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Politics & Government

Of Two Camps: Chang's Name Conjures Both Scorn and Praise

Barry Chang lands front and center in controversy linked to the Lehigh Cement Plant.

Editor's Note: Barry Chang, neighboring Cupertino City Councilman and founder of Bay Area for Clean Environment, has been at the center of a move to pressure the Lehigh Cement plant to come into compliance with state environmental laws.

In Cupertino, the name "Barry Chang" is nothing if not controversial. A recent spate of negative criticism of the council member is countered by those who defend him. So who is Barry Chang and why do some call him an embarrassment while others revere him?

The following words—angry, passionate, aggressive, persistent, threatening, likeable, divisive, leader—were all used to describe Chang; it just depended on who was talking.

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“Barry Chang is an embarrassment to Cupertino,” long-time Cupertino political consultant Rich Robinson told Patch. Later he said, “He doesn’t belong in public office.”

In contrast, fellow activist in Bay Area for Clean Environment and Cupertino resident Richard Adler said, “I think Barry is incredibly dedicated to fighting for what he perceives is the public interest, and he’s very passionate. He’s tough, and tireless.” 

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Friends: You Make Some, You Lose Some

Adler praised Chang for willingness to “ruffle feathers”—exactly what Chang does routinely since elected to council two years ago. Campaign promises included leaning heavily on Lehigh Southwest Cement to comply with protective environmental laws and regulations.

Because, Chang says, officials don’t do their job overseeing Lehigh’s plant and quarry he harangues his own council, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and staff, and any other government agency that might have influence or control.

His dogged pursuit of what he says he believes is right earned some enemies. About the same time a critical May 18 letter from Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith came to light in a July 24 San Jose Mercury column a surfaced.

Over the years powerful Asian valley politicians with whom Chang once worked organizing and fundraising disappeared from his side.

In contrast Chang gained friends, too.

Chang’s supporters talk about him in near-folk hero terms, as the one politician willing to stand up to the perceived powers that be.

“He doesn’t do it just to make a splash or help his political career, he’s out there doing what he thinks is right,” said Joyce Eden, leader of West Valley Air, which worked on the cement plant issue since 1996, when then-Hansen Cement wanted to burn tires for fuel.

Said Chang, “Someone’s got to do it. If it’s me, then so be it.”

Who is Barry Chang?

Born in 1952 in Taiwan, Republic of China (“That’s very important” to note, Chang said), just three years after Chiang Kai-shek declared martial law, Chang described his family as poor. Although they lived under dictatorship, Chang said the Taiwanese people had freedom to voice criticisms of the government.

The country’s name is important, Chang said, because he does not believe in an independent Taiwan, but rather thinks Taiwan should be part of Mainland China, an unpopular stance that he claims drew violent threats against him. Conversely, he said he’s also not popular with The People’s Republic of China for taking stands against human rights violations.

Chang came to the United States in 1977 to earn a Masters in civil engineering, focusing on nuclear plant design. Out of school, his first job was in Boston, later the Bay Area when he worked on the Diablo nuclear power plant, as well as others around the country.

Concerned the plants weren’t being constructed under the highest standards, Chang looked at other career options which led to a real estate license in 1980, selling houses part time. Laid off from his full-time job in 1984, he looked around for other civil engineering work. Finding little, he dove into real estate full time.

Chang, his wife and three children, lived in Orinda, then a mostly Caucasian East Bay community, when friends told him about Cupertino’s small, but growing, Chinese Mandarin-speaking population, and excellent schools. The family moved here in 1985, around the same time Chang became a U.S. citizen.

Growth and Community Involvement

Building clientele at first wasn’t easy. Race relations then were sometimes tense toward Asians and there was the occasional door slammed in his face and even a cutting comment, “You all are taking over our town.”

Despite hurdles, an evenly split clientele of Caucasians and Asians helped him become one of the top sellers in his office, he said.

Wanting more community involvement Change and his wife joined the PTA of their children’s school, Lincoln Elementary.

“For me it was eye opening,” Chang said of his first experience with American democratic governance.

Unfamiliar with Roberts Rules of Order, it baffled him when board members motioned to “move” items. “She’s not moving anywhere,” Chang remembers thinking.

Elected in 1995 it was during his Cupertino Union School District Board tenure that he faced criticism for wanting to keep school sites the district looked to sell. Chang’s argument held, the district kept the sites, and eventually the city’s school-age population grew and schools were reopened. Some now praise Chang’s foresight, crediting him with saving the district millions.

“I think that he usually is very passionate about what he is concerned about, and he is able to make many people concerned about those issues,” said school board colleague Ben Liao. “He has very clear goals on what he wants to accomplish, and he usually gets them accomplished.”

City Service

Eight years on the school board led to four years on the Cupertino Safety Commission then to a 2007 bid for one of two council seats. He came in fourth—28 votes behind Mark Santoro; 240 behind winners Gilbert Wong; and first-place Kris Wang.

