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Brown Turns Political Tables Again - Pelosi aide named to Hallinan’s seat
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Wednesday, January 17, 1996
Author: John King, Catherine Bowman, Chronicle Staff Writers
Mayor Willie Brown put his emphatic stamp on San Francisco government yesterday by filling a vacant slot on the Board of Supervisors with Michael Yaki , an aide to Representative Nancy Pelosi .
The appointment confounded many observers. Brown had been expected to name a leader of one of the interest groups that supported him for mayor. Instead, the mayor chose the trusted assistant of one of his closest allies, albeit someone he has worked with closely during his campaign.
He will learn soon enough what voters think of his choice. Yaki fills the seat left empty by District Attorney Terence Hallinan; it is up for grabs in this fall’s elections, so if Yaki wants to stay in electoral politics he will have to prove his case soon.
Yaki ‘s selection was part of a 22-name blizzard of appointments unleashed by Brown in his first press conference as mayor. The choices included new names — 31-year-old Emilio Cruz will be the mayor’s new chief of staff — and such familiar faces as Library Commissioner Sherry Agnos, wife of former Mayor Art Agnos.
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By contrast, Yaki ‘s abrupt elevation caught people off-guard. And at least one of his future comrades questioned the wisdom of Brown’s move.
``It would have been nice to see the appointment going to people who have run before and never give up,’’ said Supervisor Angela Alioto. ``He ( Yaki ) didn’t start out as a community advocate with no money in the bank. And I am not trying to knock Yaki , because he is not the issue.’’
Yaki , at a press conference yesterday afternoon, said his work with Pelosi leaves him no stranger to the city’s tangled political web.
``Without wanting to sound immodest, I think if you were to call a lot of these groups, they would already have a good impression of me,’’ Yaki said.
For his part, Brown happily defended Yaki . Brown leaned on Yaki increasingly for policy advice as the mayoral campaign marched on.
``He’s just the best qualified,’’ Brown said. ``I looked around for persons that had my vision of the city, grass-roots contacts, were somewhat exposed to public policy-making and had experience with the federal government.’’
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TALK ON CHINA POLICY
San Jose Mercury News (CA) - Saturday, May 15, 1993
Author: Mercury News Staff Report
President Clinton’s China policy and that nation’s most-favored-nation trade status will be discussed by an aide to Rep. Nancy Pelosi , D-San Francisco,... (snip)
Michael Yaki , Pelosi ‘s San Francisco spokesman and an advocate of a human rights requirement in China policy, will appear at a Support Democracy in China membership meeting. An assessment of Hong Kong’s situation will be provided by another speaker. (snip)
Ex-S.F. supervisor named to civil rights panel
San Francisco Chronicle (CA) - Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Author: Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Former San Francisco Supervisor Michael Yaki was named Tuesday to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, where he will be one of the few liberal and Democratic voices on a panel that under President Bush has come under solid conservative control.
Yaki was named to the eight-member commission by his former boss, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco. Yaki worked as Pelosi’s district director before then-Mayor Willie Brown appointed him a San Francisco supervisor in February 1996. Yaki won election to a full four-year term in November 1996 but was defeated for re-election when the city switched to district voting for the 2000 elections.
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Yaki , who took Edley’s seat for a six-year term, said he didn’t want to jump into the commission’s divisions quite yet. “I look forward to getting to know my colleagues and understanding their view on civil rights, but my view has been shaped in part by my family history,” he said Tuesday.
Yaki ‘s father, a second-generation Japanese American, was interned during World War II. His mother was the daughter of a Chinese diplomat who was stranded in this country with his family when World War II broke out.
Yaki said it took an act of Congress to allow the family to stay in the country because the Chinese exclusion laws were in force then.
“Our country still has a responsibility to respect civil rights and civil liberties, including in these trying times,” said Yaki , who practices law in San Francisco with the firm of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro.
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DA Office Braces for Bloodbath — Mass Firings Feared
THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - Wednesday, January 17, 1996
Author: Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross
EXCERPT
LOYALTY TEST: A few weeks ago, when Mayor-elect Willie Brown was mulling over his first appointment to the Board of Supervisors, Carole Migden offered up this advice: ``You have a free pass on this one, so appoint someone that will shine and someone who will be loyal.’’
He did, appointing Representative Nancy Pelosi ‘s aide, Michael Yaki , to replace Terence Hallinan.
Yaki represents the latest generation of the Burton-Brown machine, that liberal-labor combine of politicos that includes Brown, Pelosi , Assemblyman John Burton, plus Supervisors Kevin Shelley and Sue Bierman.
Even U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer started out as an aide in the Burton combine.
If there’s one thing the Burton clan knows about, it’s loyalty. By appointing Yaki , Brown proves his loyalty to Pelosi and gives Yaki a chance to prove his loyalty to Brown.