In the November 2024 election, Chyanne Chen is running for the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco’s District 11, an area that includes the neighborhoods of Cayuga Terrace, Crocker Amazon, Excelsior, Ingleside, Merced Heights, Mission Terrace, Oceanview and Outer Mission. I first met Chyanne in the early 2000s when she was organizing homecare workers for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and she impressed me as a scrappy young immigrant organizer who was deeply committed to the workers she was organizing. Ten years later we met again in China when she represented her union to establish relations with unions in China, and where she articulated the need for workers to build solidarity across borders. Now ten more years later she is running for political office, a transition which is unusual among Asian Pacific Islander labor organizers. To understand what she was thinking and what kind of support she has, I spoke with Chyanne and two of her supporters, Dr. Albert Wang and Rebecca Miller. This is what they had to say.

Katie Quan (KQ): Chyanne, what made you decide to run for political office?

Chyanne Chen (CC): It’s about my kids. I want them to be able to live here in a San Francisco that is safe, affordable, with a good quality of life.

But we have some problems. My family has experienced hate crimes–my daughter has been spit on three times and my aunt got pushed because they are Asian. During Covid the message out there was if you were Asian you were the virus. No one should experience this kind of hate, not Muslims, Blacks, Jews, or anyone. And if you called the police, nothing was done, so people stopped calling. But when they stopped calling there was no record of incidents, so the police wouldn’t have the data to send officers out. It is frustrating.

These days it’s hard to survive as a working class immigrant. The cost of living is so high that most people can’t afford to live in San Francisco. And cutbacks in services like mass transit deeply impact them. Recently I spoke to a man in my district who told me that an employer in Chinatown wouldn’t hire him because he didn’t think the worker could get to Chinatown by 7 am to open his shop, because the buses don’t start until 6 am, and often they are not on time. The only way the employer would hire this man was if he moved to Chinatown. This is unacceptable!

Even those with their own cars have issues with quality of life. Traffic is slow, and finding a parking spot is a headache.

The biggest drive for me to run this year is that there is a risk that there will be no Asian Pacific Islander (API) representation on the Board of Supervisors. That would be terrible–there is a lot at stake. Since a number of long-time community leaders have urged me to run for political office, I began to consider running. If I ran, it would be an opportunity for our working families’ voices to be uplifted–immigrants, Asians, women, moms. I would ensure that policies and actions to enable families to stay in San Francisco are enacted. Even though I would be elected as a District 11 Supervisor, many other API residents outside my district would likely feel that I could represent their voices.

I have never run for public office, and the pressure has been really intense. But my family is totally supportive, and I am going to give it my all.

KQ: What do you want to accomplish?

Safety is the #1 concern for our community right now. It means personal safety, but includes making sure that we invest in first responders, including police officers, firefighters, 911 dispatchers, and front line essential workers like nurses. It also means making sure that we support people who have already been impacted by the system, meaning those who are incarcerated or formerly incarcerated, so they have housing, jobs, health care, and so on, and have pathways to becoming meaningful members of society.

“When we know neighbors really well, we get stronger and are resilient in the face of adversity.”

When talking about safety, prevention is really important. We have to especially make sure that our young people bond with their communities, and receive loving, caring, and uplifting from others. When I walk the business corridors in the Mission, around Geneva and Ocean, the merchants talk about robberies by young people, like grabbing cell phones and running away. There might be many causes of this, like poverty, but if we have programs for youth early on to find meaningful things in life to do, we can prevent them from harming themselves and members of their community.

We have to invest in our youth so they have a path to hope in the future, with skills, housing, basic medical care and fine values. They have to “own” their community. I myself was loved by others and uplifted by many, and I benefited from youth programs when I was a teenager. I was cleaning graffiti, helping at the library, talking to merchants, all the while bonding with residents in the community. This is what builds support systems and a safer community. When we know neighbors really well, we get stronger and are resilient in the face of adversity. We understand that individual acts of bad behavior do not reflect on an entire race of people.

In this context, it’s important that the City’s government agencies distribute services equitably. I’m all about investing in education, including after-school programs. You know that the west side of the city (Sunset and Richmond) schools have better after-school programs, so a lot of Asian families travel far to send their kids to these schools. But how can we make sure that all neighborhoods have good-quality schools? As Supervisors we cannot directly impact that, but we can make sure that after-school programs provide enrichment that will complement basic education.

