San Francisco Supervisor Leland Yee leaves the potent Chinese vote up for grabs by pulling out of the mayoral race, citing financial difficulty. Alfonso Serrano F. is a reporter for New California Media Online (www.NCMonline.com), a project of Pacific News Service.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Citing the ever-rising cost of running for political office, San Francisco Supervisor Leland Yee announced today he will not seek the city's mayorship in next fall's elections.

Yee estimates he would have to raise between $2 to $4 million -- or $22,000 to $44,000 daily -- to remain competitive with a well-funded Willie Brown re-election campaign. "That is an extremely daunting task," admitted Yee.

"That is not the type of campaign I would want to be involved with," he added. "I would be spending most of my time raising money, as opposed to going out to the neighborhoods and community and talking about issues."

His decision was an excruciating one, according to Yee, who said he considered running because of what he calls the city's deteriorating quality of life and lack of leadership at City Hall.

"The city has now parlayed development at the expense of the neighborhoods," Yee said. "Our neighborhoods are now being ravished by live/work developments, chained doors and congestion. And there is a lack of leadership in City Hall, from the mayor, in addressing those issues."

Yee's decision did not surprise some political observers. "Leland knew all along he wasn't going to run, he just wanted to see what kind of support there was in the community for him," said David Lee, executive director of the San Francisco-based Chinese American Voter Education Committee (CAVEC).

"A lot of people were ready for the prospect of him being a really credible candidate," Lee added, "but he may have realized he's not ready to be mayor."

CHINESE VOTE UP FOR GRABS?

Before dropping out of the race, Yee warned all mayoral aspirants that they will have to earn the Chinese vote next fall.

"Our votes have been hard to come by. Many people have died over those votes," declared Yee. "I think the Chinese community cherishes those votes more than you can imagine. Our votes are not for sale. You have to earn them and you have to explain why, in fact, we should support you."

Recent polls show that about 20 percent of the city's electorate are undecided on which mayoral aspirant to support.

But among Chinese voters, representing 18 percent of the San Francisco voters, 46 percent are undecided, according to a poll conducted last November by CAVEC.

"The Chinese vote is really up for grabs," said CAVEC's Lee. "With Leland Yee out of the picture, it's a vote that could be fertile ground for the mayor or his main challenger Clint Reily."

But any mayoral hopeful will have his work cut out for him given Brown's wooing of the Chinese community. Brown has appointed several Chinese to top-level posts, including Fred Lau, San Francisco's first Chinese American police chief.

BROWN'S CHINESE OUTREACH

"(Brown) has done a tremendous job of outreach," Lee noted. "He has invited the Chinese-language news media into the City Hall press corps and he is really cultivating his ties to the community."

Yee would not say whom he planned to endorse now that he has bowed out of the race. He did comment on the ongoing FBI probe of two City Hall commissions -- the S.F. Housing Authority and the Human Rights Commission -- staffed by Brown appointees.

"I think it's extremely unfortunate and embarrassing for the city to have the FBI flashing their badge, coming into city departments and carting away records," said Yee.

This week, the FBI expanded its probe into the alleged abuse of San Francisco contracting practices.

"For this mayor to disassociate himself from all those types of activities, to me is either disingenuous or just irresponsible," Yee said. "Those departments respond directly to him, not the Board of Supervisors."

CAVEC's Lee said, "The FBI probe will certainly make people think twice about their vote." He added: "Ultimately, though, when your choice is Clint Reily or Willie Brown, I don't know how much of an impact the FBI probe really is going to make."