On February 13, 2023, the temperature in Philadelphia climbed to 20C (68F). The warm weather made Philadelphians feel a little better after the Eagles lost the Super Bowl the night before. However, at around 10 AM in the morning that day, a SEPTA bus carrying 25 passengers was shot at in Germantown, which cast a decidedly dark shadow on a topic that has plagued the community.在这阴晴不定的早春，费城前市议员、韩裔美国人欧大卫（David Oh），在费城老城的一所教堂中宣布，将参加新一任费城市长的竞选。
On this cloudy early spring day, Korean-American and former Philadelphia City Councilor David Oh announced that he would run for Mayor of Philadelphia.
图片来源：WHYY
Photo credit to WHYY
David Oh 宣布参选费城第 100 届市长，这不足为奇。他此前曾被列为唯一可能的共和党候选人。然而，鉴于费城市压倒性的民主党选民优势，他的命运是否从一开始就已经注定？和以共和党人的身份竞选市议会的一般席位相比，与一长串民主党市长候选人正面交锋是一项更加艰巨的任务。
It is unsurprising that David Oh announced his candidacy for the 100th Mayor election of Philadelphia. He had previously been listed as the only potential Republican candidate. However, given the city’s overwhelming Democratic party registration edge, is his candidacy doomed from the start? Running as a Republican for an at-large seat on City Council is one thing. Running head-to-head with the Democratic nominee in a long line of Mayoral candidate juggernauts is a Herculean task.
Who is David Oh? What gives him such courage to run for mayor? What is he focusing on? What ambitions does he have to make Philadelphia better? Will his “Asian” label win him more votes in Chinatown? With these questions in mind, “Metro Chinese Weekly” conducted an exclusive interview with David Oh to help readers learn more about him.
This was our first question for Mr. Oh. In our interview, Oh talked about how his dad came to the U.S. during the Korean War and, in 1953, founded the first Korean-American church in Philadelphia. He was born, raised, and attended public school in Southwest Philadelphia, a “poor, African-American section with a lot of crime.” He says he still lives there to this day and that his experience living in this community has made him “quite familiar with crime, with illegal dumping, with drug addiction, with all those things that people talk about.”欧大卫从小就想成为一名律师，并最终实现了这一目标。在法学院上学的时候，他发现没有对亚洲人友好的社区法律服务，于是他开始为亚洲移民提供免费法律服务。随后，他开始在地方检察官办公室工作，担任“专注于帮助受害者”而不是罪犯的检察官。
David Oh grew up wanting to be a lawyer and eventually achieved this goal, starting out as a law school student by providing free legal services, mainly for Asian immigrants, because of the unfriendliness existing community legal service organizations had towards Asians. Oh claims many such groups had “very negative attitudes towards the Chinese” and did not serve Asian immigrants or students. Oh then went on to work in the District Attorney’s office as a prosecutor who “focused on [helping] victims” instead of criminals.1988年，他辞职参军，在民警卫队中担任少尉，并成为军队中为数不多的亚裔美国人。这段经历也让他成为所有市长候选人中，唯一一位退伍兵。在退伍之后，欧大卫创办了自己的律师事务所。
In 1988, David Oh resigned from his position to join the U.S. Army because he didn’t think that there were enough Asian-Americans in the military. He is the only veteran among this cycle’s mayoral candidates. After his service in the Army and as a 2nd Lieutenant in the National Guard, he started his own law firm.
2019年2月12日，市议员欧大卫在费城市政厅举行的国土安全部听证会上发表讲话。
Councilman David Oh speaks during a hearing about DHS at City Hall, in Philadelphia, February 12, 2019.