“Right now there are 1000 vacancies in the Department of Public Health, so they are vastly understaffed.“

Of course, there is the issue of government administration. Right now there are 1000 vacancies in the Department of Public Health, so they are vastly understaffed. What suffers is programs like ones that I participated in as a teenager. As I said, these programs help young people to find a sense of purpose in life, meaning, and accountability. But these programs are being cut back because of staffing issues. 

The number two part of my platform is making sure that people have secure jobs in the city. With my background at the union, I am obviously concerned about workers. The workers providing care to our kids and parents need a pathway to providing quality care while working good jobs. Homecare workers in San Francisco only have 40 hours of paid sick leave, and they don’t have pension benefits. They deserve much more, and there is a long way to go. We need to have training for low wage service workers like them, so they can get higher pay and more job stability. We need to invest from kids to elders.

The next part of my platform is about supporting small businesses. I think we should hold the government accountable to residents and continue business corridor revitalization. These will help build community and resilience. In the Mission/Geneva/Ocean area, a lot of small businesses are owned by immigrant women, and they don’t know how to access resources, and they don’t trust the government. The Office of Small Business might have grants available, but these business owners don’t know about them, and when they find out, they might not think that it’s worthwhile to fill out a 20 page application for $5000. Some agencies, like one in the Excelsior district, don’t have the staff to reach out to small businesses in the languages that the business owners speak. These community relationships take a long time to develop, and because I’ve built those relationships over many years, I feel that I can bridge that gap.

There are many needs for services for kids and seniors, but part of the problem is that there is no one like me who has the organizing skills to reach the community, build alliances across different communities, and then advocate at City Hall. I started being an active volunteer in the community at age 16 at the library, supporting small businesses, SRO seniors, fire prevention, tutoring kids, putting on earthquake workshops. Now I am active in the PTA. In my last 24 years, it has been nonstop volunteering and supporting the community. 

What is unique about me as a candidate, is that I have strong experience working with diverse coalitions, including Latino, Black, LGBTQ and Asian communities. I am a good listener and communicator. I go to budget hearings to make sure that budgets reflect the needs of the communities, and are equitably distributed.

“You have to imagine outside the box“

With my global perspective, I can imagine policies that locals might not have thought of. This morning I met with a 50 year old resident of District 11 whose sister comes home from work at 12 am and can’t find parking near her home. I have traveled abroad for work extensively, and have seen how others have solved transportation problems. When I heard this man’s problems, I wondered how affordable technology can be made useful to residents. I thought about partnering with auto-pilot companies to make rates for this resident’s sister affordable in her situation. It might not be practical right away, but you have to imagine outside the box, rather than fighting each other for parking spots.

In the end it’s about making San Francisco a place where everyone can be successful at chasing their dreams. I want my kids, our kids collectively, to be able to stay in San Francisco and call it their home.

KQ: How do you stand on the recent recalls of elected officials in San Francisco?

In general, I do not believe that recalls are the best way to solve problems. As for safety, I don’t think that things are safer now than when Chesa Boudin was the district attorney. Yes during Covid, people felt unsafe, but now that Chesa is gone the replacement is no better. The Ingleside police station even put out literature that is supposed to be a Chinese translation of the English, but because I can read both languages I knew that the English and Chinese versions actually said different things. That’s insulting. Except now people are not blaming the D.A. because they know that nothing is going to happen. They have stopped calling the police and don’t trust the government. The recall wasted a lot of money and disrupted the government.

And yes, during Covid the School Board had some wrong priorities. But does that really mean recall? I got involved as a parent, and demanded that the School Board change its priorities. But some people went to the extreme and made divisions stronger. The result is that our kids, including our Asian kids, are behind, while all these lawsuits are going on. The group that has separated from the District and formed their own school is saying that the kids are behind, and they have stoked up the parents to speak at town halls. But these monolingual parents are not being given enough information to make good decisions. So it’s a big mess and the district is talking about school closures. I’m able to read the policy side and help parents understand the whole picture.

KQ: What unique qualifications do you bring to the job of Supervisor?

I understand the people in my district and their needs. I have over 20 years of experience of building community with underserved, under-represented populations.  I know the struggles of immigrants. I’ve worked with all kinds of people, Chinese, Latino, Black, etc. I’m comfortable having conversations with anyone.

I have organized and advocated for my constituents from the outside, and I also have advocated for them inside City Hall. I have experience lobbying, understanding the budget processes among the different agencies, what kind of programs will make an impact, and how to hold the officials accountable for those monies.

