← Coffeez with Joe Shalaby
Coffeez with Joe Shalaby
From $50 to the State Senate | Faith & the American Dream ft. Senator Steven Choi
00:46:55
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- [00:00]
A
He has prepared another door. He gave me chance to run for state senate and experience as a senator. As you know, a senator has a lot more prestige and more comfortable four years rather than every two years running. And so I wouldn't have tasted as a senator experience if I was not defeated the fourth term. I didn't know.
- [00:29]
B
Welcome to another episode of Coffees. Please welcome Senator Stephen Cho and thank.
- [00:34]
A
You, Joseph, for your invitation and the nice introduction. Looks like you have done a little bit of study on me.
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B
We did a little bit of study and got got to meet you a couple times.
- [00:47]
A
Yeah. Thank you for the nice words.
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B
God bless you and God bless your service. You're, you're a man of faith and a man that continues to help so many countless others. So God bless your service.
- [00:59]
A
Thank you. So with the Christmas coming. Merry Christmas.
- [01:03]
B
Merry Christmas.
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A
Blessings to everybody, all the listeners.
- [01:06]
B
Thank you so much. So let's dive into it. I, I always like to see like how people start their day. What's your morning routine?
- [01:15]
A
I try to vacate my morning time as much as possible. I tell my scheduler don't book me up anything in the morning because I have some my personal stuff I need to take care of. But particularly as soon as I get up my date. I try to get up early somewhere 5 o', clock, 5:30 and on the bed itself I try to open up my day with the Bible verses. I've been this is my fourth time reading Korean Bible and then English Bible, Korean Bible, English Bible. Now into English Bible. Right now I'm reading for the fourth time and a minimum of two chapters of a book. Right now we're back to Genesis is quite interesting to read especially I visited Israel right after session this year in September was 14 to 19 was eye opening for me and some geographic area names that I've been reading in the Bible and in reality having seen the location names, Samaria and like that, it hits me in real time and reading the Bible. So that's my first encounter in the morning and then I try to make up a little bit of exercise. I don't have much time. I tried to go to gym and spend a couple hours a day and I had slack time between two elections from assembly time and when I was when I was announcing my candidacy for the Senate. I had a little bit of a couple months of time during the time I spent quite a bit of time in the gym. But now I don't have that time. So I live in a very nice neighborhood with heels. So I walk and jog Back for my health and do some stretches and taekwondo style stretches as well. Because I have done some taekwondo when I was young and try to maintain my body and then take care of some personal stuff and then get to my office and usually somewhere, depending upon schedule, I may have to get up earlier, but I try to get to my office if no particular schedule, 11 o', clock, 12 o', clock, usually I come there and follow my schedule, whatever that I'm scheduled to follow today. And then, you know, my staff members will prepare me where to go, what to do. So that is my routine.
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B
I mean, you're keeping so busy at your age. I don't know how old you are. It seems like you're timeless.
- [04:34]
A
But I'm very old. Speaking of age, I was abandoned by my own party because of my age. You are too old. We're going to recruit some young blood. And that's what they did. And even though with my political background experience on all local levels up to assembly and they chose somebody else, a younger person and invested that money on him. And it turned out in the primary election there were 11 people, seven Democrats and four Republicans and he was near the bottom. And eventually I bubbled up to number two against sitting incumbent the Democrat senators. And I was former assembly member. And as you know, California election rule is the top two people will compete in the general general election. And they turned out to be a Democratic candidate and the Republican candidate and the Republican candidate happened to be me. So they had no choice to not to support me because there was a Democratic candidate versus Republican. So they ended up, they supported me a little bit for the general election. So I made it. And beating the sitting incumbent by the Republican beating sitting incumbent Democrat in the Senate took for the first time in 44 years.
- [06:31]
B
Wow.
