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Many of you have asked
me, “Are you running for Supervisor?” My answer to you is:
If you think what I have to say make sense, then support my candidacy. Will Chinatown
Ever Be Able to Get Out of the Ghetto Syndrome? By W. Pang If anyone asks, “How is the
economy of this corner of the city?” Would you say it is in great
shape? If the answer is all that rosy, then skip what I have to
say… Look around, the number of vacant store fronts, particularly
in the tourist corridors of Chinatown and North Beach. Is there
anyone doing anything to help the survival of these small businesses?
Ironically, the number one industry of SF is tourism. We complain
about tourists, but we do love to hear the musical sounds of the cash
registers ringing -$7 billion + income annually. Without a doubt, this corner of the city is one of
the main contributors to the city’s coffers. We all know that the economy
is bad now and it might even get worse in the near future. However,
with the weak US$, there is a bright spot in this City by the Bay- that
is tourism. Nobody could have dreamed we are attracting
visitors coming from so called 3rd world countries such as
India and China a few years ago. And, we are anticipating more
and more visitors from other countries not usually targeted in the near
future. The most important thing to do now, in my opinion, is put our heads together to strengthen this cash cow, life -blood industry of this city- tourism. This will bring in real needed jobs. When there are more job opportunities for particularly the underserved limited English speaking and immigrant population, then we might be in a better position politically to deal with other equally pressing issues such as housing, health care, Muni, crime, and homelessness. Mind you, I do pay close attention to those chronically critical issues in this corner of the city. However, a word of caution, these mentioned issues tend to depend on government funding. My main concern is that if we neglect small business, Chinatown may become more and more dependent on handouts instead of being a proud cash contributor to the city.
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