San Francisco Chronicle
Thursday, January 8th, 2009
January 8, 2009 — The San Francisco Board of Supervisors made history Thursday by electing its first Chinese American president… Chiu’s election – which took place on Jan. 8, the luckiest number in Chinese culture – was hailed as a victory for the Chinese American community, which makes up about a third of the city’s population but has struggled to achieve political power.
Chiu reflected on the historic nature of the new board and his presidency: “A lot of very exciting things happened this past November on election day,” he said as his parents, visiting from Boston, beamed in the audience. “On the same day that our country broke a color barrier and elected our first African American president, our city broke color barriers when it came to this board.”