For the first time in years, the race for the Cupertino Union School District’s board of education is seeing multiple fresh faces fight it out to win a seat on the board on Nov. 4. However, one candidate is fending off reports about a physical fight from five years ago.
The issue was first reported by local Chinese media earlier this month and has become discussion board fodder in the Cupertino community. According to the World Journal, Chris Zhang was on the receiving end of a restraining order in February 2009.
Zhang is one of three newcomers challenging incumbent Anjali Kausar for the seat she was appointed to in 2009. There are two other open seats left from the impending retirements of longtime board members Gary McCue and Ben Liao.
The other two candidates are district parents Kristen Pan Lyn and Soma McCandless.
The incident in question stemmed from an online feud between Zhang and a volunteer moderator of the website and message board MITBBS.com, aimed at Chinese students and immigrants. According to the complaint filed in court by George Wu, Zhang had been blocked multiple times from the website for offensive posts in 2008 that sometimes included profane language, according to Wu’s declaration to Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Zhang learned that the moderator and others from the website were attending a badminton meetup in Milpitas. Zhang decided to go and confront Wu in person with a friend.
“Did I know that things could get out of control? Yeah, I knew it could, but I went anyway, which was a bad judgment on my part,” Zhang told the Courier on Oct. 20. “I was young and reckless, and I went against my better judgment.”
The confrontation quickly turned physical.
“I located [the victim] in the gym and nudged up next to him. I said, ‘Do you know who I am?’ The next thing I knew we were wrestling each other, and we both fell to the ground and I instinctively threw a punch,” Zhang recalls.
Wu’s declaration to the court states that Zhang applied a choke hold as well.
The altercation was over quickly, but Zhang soon found himself in civil court, where Wu was granted a restraining order against Zhang for three years. Zhang, an attorney, represented himself.
When the terms of the restraining order were complete, Zhang wrote a private message to Wu to apologize, but never heard back from the victim.
“I hope he forgives me,” Zhang said. “It was completely my fault. There is no excuse for what I did, but I did it.”
Zhang, now 35, says the incident has helped change him for the better. He is now married with two very young children and says he is focused on serving the community. Zhang also addressed the incident by way of a statement on his personal website last week, which included information and attachments from the civil case itself.
“I learned to love people who don’t agree with me and who don’t like me. I’ve learned to work with them,” he told the Courier. “I believe I am the right person for [school board]; even though I am not perfect, I am constantly trying to improve. Everyone in the community knows that I am not a violent person. I’ve been really involved with not just our schools but our whole community.”
Supporter Steve Ting, a community leader and Cupertino Rotary Club president in 2008-09, is surprised Zhang’s 2009 altercation is being discussed so much. He is supporting Zhang because of his passionate community involvement.
“This gentleman is qualified to run because of his broad involvement, and he is aware of issues for the school board, the kids and our schools,” Ting said. “People need to see that this person is energetic, has broad community involvement and has the passion and commitment. People can be passionate lots of time, but they also have to have the commitment.”
Zhang has quickly made a name for himself in the Cupertino community after running for Cupertino City Council in 2011 as a virtual unknown and finishing last with few endorsements. He has since gathered plenty of support for his campaign after serving as a volunteer with multiple groups and organizations, including the Cupertino Education Endowment Foundation, Cupertino Rotary, Shin Shin Education Foundation, and United Asian Americans for Activism, which he helped found.
Not all voters, however, are impressed with Zhang’s community involvement. Cupertino Union parent and education advocate Hoi Poon met Zhang a few years ago after his unsuccessful city council run. She has reservations about Zhang as a board of education candidate after speaking with him about his platform and background.
“I asked him what he had done on education-related issues and what kinds of challenges and solutions he thought our school district was facing. Unfortunately, he was not very convincing about the extent of his hands-on experience, and didn’t sound knowledgeable about current education issues at the local or state level,” Poon said. “In light of Chinese media reports about his violent history and ‘win-at-all costs’ approach to campaigning, how can I trust him to set pressing policy such as anti-bullying, Emotional Intelligence, collaboration and teamwork for my kid and all kids in the district?”
Zhang has also lost some political support.
Congressional candidate Ro Khanna’s endorsement was recently rescinded, Zhang confirmed, and the candidate said he mistakenly used Ben Liao’s photo and a quote on a recent campaign mailer due to a miscommunication regarding the terms of the endorsement.
A Change.org petition going against Zhang was started by an anonymous parent earlier this week. Zhang’s statement about the 2009 incident can be read at chriszhang.org/pressrelease08192014.pdf.