- [06:32]
A
So they called me miracle senator in, in finance financial situation at all in election. That's in, in campaign. That's what they say, money is everything, right? It is important. You got, you got to have a money to campaign. But I was not a, not, not a near, near competitor to sitting incumbent because personally I raised less than $100,000. And then also $60,000 was saved from my assembly raise because I saw the last planned mail campaign which cost about 40, $50,000. I said don't spend it. There's no chance, even if I send another flyer, it's not going to make it. And then I saved it and it became the basis for the Senate race. And one of the interviewers of the endorsement of a Republican candidate which want to endorse By Orange County Republican Party. And one of the member guys, he was focusing, targeting me and not general. People will know that kind of details. And, and he attacked me for why did you not spend your $60,000 and you didn't get elected? It didn't make any sense. He didn't know, you know, what was going on. So anyway, that was my basis. And less than $50,000. I raised a total, less than $100,000 against my income. My opponent took Democratic incumbent had a total in the middle, not even the last $11 million.
- [08:28]
B
Wow.
- [08:29]
A
And so money wise, $100,000 versus $11 million is not a game. Supposedly I should be, you know, long time, you know, so much percentage. I should have been, should have been defeated.
- [08:45]
B
Yeah, I should have been wiped out.
- [08:47]
A
But I beat him. So nobody, nobody supported me. No organizations, no. Not even my party, as I said, and no lobbies, etc. So people were surprised. The shock.
- [09:05]
B
What do you think the catalyst was for you to win that election? If you didn't have the support from your party, you didn't have money to. To win. What is it that allowed you to think win by landslide?
- [09:17]
A
I'm glad you asked that question. As a fellow Christian, as I understand you are also Christian. God has nothing that is impossible. As a person of faith. Only tool I had was at our school praying to your will, not to be afraid and to be brave. And then I prayed and he delivered that miracle to me. That was a miracle. One of the, you know, miracles of people who may not believe in. Yeah.
- [10:00]
B
Now I want to. I want to go back. I want to go back to when you came to America. I mean, a lot of people say they came to America with five bucks in your. In their pocket. You came to America with 50 bucks in your pocket. Could have been 100. But you know, the story goes 50 doll. Now what do you remember about those early days that really drove you forward when you came to America? What is it that really inspired you as an immigrant?
- [10:22]
A
Yeah, my story about $50. I had. I went up on arrival here because I started out with that story because. Which was true. And in fact I left my country of South Korea, where I left my military service right after college. And then I was a artillery officer and they didn't pay us much. So I didn't have much money to save. And leaving for America, I had to just clean up my bank account. And that turned out to be a hundred dollars. So I took $100 and then at that time, there was no even direct flight from Korea to at that time my destination was Hawaii because that was the place where my first job started that America gave me. But there was no direct flight to Hawaii from Korea. So we had to go to Japan and spend a night and fly to Hawaii by 10am and my friends went to a shop and everybody buying camera. And he says, oh, you gotta have a camera to take pictures, to have some memories. And so I invested my $50 to buy a camera. That's the reason by the time I arrived in Hawaii, I had only $50 left. That was the story, you know, where it began. So from there my journey began in America. It was remarkable how I survived and my education for my master's degree and a PhD and ended up being a professor. From there I was led into politics and here I am.
- [12:23]
B
So you were a professor. What did you teach?
- [12:26]
A
My degree was library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh. Okay. And so USC Dean I met her, Dr. Marta Bose was in the American Library association convention in Chicago. And my dean was introducing me as a doctoral student. And I don't know why the dean was impressed by me. And after several months she called me. I come to USDA and teach for us. So that led my way to Southern California.
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B
And when did your career in politics start?
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A
That was after teaching USC for five years. I moved to Orange county and adult at UCI for about three years. At the time the subject changed because originally my job to America was a Korean language instructor and cultural instructor for Peace Corps members who were assigned to go to Korea. So teaching Korean language was my interest and became avocation wherever I go. I studied a Korean language school and so I proposed to UCI to open up a Korean language class. And that idea didn't go anywhere. He asked me to bring a million dollars to start a program. And if you guarantee my teaching position after I set the class up. No, we cannot guarantee. Then why should I try to raise a million dollars? Anyway, I stopped at effort and about three years later somebody called me, come and teach. Oh, there's a Korean language class. And learned that one professor who was a visiting professor from several national university and he returned and they suddenly had no professor to teach. So they thought about me and called me to teach. So I talked there. So because of that teaching experience at UCI and usc, including my landlord, the people around me kept on asking me to run for school board in Irvine. And that was about for two years. No, I don't know anything about what the school board is, about what they do. No politics, I'm not interested in. And I was studying my own business called the Dr. Choice Academy and then I resisted for two years and eventually ended up becoming a candidate because I was misled. There are two positions nobody's applying. Put your name in and you may get elected without having to, you know, go through any campaign, you know, in a real election.
