Today’s San Francisco Chronicle reports that “[San Francisco] Supervisor Ed Jew Suspended from office.” If you have not been following this story, no, Ed Jew is not Jewish – he is a Chinese-American, the only Asian-American city supervisor where a third of the city residents are ethnic Chinese. As I may have written earlier, but is recapped in this story:
“Jew is facing several legal problems, including a federal accusation of mail fraud for allegedly shaking down tapioca-drink business owners who were having permit problems. He also faces criminal charges filed by San Francisco prosecutors of lying about his residency when he ran for supervisor. Authorities believe Jew actually lived in Burlingame and did not move to establish residency in District 4 until the media raised questions about his true home earlier this year.”
Mayor Gavin Newson suspended Jew and began proceedings to remove him from office and named another Asian-American in his place, 29-year-old Carmen Chu, a deputy budget director for the city of San Francisco. I’ve often complained about the lack of Asian-American involvement in government/politics, and I guess one should take the good with the bad, but I’d rather read about Asian-American success stories rather than sketchy politicians like Ed Jew or political fundraisers like Norman Hsu. ABC 7 News has a story here on a “Profile Of New Supervisor Carmen Chu.“
