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Q&A: Boston City Council Candidate Sam Yoon
Candidate in Nov. 8 election discusses views on issues
covering everything from education to public safety to housing and the Asian
vote to...Harry Potter
By M. Thang, SAMPAN
BOSTON - Oct. 21, 2005 - Sam Yoon made history in Boston last month when he
became the first Asian to win a preliminary election for at-large city
councilor. On November 8, voters will go to the polls again. Only four of the
eight candidates can claim victory. Will Sam Yoon make the final cut?
Yoon, who was born in Korea, is a former New Jersey school teacher, and
Princeton University graduate. He earned a master's degree in public policy from
Harvard University and has worked at the Asian Community Development Corporation
in Chinatown. He's been called smart, progressive, boyish, and, oddly enough, a
Harry Potter look-alike.
The Sampan sat down with the first-time political contender and new Dorchester
resident for a closer look at his views on education, Boston city politics,
gentrification in Chinatown, and more.
EDUCATION
SAMPAN: What do you propose to do to improve education?
 YOON: The key to improving schools is to keep in mind that “smaller is better” -
smaller classrooms (class size), smaller schools, smaller communities. Smaller
is better to meet a variety of needs in the classroom. I also propose that we
place greater emphasis on school leadership, at the principal level primarily.
Third, resources - financial resources from the city budget. We ought to
consider what is the true cost of educating every single child in the Boston
Public School system - and meet that cost in whatever way we can. The
alternative is that we shortchange our kids if we don’t fund schools to the
level of being able to meet the needs of every child.
My son goes to the Boston Public Schools [BPS]. He’s in a grade called “K Zero”
for 3 year olds, in a class of 12 kids and two teachers - one of them is an
assistant teacher. My wife and I are very confident that with 12 students, my
son will get the attention that he needs in a smaller community of learning. He
goes to a pilot school, which IS a Boston public school, unlike a charter
school. A charter school is independently chartered by the state. But a pilot
school stays within the system. That’s an important distinction. But the
difference between a pilot school and a traditional school within the BPS is
that a principal in a pilot school has the power to hire his own teachers and
gets to devise his or her own curriculum. The principal has a lot of power and
flexibility to run the school - and THAT, I see, is a model for the BPS.
HOUSING and the MIDDLE CLASS
SAMPAN: Is it inevitable that the middle class must leave Boston because of
the rising cost of housing?
YOON: If the housing market is as bad as it is now, it WILL force the middle
class to leave. But we have to focus on two fronts, on housing and schools. The
middle class is largely families. When people talk about the upper or wealthy
class, we’re seeing an influx of empty-nesters. They can (afford) $200,000 down
payments on $1,000,000 condos. The point is, to keep the middle class in Boston,
we have to make sure that we BUILD homes for families that are affordable, AND
we have to rebuild confidence in the Boston public schools. Private schools are
expensive.
SAMPAN: How do you propose that we build houses for families that are
affordable?
YOON: The #1 thing is to create incentives and requirements - carrots and sticks
- to encourage developers to build housing for the middle market.
SAMPAN: How would you encourage developers to build for this segment of the
market, the middle class?
YOON: Subsidy from the state and the city, and create zoning requirements,
what’s called inclusionary zoning requirements, to require building that kind of
housing. But we can’t forget the working class, low-income families as well. To
that end, I’m a strong supporter of the Community Stabilization Act. The CSA is
a proposal of the city council that was defeated. What it would’ve done is
protect tenants of rental housing from exorbitant, rent increases. That’s
important. We need to pass that (act) because, in the rental end of the market,
things are very difficult.
SAMPAN: Are you planning to stay in the city for the long haul?
YOON: Yes. Two of the most important factors of living in the city are satisfied
(for me). One, we (my wife and I) own a house, and we’re very lucky to be able
to own it because it’s our second home. We sold our (previous) home in the
suburbs for a ridiculous amount of money. Therefore, we had the down payment to
be able to afford this home, so we have affordable housing; that’s number one.
SAMPAN: Will you continue to keep your son in Boston public schools? How long do
you intend to stay in the city?
YOON: Forever. We’ll continue to keep our son in
Boston public schools, too.
GENTRIFICATION
SAMPAN: Do you think Chinatown threatened by gentrification?
YOON: Gentrification is what happens when luxury housing actually replaces
low-income or middle-income housing, when you actually lose low-income housing
as a result of the high-end housing. I am very concerned that that may start to
happen. Certainly Chinatown is threatened to lose a lot of its character because
of places like Liberty Place and Kensington Place [both are high-rise apartment
towers slated for Chinatown]. But what I know that I’m able to do is use the
investment of literally hundreds of millions of dollars and convert some of that
investment into affordable housing. We use all this money that’s being poured
into high-end housing and we slice off a piece of that - and you work with the
developer to do that - and then you take the money and invest it in low-income
housing, so that some of the housing is affordable. That’s the type of
development that would preserve Chinatown’s character as a working-class
neighborhood.
