For a fleeting time at the beginning of Supervisor Carmen Chu’s accidental term as San Francisco Supervisor, it looked as though she might be more independent minded than many had feared, but since then, she contnues to disappoint.
No no no no. At every measure introduced by a progressive supervisor, Chu, along with Sean Elsbernd and Michela Alioto-Pier, she votes “no”. And yesterday, according to Fog City Journal she did so even though it meant turning her back on the people of District 4.
When Chris Daly, someone I often disagree with, introduced a resolution in protest of the Chinese Government’s crackdown on Tibet, the Three Reactionaries voted in league with Mayor Newsom.
A symbolic but controversial resolution addressing human rights concerns when the Beijing Olympic torch is welcomed to San Francisco next week passed the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Tuesday, but could meet with resistance from a mayor who has called for the event not to be politicized.
By an 8-3 vote, the board today approved Supervisor Chris Daly’s resolution to loud cheers, and some tears, from an audience of Bay Area Tibetans, Chinese and others who have protested outside City Hall for the past few weeks, opposing the torch’s arrival and calling for international support for human rights in Tibet, Burma and Darfur, and for Falun Gong practitioners in China.
Supervisors Michela Alioto-Pier, Sean Elsbernd and Carmen Chu – all Mayor Gavin Newsom appointees – voted against Daly’s resolution.
I realize that Chinese-American politics are more complex underneath the surface. I also know that Chinese American Chamber President Rose Pak is closely allied with the Mainland government. But considering that San FRancisco, especially the Chinese neighborhoods, is full of people who arrived here to escape opression, and considering Chu reresents a portion of the city that was represented by human rights champion Tom Lantos, her vote a is a slap in the face of those who suffered, fled and worked so hard to build a better life here. I hope people think about this in November when she aeeks their votes for the first time.