- [15:43]
B
And is that what happened?
- [15:44]
A
And it ended up with 10 candidates for two positions, one incumbent going after her own seat and one open seat and one open seat, nine of us competing. And I was the only non Caucasian, only Asian with the accent and different, I guess point of views, you know, visual minority and the language minority with the accent. Everything as adversarial situation. But surprisingly enough I didn't know how to campaign or anything. But I got elected. That was 1998 for the first time. That was my door opening into politics. Into politics.
- [16:42]
B
You've been in politics for a long.
- [16:44]
A
Time, ever since 1998.
- [16:46]
B
Yeah. We're going on almost three decades.
- [16:49]
A
Yes, close. Yeah, close to it. About 27 years right now. And that is probably one of the records as well. Very few defeats and the continuous election. So I joke and also plus reality still treading the water to get up the political pond. And people keep on pushing me back into the. That means people keep on electing me when I run. If you, if you don't win, I mean you are forced to retire from the politics. Right. But they keep on re electing me. So still I am happily serving my supporters and the constituents.
- [17:38]
B
You know, I always wondered you're in a position financially where you don't need to work and obviously politics probably doesn't pay much. What is it that drew you to politics? Like why are you putting yourself through all, you know, all this hassle at your age, at your in your financial position and not having to do it, what is it that draws you to climbing the political ladder?
- [18:06]
A
I think you are making good point. Nobody will try to become a politician for money because when I started was it about $300, $400 for the school board after insurance deduction or whatever deductions. Sometimes I deposit $4.90. So it's not big pay, you know. No. Even Irvine city council and mayors are much better off than other places. That was a little bit better than in comparison to other cities was decent enough. But I served in the school board for six years before I started as a school city council, which was 2004 for the first time I ran. I served eight years on the city council. And then you can serve only two terms consecutively at that Time the law, the ordinance of the city. And then I ran for mayor and then I got elected the re election, I got reelected. So I served as a mayor 2012-2016 until I got elected to state assembly in the 68th district. So it was not intended, but it turned out to be every step of local government, the school board, city council, mayor, assembly and senate. I think this has been a long record for anyone either minority or non minority. Even professional politicians who like in congress with no term limitations that they forever serve until over 90 years old. I never intended to serve this long. But as you can see, my memory is a sharp and I'm physically unfit and people still desire me to serve them and keep on electing me. So if this condition continues, why not? And your question? So why are we serving in that difficult process of becoming a politician? It is very difficult. This year is the only comfortable time I'm not campaigning for re election. Up to assembly every two years you have to run two times, primary and the general election. But the senate is for four years and right now four years. After four years, if I have served until 2028, I would have served for 10 years. And the state regulation is that they shall serve only up to 12 years. So I will have two years left to serve in the state legislature. But the senate term is four years. So they would not let me run for to serve for two years because it's less than four years. But anyway that's a different story. Having served as a minority and serving my city and entire region for assembly was about roughly 50,000 people in the senate I have over a million people in my district. That's a double because senators are 40 members and Assembly 80 members. And in there now all kinds of background people come and quite a few now minorities. I do see that now. But when I started, everything that I did was for the first time. You're the first minority got elected, school board to the city, etc. Etc. As Asian as a Korean, you know, background, background. Looking back, this is. For the first generation immigrants particularly because the first generation means that you are over 18 years old by the time you arrive. That's the category we term them as a first generation. My children who are born here will be second generation.
- [23:11]
B
What if you came over when you were five.
