Fiona Ma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fiona ma | |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2007 |
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| In office 2002 – 2006 |
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| Born | 1966 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Politician |
Fiona Ma (traditional Chinese: 馬世雲; simplified Chinese: 马世云; pinyin: Mǎ Shìyún) (born 1966)[1] is the California State Assembly Majority Whip and a San Francisco politician, and a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors representing district four, the Sunset District from 2002 to 2006, when she took her seat in the Assembly. Prior to her election to this position, she was a part-time district representative to a state senator. Her campaign for this position focused on improving services for her constituents. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Ma won the Democratic nomination to represent California's 12th Assembly District, which includes western San Francisco and parts of northern San Mateo County, in the June 6, 2006, state primary election. Her campaign against fellow Democrat Janet Reilly was one of the most expensive legislative primary races in the election.[2]
Ma received 70% of the votes to defeat two opponents for California Assembly in the November 7, 2006, general election, Republican Howard Epstein and Green Barry Hermanson.[3]
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[edit] Education
Ma is a CPA. She received an MBA from Pepperdine University and a master’s degree in taxation from Golden Gate University. She completed her undergraduate studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology.[4]
[edit] Experience
Before becoming a supervisor, Ma worked on the staff of former state Senate President John Burton as a part-time district representative. Her campaign for this position focused on improving services for her constituents. She was later elected to the San Francisco County Board of Supervisors. While serving on that board, her major legislative push was to shut down massage parlors who illegally trafficked persons into the country and used them to run illegal prostitution rings.[5]
[edit] Career in State Legislature
Although Ma is serving her freshman term, she was appointed the Assembly Majority Whip by the speaker of the Assembly, Fabian Núñez. During her time in Sacramento, her major pieces of legislation have primarily focused on banning toxic chemicals in products for babies and small children, the creation of a state-wide high-speed rail bullet train, and giving equal rights to men and women to change their last names when they are married or become domestic partners. She is also a co-author of SB 840, a bill that creates a single payer universal health care system throughout California.
Ma currently serves on the Committee on Appropriations, Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media, the Committee on Health, the Committee on Public Safety, the Committee on Revenue and Taxation, and the Committee on Joint Legislative Audit. In addition, she is the chair of the Select Committee on Domestic Violence. In 2006, she was voted Favorite Politician by the publication Asian Weekly.
[edit] Controversies
Ma has had minor associations with two convicted felons, long time fugitive Norman Hsu and former Triad society figure Raymond Kwok Chow. She received substantial donations from Hsu and his associates in 2007, and her office issued a certificate of honor for Chow in 2006. Additionally, she received money in 2004 from a cement contractor suspected of substandard work. Despite these events, there is no indication of any personal impropriety on the part of Ma.
The Paw family of Daly City (associates of Norman Hsu) made combined donations of $10,000 to Ma on May 20, 2007. On the same day, Hsu gave an additional $5,000 under his own name.[6] Donations by Hsu, and Winkle and Marina Paw represent more than 50% of donations by large donors contributing $5000 or more to Ma in 2007. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have chosen not to keep Hsu's contributions and are reviewing contributions from the Paws.[7][8] It is not known if Ma plans to keep donations received from Hsu or the Paw family.
In 2006, a member of Ma's staff presented Raymond Chow[9] a certificate of honor from the Board of Supervisors. This individual has been implicated in attempting to extort $100,000 from Allen Leung, who was murdered after refusing to pay. After Leung's murder, Chow took control of the Hop Sing Tong. Ma said "Raymond Chow says he's learned his lesson the hard way and wants to be a positive influence on the lives of young people. I'm an optimist and want to believe that people mean what they say, but only time will tell."[10]
In 2004 Ma returned campaign contributions from Ricardo Ramirez, the owner of a concrete company whom over the years had contributed to the campaigns of John Burton, former Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, and former Mayor Willie Brown. After she had collected the contribution, evidence emerged that Ramirez had supplied substandard, recycled concrete for several major San Francisco construction projects, including the rebuild of the Bay Bridge eastern span. Once this evidence was revealed, Ma returned the contribution given by Ramirez.[11]
[edit] References
- ^ Gordon, Rachel (2006-06-04). $3 million Pumped into Assembly Race: But on final weekend of campaigns, both Ma and Reilly are relying onshoe leather. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ Gordon, Rachel (2006-06-04). $3 million Pumped into Assembly Race: But on final weekend of campaigns, both Ma and Reilly are relying onshoe leather. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ Official Election Results. City and County of San Francisco Department of Elections (2006-12-05). Retrieved on 2006-03-19.
- ^ Allen, Bruce C. (July 2006). Capitol's newest CPA: CalCPA member Fiona Ma elected to Assembly. California CPA. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ Biography. Official website for California State Assemblymember Fiona Ma (2007-01-13). Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ Office of California Secretary of State. Contributor Search page.
- ^ Jim Kuhnhenn (2007-08-29). Clinton to Give Away Fundraiser's Cash. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
- ^ Mike McIntire, Leslie Wayne (2007-08-30). Clinton Donor Under a Cloud In Fraud Case. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
- ^ Mary Spicuza (2007-08-01). Enter the Dragon Head. SF Weekly. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
- ^ Matier, Phillip; Ross, Andrew (2007-08-27). Chinatown gang ties no hindrance to award in S.F.. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
- ^ Van Derbeken, Jaxon (2006-07-09). Empire Built on Sand: Businessman allegedly poured inferior concrete into key projects. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Leland Yee |
Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, District 4 2002–2006 |
Succeeded by Ed Jew |
| Preceded by Leland Yee |
California State Assemblywoman, 12th District 2006– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Preceded by Karen Bass |
State Assembly Majority Whip 2006– |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
[edit] External links
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