SAMPAN: So you’re not necessarily opposed to the gentrification of Chinatown?
YOON: Well, how do you define gentrification? The way I define it (is) when
there’s a replacement. I don’t think there has been a significant loss of
affordable units. The affordable units are in a sense being diluted. Luxury
housing is just being built elsewhere.
SAMPAN: You’re saying that the actual number of affordable units in Chinatown is
not changing? It’s actually going up, there is no loss in the number of
affordable housing units?
YOON: Yes, correct. It may actually go up somewhat, yes, because a lot of the
developments that are coming in, they have affordable components. For instance,
like the Metropolitan Parcel C, about 45% of those units are affordable, and the
rest is like high-end market. I don’t think it’s [the loss in the number of
affordable units] significant. A lot of people, when they think about
gentrification, that’s what they think (that affordable housing is lost). I know
anecdotally that some small landlords in Chinatown, they’re raising rents. Where
(their) rents may have been affordable, with a rent of maybe $500 or $600, maybe
they’re raising them to $800 or $900. Therefore, that’s a loss of affordable
units.
But so much luxury (developments) is being built. That’s really going to change
the make-up of Chinatown. That’s a concern because if you think about it, who’s
moving into Chinatown? It’s wealthy people. My worry is that a lot of these
wealthy people will care less about the working-class people in Chinatown. Maybe
they won’t shop at their stores. They won’t frequent their businesses. They
might have a different political attitude toward what Chinatown should look
like. And they’ll demand services that are more or too expensive for residents,
the immigrants, of Chinatown. That’s the worry for me.
PUBLIC SAFETY
SAMPAN: How do you achieve safer neighborhoods?
YOON: Public safety is a major issue. Chinatown is especially impacted by drugs,
prostitution, petty theft and vandalism. You have to really understand what
systems we have in place to prevent crime. Law enforcement is one piece of the
solution. Our police staffing levels are at an all-time low. We used to have
2,300 police officers on the force citywide. Now we’re at about 1,800. There’ve
been really major cutbacks .
I actually rode through Chinatown in a patrolman’s car a couple weeks ago. It
was very eye-opening for me to see what a patrol officer sees through their
windshield on a nightly basis. It reinforced for me the importance of community
policing. We really need to increase resources for community policing -
increasing the number of specialized police officers who are trained (to deal
with) relationships with community leaders and with people in the streets,
because that’s the long-term solution to preventing crime, getting to understand
and work with the residents and the people on the streets.
SAMPAN: Regarding the Chinatown crime watch, individuals are paying out of
pocket to have the accompanying police detail during their street patrols. What
do you think about this financial arrangement?
YOON: It (the creation of the private, crime watch) is tremendously commendable
(on the part of the organizers). At the same time, I wish there was more public
commitment to supplying law-enforcement resources for Chinatown. That’s
something I’m going to work on when I get to City Council.
SAMPAN: What do you think about them having to pay out of pocket for the crime
watch?
YOON: Well, where does the money come from? The money comes from businesses (and
private donations).
SAMPAN: Do you think that’s a good solution?
YOON: It’s a good temporary solution.
SAMPAN: What would be the ideal realistic solution?
YOON: The ideal solution is for the city budget to supply the patrols necessary
for Chinatown.
SAMPAN: So the crime-watch organizers, the individuals, shouldn’t have to pay?
The city should pay for the police detail to accompany them on their patrols?
YOON: The city should supply more police details and community police officers
to patrol Chinatown. That’s the bottom line. If that’s not happening, then it’s
important for private citizens to step in and do whatever it takes.
LACK of POLITICAL EXPERIENCE
SAMPAN: You’ve told the SAMPAN before that your lack of political experience
is a good thing. How so?
YOON: What I meant is that my lack of ties to political establishment is a good
thing in this election because I think there’s a strong feeling in Boston that
city government has been in the hands of too few people, of families or
communities, for too long. City government and the city council has been in the
realm of political insiders.
The experience and perspectives of political insiders are going to be much
narrower. It’s important for a city council to reflect the diverse range of
public experiences and perspectives because that’s what our city is. [According
to the U.S. Census, the population of Boston is now composed mostly of
minorities.] If I do get elected, it will be a strong political signal to
insiders that things are changing in the city, that the minority vote - votes
from people of color - is strong, and that there’s a strong progressive vote in
the city, that old political ties don’t matter as much as they used to.
SAMPAN: What do you say to people who don’t want to vote for Sam Yoon because
you lack political experience?
YOON: I have experience that matters more than political experience to the city
council, like (experience in) affordable housing, real estate development,
financial management, urban planning, policy analysis, classroom teaching. I
have training in economics, statistics. These are all things that really matter
to city government.
SAMPAN: More than political experience?
