‘City Council by day, open mic by night’ – Eric Chan’s tightest five minutes

A first term full of surprises

Chan is an incumbent city councilman running for reelection in San Gabriel, a city of roughly 40,000 to 45,000 residents packed into just 4.1 square miles. Asked what he’d point to as his clearest accomplishment from his first term—and what tops his agenda now—Chan didn’t start with policy. He started with a sport.

“In my head, I always thought there would be big, controversial things—like defund the police, refund the police, real estate development. Some people don’t want more development; some want less — you know, big things like that. But the biggest, most controversial thing I dealt with during my first year was this thing called pickleball.

“Pickleball. When we dealt with that issue, everybody came out, and everybody had an opinion. I thought, ‘Hey, it’s pickleball, it’s fun, everybody loves it,’ but no — apparently not everybody loves it. Three different groups were angry about different things. We didn’t have a dedicated pickleball court in any of our parks, even though we have a growing pickleball community. Pickleball is a good sport to get some exercise, but not as strenuous as full-on tennis. We didn’t have a dedicated court. At Smith Park, we had two tennis courts—one was tennis-only, and the other was a hybrid, half-and-half, where they painted lines for both sports and scheduled different times of the week for tennis and pickleball.

“So I thought it would be nice to build a third court and dedicate it solely to pickleball for that part of our community. Easy, right? No problem — our budget’s good, our finances are good, so it’s not an issue of fiscal responsibility; we can afford it. It’s just a matter of building it. We approved it through our proper budget process, and nobody complained. But when it came time actually to hire the construction company to build the court—then, somehow, for whatever reason, everybody started getting mad. There were various reasons. I think we came to a good compromise in the end, and I’m proud of what we did — it worked out. Then my friends’ observation was, ‘Well, if pickleball is the biggest problem you’ve got going on in your city, you’re doing pretty well.’ So I’m proud of that.”

A system of rotating mayors

San Gabriel doesn’t elect its mayor directly. Instead, the gavel rotates among the city’s five council members, with Chan currently holding the seat. Asked how he likes that arrangement, he defended it as right-sized for a small city.

“It’s fine for me. We’re a pretty small city, 4.1 square miles, 40,000 to 45,000 residents. I don’t think we need a separately elected mayor. Big cities like L.A., Pasadena or Glendale are big enough to have a separately elected mayor. But I think the rotation system works just fine for a small city like San Gabriel. Different cities handle it differently—some have automatic rotation, but ours is still technically a vote among the five council members. So yeah, I think it works for us.”

Asked whether that system means a council member could serve an entire term without ever becoming mayor, Chan agreed it’s possible.

“There’s definitely the possibility of someone not serving. I’m okay with the way we have it. Some cities, to guarantee everybody gets a turn as mayor within their first four-year term, define the mayoral term as nine months instead of a full year. So the math works out that each of the five people gets at least one nine-month term as mayor.”

“The main lesson I’m learning about the difference between being mayor and being just one of the other council members is that I don’t get paid any more than the other council members. I just get a lot more work. But again, I asked for it this way, so I can’t complain.”

The city’s books, and a $50 million issue

Chan’s day job is in accounting and property management, and he leans on it heavily in describing San Gabriel’s finances.

“Accounting is one of my specialty areas, and that’s what I bring to the table in terms of my professional skills; I use it to help in my elected position. I’m very proud that our budget is doing very well—it’s balanced. Our reserves are very healthy, and I’m trying my best to keep it that way — especially nowadays, when some of our neighboring cities are having a lot of budget problems.

“I’m not saying we don’t have our own challenges. We all have challenges. San Gabriel is the birthplace of L.A.—we’re the oldest city, because this is where the Catholic missionaries started, and then built the road to what is now Los Angeles. A very old city comes with certain infrastructure challenges. Over the last 25 or 30 years, I think previous councils and governments should have invested more in maintaining our infrastructure. But we are where we are now, so I’m doing my best to make sure we invest properly in our infrastructure. Our day-to-day budget is very good, but I’m trying hard to set aside money so we can handle infrastructure challenges.”