A February 2008 special election to fill departing Patrick Kwok’s seat wasn’t an option because it would pit Chang against friend T.N. Ho. Santoro won the seat.

In November 2009, Chang ran and won, behind Orrin Mahoney, but ahead of the now incumbent Santoro, the order in which he ran becomes important later.

Though Chang’s campaign promise to work for more oversight of Lehigh, he rejects it as basis for the one-issue candidate criticism.

Race support was scarce. It didn’t come from major Cupertino political players or the Asian politicians he once fundraised for—big names such as former Cupertino Mayor Michael Chang, California State Assemblyman Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) and U.S. House of Representative Mike Honda (D-Calif.), the same people he worked with to create in 1996 an organization, Vision New America, to help Asian Americans get more involved in local politics.

“I was the one on the fundraising side,” Chang said. “Because I have thick skin, I can ask people for money.”

Patch calls to Michael Chang and Fong were not returned.

Other politicians contacted for this article declined to comment about Barry Chang, at least two saying they either did not want to be aligned with Chang, or upset Chang’s supporters.

In December a move that surprised Chang and others, blocked him from becoming vice mayor; a move

set in motion by then-outgoing mayor Wang and councilmember Mahoney. Among their concerns about putting Chang in a spotlight position were that Chang is too much an advocate against Lehigh. By tradition of rotation Chang was expecting to be chosen as vice mayor for 2011 then serve as mayor in 2012. Wang nominated Santoro instead.

“People have encouraged us to do something about Barry,” Mahoney told Patch recently. “When does advocacy step over the line? It’s the reason we did what we did about the mayor rotation, (it) was based on some of these issues.”

Some questioned if the move violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law against a majority of elected officials—in Cupertino’s case three or more council members—conducting business outside of public meetings. Mahoney bristled at the suggestion saying he and Wang were careful not to violate the rules, and talked to no one else on council of their plans.

“I like Barry, as a person I really like him, but his style—there are a number of people who are concerned about his style,” Mahoney said.

Chang is known for dropping in negative references to Lehigh in seemingly unrelated issues, his take on the issue when Jobs appeared before the council in June (Jobs didn’t know about matters related to Lehigh.)

On another occasion he forgot what he was about to ask during a discussion about a green building ordinance, and said, “I have too much mercury in my brain”—a reference to one of the toxins emitted by the cement plant. Lehigh officials say the amount of mercury emitted is below current government standards.

The Movement Grows

Last year Chang set out to demand during public comment periods of the Santa Clara Board of Supervisors that officials make Lehigh comply with mining and land use regulations.

Along with other BACE members he persuaded more people to speak out against Lehigh at public meetings.

The week of Feb. 7 proved to be pivotal for both BACE and Lehigh. , ignoring its own planning staff’s recommendations for rights on a smaller amount of land.

Two days later Chang and members of BACE went to Sacramento to testify to the state Mining and Geology Board, claiming that Lehigh was in violation of a 1985 reclamation plan, possibly making the quarry ineligible for the AB 3098 list. Mining sites not on the list are barred from selling to government agencies.

Chang said Lehigh attorney Mark Harrison made “belittling” remarks about Chang and BACE, describing Chang as someone no one could get along with, and the group as a “small cadre” of Chang’s supporters.

On the trip back to Cupertino Chang remembered saying to BACE members, “'Let’s show Mark Harrison we’re not a small group and this is not a small issue.’”

A few months later BACE launched a Change.org online petition urging the state to remove Lehigh from AB 3098. Within days about 1,000 people signed, and duly swelled to more than 26,000.

BACE members said they believe the response is what forced mining officials to finally put Lehigh on notice with a July 20 letter stating that the quarry was in danger of losing its AB 3098 status.

Under Attack

About that time Chang’s character came under attack. A San Jose Mercury column on July 23 brought to light County Executive Smith’s letter which led to a caustic Twitter account, angrybarrychang, a YouTube video, and .

The letter claimed Chang threatened county employees and warned him to stop or the county would take legal action.

Chang denies any threats, but admits he can be persistent and “forceful” at times, and says he’s not “smooth” adding that English is not his first language, which could lead to misunderstandings.

Chang sees Smith’s letter and recent attacks as a way to distract him from Lehigh.

“They know they can’t get rid of me,” Chang said. “I’m not going to back down, they know that.”

Mahoney suggested Chang may be under attack because some believe Chang is expected to run for higher office. Chang would not say what exactly his plans are, but sources told Patch they believe he’s eyeing an assembly seat.

“My aspiration is not for the higher office, it’s to make sure Lehigh is in compliance,” Chang said. “Whatever it takes, within the law, including higher office.”

Style: In the Eye of the Beholder

Chang's supporters agree Chang could improve his style, and even Chang said he's learning as he goes how best to conduct himself in achieving goals.

For years local residents have politely asked for more regulation of the cement plant and quarry, Adler said.

"Barry may have to dial it down a little, but I’m learning to dial it up a little," Adler said. "You maybe need to make a little trouble."

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