Chun-Fai Chan Would Hold Monthly Meeting to Meet Seniors' ConcernsCandidate has been a teacher in Boston Public School system for last six years.
By Mike Deehan | Email the author | September 23, 2010
Chun-Fai Chan is running for the District 6 Boston City Council seat, which represents West Roxbury.
Chun-Fai Chan is one of five candidates running for the vacant Boston City Council District 6 seat. Former City Councilor John Tobin stepped down in August. There will be a special preliminary election on Oct. 19 to get down to candidates. The special election to select the District 6 councilor will be on Nov. 16. District 6 includes West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
What is the number one issue facing the city of Boston?
The high school dropout rate is the number one issue facing the city of Boston. The reason is that this leads to other issues facing our city, which is youth violence, young people going to prison, and a continued drain on city resources for violence prevention. How to start addressing the high school dropout rate? First of all, having individuals who have experienced their trials, their trauma, and tragedies be there for them, go to their homes and keep tabs with them to resolve any conflicts that happen on the streets. Second is education. Start early with children living in the community. Keep them reading. Keep them educated year-round. Have families take part in classes (like the Parent U Program the city set up). These are the ways to curb the high school dropout rate.
What is the number one issues facing West Roxbury?
The number one issue facing West Roxbury is to make sure that the public schools in the neighborhood remain the best schools in Boston. Second, we need to ensure that the advocacy within West Roxbury (whether it is families, newcomers, or seniors) continue to be heard in City Hall so that they being held accountable to us. Thirdly, a sense of shared responsibility and civic involvement with each other needs to be continually nurtured particularly with our young people who live in West Roxbury.
What experiences in your private or work life have prepared you to serve on the council?
As a school teacher in the Boston Public Schools for the past six years, you have to face the music and be held accountable to everyone involved (your colleagues, your supervisor, but most important, your students and their families). They rely on the teacher to be a problem solver and multitude of other functions that the teacher has to aware of and be prepared for. This is not so much different from serving on the Boston City Council. Similar to a councilor, no matter what happens, a teacher has to remain calm, cool, and collected even when there are adverse situations or even when a student (or a constituent) does not like you, yells at you, or calls you names. You have to love them for who they are and be a professional about the job at hand.
Would you hold regular office hours with district residents?
Absolutely, I will hold regular office hours with district residents. In particular, I would hold meetings once a month within District 6 pertaining only to seniors' immediate concerns. I am used to working overtime for my students and their families in the Boston Public Schools. This will be no different if I earned an opportunity to be on the Boston City Council.
Which current member of the council do you think your votes would most resemble?
I would think my vote would most resemble all of them. To just pick one would be very closed-minded and dangerous to our democratic values. I respect everyone on the council and their opinions/viewpoints. Let me be clear, I would make an informed decision based on the needs, concerns, and viewpoints of all of my constituents in District 6.
How would you have voted on the Boston Fire Department contract?
The City Council was put into very difficult position due to the political sniping between the firefighters and the city of Boston. It should not have been put to a vote in the first place. Instead, the community should have had a stake in the negotiations similar to what Councilor Connolly recently proposed with the negotiations between the Boston Teachers Union and the School Department. He requested a hearing to get teachers, families, and students involved in the process. This should have been the way to go about it when the negotiations started between the firefighters and the city. Because it kept dragging along and the process did not open up to the concerns of Boston residents (because they are the ones who are paying for it), everyone involved had eggs in their faces at the end of the process.
Which city program or agency is most in need of protection from cuts?
The street workers' program needs to be protected from cuts because they are the first responders and crisis managers of those young people who intend to pursue violence as their avenue to solve problems. They are the ones who would be able to convince and persuade young people to solve their problems with their minds and not with their fists or guns. Community centers also need to be protected. Having worked in an after school program at a community center, I personally know the value and benefits of a place for young people to go to after school even if schools now have longer days because families still need to work long hours. Young people need a place where their families know that they would be safe there. It is violence prevention 101, first chapter.
Is there waste in the city budget? If so, where?
There is definitely waste in the city budget. The contracts that are given to companies to clean and sweep our city streets should be eliminated. Cleaning and sweeping our city streets should be the responsibility of the Boston Public Works Department.