图片来源：the Inquirer Photo credit to the Inquirer
2003年，他开始涉足政坛，因为他觉得自己作为一个政治家，可以比当律师创造出更多的社会影响力。在两次参选费城市议员失败后，他终于成功当选，并于2011年占得为少数党成员保留的两个市议会席位之一。
In 2003, David Oh got involved in politics because he felt like he could create more societal impact as a politician than as a lawyer. After two failed attempts to get elected to City Council, Oh succeeded in 2011, winning election to one of the two City Council seats reserved for minority-party members.然而，欧大卫认为自己在费城市议会做得还远远不够，他说：“我已经服务了11年，但是我所做的十分有限。所以我想在今年11月为选民们提供一个与5月初选时截然不同的选择”。（11 月是指举行大选的时间，5 月初是指举行两党党内初选的时间）。欧大卫还谈到，“尽管民主党是费城的主导党，但是他们忽视了这个城市很多人的视角、观点和经历；忽视了大家努力争取和希望得到的东西，这个城市里的很多人，想法完全不同。”
However, David Oh did not think he could get enough done in City Council, saying that “I have served for 11 years, and I feel very limited there. I’d like to offer the voters a very different choice in November than the one that they’re going to have in May.” (November refers to when the general election is held and May refers to when the Democratic Primary is held.) Oh also talked about how even though Democrats are the dominant party in Philadelphia, their vision does not take into account the “perspective, the opinions and experiences, the struggles, the hopes of many, many people in this city who think completely differently.”他还提到了“常识”，“这是一个把所有人团结起来的智慧，而不仅仅是一小部分人，10%或50%， 我们要100%的人知道自己想要什么。但是事实上，很多人都被排除在外了，所以我常常说，一些政府缺乏常识。”
David Oh also mentioned “common sense,” saying that “the wisdom of all the people together, not just one portion, not 10%, not 50%, but 100% of the people who know what they want, but politics being so particular really excludes a mass majority of people in terms of what they want, you know, for their family, for their future for their community. And that’s why we oftentimes end up with what people say is a government that has no common sense.”
In our interview, David Oh clearly put forward his campaign platform. There are many things he wants to achieve, many of which are a continuation of his work in City Council. David Oh hopes to practice his political vision on a larger stage, and use the “correct” way to make Philadelphia better and make Philadelphians live better.
Like most mayoral candidates, David Oh’s top concerns are gun violence, crime, and public safety in Philadelphia. “You must stop crime in order to bring people out. Let them enjoy their lives, reduce stress, reduce depression, reduce drug addiction, come to work, and have people come back into our city.”
海华记者独家专访
在回答将如何应对费城的公共安全危机，特别是犯罪和枪支暴力时，欧大卫直言不讳地答到，“处理枪支暴力的唯一方法是执法。”他不认为“重塑和治愈”是可行的解决方案，他说“有枪的人想开枪，你给他一本图书馆的书或者是一把吉它都是徒劳的，因为他们在那里杀人。”。
When answering what he would do about Philadelphia’s public safety crisis, specifically crime and gun violence, David Oh answered bluntly, claiming that the “only way to handle gun violence is policing.” He criticized what he believes is too tepid a response to gun violence. “People who have guns that want to shoot people, you cannot give him a library book. You cannot give him a guitar. They’re out there to kill people.”
欧大卫与第 16 区警察队长Chanta Herder在2022年8月的一次活动中讨论急救人员与社区之间的关系
David Oh with 16th District Police Captain Chanta Herder at an August 2022 event discussing relationships between first responders and communities
图片来源：Billy Penn
Photo credits to Billy Penn
在欧大卫看来，犯罪的两个主要原因是毒品交易和“社交（媒体）冲突”。他说，在“某些社区”，青少年“开车四处寻找其他孩子射击，或者用半自动武器和加长弹匣伏击他们。”这些青少年没有判断力，“如果他们找不到射击的对象，他们就会向自己的妈妈，弟弟或者妹妹开枪。他们还可能会锁定某人为目标，只因为他是原定射击目标的朋友”。欧大卫反问道，“我们为什么不阻止他们？我们为什么不逮捕他们？”
