Eric Mar

Eric Lee Mar (born August 15, 1962) is a California politician, currently serving on the San Francisco Board of Education and San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee. He is now a candidate for San Francisco District 1 Supervisor.

Biography

Mar has worked as an associate professor at San Francisco State University since 1992, teaching Asian American and Ethic Studies.

From 1993-97 he was the Assistant Dean for New College Law School in San Francisco, the oldest public interest law school in the country, where he taught a course on critical race theory.

Mar has served on the Human Rights Committee of the State Bar of California and the Civil Rights Committee of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

Mar is a longtime board member of the Chinese Progressive Association and a founding member of APIforCE (Asians and Pacific Islanders for Community Empowerment) and the Institute for Multiracial Justice. He is a past executive board member of the Bay Area Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. In 1999, Mar received the community service award from the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). He is a former shop steward for SEIU (Service Employees International Union) Local 790.

While initially preparing to run for Supervisor in 2000, Eric Mar's house burned down. On the same day, Eric's daughter Jade was born.

In 1998, the San Francisco Bay Guardian featured Mar in its annual "Local Heroes" issue.

Political career

After a long career of activism, Mar moved fully into politics. In 1998, Mar was elected to the San Francisco County & Central Committee of the Democratic Party.

Forced to relocate after his house burned down in April, 2000, Mar was ineligible to run for Supervisor as he had planned. Instead, he ran for the Board of Education, placing second and winning a seat along with fellow progressive Mark Sanchez. The two would remain close allies thought their respective tenures.

Mar and Sanchez are commonly associated together, with Mar seen as the less radical and more diplomatic of the two. On virtually every major issue, the pair has voted together. Major issues have included supporting the demands of the United Educators of San Francisco (UESF), urging open government, supporting community voices, and voting to eliminate the JROTC program in San Francisco high schools.

Controversies

Mar was criticized in San Francisco's Asian community for his support of closing down the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps in San Francisco high schools. Said AsianWeek magazine, "Supporters of JROTC acknowledge problems with the U.S. military and gays, but say Mar and (Norman) Yee are discounting the tremendous benefit JROTC has provided to minorities and low-income students."

The San Francisco Chronicle criticized Mar for not being able to work with Superintendent Arlene Ackerman:

What (Ackerman) doesn't need is sniping and second-guessing from elected officials whose job is to set broad policies, not micromanage the superintendent's daily conduct. Tensions between school board members and superintendents come with the territory. But in San Francisco, those tensions had gone far beyond the limits of acceptability. Three board members in particular—Eric Mar, Sarah Lipson and Mark Sanchez—need to start working with Ackerman, not fighting with her virtually on a daily basis.

At a September 2003 meeting of the Board of Education, Mar was among "three board members with whom Ackerman has locked horns said they remain steadfast in their objections to her management of the district, which they characterize as autocratic and unyielding to differing views." Ackerman resigned in 2005. Reported the San Francisco Chronicle, "Mayor Newsom said he was saddened but not surprised by Ackerman's resignation considering the ongoing bickering that has gone on between her and a faction of the school board. He said it was a shame to be losing the architect of the improvements within city schools."

In 2003, Mar, along with School Boarad members Sara Lipson and Mark Sanchez, floated a resolution to establish a district-wide anti-war rally in protest against the pending U.S. invasion of Iraq and to create a peace curriculum. Ackerman and other board members objected to the resolution for its one-sided nature and because it would have taken students out of schoool. The resolution was voted down.

In the 2006 Congressional election, Mar endorsed Krissy Keefer, the Green Party candidate, over Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat. As Mar had been previously been a member of the San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee, his endorsement of a Green Party candidate caused consternation in some Democratic Party political circles.

Mar was criticized by members of the African-American community after he gave an interview to a Chinese-language newspaper in which he said Ackerman's attitude toward Asian-American's would be considered in the board of education's yearly evaluation of her performance. Ackerman is an African-American. Cedric Jackson, president of the San Francisco Black Leadership Forum, condemned Mar's actions as "unacceptable, irresponsible, intolerable behavior." In November 2003, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom called on Mar to work for better relations with Ackerman. "There is no reason to create an acrimonious relationship when there doesn't need to be one -- the only people who suffer are the children," he said. "I can't imagine what it's like being a parent with a small child in the school district and listening to the rhetoric and knowing the work's not getting down because of that sideshow." Ackerman left her position in 2006.

Future Plans

Mar has filed his intent to run for the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors in District 1, in the city's Richmond District. Mar is endorsed by District 1's current supervisor, Jake McGoldrick.

External links

• [http://www.ericmar.com/ Mar's campaign site