YOON: Absolutely.
SAMPAN: You’ve said that you have skills and strength in economic development.
Would you elaborate on that?
YOON: I have an understanding about supply and demand of public and community
process. It’s a real understanding of finance and economics.
SAMPAN: How does that translate into what you’d bring to economic development
for the City of Boston?
YOON: I understand what it takes for a business district to succeed. If it
fails, I understand what are the causes of its failure. I really do understand
all the different parts of what makes a successful business. I also understand
what are some of the ingredients you need to develop a workforce, a labor force,
to develop good jobs and training for those jobs, where the money comes from to
invest in programs that teach people ESL or job skills. I understand how that
feeds into making a better economy for a neighborhood or even an entire city.
BOSTON POLITICS
SAMPAN: What would you do to improve the strength and effectiveness of the
city council?
YOON: The number one thing is to build coalitions on the council with other
councilors, to create a common agenda and get things done. I can draw on my own
experience in doing this. In Chinatown, I was able to build a coalition of 16
Chinatown organizations to fight for Parcel 24. [Parcel 24 is a plot of
Chinatown land that was taken for highway use in the 1950s and 1960s and is
recently available for development.] I have the experience to build city
coalitions within the city council to advance a really effective agenda.
SAMPAN: What do you think of Mayor Menino’s record so far?
YOON: I give him a B-.
SAMPAN: Why not a B+ or an A-?
YOON: The B- is an average. I give the mayor credit for working really hard. I
think he genuinely does care, but the city can do a lot, lot better. The BRA
(Boston Redevelopment Authority, which is the real-estate planning and
development agency of the city) is a real problem. The schools have a LONG way
to go toward being the kind of quality that we need in the city. Also, basic
city services - like sanitation, for just one example - can really be improved.
SAMPAN: Would you like to run for mayor?
YOON: [laughter] I’m going to take things one step at a time.
SAMPAN: Is there anything you would change about the BRA, and why?
YOON: A lot of the BRA’s staff and resources are dedicated to planning. By
planning, I mean that the BRA has the software programs that can design like
architectural drawings. Also, the BRA has a great, map facility and people who
can do economic analysis and census statistics, things like that. Those are all
important functions in terms of long-range planning for the city. I think that
all that should be under the control of the city council - and out of control of
the BRA. That’s one of Felix Arroyo’s proposals, which I fully support.
SAMPAN: What about the development part of the BRA?
YOON: Another major function of the BRA is, in a way, that they ASSIST
developers. They help developers get through the approval process. The BRA can
continue to do that, but it needs to be more accountable to more than just the
mayor, to the city council, too.
An example is that a developer has a proposal to build something, which is
presented to the BRA. The BRA then controls the process of getting approval from
neighborhood leaders, getting approval from the mayor’s office, all the way down
to getting approval - helping developers get financing from the banks by writing
a letter of support, for example, and getting them approval from the zoning
board, and making sure that if something differs from what the zoning board
allows, then the BRA helps the developer argue the case (before the zoning
board) to make an exception. (During) that whole process of helping the
developer, the BRA often simply takes the side of the developer as opposed to
the community. The BRA has a lack of accountability. (The BRA needs to) respect
communities and neighborhoods much, much more.
SAMPAN: Do you think the BRA is too much in the pockets of developers?
YOON: Oh, absolutely.
SAMPAN: Who do you support for mayor, Menino or Maura Hennigan?
YOON: It’s not appropriate for a candidate who’s not even in office to be
endorsing one person over another in public.
THE ASIAN VOTE
SAMPAN: What else should voters know about Sam Yoon?
YOON: Running as the first Asian American is a tremendous honor , but it’s also
a very important responsibility. By virtue of being Asian, Asian Americans will
look to me for an understanding ear. I will listen to their concerns and
understand them in a way that non-Asians would take more time to get.
I’m looking forward to ways in which both Asian communities (Vietnamese
residents in Fields Corner and Chinese residents in Chinatown) can work together
on common goals in the city. It would be a great opportunity. I would like to
help play that role as an elected official and as someone with ties to both
communities - as neither a Chinese or Vietnamese - so no favoritism! [laughter]
SAMPAN: How can Asians be assured that you won’t forget about them if you’re
elected?
YOON: They can be assured by simply calling me. And if I don’t do a good job,
don’t elect me in 2007 [smiles].
ON FAMILY and HARRY POTTER
SAMPAN: Does your family think you’re nuts?
YOON: [laughter] They did, yeah. My son is too young to really understand. But
he’s having fun with it even though he’s only 3. He wears my “Sam Yoon” stickers
to bed every night. He really hopes that I win.
SAMPAN: Why do people say you look like Harry Potter?
YOON: [laughter] In my first (media) interview, (the reporter) said I look like
Harry Potter. It’s my glasses, and because I look young. Even Asians are
surprised to learn that I’m 35 years old.
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