Supervisor

county and he’s a proponent of changing the zoning code to allow taller and denser buildings.

“Being born in Hong Kong, I really do think that going up is a solution to relieving some of the strains we have with affordable housing,” he said. “Certainly single-family homes are good, but we just don’t have enough land.”

Chu sur prised many people last year when he announced that he would run for a seat on the county board rather than seeking a fourth term in the state Legislature. But, as Chu sees it, he has always been a “public servant, not a politician” and he wants to make more impact in the community that he has lived in for more than three decades.

The assemblyman began his career in public office as a school board trustee in San Jose’s Berryessa Union district. He then served on the San Jose City Council for eight years and then spent six years in the state Assembly, where he served as chair of the Assembly’s Human Services Committee. In recent months, Chu co- chaired a local Health and Racial Equity Task Force with San Jose City Councilwoman Magdalena Carrasco to address disparate impacts of COVID-19 on low-income communities of color in Santa Clara County, and developed policy recommendations to reduce racial health disparities.

“Anyone can make empty promises, but you have to look at their track record,” Chu said in an interview. “I have a stellar record of knowledge and experience when it comes to the human services areas.”

If elected, one of Chu’s main priorities will be to ensure a more open and transparent county government, he said. Although the county maintains caps for campaign donations, candidates can loan themselves as much money as they please to run their campaign. Chu said he’s concerned that there is “no way to verify the personal spending” and it raises concerns about the ability to “buy a seat” on the board.

In the District 3 supervisor race, for instance, Lee had raised more than $640,000 for the campaign this year, but $460,000 of that came from personal loans, according to the latest comprehensive campaign filing last month. Chu has raised more than $220,000 with no personal loans.

“I’m a grassroots guy,” Chu said. “I rely on the work I’ve done for the community over the past 30 years and I don’t have that kind of money to buy a seat.”

In recent months, Chu has come under fire for various ethic concerns.

Chu’s fundraising is the subject of a complaint under investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission for potentially violating state campaign finance laws. The complaint alleged that Chu violated campaign laws by using his Assembly campaign committee bank account to “promote his supervisor campaign,” including sending a mailer with COVID-19 safety information — and a link to the website for his supervisor campaign — to voters in the District 3 supervisor district but outside his Assembly district.

Chu has denied acting unethically when he sent the mailers and previously told this news organization that he was trying to provide a “civil service” to the Spanish-speaking community and it was “a mistake on my part not to catch the fine print.”

Earlier this summer, Chu also came under fire for alleged comments he made that were printed in a Chinese language newspaper, including a quote where Chu said many Hispanic Americans told him “they did not care about their children’s education, they are busy with their livelihoods and they did not intend to let their children attend college.”

Chu said his comments were not directly translated and taken out of context when he was speaking about economic inequality and the hindrance it can be for the educational attainment of children.

In a four-person March primary race, Chu won the race by a 3% margin over Lee. Chu received 24,557 votes while Lee secured 22,560. Supervisor Cindy Chavez was handily reelected to District 2 supervisor and Supervisor Joe Simitian, who was unopposed for the District 5 seat, also was reelected.