Eric Lee Mar 馬兆光 |
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Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from District 1 |
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Incumbent | |
Assumed office January 8, 2009 |
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Mayor | Gavin Newsom Ed Lee |
Preceded by | Jake McGoldrick |
Personal details | |
Born | San Francisco, California |
August 15, 1962
Nationality | United States |
Political party | Democratic |
Residence | San Francisco, California |
Alma mater | University of California, Davis |
Occupation | Politician |
Profession | Asian American Studies teacher |
Eric Lee Mar (Chinese: 馬兆光; pinyin: Mǎ Zhàoguāng, born August 15, 1962) is a California politician, previously serving on the San Francisco Board of Education and San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee. In 2008, he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing District 1.
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Biography
Mar has worked as an associate professor at San Francisco State University since 1992. He teaches Asian American and Ethnic Studies. [1] As an associate professor, he mentored and supported hundreds of young people to become active in their communities and the political process.
From 1993-97, Mar was the Assistant Dean for New College Law School in San Francisco, where he taught a course on critical race theory.[2]
Mar is a graduate of the University of California, Davis; he received his law degree from New College of California and is an inactive member of the California State Bar.[3]
Mar has served on the Human Rights Committee of the State Bar of California and the Civil Rights Committee of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
Mar is a board member of the Chinese Progressive Association and a founding member of API-FORCE (Asians and Pacific Islanders for Community Empowerment) and the Institute for Multiracial Justice. He is a past executive board member of the Bay Area Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. In 1999, Mar received the community service award from the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). He is a former shop steward for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 790.
In 2000, Eric Mar's house burned down and on the same day, his daughter Jade was born.[1]
Political career
In 1998, Mar was elected to the San Francisco County & Central Committee of the Democratic Party.
Eric has lived in the Richmond District for over 22 years with his wife Sandra Chin-Mar, a public school teacher. Their daughter Jade Mar is a 3rd grader at McCoppin Elementary School in the Richmond District. As a longtime community leader, Eric has led neighborhood and citywide efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing, to increase funding for parks and libraries, to improve services for youth and seniors, and to protect locally owned neighborhood businesses from unfair competition from big corporations like Starbucks.
After his house burned down in April, 2000, Mar was ineligible to run for Supervisor as he had planned.[4] Instead, he ran for the Board of Education, placing second. As a Commissioner for the Board of Education he
- Co-authored with Tom Ammiano and led the campaign to pass Proposition H in 2004 which spends up to $60 million per year in funding to for school programs;
- Addressed fiscal corruption and mismanagement in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD);
- Created the Parent Advisory Council to the SFUSD, which strengthened parent, student and community involvement in SFUSD policy-making;
- Authored legislation on closing the achievement gap[citation needed] and on fostering healthier and safer schools;
- Led to the creation of a model "green building" facility at Argonne Child Development Center in the Richmond District;
- Served on the Select Committee of the Board of Supervisors and Board of Education, which coordinates policy-making between city government and the school district.
In 2008 Mar ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for District One and won the election, defeating planning commissioner Sue Lee in November.[5]Mar took office on January 8, 2009.