- [23:14]
A
You will become 1.5 generation. So if you came when you're five, you become 1.5 almost native. But you have deeper your parental relationship in the root in the country of parents. So my children will be second generation. But they tend to I guess saturated and acquainted with the Korean culture. What we do like eating kimchi and Korean food, bulgogi.
- [23:51]
B
Well everybody likes bulgogi and kimchi now that's those staple foods in many diets.
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A
Yeah. 100 days of the baby, 100 day survival celebration. We call it pagil. And so looking back, Nobody will plan. Hey, I'm going to be a model role model for my Korean Americans or immigrants. But you turn out to be role model for that group not only for Korean Americans but for Asians, for the wider spectrum, for immigrants. Or look at Stephen Taui who is supposedly first generation American with an even different shape and a different accent. He keeps on, you know, running and keeps on winning and keeps on serving the community for a long time. So I send unspoken message to children and immigration population that once you have chosen America as your home country, become assimilated and contribute. Okay. Don't stay outside in the periphery and complain and looking up. That's what they are doing and that they should do. Be involved, become the builder. You can become the leader of the community, contributor of the community rather than standing outside and complain about it and living in your own bubble. As for example Korean American bubble. Korean Americans tend to. And I understand each other. Yeah, yeah. Among themselves and even churches, all Korean. So that's the reason as I said a while ago, that my category is a hyphen, the Korean hyphen American. So I go to two churches, even.
- [26:15]
B
The Korean church, American church, Korean church.
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A
And then I go to American church. So I gotta understand both worlds because I cannot abandon my roots and my culture. So I want to have some relationship also built and also they have certain expectations on me. So I try to maintain and continue my relationship. At the same time I'm an American. I want to learn what Americans believe in, what Americans talk about. I want to have American friends. So if you in my church, I go to American church, Marianne's church in Irvine in the nearby your port, cause that's the borderline is still in the jurisdiction of the Irvine in there now I see a lot of non Anglo Saxon white people are coming. I've been going there seven or eight years and now I see the very rapid change of non Caucasian minorities are starting to attend there and that if you go there they have a program called Rooted and they assemble you with the similar background, age group, whatever and to do Bible study and introduction to church. You'll believe the discussions and share the relationship. And then after that nine, nine months program, when that, that's over, they Put you into something called the life group, becomes a lifetime friend. And we continue meeting regularly, either every week, every two weeks, depending upon that group. And we keep on group doing group studies together. And through the group studies, we share meals, go to restaurants together. So maintain our relationship. So I have more friends, I guess, closer friends, you know, among. So you're in a life group, non Koreans. And I'm in the non Korean life group.
- [28:44]
B
Nice.
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A
And my wife, only two non Caucasians in there. So I learn and try to assimilate and mingle with non Korean people as well. So that's what I try to tell Korean Americans, my friends, and also especially young people, just to get involved in your community. And you are living in the United States and with a lot of good benefits and a lot of difficulties that you have faced in your home country. And this is much better country. And now, rather than taking advantage of the establishment or whatever the good benefits that America offers, you need to think about how as an immigrant, you can contribute to make your community better, America better. And so you naturally become a role model. And that's the advice I try to tell my second generation and among people who may have some ambition in politics, because typically that's what they call how did you get into politics? Why did you get into politics? So I guess that's the reason I kept on running because I gave good vision and hope to non Koreans, all the immigrants.
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B
I love that. I love that. Being an immigrant myself, I totally relate. I guess I always considered myself a first generation immigrant. I just learned I'm a first generation and a half immigrant.
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A
So 1.5.
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B
Yeah, because I was born there and I came when I was five. That's why I asked you specifically. So what am I considered? You know, it's still imperative. You know, Warren Buffett says the most important real estate you can invest in is the real estate in between your two ears. So it's. This is the most important real estate to invest in.
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A
My mother was a superhero to me. She kept on emphasizing my village where I grew up was a small farming village. But in that village alone, we are wealthy family with lots of land. What she said was that I don't plan to inherit my land. To you, I would rather sell them and put the knowledge to your brain, which nobody can steal. Yeah, but if you don't have a knowledge, wisdom in your head, then somebody smarter than you are could steal your land. That is very true.