David Oh said that the two major causes of crime are drug dealing and “social media beefing” (“beefing” or “beef” is a slang term when people have a conflict with each other. In this context, it would be over social media). Oh says that in “certain neighborhoods” there are teenagers “getting in cars driving around looking for other kids to shoot, ambushing them with semi-automatic weapons, extended magazines.” These teenagers, according to him, have no judgment and “if they cannot find the person they want to shoot, they shoot their mother, they shoot their sister, they shoot their little brother, they may see someone and they simply see that this person appears to be the best friend of somebody they’re looking for (to shoot).” Coming back to his take of policing being the solution, he asks “how come we’re not stopping them? Why aren’t we arresting them?”但“社交冲突”并不是唯一病根，日益猖獗的毒品交易和费城警方对此的纵容也导致了更多犯罪的发生。“警方接到领导的指示，不要阻止毒贩，毒贩们都门儿清着呢”，“这座城市的市长已经指示警方不要管太多；比如不要抓人，不要逮捕某类人，甚至连问都别问。”
But “beef” isn’t the only cause of crime David Oh talked about. He also mentioned drugs and the current state of Philadelphia’s policing, saying that “the police are instructed not to stop drug dealers and the drug dealers know it” and that “the mayor of this city has instructed the police not to do many things. Not to chase people, not to arrest certain types of people, not to intervene.”但为什么我们要逮捕毒贩？这听起来像是一个有着明确答案的问题。这不仅仅是因为他们非法贩卖毒品，欧大卫说，通过逮捕毒贩，特别是在肯辛顿（Kensington）这样的地区，可以阻止毒贩们“为了抢占毒品市场而相互残杀”，这是在挽救生命！
But why do we need to arrest drug dealers? It sounds like a question with an obvious answer, but it is more than the fact that they are breaking the law by selling drugs. Oh says the city needs to arrest drug dealers, especially in areas like Kensington, because dealers are “murdering each other to be able to sell to the drug addicts that are coming from all over,” lives would be saved.为了改善公共安全，欧大卫认为另一件重要的事是在“有需求的社区”增加警力。他说，这些社区“需要警察，需要身着警服的警察，需要开着巡逻车的警察。”“当你拨打911时，你将很快被接听，然后警局会派出一辆警车来帮助你，不管你在哪里。这是大家的刚需。”
Another thing David Oh would do related to policing to improve public safety would be to increase the police presence in “communities that want them.” He says that these communities “want police. They want uniformed police. They want police in patrol cars.” He used the slow 911 response times as an example, saying that when he’s mayor, “when you call 911, you will get an answer, it’ll be picked up like in three or four rings. And then we will send a patrol car, a patrol car will come to your residence or your place of business or on the street corner, wherever you are.”欧大卫还强调了某些犯罪的根源。一方面，问题来自于“糟糕的”学校、高昂的生活成本和福利差工资低的工作，特别是对那些高中或者大学还没有毕业的年轻人来说。
David Oh also would like to address some root causes of crime once “you stop the bleeding.” He believes some of the root causes are “atrocious” schools, the high cost of living, and the lack of well-paying jobs with health benefits, especially for workers that haven’t graduated from high school or college.欧大卫同时认为，费城缺乏一些让年轻人能充实和快乐起来的东西，需要大力发展“创意经济”。而社区大学应该为年轻人提供写作，时尚，音乐，影视方面的学习机会，现在，这一点做得非常不够。欧大卫说，“如果我当了市长，我将会给社区大学更多拨款。”
David Oh also believes that Philadelphia lacks something that makes young people fulfilled and happy, and needs to develop a “creative arts economy.” He thinks community colleges should provide young people with opportunities that they want to learn about in “graphic arts, in fashion, in music, film and television, journalism, writing spoken word,” which he argues is not done enough. As Mayor, David Oh says, he would support increasing funding for community colleges.
“The Philadelphia School District is in the bottom quarter of our state….You’re not getting a good education in this city, and in many places, there is a high dropout rate and the kids just feel like school is prison… That is something the city just has ignored this entire time. And there has to not be tweaking, there has to be a dramatic change in that system.”欧大卫表示，费城的政要们应该就费城公立学校存在的问题达成一致。他提到“在糟糕的学校里，饮用水受到污染，卫生间里没有卫生纸，这些问题已经存在了几十年都没有改观。谁在反击？是我，一个共和党人。”
Yet another issue David Oh says should be an agreed-upon issue among Philadelphia politicians is the problem with our public schools. He highlighted specifics of the “bad schools in Philadelphia, undrinkable water, no toilet paper in the bathroom, all that stuff that’s been around for decades. Who is fighting back? I fight that. I’m a Republican.”