What do you think of Mayor Menino's administration? How will you work with him on district issues?
Mayor Menino has been the mayor of Boston since I was a 13-year-old living in West Roxbury and going to school in Roslindale. (I have actually lived in West Roxbury since 1990.) He has done a lot for the city of Boston and I look forward working with him on any issue that affects District 6.
Did you vote for Menino or Michael Flaherty in the election last Fall?
That is a personal question, but I worked as a volunteer on the Sam Yoon campaign last year while working part-time as an Adult Education teacher in Dorchester.
What should be done to improve the Boston Public School system? Did you support the state's recent education reform package?
As a school teacher in the Boston Public Schools, this is an issue that is near and dear to my heart. First thing to improve on is to make sure our teachers are well supported. A lot of teachers quit after two to three years on the job because of burn out and stress. Why is that? Because they are thrown into the system and are left on their own. Granted, the city has paid more attention to this problem than it ever has in the past with their New Teacher program, but like Mayor Menino has said, there are always things that need to be worked on. This leads to the idea of cultural sensitivity training recently mentioned in a Globe article. Why is there sometimes such a disconnect between teacher and student? Because teachers are as prepared as they should in terms of the cultural sensitivity of our students and families. Lastly, getting families more involved, the Parent U program is an example by having families take part in learning how to be more involved in their child's education. In terms of the recent education reform package, I am a huge proponent of public schools and I am a proud member of the Boston Teachers Union. In saying that, as an educator, I am concerned with the overall educational success of a child. Whether it means that success is achieved through public, private, parochial, charter, pilot, or home school, we need to provide the tools necessary for that child to be successful. Teachers need to know that we do have rights and we do have a voice at the table, but fundamentally, we are a serving a very important constituency, which are the students that are sitting in the classroom before us.
Does the MBTA serve Boston and District 6 well? What public transportation changes would you work to achieve?
As an MBTA rider in Boston since I was a young child (I take the Green Line to Government Center because parking is so bothersome when I have to go to City Hall), I am a strong advocate for public transportation. It's worrisome because even though I am a strong advocate, there are still problems facing the MBTA. They really have not had a handle on young people riding the T. Blessed that they tried, but there is still that disconnect. There are still cases of unreliable service on the Green Line and the Red Line breaks down every so often. The Orange Line trains looked rusted and old. The corridor on South Huntington Ave. and South Street can get so congested with the frequent Route 39 buses and parked cars that it becomes a safety hazard for those crossing the street or driving. The Silver Line? Let's not get into that. In any case, let's start with telling passengers what's going on instead of sitting/waiting 15 minutes for the train to start moving. How about on-time reliability? That's probably going to be eliminate some of the passengers' frustrations and if they are late, tell passengers it's going to be late. They may be frustrated but at least they were told. These are small things but it makes a big difference in changing the culture of the T and to encourage more people to ride the T.
Is there an "epidemic" of violent crime in Boston? How would you address public safety city-wide and in District 6?
Violent crime happens anytime, anyplace. There is this perception that it just happens in certain areas of Boston and that it is a 24/7 problem. I have taught students in these areas and I have spent countless hours in these areas going to the supermarket and walking around saying hi to the business owners and the residents. All I have to say is don't believe the hype. There are certainly a selective handful of individuals that are self-destructive and don't care if they shoot someone in the face, but we see that halfway around the world in Iraq and Afghanistan as well. There are good people in these areas that go about their lives and working hard to earn a living just like the residents of District 6. Again, it has to be a shared effort from every resident in Boston to make sure our neighborhoods are safe. That starts with earned trust between the community and the police. Without that, there is no way to make sure those that commit crimes are punished. Additionally, as I have stated before, we need to maintain the Street Workers program so that our young people's concerns are directly addressed and heard when trust is not always there between the community and the police.
Does the Boston Redevelopment Authority work well for the city? Should it be reformed?
We need to reassess the BRA's position and power in various communities across the city. This speaks to having total transparency of the BRA (their budgets, their ideas, and their proposals) so that they are accountable to the tax-paying residents of the city. They also need to develop continued partnerships between the community and the BRA. These partnership cannot exist without earned trust just like the community's relationship with the police. Trust is not given to anyone. It has to be earned and the BRA as well as municipal government as a whole need to understand that.