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B
Still true to this day.
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A
Still true. So that's invest in your. My politics was based upon my Education background. If I didn't have a PhD, USC wouldn't have invited me to teach at the graduate school that was a graduate school. And if I didn't have any teaching experience, nobody around me, including my landlord where I studied my doctor Choice academy. He became a good friend. Waki Ray, I don't know you are listening to me one after. But he was one of the visionaries and believing in me. Captain encouraged me run for school board, I will support you. And he turned out to be Democrat. But he did support me too.
- [32:25]
B
I don't know if he's still a Democrat, but you know. Yeah.
- [32:28]
A
So and all of this, my educational background, teaching background, impress some other people encouraging me to run into politics. We need a person like you with the educational background for our school. And so still I'm in education committee in the Senate. Your business is in the bedrock of American dream.
- [32:55]
B
We make the American dream come alive.
- [32:57]
A
Exactly. Supporting, you know, homeownership, home ownership, affordable home, all kinds of problems that we are facing. I mean you gotta make it happen. The mortgages are available for first time home buyers, low credit income.
- [33:17]
B
I mean.
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A
Yeah. And building good credit, which is very important for lenders like you. So that is some message you can tell to have a good, to build a good credit. That means you gotta become a good person.
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B
Yeah.
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A
You know, to become a good person you gotta respect the God.
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B
That's right.
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A
The Bible teaches you how to become a good person. So I think your business can be a vessel for God's truth telling such a basis for human being to be nice, respecting the God and providing the means for them how to become, how to build a good credit. And I can trust you. I can loan my money which will be, you know, always a basis for home loans. Yeah, right. And they can by starting home. My district director, he started his first home and I don't know whether he got the mortgage, you know, from you or somebody else with a good rate or not. I think that you are doing wonderful, doing wonderful work for achieving American dreams of the home buyers.
- [34:39]
B
We're doing, we're doing God's work. That's our, that's our number one pillar serve and do God's work first and foremost. The money always follows. I mean if you know of anything. I know where there's a lot of discussion about the portable mortgages from Trump. There's discussion about the fifth year mortgages from Trump. We were just having discussion before we got on the podcast like you know, we would need to hit a 50 year mortgage, a Portable mortgage, a reduction in housing and lower interest rate to make housing affordable. I don't know what you know or what tricks you know that Sacramento or government has up their sleeve to to make housing affordable again. But it seems like a very daunting task. Quite scary and candidly almost borderline impossible.
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A
I know everybody looks looks at the legislators in Sacramento. Unfortunately, I'm a Republican. What I'm saying is that unfortunately means we are in the super minority group in California. In California. And that means we have no power. We are only 25% of 40 people and everything on the bill when we vote is based upon the majority vote. The thing is they keep on talking about affordable housing, meaning that low cost housing. To build low cost housing, you gotta encourage builders. The builders are there out there not as a charity project, they are out there to make money, but they need to know the basics of economy and business world to encourage them and make money to make them easier to develop. So is that the lesser regulations, More regulation is every step. They try to get the permission that cost money under the name of fees they charge. You know, the fees and the fees.
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B
To build are crazy. And the regulations are borderline impossible for a lot of these builders to build within affordable housing. It's impossible because it's so expensive.
- [37:05]
A
Years ago, not my data is not updated. But when I was a mayor, I was told to get a permit for one. One side it'll cost $54,000. Put me the loan. And when that is already almost like, that's like a house, you know, affordable means that to me 100,000, $200,000 will be in affordable means right now. But right now that's not the reality. You know, cost of living goes up, inflation goes up. Is what the Southern California average house is what $98,980,980,000. That is not affordable. Even average.
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B
Yeah, yeah. That's about $6,500 payment to buy.
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A
Yeah, yeah.
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B
Which means you need to make a couple hundred thousand dollars to break even.
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A
Now who can make that kind of a monthly payment for housing alone? And the leftover that should be by your standard, I understand, should be less than 1/3. Right. Housing cost should be less than 1/3 because you have other things or the expenses you got to live on. So the lessening the regulations, and I.