PHL 现场音乐倡议活动现场
PHL LIVE Music Initiative
图片来源：davidoh.com
Photo credits to davidoh.com
When answering what he would do about the public education situation if he were elected Mayor，David Oh mentioned that the Mayor doesn’t have much control over Philadelphia’s public schools. Instead, he outlined what he would do with the limited power over public schools that comes with the mayoral office. “The Mayor can ask for the resignation of all nine school board members, which I would do first. The Mayor appoints nine members to the school board. If the Mayor appoints qualified people, you get a good education. If the Mayor appoints unqualified people in education, you get a poorly performing school district. If you appoint people who are not focused on improving education, careers, and outcomes, you end up with poor performance and inequity as we have had these many decades.”如何选择和认命正确的人，是欧大卫要做的第二件事。他要引入一个系统，根据费城市议会的五个不同分区，选出各自地区的代表进入学区董事会。欧大卫要做的第三件事则是“让学区董事会运转起来”，让董事会成员们“走出自己在学区的办公室”，真正履行董事会的职能，而不是干预教育。
How would David Oh choose school board appointees? He stated he would introduce a system where there are five different zones, based on the council’s districts, that elect someone to represent them on the school board. The third thing he would do is “take the school board and get them out of the school (administration) building. Do you know that the school administration building has offices for each one of the school board members? They should not be in that building. What are they doing in that building? They are not the superintendent. They are not running schools day to day. They are a board. They should do board functions and not meddle in education.”欧大卫要做的第四件事，是开始由市政府将支付学区董事会成员的薪酬，因为“由其他人支付”会时常产生“利益冲突”。他要做的第五件事，是让学区董事会主席兼任副市长。第六件事是“拆除10栋最差的建筑，建造新的学校”。欧大卫还提到，他“不反对特许学校”，如果“在同一个社区里有糟糕的公立学校，也有一所表现良好的特许学校，这所特许学校当然将被保留下来。”
The fourth thing David Oh would do is start paying school board members directly. There is too much risk for a conflict of interest when school board members earn income outside of city government. The fifth thing Oh would do is to make the Chair of the School Board a deputy mayor. The sixth thing on the agenda would be to “take the 10 worst buildings, and build new schools.” He also mentioned that he’s “not opposed to charter schools” and that if “there is a community with bad (public) schools, and you have a good performing charter school, we shall keep that charter school.”在采访中，欧大卫还特别提到了教育公平的问题。他说, 好学校的孩子比坏学校的孩子有更多机会参加课外活动，获得更多教学用品。他表示他要做的第七件事就是让老师们“在最差的社区，最差的学校里做志愿者，花更多的时间为孩子们提供更多的课业教学、教授语言、艺术和音乐课。“我会确保每个学校都有同等的教育资源，不管是管弦乐队，游泳池还是科研设备，一个都不能少。”
David Oh then talked about how kids who go to better schools have more access to extracurricular activities and school supplies than kids who go to lower-performing schools. As the seventh task on his plan for improving public schools, he would address this issue of lack of access to extracurricular activities and supplies by asking teachers “to volunteer in our worst schools in our worst neighborhoods to spend a lot more time in school to provide more academic programs and languages and arts and music. I would ensure that every school has an equal amount of resources. Not that one school has an orchestra and the other one doesn’t. One has a swimming pool, the other one doesn’t. One has science equipment, the other one doesn’t. We will even that out.在贫困社区长大的欧大卫对穷孩子们给予了更多的关注。他强调说, “贫困的社区需要更多的教育，更多的在校时间和更丰富的暑假生活。”他还强调，“低收入家庭学生需要在学校接受更多的职业培训”。而他的第八件要做的事是“接管并重装所有学校图书馆”，因为他看到很多学校的图书馆形同虚设，有的甚至沦为教师的休息室，这让人很痛心。
David Oh, who grew up in a poor community, further addressed the experience of children who grow up poor. “Poor neighborhoods need more education, more time in school, and then during the summer, we’ll have summer enrichment.” He also stressed the need for lower-income students to have more career training in school. His eighth step would be to “take all the libraries and re-outfit them.” He talked about the unavailability of school libraries to the schools’ own students, calling it “disturbing” and that “some are not available at all, they’ve been turned into teachers’ lounges.”
