Chow is no longer employed by SEIU-UHW, where he was paid approximately $120,000 per year.
According to
an article in the SF Weekly, Chow has connections to Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow (no relation), who on January 8 was found guilty on 162 counts of racketeering, murder, money-laundering, and
dealing in stolen liquor and cigarettes.
During a sentencing
hearing in March, Shrimp Boy will face a mandatory life term, according to the
Los Angeles Times ("Raymond
'Shrimp Boy' Chow found guilty of 162 counts in massive corruption case,"
1-8-16). The FBI investigation involved raids that detained more than 20 people
including former State Senator Leland Yee.
What's Leon
Chow’s connection to Shrimp Boy?
According to
the SF Weekly, Chow is an "associate" of Shrimp Boy.
Shrimp Boy, after
completing an earlier jail term, rose to the top of a Chinatown fraternal
organization called the Ghee Kung Tong group, which was attempting to manage a
night market in San Francisco's Chinatown with city funding.
 |
| Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow |
According to
the Weekly, "Chow secured a permit for the night market in 2010 on behalf
of his union, Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers
West (why home healthcare workers were interested is still unclear, but the
union accepted a $5,000 check from Pius Lee to do it)."
The article,
entitled "Shrimp
Boy Associate Is Helping Julie Christensen," continues:
[Leon Chow’s] tenure with the market was brief: the night market ran for a full season in 2010 but for only two Saturdays in 2011 before closing. Chow, too, would soon drop off the scene. He mounted a brief campaign for city supervisor in 2012, running against incumbent progressive John Avalos in the Excelsior District. That effort ended after it was revealed that Chow lived in Walnut Creek, not the Excelsior; having committed the same offense that landed disgraced former Supervisor Ed Jew in federal prison (lying about his residence on a voter registration form) it seemed Chow's political career was over.
(Fyi -- Leon
Chow’s earlier brushes with the law are detailed in various posts.)
Last fall,
SEIU-UHW's Leon Chow reappeared in Chinatown to work on behalf of a business-dominated
association attempting to elect a business-friendly candidate, Julie Christensen, to San Francisco's
Board of Supervisors.
San Francisco's progressives -- including most of its labor unions -- backed candidate Aaron Peskin, who won the November 2015 election.
San Francisco's progressives -- including most of its labor unions -- backed candidate Aaron Peskin, who won the November 2015 election.
The business-dominated
association -- called the "San
Francisco Alliance for Jobs and Sustainable Growth" -- was founded by
Regan after he parachuted into California in 2009. Regan teamed up with leaders
of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce to create the Alliance, which has
attempted to exert a rightward pull on the city's politics.
 |
| San Francisco Chamber of Commerce |
Regan -- who’s
made his name as the Boss's best friend at the bargaining table -- has extended
his alliance with corporate CEOs to the terrain of electoral politics by
forming such political alliances. Regan's Alliance includes multiple business associations and
other conservative elements of the labor movement, such as the Police Officers
Association.
Last year, SEIU-UHW
and Regan’s so-called "business-labor alliance" threw their full
support behind AirBnB and real
estate developers, who campaigned aggressively against a pair of affordable housing
and anti-gentrification ballot measures that were championed by neighborhood
groups, tenants and progressives.
Where's Leon now?
Stay tuned!
Where's Leon now?
Stay tuned!
