Joe Chow: Texas' first Chinese-American Mayor

Joe Chow became the first elected Chinese American Mayor in Texas in 2005. [PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY]

As a small business owner, ex-city council member, ex-mayor and a one-time contender for Congress, Joe Chow, a first generation immigrant, has come a long way since he arrived in the US on a student visa more than 30 years ago.

Born in Taiwan, Chow came to the US after completing his two-year mandatory service in 1979. After earning an MBA from Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Chow chose to settle in Dallas, where his life has taken roots.

Jobs were not easy to come by, so Chow worked first as a waiter, then manager and general manager at a local Chinese restaurant for five years. In 1986, after saving enough money, Chow opened his own restaurant, May Dragon, which is still in operation today.

Despite the oil bust and recession in the late 1980s, Chow's business prospered and his restaurant has remained popular since its beginning. Ever an avid learner, Chow also studied for and obtained insurance and real estate agent licenses in later years and dabbled in those fields.

Success in business brought financial security. However, Chow felt that something was missing and wanted a more meaningful life. His desire for fulfillment prompted him to turn to local politics.

"I had dealt with a lot of customers, made a lot of friends, and my command of English and understanding of the country improved greatly in the course of more than a decade of running various businesses. I grew confident and decided to seek office," said Chow.

In 2001, when Chow started to seek a seat on the city council of Addison, a suburb north of Dallas with a Caucasian population of more than 80 percent, most people were skeptical.

"When I was raising funds for the campaign, someone told me that he'd give me $500 after I win the race," Chow recalled.

Undaunted, Chow pressed on with his campaign. "Our city is not big, with a population of over 150,000, so I decided to visit every single-family house in the city. Overall, I visited each house an average two to three times before the election, from 6 to 8 pm on weekdays and from noon to evening over the weekends. I wore out three pairs of shoes from all that walking and knocking on doors."

Chow's hard work paid off and he began his term as a member at the Addison city council in 2002. He paid close attention to the city's business, helped the residents whenever he could and observed how the mayor conducted the city government's operations.

In 2005, the mayor's office was vacated due to term limits. Confident with what he had learned in running the city government as a city council member for three years, Chow decided to take a shot at the position.

"All of the city council members and the retiring mayor were supporting my opponent, but I was not discouraged," said Chow.

Employing the same diligent strategy of grassroots campaigning, and wearing out three more pairs of shoes, Chow won the race by a wide margin, thus becoming the first Chinese-American Mayor in the history of Texas.

He won reelection twice and stepped down in 2011 because of term limits.

Looking back on what he accomplished as mayor for six years, Chow said he was very proud to have brought the government closer to the citizens.

"I created 10 citizen advisory committees, from education to art, airport, economic development and others. The committees were made up of 200 citizens. Many people have expressed their appreciation for having a say in running the city," said Chow.

Chow also helped to create the first public elementary school in Addison. Due to its relatively small population, Addison belongs to the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) system when it comes to primary public education. For children, that translates into either a long commute to a public school or attending closer expensive private schools.

Intent on improving life for the local residents, Chow engaged the superintendent of DISD and managed to win support from the school trustees to build an elementary school in Addison. With adequate support, the proposition was put to a vote and passed in 2009.

In 2011, the George H. W. Bush Elementary School was opened in Addison, the town's first ever public elementary school. It gave residents much needed relief from long commutes and expensive tuitions.

"I think a leader needs vision," said Chow, "and I am quite proud of having accomplished this."

Addison is also a city with many corporations. "I visited with a lot of businesses, tried to keep them in Addison through hard times, and also succeeded in attracting some new companies. As a result, our tax revenue increased and we were able to lower our tax rate," said Chow.

Addison's tax rate was cut in 2006 and 2007, and when the recession hit, Chow had Addison well prepared with $11 million in reserve funds.

In 2012, Chow entered the race for the US House of Representatives against longtime incumbent Joe Barton. He lost in the primary election, but Chow said he knew it would be a tough race to win.

"Barton has held that position since 1985. There is no term limit for members of Congress and that is wrong. I think this is why we often have deadlock in Congress and not much gets done. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to change the system because it's the very members themselves who have the power to change it and most of them won't."

Currently Chow focuses on running his business and encouraging young Asian-Americans to be more active in politics. "Despite the existence of racial discrimination here and there, America is a great country. As long as you are willing to serve, put in the effort, anyone and everyone has the opportunity to be part of the political system."

One piece of advice Chow has for Asian Americans: "Asians need to be more active in primary elections, not just vote in the general election. It's the primary elections that decide who will eventually compete for a position."

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com