One infrastructure challenge comes with a specific price tag: a police department building renovation. Asked about it, Chan didn’t hesitate.

“I need to figure out how to find $50 million. That’s what I need right now: $50 million. That’s our basic challenge.”

Local control vs. state housing mandates

Like every California city, San Gabriel is under pressure from Sacramento to build more housing. Chan is compliant, but not enthusiastic.

“I have strong opinions on that. We have to, by law, do what the state tells us to do, but I’ve always been a strong proponent of local control.

“And I don’t like the state’s one-size-fits-all approach for all cities, because every city is unique in its infrastructure, communities and demographics. What works for some cities may not work for us. But we have to deal with what the state says — you have to build a certain number of units — so we’re trying our best to comply. But if I had my druthers, I’m much more of a local-control kind of person.

“In San Gabriel — again, because of our historic nature — I like the small-town, small-family, single-family-household neighborhood feel. There’s a time and place for everything, but I do like those suburban, bedroom-community, single-family-house neighborhoods. Now, along our main corridors — Valley Boulevard, Las Tunas, and some of San Gabriel Boulevard — we are starting to build some mixed-use, and that’s the time and place for it.

“Those main corridors are what I think are the most appropriate places for it, if we’re being forced to do it. But personally, I’d like to keep San Gabriel a small-town, bedroom-community kind of feel.”

Asked whether that mixed-use growth helps small businesses, Chan said it does.

“In terms of mixed-use, it’ll bring in more small businesses. If you want to look at the positives of higher-density housing: you build up, you fit more residents into a smaller space, and the theory behind that density is that it’s for people who don’t want to commute — they have the convenience of just going downstairs and having what they need in terms of retail and restaurants.

“So in that way, it does help the surrounding businesses that are already there, which are within walking distance of whoever’s living up top. And as part of building that high-density project, the bottom floor is usually retail, which brings in new businesses and also helps the businesses that are already there by bringing them more customers.”

More than just Chinese food

San Gabriel no longer has a chamber of commerce, which shifts business recruitment to city staff. Chan says he stays involved anyway—and that his priority is broadening what the city has to offer.

“Well, that’s our economic development department’s responsibility now, and I make regular suggestions to them — of course, there’s always a difference between what I’d like to see and what’s realistically possible. But personally, I’m very proud that San Gabriel has the best Chinese food in the world. Hands down, no messing around, the best.

“But I’m noticing we’re lopsided in our diversity right now, and that’s an issue I’m trying to help solve. Even though I’m very proud of our Chinese food, and I personally come from a Chinese cultural background, even I don’t want Chinese food all the time.

“One thing I’m seeing is that we’re losing our Mexican restaurants. We’re losing our Italian restaurants from a generation ago. So I’ve been working with our economic development department to attract more choices—not just for eating, but for shopping too. We have zero American supermarkets within San Gabriel’s technical borders. I’m trying to attract an American supermarket. At this point, a full Ralphs probably isn’t sustainable, but for our city’s size and demographics, it’d be nice to have something like an Aldi or a Trader Joe’s. So that’s a project I’m working on.

“For example, the Grocery Outlet: for U.S. Postal Service purposes, their address on Rosemead Boulevard says ‘San Gabriel,’ but technically they’re not within San Gabriel’s incorporated borders. It’s technically within the LA County unincorporated area. The problem with a business like Grocery Outlet not technically being within our city borders is that we lose out on the sales tax it generates. Most people — unless you’re a political or accounting nerd like me — don’t really think about that difference. That’s another reason bringing good retail into our city is one of my priorities.”

That accounting instinct shows up again when Chan explains where the city’s sales tax revenue actually comes from.

“We don’t have a car dealership, which is a big generator—our neighbor Alhambra does. I’ve been busy this past week because I had to help my mom buy a new car, and she bought it from Alhambra. And Alhambra got the sales tax. So our biggest sales tax generator category is hotels. Hotels are number one,  and restaurants — because, again, that’s the Chinese food.”

