Eric Mar
Encyclopedia
Eric Lee Mar is a California politician, previously serving on the San Francisco Board of Education
and San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee. In 2008, he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
representing District 1.
since 1992. He teaches Asian American and Ethnic Studies
. As an associate professor, he mentored and supported hundreds of young people to become active in their communities and the political process.
From 1993-97, Mar was the Assistant Dean for New College Law School
in San Francisco, where he taught a course on critical race theory.
Mar is a graduate of the University of California, Davis
; he received his law degree from New College of California
and is an inactive member of the California State Bar.
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 board member of the Chinese Progressive Association and a founding member of API-FORCE (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 Service Employees International Union
(SEIU) Local 790.
In 2000, Eric Mar's house burned down and on the same day, his daughter Jade was born.
Eric has lived in the Richmond District for over 22 years with his wife Sandra Chin-Mar, a public school teacher. Their daughter Jade Mar is a 3rd grader at McCoppin Elementary School in the Richmond District. As a longtime community leader, Eric has led neighborhood and citywide efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing, to increase funding for parks and libraries, to improve services for youth and seniors, and to protect locally owned neighborhood businesses from unfair competition from big corporations like Starbucks
.
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. As a Commissioner for the Board of Education he
In 2008 Mar ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
for District One and won the election, defeating planning commissioner Sue Lee in November.Mar took office on January 8, 2009.
AsianWeek
newspaper criticized Mar for his support of closing down the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
in San Francisco high schools.
. The San Francisco Chronicle opined, “A police officer slain in the line of duty is a disgrace that needs an answer. Instead, the shotgun slaying of Sgt. John Young is getting the political treatment from four San Francisco supervisors more interested in rhetoric than healing justice.” The Chronicle also reported, “Quietly, even some of Mar's allies on the board have expressed dismay at the timing and substance of the measure.”
:
Beyond Chron, however, had a different opinion, placing blame instead with Ackerman:
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."
, 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 calling it one-sided and for taking students out of school to participate in the rally. "The proposal failed but a watered-down version that passed the board called for a day of on-campus public discussion about the possibility of a war in Iraq.".
San Francisco Board of Education
The San Francisco Board of Education is made of seven Commissioners, elected by voters across the city to serve 4-year terms. It is subject to local, state, and federal laws, and determines policy for all the public schools in the San Francisco Unified School District.- Founding :In October 1849,...
and San Francisco County Democratic Central Committee. In 2008, he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
representing District 1.
Biography
Mar has worked as an associate professor at San Francisco State UniversitySan Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
since 1992. He teaches Asian American and Ethnic Studies
Ethnic studies
Ethnic studies is the interdisciplinary study of racialized peoples in the world in relation to ethnicity. It evolved in the second half of the 20th century partly in response to charges that traditional disciplines such as anthropology, history, English, ethnology, Asian studies, and orientalism...
. As an associate professor, he mentored and supported hundreds of young people to become active in their communities and the political process.
From 1993-97, Mar was the Assistant Dean for New College Law School
New College of California
New College of California was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President, Father John Leary. After 37 years, it ceased operations in early 2008....
in San Francisco, where he taught a course on critical race theory.
Mar is a graduate of the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
; he received his law degree from New College of California
New College of California
New College of California was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President, Father John Leary. After 37 years, it ceased operations in early 2008....
and is an inactive member of the California State Bar.
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 board member of the Chinese Progressive Association and a founding member of API-FORCE (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 Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
(SEIU) Local 790.
In 2000, Eric Mar's house burned down and on the same day, his daughter Jade was born.
Political career
In 1998, Mar was elected to the San Francisco County & Central Committee of the Democratic Party.Eric has lived in the Richmond District for over 22 years with his wife Sandra Chin-Mar, a public school teacher. Their daughter Jade Mar is a 3rd grader at McCoppin Elementary School in the Richmond District. As a longtime community leader, Eric has led neighborhood and citywide efforts to preserve and expand affordable housing, to increase funding for parks and libraries, to improve services for youth and seniors, and to protect locally owned neighborhood businesses from unfair competition from big corporations like Starbucks
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...
