OCA - GREATER SEATTLE CHAPTER
PRESIDENT'S ADVISORY COMMISSION ON ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS: BELLEVUE 2006 MEETING
4/6/06 - Report by Bettie Luke for OCA-GS
Five of the fourteen members of President Bush's Advisory Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islanders attended a meeting at Bellevue City Hall on Thursday, April 6, 2006. They included William Afeaki, (Pacific Islander from Montana), William Kil, (Korean American from Los Angeles), Jimmy Lee, (Chinese American from Chicago), Rudy Pamintuan, (Filipino American) and Nina Nguyen Collier, (Vietnamese American from Bellevue).
The AAPI Commissioners were appointed in May 2005 and have participated in over 20 visitations to cities around the nation. They indicated that there are at least 20 more visits before they assemble recommendations to the President.
Conrad Lee, of Bellevue, facilitated the public meeting, which consisted of reports from the 3 major Eastside cities of Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland on services to their Asian Pacific Islander population. About 70 participants listened to summaries of services from various departments including the City of Bellevue Economic Development Department, Entrepreneur Center, Youth Eastside Services, City of Redmond Teen Services, Jewish Center, CISC - Chinese Information and Service Center and ACRS - Asian Counseling and Service Center branches that serve the Eastside.
In the suburban neighborhoods, API needs tend to shift. For example, the workers in the family may have technology-related jobs with long hours, while the older family members have less language skills and the children essentially raise themselves. Several reports mentioned the need to preserve culture and language besides economic, social service and educational goals.
During the 1/2 hr. Question & Answer session audience members, who represented a wide range of agencies and interests, were able to comment on other API issues. Kip Tokuda, a former Washington State Representative urged the federal government to provide more support and leadership. Kathy Hsieh from the City of Seattle stressed the burden of misunderstanding when APIs are viewed as the "Model Minority." A Pacific Islander demographer stressed the need to disaggregate the data on APIs to separate Pacific Islander, Filipinos and SE Asians who have different needs and issues to solve.
Check www.aapi.gov for photos of the 14 Commissioners and news on visitations of other cities.