“A lot of people don’t talk about jobs and opportunities. But that is the basis of why we have an ongoing problem. People can’t find a good job and they don’t believe they have a better future. So they’re acting like there’s no reason to live tomorrow, right?”正如欧大卫在他的竞选网站中的陈述：宾州是经济受新冠疫情影响最严重的美国四个州之一。宾州前州长沃尔夫推行的“封城和停业”政策也给费城的小企业带来了重创。增强费城私营企业的活力，将对费城产生重大和积极的影响。
As David Oh states on his campaign website, “Pennsylvania was one of the four states in the US most economically affected by COVID business impact. Governor Wolf’s business closure policy was applied inequitably and had a significant effect on our city, especially on small businesses. Increasing the economic activity of private industries in Philadelphia can have a significant, positive impact.”
In addition, Daivd Oh states that taxes from business activity comprise a significant portion of the city’s revenue base. Increased business activity means more people working and increased business tax revenue. This allows the municipal government to lower the tax burden on the individual citizen.在我们的采访中，欧大卫重点讲述了他对费城亚裔中小型企业的帮扶。在担任费城市议员期间，欧大卫曾经帮助费城中餐馆的老板把费城市政府告上法庭，反对当时针对费城中餐外卖店执法的“十一点”宵禁法案。该案最终庭外和解，市政府把错误执法收缴的26万多美元罚款返还给参与起诉的中餐馆老板们。这个案件的圆满解决，让欧大卫在费城华人社区拥有了更多支持者。
In our interview, David Oh focused on his long standing support of Asian-owned Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Philadelphia. During his tenure on City Counsel, David Oh helped the owner of a Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia take the Philadelphia government to court to oppose the “eleven o’clock” curfew law then in place against the Chinese takeout restaurant in Philadelphia. The case was finally settled out of court, and the municipal government returned the fine of more than $260,000. The successful settlement of this case gave David Oh more supporters in the Chinese community.欧大卫认为，自新冠疫情以来，许多唐人街和亚洲企业一直在挣扎。他表示，新冠疫情对企业产生负面影响的主要方式之一是随之而来的“封城”。他在采访提醒大家，在费城宪章中，“市长可以采取紧急行动，比如封城不超过四周。之后，他必须到市议会提供他需要延期的理由。为了获得延长，他必须证明他所做的是对的。”
David Oh stated that one of the major ways that COVID-19 negatively impacted businesses, particularly in the Chinatown neighborhood, is the lockdown that came with it. He reminded us that it is in the city charter where “the Mayor can have an emergency action, like shutting down the city for no more than four weeks. After that he has to come to city council and provide the reasons why he needs to extend. In order to get an extension, he has to show that what he has done is effective.”“我们需要这样一位市长，他不会鲁莽地下达‘封城’的命令，而会遵守宪章，向议会和费城老百姓提供理由。比如为什么关闭店铺？为什么要这样做？会造成什么影响？好处在哪里？” 欧大卫承诺将“遵守（城市）宪章”，在费城处于紧急状态时，政府依旧“像往常一样具有一定程度的透明度和制衡”。
David Oh declared that “we need to basically have a mayor that will not simply order things closed, that will comply with the charter and will provide reasons not just to the council, but to the public as well. Why did we close this? Why does it make sense? What’s the impact? What’s the improvement?” He said he would “comply with the (city) charter” because of the state of emergency Philadelphia is in, ensuring that Philadelphia always has “a level of transparency and checks and balances that you normally do.”欧大卫还将致力于中止“使用防弹玻璃来保护员工免受顾客的伤害”的禁令，这条禁令被视为针对亚裔企业；他还主张废除含糖饮料税，并称其“一开始就没有必要”，是针对穷人的累退税。
Another action David Oh would support is repealing the ban on bulletproof glass used to protect employees from customers, which is widely seen as targeting Asian-owned businesses. Next, Oh would work to overturn the Sugary Drinks Tax, calling it “unnecessary to begin with.” He called it out as a regressive tax that targets the poor. He also said that it’s bad for business and the economy, saying that “people who live on the edge of the city don’t pay the tax, they just go across the street and go to another county and eat at another restaurant.”他的另一个优先事项是鼓励人们创办自己的企业，让消费者有更多的钱来消费，从而创造一个“更加有利于商业发展的环境”。这些将通过“降低包括房产税在内的税收”，以及吸引大型企业雇主等方式来实现。
Another one of his priorities is to encourage people to start their own businesses and for consumers to have more money to spend, creating a “more business friendly environment.” This would be accomplished by “lowering the taxes and penalties on the poor,” including the property tax he mentioned earlier in the interview, as well as taking action to attract large employers.
