The Los Angeles Post

SF City College Board President Alan Wong Qualifies for the November Election and has a Large Fundraising Lead

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August 9, 2024 (San Francisco) – This week, San Francisco City College Board President Alan Wong 王兆倫 submitted his candidacy paperwork at the San Francisco Department of Elections to run for reelection for college board and officially qualified for the November 5, 2024 election. Wong was elected to his first term in 2020.

“I am running for reelection so I can continue to help young San Franciscans succeed and provide opportunities to people like my immigrant parents seeking to improve their lives,” said Wong. “I want to help people save tuition money and get ahead through City College. City College can help people find a job after finishing vocational training at the school or transfer to a four-year university.” 

Wong has an overwhelming fundraising lead among his fellow candidates. As of the San Francisco Ethics Commission campaign financial disclosures up to June 30, 2024, Wong had fundraised $66,000 with over 450 donors. The second place in fundraising is $22,000. Wong has more campaign dollars than his next three competitors combined and that bodes well for his campaign.

Wong currently serves as President of the City College of San Francisco Board of Trustees and Co-Chair of the Free City College Oversight Committee. He was born and raised in San Francisco, and his entire family attended City College of San Francisco.

As a youth, he served on the San Francisco Unified School District Student Advisory Council and as Student Delegate to the San Francisco Board of Education. In 2019, he was the principal legislative staffer responsible for drafting and passing the legislation bringing San Franciscans the current Free City College program. As policy director at a children’s nonprofit, Wong advocates for childcare and to ensure every child can reach their full potential. With a comprehensive education policy background spanning childcare, K-12, and higher education, his aim is to support the success of young San Franciscans from birth to adulthood.

If re-elected to the City College Board, his priorities are:

  • Maintaining a balanced budget, rainy-day reserve fund, and strong financial controls. 

  • Keeping City College of San Francisco accredited and accessible to all.

  • Expanding job training opportunities for San Franciscans.

  • Protecting Free City College from budget cuts.

  • Closing the opportunity and achievement gap for African American and Latino students.

Wong’s family has a deep and long relationship with City College. When his father Jimmy immigrated to San Francisco, Jimmy attended the City College Culinary certificate program, which allowed Jimmy to become a Local 2 union hotel cook and sole provider for his family for two decades. The wages and healthcare that Wong’s father obtained enabled his family to afford tiny in-laws and live with dignity in San Francisco. Then, as a teenager, Wong himself took City College classes for free with a low-income tuition waiver. The City College units Wong earned helped him to graduate from UC San Diego at age 19. 

As a City College Board member, Wong has fought to strengthen the voice of the Asian American community. He fought to save City College’s Cantonese program to ensure that City College could teach the next generation of Cantonese speakers capable of serving the large immigrant Chinese community and providing language access to safety, social, and healthcare services. Wong worked with California Assemblymember Phil Ting to pass California Assembly Bill 264, which allowed community colleges to make Lunar New Year a paid school holiday. Wong also passed a college policy requiring the college to have mandatory budget updates at Board meetings and the creation of multi-year budget plans to strengthen fiscal oversight and sustainability at the college.

Election day for the college board position will be on Tuesday, November 5, 2024.