I have also built broad coalitions. I organized homecare workers for eight years, which required an alliance with consumers, the disability and senior groups who received care. Better homecare for the disabled and elderly requires job security for their caregivers. The same goes for childcare. State legislation that supports better jobs for childcare workers helps the community. I have worked with all the stakeholders in these issues.

 My union experience has given me skills in listening, negotiating, sometimes compromising, and forming consensus to move forward. I think this is what is needed at this moment in San Francisco. We need people who are willing to have conversations, bring people together, and fight for common sense policies that work for the City. This is my strength.

I am not afraid of hard work and difficult conversations. I have thick skin. If you turn me down this time, I’ll be back. If I need that union card to be signed, I’ll knock on your door ten times.

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KQ: Dr. Albert Wang, what strengths do you think Chyanne will bring as Supervisor?

I think that as a 1.5 generation Asian American, she can bridge the cultural gap between Chinese Americans and mainstream society. By 1.5 generation, I mean that she came to the U.S. when she was 15, and is culturally proficient in both Chinese and American cultures, and is trilingual in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. So she can help both Chinese and Americans navigate difficult problems, like why Asian Americans are against affirmative action at Harvard. Those who brought the lawsuit don’t understand that affirmative action is beneficial to society, and they need to understand that self-interest is not necessarily good for human survival. On the other hand, non-Asians need to understand that those who are against affirmative action came from farm towns in China where there was no hope to get ahead besides studying, so they became very focused on succeeding at Harvard.

I think Chyanne’s focus on workers, seniors, and childcare is important. I work in Silicon Valley where the Chinese are highly educated, but others need education as well. Chyanne speaks for the under-privileged, and with an important title people will listen.

Chyanne’s record of voluntary activism in the Chinese community is impressive. She has been at it over 20 years and started as a teenager. It speaks to her as a person.

She handles herself well. She knows what’s going on in the world and speaks with confidence. On stage she definitely has presence.

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KQ: Rebecca Miller, what strengths do you think Chyanne will bring as Supervisor?

Chyanne has deep connections to homecare workers in San Francisco. They tend to be in silos of Chinese, Russian and Latinos, but Chyanne can cross over the different ethnicities and politics of those groups. I trusted her deep reach.

Chyanne could move people, like a natural. She was a leader, and workers followed her. But the conversations were not weird or patronizing. She had tremendous credibility. She wasn’t ahead of the workers, she was with them. As the union’s political director, I could count on her to organize and mobilize. She was really strong.

Chyanne was really thoughtful about how to resolve conflicting issues. Homecare workers are underpaid, and one strategy was to bring in training for better care, which would lead to economic mobility for the workers. But within the IHSS (In-Home Supportive Services) movement many providers are family members, and they resisted the union’s attempt to make training mandatory. I remember that Chyanne was really thoughtful about how to thread the needle to make sure that homecare workers who were desperate for a raise got it, while ensuring that the other side was heard. She strongly pushed me and the union to work with independent providers to get everyone on board.

Chyanne also had a deep reach among politicians that the union did not necessarily have relationships with. She got us meetings, especially with Asian legislators, that we might not otherwise have had.

Chyanne supports progressive ideas, but she has friends on both sides of the aisle and will be a unifier. In this polarized climate, she can transcend different factions, and people from different groups will look to her leadership. She is an Asian leader that we need. I wish she lived in my neighborhood.

Conclusions

Chyanne Chen is the young scrappy organizer that I once knew, but now she has become so much more. She is not just a grassroots leader with tremendous depth, but she is a “unifier” who builds alliances across communities, even when the conversations are difficult. Her voice is not just reflective of the community, but she also imagines policy solutions, and is savvy about how to advocate those policies at City Hall. No wonder she has support from a range of different respected groups and individuals.

This is Chyanne’s first time to run for political office, and there definitely will be a learning curve. On the other hand, she has proven that she is a reflexive learner who can analyze her experiences and take her understanding to higher levels. Given her good values, grounded instincts, and strong organizing skills, I have no doubt that she will succeed.

If Chyanne gets elected, she will be among a very few Asian Pacific Islander (API) labor organizers who have been elected to political office (except in Hawaii where APIs are the majority). In this sense she will be breaking through a barrier to political power that exists for APIs and labor, and both communities will benefit from her voice.

Chyanne Chen’s campaign website

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