- [38:23]
B
Love to hear that lesson. Regulations people, you heard it first. We're going to lessen them, especially to build.
- [38:29]
A
Yeah. And give the incentives. If you build more homes, only give you some incentives. Tax deduction, tax tax credits for Certain things. So if you develop more than 50% of your entire building project you are doing will give you 50% of your expenses tax credit such as some for developers to be incentivized to build more homes. Or rather than charging them more tax after more tax, not what they call millionaires tax. If you become richer they will have to pay more tax. That's what they are planning to do. And developing more tax more regulations after regulations. That is not the approach. I mean you have heard about the 26 billion something dollars was spent last five or seven years under the name of helping reducing reduction of homeless people. But after that huge amount of tax money is the homeless people getting reduced or increasing?
- [39:56]
B
It's increasing.
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A
That's increasing every day in Southern California.
- [40:01]
B
It'S going to increase more because housing is so expensive. Everything's so expensive.
- [40:04]
A
So this is a very complicated issue. That's a very simplified comment that I'm making. But if I were the governor I would start a long range plan. Start from the young ages and the financial education how to manage your money and many ways they can become independent and focusing upon education for them to study and stay in school. So become a good person.
- [40:36]
B
I love that. I have a couple last questions before we wrap up here. This one's about goals. What's a personal goal that you have for yourself and a family goal that you have for the family as well as a goal that you have while you're state senator?
- [40:51]
A
Well that's a broad question. As far as my American dream is concerned, I think I have already achieved. I'm so happy every moment I open my eyes. I'm grateful to my Lord who has led me to this level achieving American dream and personal satisfaction. And I'm happy that looking back it was not my goal to become wealthy or famous become politician turned out to be it was. I didn't know where I was going. I was not aiming to become a senator. It turned out to be a senator when I ran for fourth term assembly and then I got defeated by copybacker Democratic person who came moved to my district because that was the better chance for to win. And that was the time when I was very despaired that maybe very sad ending as a losing record. But I didn't know what that meant to me. It was sad for that time. But now that God had a different reason he has prepared another door. He gave me chance to run for state senate and experience as a senator. And as you know, a senator has a lot more prestige and more comfortable four years rather than Every two years running. And so I wouldn't have had tasted as a senator experience if I was not defeated the full term. I didn't know at that time, you know, why I lost. But now God had different purpose. And that created, like I said in the beginning, a small miracle. But to me that's a very, very, you know, I think the majority people who know about my story, there was a big, big miracle was that that kind of a small campaign money and less than $100,000 raised. How did you win $11 million candidate? So teaching young people and people who aim for American dreams and even become politician, whatever the vision you may have is that follow the will of God, what good opportunities he has prepared, he will lead you to that goal. And that's what, looking back, that has happened to my life.
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B
I love that last question.
- [44:04]
A
Sure.
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B
When you're in front of the pearly gates, what do you think God's going to tell you?
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A
Job well done. And I will say thank you, sir.
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B
God bless you. Senator Joyce, God bless your service. I look forward to seeing what you're going to do as state senator. I wish you much prosperity and you know, may the Lord always protect and shine over every decision you make.
- [44:28]
A
Oh, thank you for that opportunity to share my experience a little bit. As a fellow Christian. I'm happy to share my experience how God led me to this point with the abundant blessings which I never begged for. But looking back, that was what exactly he had his purpose in me and the doors and the destination already decided, decided. So I will close by saying that all the people with the Christmas coming and we need to understand what the Christmas is. This is celebration of our Savior, Lord Jesus Christ birthday. And that is not many religions they celebrate as a holiday, but this particular Christmas day is a celebration of Jesus birth. So with ceasing upon us, the people will experience the happiness at the meaning of Jesus coming to this world to save us. And in the conflict of so many different conflicts that we are witnessing in the world, I hope that peace can be achieved. I'm sure he has his goal someday that peace will be achieved on earth. And that's what our ultimate desire. So peace on earth is what I would like to wish everybody.
- [46:30]
B
God bless you. Thank you so much for coming on today's show.
- [46:33]
A
Thank you so much. Joseph.