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BS: Yeah, and something else was like, in my research, I've learned very quickly that it was expected that Tatsuo would run for office someday, and he was heavily involved in politics, like you mentioned, all of you have mentioned. So I guess, what characteristics would you say made him successful politically, and touched on the political legislation that you just brought up? What types of legislation did he care for or maybe lobby for, that he was passionate about here in city government? And do any of you have any stories of you would like to share when you realized he would make a great politician?

EM: I have one story. I had to do a little research for this, but I wanted to make sure that this was discussed. And I guess I'll set it, I'll tell it like a story. There was some legislation, it was House Bill 1174 that he was, had drafted it, it was basically his words, and it was an anti-trafficking bill. And one of the things that it had in it was that folks who were found to be trafficked would not be deported, because they were, their status was illegal. And I remember, you know, he worked on this, and Velma, you know, brought it to the floor, and it passed, and it was great. And a couple years later, I was talking with my mother. And my mother is not Nikkei, but my mom was a social worker, she worked for Child Protective Services as well as did other work after that as a social worker. And she had had a situation where they had removed a child who was sold to a couple and became an adult while basically being a servant in these people's houses. And she said, you know, this woman would have been deported if we didn't have that legislation, and now they're able to get assistance and be able to stay here, the only place really that that this person knows. And thinking about that kind of, kind of personal, you know, the way in which policy, the way in which being a politician, you know, and I think that he, his heart was in the right place, he really wanted to create change. And I think that's, to me, what makes a great politician.

BT: I have two short stories. One is with, about Tatsuo's networking, and it goes back to when he was at legislative aide in the legislature for Velma. And if you talk to any legislator, they always say that a lot of the work is done by the their aides. And what I heard about Tatsuo was that when he was a legislator, state aid, he was able to organize an informal group of other Asian American legislative aides, and this included some really, you know, people that would move on like Hyeok Kim, who later became Deputy Mayor of Seattle, and Nora Katabi, who was a big community activist. And anyway, he would organize a group of several of the legislative aides that could talk and kind of like, informally come together with an agenda to push to their bosses, you know, and I thought that was that's really, as Joy would say, very strategic and very smart, you know, and I always thought that was really good.

Another story was, I wrote a letter to Velma to thank her for something, and then I get this reply back that says, you know, "Bill, thanks for your input, I really appreciate it. And by the way, thank you for your support in the community and all that you do. I'm always amazed to see what you do and the work that you're doing." And I'm reading it and my head is getting bigger and bigger. And then I, then I remember, wait a minute, this is Tatsuo writing it. And so I said, when I saw him, I said, "Tatsuo, when did you write that letter from Velma?" And he goes, "Well, of course, I did. I had a lot of fun with it." [Laughs] But anyway, the reason I bring that up is because, you know, for any politician, constituent services is very important, and he had that down pat.

<End Segment 13> - Copyright © 2022 Seattle Chapter JACL. All Rights Reserved.