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Rose Pak is
one of the most powerful citizens of the City not elected to public office.
A business consultant for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce here, Rose is
the best friend her community of Asian Americans ever had. Whether lobbying
for appointments, public works projects, or candidates for office, Chinatown
gets because Rose pushes. She is seen here on a block of Davis Street at
Washington which was transformed from an unkempt knoll, "everyone's piss
stop," to a transit route between Chinatown and SOMA due in large part
to her perseverance. Rose and those she influences saw to it that the Davis
Street work, the final promise made to Chinatown interests following the
destruction of the Embarcadero
Freeway, was not forgotten. She says she loves San Francisco because
of the diversity of people whose passions run deep over political differences.
The chain smoker's reputation as a tough talker is well deserved. On the
morning of the Davis Street opening on July 27, 2001, an unnamed opponent
of the project harangued organizers because she wasn't invited to the ribbon
cutting that afternoon. When the adversary later failed to appear, an interested
party suggested, "Maybe she broke a leg." Shot Rose, "I hope she breaks
the other one, too." |
