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The underdog you should be voting for on March 3

March 2, 2015

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Two Korean Americans are running for council seat, both carrying different positions.

David Ryu, 39, is running for the City Council chair for District 4, currently held by Tom Labonge. Ryu looks to view the district in a broad sense, hoping to gain the vote and favor from all race groups, which has been shown by his door-by-door campaigning in the largely white community in Sherman Oaks.

District 4 entails much of the city, including North Hollywood and even extending to the southern San Fernando Valley. Campaigning to all races and people in the district seems to make sense and is effective, considering Ryu leads all competition with ＄313,691 so far.

Ryu supports the Korean voice in politics, as mentioned in his press conference. He is the president of the UCLA Asian Pacific Alumni Association and a board member of the Korean American Scholarship Foundation, both very important for the rise in Korean representation.

While voting for Ryu is important for the Korean American voice and while he has a large chance to be in the city council chair, people also ought to look at the campaign of the less publicized Grace Yoo, 42, running for the chair in District 10.

Yoo offers a very different approach, more directly advocating for an Asian American voice. She used to be the president of the Korean American Coalition, which looks to promote the civic concerns, civil rights, and community affairs of the Korean American This background reflects the way she views her office.

Yoo voices her motives with the reasoning that we should elect an Asian American to give our communities a greater voice in city decisions. She also argues that an Asian American city leader would conside rissues such as language barriers and cultural differences that many leaders don’t recognize.

District 10 includes Koreatown as well as other parts of Central and South Los Angeles. Her district is made up of 35% Asian Americans compared to District 4’s (David Ryu’s District) 18%. The representation of Koreans needs Grace Yoo because of the sheer number of Asians she represents as well as the message of her mission.

Yoo has only ＄21,177 in donations so far, and is looking to take the seat of Herb Wesson, a very prominent political figure in Los Angeles.

Elections are on March 3 and Yoo needs the Korean votes; it is in the best interest for Korean Americans in Los Angeles to vote for her in order to raise their voice in society.

 

st0302-01-1 William Park
Harvard-Westlake High School 10th Grade

2 Comments

  1. Edward

    March 10, 2015 at 5:43 PM

    William Park, nice article except for the “…leader would consider rissues such as…” misspelling.

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