Recently, the 76ers’ plan to build a new arena in the Fashion District on the doorstep of Chinatown has become a hot topic in the Chinese community. We asked David Oh for his thoughts.项目的支持者表示，由于人流量的增加，76人队的新球馆对费城唐人街的经济产生极其有益的促进作用。而项目的反对者则认为，这个新球馆的建设将使唐人街的房地产价格飙升，进而导致无法负担高昂租金的租户和小企业主搬离，同时，新球馆还会带来过多的噪音和堵车。华盛顿特区唐人街建造的篮球和曲棍球体育场Capital One Arena就是前车之鉴。
Proponents in Chinatown say the arena would provide an extremely useful boost to the economy because of the increased foot traffic. Opponents argue that the construction of the arena would cause property values in Chinatown to skyrocket, displacing current residential tenants and small business owners who would not be able to afford increased rents. Surging noise and traffic are also red flags. Opponents point to similar examples like the Capital One Arena, a basketball and hockey stadium, built in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown. The project, at a minimum, accelerated its gentrification. At worst, it sealed the fate of the neighborhood’s collapse.
David Oh, however, argues that Philadelphia’s Chinatown is unique and that there aren’t similar projects in the past. Instead of looking at similar projects in the past to come to a conclusion about the proposed arena, Oh says that “you would have to look at the actual architectural design, you would look at, for example, the transportation flow, you would look at the parking study, you would look at the construction, you will look at the demographics of who’s coming. What’s the likelihood that they’re going to come to Chinatown and they’re going to purchase things? Are they going to disrupt? Will it be better or worse? Is it going to increase crime, decrease crime? Is the arena going to bring people in here to revitalize Chinatown or destroy Chinatown?欧大卫认为，数据是关键。“大家需要看到数据，才能做出判断。但是现在有人提供数据吗？答案是否定的。所以，当别人问我对76人新球馆的看法时，因为看不到任何数据，我甚至有点怀疑这一项目的真实性。”
David Oh believes that data is the key. “We need to look at the data to make a judgment. You would need to look at the data. Has anybody provided data? The answer is no. So, basically, when people ask me about the Sixers arena, my thing is, until I see a study, I don’t even know if it’s real.”
Did you realize that David Oh is the only veteran of the thirteen mayoral candidates? Although he has been out of the barracks for decades, he is still a fighter. Just look at his mission against excessive taxation. The Philadelphia city government appraised the value of 150,000 properties at $300,000 each, and then doubled the tax. People who cannot pay the tax may be homeless. David Oh was the only one who objected to this assessment. Although his proposal was rejected, he has not given up.
欧大卫和他的家人
David Oh and His Family
图片来源：davidoh.com
Photo credits to davidoh.com
From his experience in the military to the fact that he’s the only Republican candidate for mayor, David Oh is a unique politician. Whether this is good or bad is for you to decide. Whether you support him in his quest to become the 100th Mayor of Philadelphia is also for you to decide. This May (the primaries) and November (the general election), remember to get out the vote and let your voice be heard.
本篇报道是Every Voice, Every Vote项目的系列文章之一。This story is part of the Every Voice, Every Vote series.
