Eastside is diverse, leaders aren't

Thirteen years ago, a Chinese immigrant named Conrad Lee became the first minority member of the Bellevue City Council. The city was about 40 years old — with minority residents making up roughly 19 percent of the population — and Lee was a trailblazer.

Now nearly a third of residents in Bellevue are minorities, the same percentage as Seattle, and yet Lee looks at his council colleagues and sees no other people of color. After more than a decade, it remains lonely at the top.

"I'm still the only one; why?" Lee said. "I blame myself. Am I doing something not right?"

For all their burgeoning diversity, the Eastside and its largest city still lag behind Seattle, South King County and Eastern Washington in minority elected officials.

Bellevue city officials and Eastside minority leaders say they're working hard to cultivate a new crop of leaders, but much of the diversity has arrived in the past two decades and political awakening takes time — especially among immigrants.

"Your turn to learn"

"Most of us are taught [that] you don't just jump in and assume you can make decisions for someone when you're a newcomer," said Nadine Shiroma, co-founder of Eastside Asian Pacific Islanders, a group that encourages community involvement. "It's your turn to learn."

The number of nonwhite politicians is still relatively low across the state, and even lower on the Eastside. Minorities make up about 24 percent of the state's residents but only 4 percent of its elected officials, according to census numbers and Progressive Majority, a national liberal group that tracks minority politicians.

The Eastside has no nonwhite members in the Legislature or on the Metropolitan King County Council, only two minority School Board members in seven districts and five known minority City Council members — Russell Joe from Issaquah, Dianne Brudnicki from Duvall, Glenn Rogers from Kenmore, Chris Garcia from North Bend, and Lee.

Bellevue also has just a handful of people of color on its boards and commissions, considered a steppingstone for many council candidates. City officials say they get few minority applicants, though the ones who do apply often get appointed.

The number of immigrants or people of color who have even run for Bellevue City Council is so small that community leaders can name them off quickly. Only three besides Lee have launched campaigns in the past decade or so, all unsuccessfully.

Doreen Cato was only the second African American ever to run for the council when she opposed insurance executive Mike Creighton in 1995. Cato said she lost because of her support for neighborhood group homes and an increased focus on affordable housing, both unpopular stances at the time, and her race.

"People have a fear of change," Cato said. "They might have thought I was going to bring about a change they weren't ready for."

Russian community

Cato, who later founded Sisters on the Eastside, a group designed to give a voice to minority women, said conditions have improved. Valentina Kiselev, a leader in Bellevue's Russian community, is running this fall against Councilman John Chelminiak. She's the first minority or immigrant to run for council in four years.

The city's foreign-born population "is a tremendous asset that we have," Kiselev said. "And if we're not putting it to good use, we're robbing ourselves."

Minority leaders say people of color will pop up more on the City Council and boards over the next five years, as immigrants become more comfortable with their new city and the number of minority and foreign-born residents continues to rise.

"Things will be changing," said Lourdes Salazar, president of the Eastside Latino Leadership Forum. "The community is ready to get more involved."

City officials and minority communities have a long list of strategies to engage residents.

Groups like Sisters on the Eastside and Raising Our Asian Pacific American Representation (ROAR) are working with the city and Bellevue School District to reach out to minority and immigrant parents. A pilot project led by the city and district at Lake Hills Elementary School provides afterschool programs, social services and academic support all in one place and is credited with helping raise student test scores, garnering national attention.

Leadership training

Leadership Eastside, a training program for residents interested in community leadership posts, guides participants through three years of service projects and monthly classes. One of the program's goals is to train people of color, said President Stephanie Mapelli.

Tom Tanaka, a Japanese American and an attorney for the Port of Seattle, is finishing up his stint in the program and was appointed this summer to the Bellevue Transportation Commission. He said he was thinking about applying when he got a call from the city, which got his name from Leadership Eastside.

"I had been living on the Eastside since 1990 and it was time to give something back," he said. One of the most valuable aspects of the leadership program, he said, was "making connections."

Traditional outreach methods don't always work with immigrant communities, leaders say. Some Asian cultures look first to their families for support, so are less inclined to seek help from the government, and in some countries, volunteering without pay is unusual, Lee said.

Common practice in the U.S. is that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease," but some Asian immigrants don't want to ask for help, Lee said. Instead, they're "breaking down in silence."

The pitch to get involved is much more effective if it comes from a fellow member of an immigrant or minority group, leaders say. It should be done over the phone or in person and should emphasis the board's accomplishments, like saving public money or making the city more efficient, Cato said.

Different styles

Cities also need to accept different leadership styles, Shiroma said. Some of the most effective leaders in Asian and Pacific Islander communities may be outwardly quiet but "recognized for wisdom and the work already done," she said.

Even if cultural barriers can be crossed, potential leaders must be convinced to take positions that pay nothing for several hours of work each month. City Council jobs require months of campaigning and tens of thousands of dollars to have any chance of winning.

The immigrants and nonwhite residents flooding into Bellevue eventually will rise to the challenge, community leaders say.

Salazar said the country's growing Hispanic population is often called the "sleeping giant" because it has yet to flex its full political muscle. But that will happen, including in Bellevue.

"I think we're getting there — we're awake," she said. "We're just trying to get ourselves organized."

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com