The Chinese American Democratic Club, one of the city’s oldest political organizations for Chinese Americans, voted officially on Thursday to support an effort to recall Supervisor Joel Engardio from office.
The action came a month after an initial vote in which members expressed a desire for Engardio—who co-sponsored last fall’s successful ballot measure to close part of the Great Highway, which is in District 4, to cars—to leave office. The club is the first political organization in the city to publicly back the recall.
“This is not something that we take lightly,” said Josephine Zhao, the club’s president, who urged her members to “think twice, think three times” before casting their vote.
“Joel has been a friend,” Zhao said to her members before the vote. “We want to make sure that we honor the relationship that we have built over the years.”
Zhao’s cautionary remarks did not sway the club’s decision. The vote was decisive, with 52 of 55 participants supporting the recall. That is a relatively high turnout for a vote in a non-election year, said Zhao.
“We respect but disagree with CADC’s decision,” wrote Lian Chang in a written statement. Chang is manager of the Stand with Joel campaign, which is advocating for the supervisor to retain his seat. “Joel is proud to have the support of many Chinese residents of the Sunset who do not support this recall and who say that CADC does not speak for them,” Chang added.
The club has supported other recall efforts in the city, including the 2022 ousters of three Board of Education members and District Attorney Chesa Boudin. But the decision to support Engardio’s recall came with more hesitation.
“It took us five months to reach this decision,” Zhao said, noting that the club has been evaluating its position since it did an informal poll on the issue in December. “We waited to decide until we had done all the restoration effort and exhausted every way to give Joel the benefit of the doubt.”
Some club members had admitted that supporting this recall could be “political suicide” for anyone with ambitions in City Hall, because it could alienate powerful political allies including Engardio and state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), whom the club once considered a close ally.
“There will definitely be political consequences to this vote,” said Brian Quan, a former club president who supports Engardio.
Former member Cyn Wang also expressed disagreement with the vote. “Recalls should be reserved for very egregious behavior,” she said. While Wang supported the city’s past two recall efforts, she argued that Engardio should not be recalled over a policy disagreement.
Yet for the members who spoke at the meeting that night, their trust in the supervisor ended when he introduced the ballot measure to close the Great Highway to cars. This Saturday, the Great Highway is to officially reopen as Sunset Dunes Park.
“This is very important because we have been ignored,” said Sean Kim, a Richmond District resident and member of the club.