Controversies
Eric Mar has been at the center of several controversies during his tenure on the San Francisco Board of Education. Mar was criticized by the Richmond Review for allowing local school children be bused across the city rather than to attend school in their neighborhoods [6]
AsianWeek newspaper criticized Mar for his support of closing down the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps in San Francisco high schools. [7]
Support of the San Francisco 8
In 2008, Mar introduced a controversial resolution asking the state to drop charges against the San Francisco 8.[8] The San Francisco Chronicle opined, “A police officer slain in the line of duty is a disgrace that needs an answer. Instead, the shotgun slaying of Sgt. John Young is getting the political treatment from four San Francisco supervisors more interested in rhetoric than healing justice.”[9] The Chronicle also reported, “Quietly, even some of Mar's allies on the board have expressed dismay at the timing and substance of the measure.”[10]
Acrimonious relationship with Arlene Ackerman
The San Francisco Chronicle blamed Mar and two other Board of Education members for the tense relationship the Board had with former Superintendent Arlene Ackerman:
What (Ackerman) doesn't need is sniping and second-guessing from elected officials whose job is to set broad policies, not micromanage the superintendent's daily conduct. Tensions between school board members and superintendents come with the territory. But in San Francisco, those tensions had gone far beyond the limits of acceptability. Three board members in particular—Eric Mar, Sarah Lipson and Mark Sanchez—need to start working with Ackerman, not fighting with her virtually on a daily basis.[11]
Beyond Chron, however, had a different opinion, placing blame instead with Ackerman:
At a September 2003 meeting of the Board of Education, Mar was among "three board members with whom Ackerman has locked horns said they remain steadfast in their objections to her management of the district, which they characterize as autocratic and unyielding to differing views."[12]
The Examiner and Chronicle have been shameless propagandists for Arlene Ackerman. To their credit City voters saw through the smokescreen. If Ackerman had any respect for what public votes mean she would have quit after the November 2004 election because that is what the voters were saying when they rejected the candidacies of Heather Hiles, David Weiner and Coach Kane. Instead she stuck around to complain about commissioners city voters chose to re-elect...[claiming] she represents the "silent majority."[13]
Mandatory anti-war rally
In 2003, Mar, along with School Board members Sara Lipson and Mark Sanchez, floated a resolution to establish a district-wide anti-war rally in protest against the pending U.S. invasion of Iraq and to create a peace curriculum. Ackerman and other board members objected to the resolution calling it one-sided and for taking students out of school to participate in the rally. "The proposal failed but a watered-down version that passed the board called for a day of on-campus public discussion about the possibility of a war in Iraq.".[14]
Criticism by African-American community
Mar was criticized by members of the African-American community after he gave an interview to a Chinese-language newspaper in which he said Ackerman's attitude toward Asian-Americans would be considered in the board of education's yearly evaluation of her performance. Ackerman is an African-American. Cedric Jackson, president of the San Francisco Black Leadership Forum, condemned Mar's actions as "unacceptable, irresponsible, intolerable behavior."[15]
Ban on toy giveaways with kid's meals
Mar was the chief supporter of a law to ban restaurants from including toys unless the meals were nutritious, for instance they reduced sugar, fat and sodium content, and included fruits and vegetables. Mar said he intended the measure as an incentive for restaurants to sell healthier meal choices. This legislation was passed on an 8-3 vote despite Mayor Newsom's disapproval and veto. [16][17]
References
- ^ a b AsianWeek.com
- ^ Full Biography for Eric Mar
- ^ State Bar of California Membership Records
- ^ AsianWeek: Bay Area: Political Potstickers
- ^ San Francisco City and County Dept. of Elections (November 4, 2008) Ranked Choice Voting: Board of Supervisors, District 1
- ^ Paul Kozakiewicz, Paul (August 8, 2008) "Don't Mar the Richmond." Richmond Review.
- ^ Staff Report (November 10, 2006) "End of the JROTC?" AsianWeek.
- ^ San Francisco Chronicle. Supe asks state to toss murder charges. June 12, 2009.
- ^ The San Francisco Chronicle. Guilty of grandstanding. June 13, 2009.
- ^ The San Francisco Chronicle. Public safety, politics clash in S.F.
- ^ Editors (September 26, 2003) "Truce in the Schools." San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ S.F. schools chief vows to stay in job
- ^ http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=116
- ^ Knight, Heather (September 25, 2003) "Schools chief in S.F. hints at quitting." San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Knight, Heather (September 24, 2003) "3 S.F. school board members accused of plot on Ackerman." San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ http://www.sfexaminer.com/blogs/under-dome/2010/11/happy-meal-toy-ban-official
- ^ http://www.sfbos.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/bdsupvrs/ordinances10/o0290-10.pdf
External links
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Jake McGoldrick |
Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors District 1 2009–present |
Incumbent |
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