candidates should round out your ticket. Otherwise, the only candidate not acceptable to the vast majority living in the district, Eric Mar, could sneak in. As a school board member, Mar led the charge to eliminate the JROTC program from the city's high schools and helped create a convoluted admissions process that forces many parents to send their children to schools miles from their homes. The result is less diversity in our schools as some 90 percent of white youth choose to go to private schools.

Please vote Nov. 4 for someone who would represent the views of our residents, and not for someone who would join the lunatic fringe that has been running the City. Please vote for Sue Lee and Alicia Wang.