Early one afternoon in late October, the 99 Ranch Market in Arcadia was bustling with shoppers stocking up for the week. But it was a gathering outside that attracted attention.

Near one of the market’s entrances, a group of women had set up a table bearing a cardboard sign that said, “RECALL GOVERNOR.” They did their best to intercept customers as they were coming and going to make their case for removing California Gov. Gavin Newsom from office.





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Arcadia and Temple City residents gather signatures for an effort to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom outside 99 Ranch Market in Arcadia Oct. 20. (Photo by Christopher Yee, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)



“Since Gavin Newsom began as governor, he has not done anything to help people,” said Fenglan “Juli” Liu, an Arcadia attorney who organized the signature gathering effort. “He’s out to destroy society and destroy California.”

This signature-gathering effort is the most recent example of Chinese American residents of Arcadia, El Monte and Temple City becoming more politically active.

These newly forged activists have organized themselves as the Greater SGV Safe Community Foundation, Liu, the group’s founder, said. They first formally came together when members of the Chinese community sought to fight El Monte’s approval of a medical cannabis growing, processing and distribution center set to operate in the northern portion of the city bordering Temple City.

However, the group’s roots go further back, group member and unincorporated North San Gabriel resident Penny Ling said. That effort centered on blocking affordable housing nonprofit Mercy Housing from converting the Golden Motel on Rosemead Boulevard into 169 units of permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless people, Ling said.

While the motel was in unincorporated San Gabriel, residents from nearby Temple City — including a large contingent of Chinese residents — opposed the development, arguing it would flood the neighborhood with homeless individuals who would pose a threat to nearby schoolchildren. Ultimately, Mercy Housing withdrew its planning application and did not purchase the property.

“A lot of us woke up about how we could make your home safer,” Ling said. “But we have to get others to wake up. Everyone has to work together.”

In May, the group also gathered outside the Los Angeles County Office of Education in Downey to protest changes to state guidelines for public school sex education. They argued the curriculum — which is inclusive of the LGBTQ community and advising youth about safe sex, masturbation, contraception, navigating relationships, recognizing signs of abuse and talking to kindergartners about gender identity — sexualized children.

While Asian Americans as a group don’t all vote along the same political lines, their votes have made a difference in electing several conservative politicians in the San Gabriel Valley, including U.S. Rep. Ed Royce and State Assemblyman Phillip Chau, whose districts both include Walnut, Diamond Bar and Rowland Heights, according to Asian Americans Advancing Justice’s 2018 report titled, “A Community of Contrasts: Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in the San Gabriel Valley.”

In those 2016 elections, the number of registered Asian American voters were twice as great as the margin of victory by which Royce and Chen won, indicating significant Asian American influence, the report states.

For Liu, the reason Chinese Americans in the San Gabriel Valley are supporting more conservative politics is because they feel Democratic lawmakers have been failing them on public safety.

“Bad policies,” such as Assembly Bill 109 and propositions 47 and 57, have put criminals back on the streets with little prosecution, she said, and compassionate homelessness policies have made California a destination for homeless people from other states.

“I care about people, their prosperity, kids’ safety and the safety of our homes,” Liu said. “That’s why we’re out here every week.”

Every weekend since Sept. 7, Liu’s group has been collecting Newsom recall petition signatures at Metro Supermarket in Temple City and 99 Ranch Market in Arcadia, and they are determined to continue until February, when the signature-gathering period ends, Liu said.

A steady stream of people, most speaking Mandarin, stopped by the table on Sunday, Oct. 20, with many signing the petition. Liu said that is typical of their efforts.

“Almost all Chinese people don’t like what’s going on,” Liu said. “They feel like they have no future, their kids have no future. They know they need to get involved.”