Confronting the issue of the unhoused

Chan says San Gabriel’s unhoused population is small relative to neighboring cities, and credits a specialized police response for part of that.

“Knock on wood, compared to our neighbors, we have a very low unhoused problem, which is good. I’m a firm believer that the most compassionate thing to do is to provide the help people need. As for the unhoused, our PD does a great job enforcing whatever ordinances fall within our city’s purview.

“But because of state laws and mandates, there are certain things outside our realm. But our city can enforce certain anti-camping ordinances and other rules. Wherever we can, I try to make sure we set a precedent for enforcing them because, again, the most compassionate thing to do is not leave people out on the street to die. That’s a terrible thing. We need to get them the help they need. Some of the unhoused are chronically unhoused, and often it’s a complicated issue — they have other issues. It’s not just giving them housing — it’s substance abuse problems; it’s mental health issues. Within our San Gabriel PD, we have what’s called a MET team—a Mental Evaluation Team. It’s a partnership between some of our PD officers who are specially trained to handle those kinds of issues, and the county mental health department.”

Two priorities for a second term

Asked directly what he’d prioritize if reelected, Chan named public safety first, and a more deliberate approach to development as the second.

“Number one, always, is public safety. To have a good community and a thriving city, all politics is local. You can complain about the president or your congressman, but honestly, they don’t affect your daily life as much as the leadership in your community and how your city runs. I think public safety is a ground-level thing—everybody wants to live somewhere they feel safe and secure. So that’s number one. I’m very proud that we have very low crime compared to some of our neighboring cities, and our PD and FD are doing great. And just a quick bragging point: our PD and FD are fully staffed at the moment—we’re fully funded, and we have enough police officers to serve our city.

“We’re fully staffed, but the council also approved five extra hires just in case we need them. Right now, we have exactly the number of officers we need for our population—but for planning purposes, what if one or two decide to resign or move away? Then you’re down two, and you can’t just magically hire replacements at that level of service overnight. So, to fill that gap and ensure seamless service, the council, including me, authorized five extra positions, so we’d have that flexibility if someone leaves. It’s like having a bench, in a sports analogy.

“Because if you wait until a seasoned employee leaves and then try to find someone—what if you hire a rookie who still has to go through training? They can’t hit the ground running at that level right away. So we’re proud we built that in, so we have uninterrupted service.

“Smart development is a big thing. Going back to the mixed-use discussion — I’m not against mixed-use; I think we need to be smart about where we put it in our city. You don’t want a big, monstrous condo building in a small, quiet neighborhood. So we’re making sure we’re thoughtful about how we develop our community, and its look and flow. And then, again, making sure we have the right amount of diversity in our city—especially now that I’m mayor, I feel responsible for serving my whole community, not just the majority. San Gabriel is about 65% Asian, mostly Chinese, and the remaining 35% is split between Caucasian and Hispanic residents. So Asian is clearly the majority, but, again, I don’t want us to become ‘all Chinese, all the time.’  I want to make sure we have options in our city.

Going back to the sales-tax issue — it’s not just that I want more American supermarkets for its own sake; it’s the accounting practicality: if our city doesn’t have what our own residents are looking for in shopping or dining, they end up going to neighboring cities like Alhambra and Pasadena to find it. And when our residents do that, our city loses out on that tax revenue, so that’s exactly why it’s a priority for me.”

Beyond the résumé

Asked what voters might not know about him from his website or résumé, Chan—who moonlights as an aspiring stand-up comedian—kept it simple.

“No, I’m pretty much an open book. I think my passion comes through in how genuine I am, because if I didn’t care about our community, I wouldn’t be doing this. In a small city like this, city council and mayor isn’t a full-time job — we get a small stipend, but for the amount of work and effort I put in, it’s way less than minimum wage. It’s almost volunteer work.

“I do this out of passion, and yeah, it gets me in trouble. This is when my hardcore, Hong Kong-immigrant father starts yelling at me: ‘Hey, cut it out with all your political nonsense — you think being a councilman and mayor pays? Focus on your day job.’ I get yelled at — which, again, is material for my stand-up. The answer is, I do this for love of community.”