One of the fastest growing voting blocs in D10 is the Chinese community (read more at the
SF Bay Citizen). Currently, 35% of the district is made up of Asians, with a large proportion of that first- or second- generation Chinese. If you walk into New City Bakery on San Bruno Ave for a cocktail bun, for instance, you'll see most of the clientele reading from the local Chinese-language newspapers. If you listen to the radio or look up at the TV, you'll hear and see that they're set to local Chinese-language stations. This is a group of voters that are difficult for non-Chinese media to reach and to gauge, because a lot of the news they get is in a language not understood by many outside the community, and so it's difficult for non-Chinese people like myself to know what they're being told.
Well, it came to my attention the other day that one of the local Chinese-language radio stations has for months been using its airwaves to talk up Teresa Duque's candidacy while talking down a true, long-time D10 hero, Marlene Tran, and using racially divisive language about African American candidates in the race. Duque, who moved to District 10 from Millbrae a month before filing her papers to run, has raised a great deal of money in this race, and could be a dangerous stealth candidate. In her words, "I am just following the tradition followed by Carole Migden, Chris Daly, Carmen Chu, et al. of going to where my services are most needed." Well, I'm not sure that we need the services of a carpetbagger who knows nothing of our district's history, difficulties, or true potential, who only offers complaints, fear, and no solutions, and who moved to the district for the sole purpose of running for office, as our next supervisor.
I recently asked her about claims one of her canvassers made to me that she had single-handedly been responsible for a 50% local-hire mandate for the new BVHP development, when in fact she had little to nothing to do with the crafting of guidelines (not mandates) in this regard. After a brief exchange on Facebook, she then sent the following paranoid letter to Kristine Enea (note, it was NOT sent to me):
"I am writing to you out of professional courtesy and concern. Mr. Chris Waddling, has been harassing volunteers, actually coming into our headquarter, and has taken to writing statements on my Facebook page. He was carrying a sign for Malia Cohen at the time, and Malia Cohen's people have said that Chris Waddling works with you. We would request that you please warn him to stop making such intrusions, either in person at the headquarters, or online. This serves to demean and cheapen the nature of the election."
For the record, I have never been to her office, talked to any of her volunteers (except her canvasser outside MY house), nor have I held a Malia Cohen sign anywhere near her HQ. Don't let the facts get in your way, Ms Duque.
She recently came out with a
press-release about some D10 voters not receiving absentee ballots. Instead of offering solutions, like telling people how they can still vote without the absentee ballot, she went on a tirade about how voters are being disenfranchised by City Hall on purpose. Whine, fear-monger, repeat. Not one solution offered, which, in the end, does nothing but help keep those disenfranchised voters out of the voter-pool.
This candidate knows nothing of our district except how to keep it divided along racial lines. Her sole solution to every issue is to scare anyone who'll listen and to talk about bringing in more police to make things better. To hear her tell it, she wants D10 to be an armed fortress. How do you make parks better? More police. How do you improve MUNI? More police. This is the only thing you'll ever hear from her. Her campaign is about keeping our communities in fear of one another, not in bringing them together to help heal wounds and make all our lives better.
Teresa Duque would be a disaster of a supervisor. Listening to her speak, it is plainly clear that the shallowness of her knowledge on the most basic of topics is truly incredible. She is the Sarah Palin of our district election. Heaven help us if she somehow pulls this one off.
My only concern with this program and food collected from D10 is that there is a potential for our soil and air to be so full of toxic heavy metals from years of industrial abuse that it's not fit for growing food, and that the city may find itself liable if it helps distribute it. Jennifer Gorospe, a graduate student at San Jose State, is currently doing a Masters thesis on heavy metal levels in our area, the results of which should be made available in the coming year.
