Rose Pak’s death leaves Chinatown wondering who can fill void

[yuiyoshida]

A day after Rose Pak’s death, as Chinatown residents mourned the unlikely power broker known as Auntie Rose, the question in San Francisco political circles became: What now?

“It’s a tremendous loss of civic leadership both for Chinatown and San Francisco,” said Gordon Chin, former executive director of the Chinatown Community Development Center. “It would be a mistake for folks to look for who is going to be the next Rose Pak. You cannot replace Rose, but other leadership can rise up.”

Pak was a political leader who never held elected office yet made key alliances with community and business organizations, fostered young politicians and community leaders, and helped make many a career for those currently in power. She was neither a moderate nor a progressive; she was a practical deal maker whose primary interest lay in helping the Chinese community.

When she returned from China in May after undergoing a kidney transplant, she was greeted by a 300-person welcoming committee that included Mayor Ed Lee and former Mayors Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom, Supervisors David Campos and Jane Kim, Public Defender Jeff Adachi, and City Attorney Dennis Herrera.

And they were among the many who knew that if they crossed her they could expect a fight.

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