Honda rallies Eastside APIs
Democratic Party Vice Chair Mike Honda spoke along with Darcy Burner, 8th Congressional District candidate, at the South Bellevue Community Center on July 22. The theme of the event was the growing importance of Asian American participation in Eastside politics, and the relationship of the Democratic Party to this increasingly powerful constituency.
Andrew Tsao, co-organizer of Eastside Democracy for America prefaced his introduction of Honda with remarks about the rapid growth of APAs in the Eastside, which is about double to what it was 10 years ago.
Honda, who discussed the state of American politics, asked the handful of APAs in the audience to look at their own communities and find out who is registered to vote and who is not. He emphasized the value of voting to both new and established immigrants.
Honda expressed his gratitude to the Asian press for using “the power of media to explain issues relevant to our communities so that they can make the right choice.”
SEAFAIR Scholarship Program results in API winners
Mineko Hasegawa, Greater Seattle Japanese Community Queen, was First Runner Up for the SEAFAIR Scholarship Program for Women Coronation held July 25 at the Museum of History and Industry’s McEachern Auditorium. Tiffany Warn, representing the Seattle Chinese Chamber of Commerce was Second Runner Up. Erin Waid, representing the West Seattle Hi-Yu Festival, was crowned Miss SEAFAIR. Waid.
Port of Seattle holds forum
Port of Seattle Commissioners held a public testimony on input for the candidate search to replace outgoing CEO Mic Dinsmore on July 20 at the International Distict/Chinatown Community Center.
Commissioner Lloyd Hara, who led the meeting, hoped to make an effort in reaching the Asian Pacific Islander community.
Elaine Ko, representing Inter*Im and API Roundtable, said that people weren’t paying attention to the port and that every effort was being made to get the API community to become more active and involved.
Ko said she hopes that the search committee will look at local talent for the job and choose a candidate with understanding of API culture and existing relationships with the community. She also urged the commissioners to consider API candidates in the process.
James Arima of Bellevue suggested that cultural competency be listed as a necessary skill for the job qualifications.
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