Blong Xiong Announces his Candidacy

Blong Xiong Announces his Candidacy
By Mike Rhodes

Blong Xiong announced today that he will run for the Fresno City Council District 1 seat. Tom Boyajian is the incumbant and he will not be running for re-election. He has been "termed out." Xiong was introduced by Fresno Board of Supervisor member Susan Anderson and the press conference was attended by a large number of supporters.

The open seat in District 1 is expected to draw a large number of candidates including Green Party member Larry Mullen, Democrat Cary Catalano, as well as Republican candidates who would like to control one more vote at City Hall. The district runs from Olive Avenue in the Tower District to Shaw and Brawley.

Xiong is the first candidate to formally announce he is running for the Fresno City Council 2006 elections. If elected, he would be the first Hmong to hold a Fresno City Council seat. District 1 does not have a lot of Hmong voters and Xiong says that he is not running as a Hmong candidate. "I am a candidate for the City Council who is Hmong," Xiong said at the press conference.

After the press conference I talked with Xiong about his campaign and why he is running. Xiong says he is an independent and not affiliated with any political party. He is supported by Anderson who is a Republican and Amy Arambula, whose husband Juan is in the State Assembly. Juan Arambula is a Democrat who was on the Fresno Unified School District board and the Board of Supervisors. Both Arambula and Anderson are viewed as moderates that are approachable by the progressive community and often times supports liberal issues. Xiong made a point of clarifying that he is supported by Amy Arambula but that Juan has not yet announced his endorsement.

Where does Xiong stand on the issues? When asked about his support for an Independent Police Auditor he was non committal. He said "I will listen to both sides and make a decision." He had heard about the two different models - the San Jose and the Sacramento model but he would not say he would support either one.

He was equally ambiguous about support for a Living Wage ordinance for city workers. Xiong said he had been asked about this issue at a meeting earlier this week but was not yet prepared to say if he would support an ordinance or what he thought would constitute a living wage. He was aware that some communities in the Bay Area and Los Angeles had passed ordinances but was not ready to announce a position on this issue. He did say that he thought workers should make enough money to survive. He pointed out his experience as a refugee and that he understands how poverty impacts the community. As the Deputy Director of the Center for New Americans, Xiong says he is involved, on a daily basis with improving the lives of immigrants and the poor.

When Xiong was asked if he had a preference for improving the lives of poor and working people, in contrast to representing the interests of the rich, he talked about the need for collaboration and working together with all sectors of the community to improve the city. Xiong is not an ideologue and stressed that he wanted to listen to community members and hear about their concerns. It seems reasonable to expect Xiong, if he is elected, to have similar politics to Susan Anderson and Juan Arambula. He is a moderate but someone who will listen to progressive voices and concerns.

To read an earlier article about what role progressives will play in the upcoming Fresno City Council elections, go here: http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/08/1758277.php

To view the Central Valley Progressive PAC Power Point presentation on the City Council elections, see: http://greenenergy.homelinux.net/cvppac/CityCouncil/siframes.html

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