.
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. As a Commissioner for the Board of Education he
- Co-authored with Tom AmmianoTom AmmianoTom Ammiano is an American politician and LGBT rights activist from San Francisco, California. Ammiano is a Democrat who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2008, representing the 13th district...
and led the campaign to pass Proposition H in 2004 which spends up to $60 million per year in funding to for school programs; - Addressed fiscal corruption and mismanagement in the San Francisco Unified School DistrictSan Francisco Unified School DistrictSan Francisco Unified School District , established in 1851, is the only public school district within the City and County of San Francisco, and the first in the state of California...
(SFUSD); - Created the Parent Advisory Council to the SFUSD, which strengthened parent, student and community involvement in SFUSD policy-making;
- Authored legislation on closing the achievement gap and on fostering healthier and safer schools;
- Led to the creation of a model "green building" facility at Argonne Child Development Center in the Richmond District;
- Served on the Select Committee of the Board of Supervisors and Board of Education, which coordinates policy-making between city government and the school district.
In 2008 Mar ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
for District One and won the election, defeating planning commissioner Sue Lee in November.Mar took office on January 8, 2009.
Controversies
Eric Mar has been at the center of several controversies during his tenure on the San Francisco Board of Education. Mar was criticized by the Richmond Review for allowing local school children be bused across the city rather than to attend school in their neighborhoodsAsianWeek
AsianWeek
AsianWeek was a widely circulated publication of Asian American news, across all Asian ethnic groups, providing coverage of Asian-American issues such as the killing of Vincent Chin, Asian American college admissions, and quotas on Chinese students in competitive San Francisco examination schools...
newspaper criticized Mar for his support of closing down the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
The Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps is a Federal program sponsored by the United States Armed Forces in high schools across the United States...
in San Francisco high schools.
Support of the San Francisco 8
In 2008, Mar introduced a controversial resolution asking the state to drop charges against the San Francisco 8San Francisco 8
In January 2007, eight former Black Panthers were arrested for their alleged involvement in the 1971 murder of Sgt. John V. Young at Ingleside Police station, a thirty-six year old unsolved crime....
. The San Francisco Chronicle opined, “A police officer slain in the line of duty is a disgrace that needs an answer. Instead, the shotgun slaying of Sgt. John Young is getting the political treatment from four San Francisco supervisors more interested in rhetoric than healing justice.” The Chronicle also reported, “Quietly, even some of Mar's allies on the board have expressed dismay at the timing and substance of the measure.”
Acrimonious relationship with Arlene Ackerman
The San Francisco Chronicle blamed Mar and two other Board of Education members for the tense relationship the Board had with former Superintendent Arlene AckermanArlene Ackerman (educator)
Arlene C. Ackerman, Ed. D. is an educator who was the former superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District and the former superintendent of Philadelphia Public Schools..-Washington, D.C.:Ackerman was superintendent of the D.C...
:
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.
Beyond Chron, however, had a different opinion, placing blame instead with Ackerman:
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."
The Examiner and Chronicle have been shameless propagandists for Arlene Ackerman. To their credit City voters saw through the smokescreen. If Ackerman had any respect for what public votes mean she would have quit after the November 2004 election because that is what the voters were saying when they rejected the candidacies of Heather Hiles, David Weiner and Coach Kane. Instead she stuck around to complain about commissioners city voters chose to re-elect...[claiming] she represents the "silent majority."
Mandatory anti-war rally
In 2003, Mar, along with School Board members Sara Lipson and Mark SanchezMark Sanchez (politician)
Mark Sanchez is an American politician in San Francisco, California. He was on the San Francisco Board of Education from 2001 to 2009, and served as president of the board from 2007 to 2009. Sanchez lost a 2008 election for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in District 9.- Biography and...
, 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 calling it one-sided and for taking students out of school to participate in the rally. "The proposal failed but a watered-down version that passed the board called for a day of on-campus public discussion about the possibility of a war in Iraq.".