Robert King Fong is a United States Democratic Party politician who is currently a member of the Sacramento City Council

Sacramento City Council

The Sacramento City Council is the governing body of the city of Sacramento, California. The council holds regular meetings at Sacramento City Hall on Tuesdays at 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm, with exceptions for holidays and other special cases....

. He was first elected to that post in 2004 and was reelected in 2008 without opposition.

Education

Fong is an alumnus of the University of California

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

 where he received his undergraduate degree and the University of California at Davis law school where he received his judicial doctorate.

Board of education

Fong served on the Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education for 6 years from 1998 until 2004. When he initially ran for the board, Fong was part of a slate of candidates put up by the late mayor Joe Serna who was attempting to have more control over the struggling, urban school district. He was the president of the board from 2000 until he resigned to take his council seat in 2004.

Issues Facing the Board

During his time on the board, several controversial issues were dealt with including but not limited to charter schools, teacher contracts and the California Administrative Services Authority (CASA), a pension plan for top administrators that many considered legally questionable.

California Administrative Services Authority

In regards to the pension plan, CALPERS, the public employee retirement system in California found that the plan was invalid and that the district owed millions to the retirement system. Another audit found it legally questionable and that it possibly left the district owing ten million dollars in liability.

Charter Schools and Sacramento High School

With regards to charter schools, the primary issue was the closure of Sacramento High School

Sacramento High School

Sacramento Charter High School is an independent public charter high school located in the Alhambra Triangle, adjacent to the Oak Park neighborhood in Sacramento, California. Its charter was approved by the Sacramento City Unified School District's Board of Trustees on July 21, 2003...

, the city's oldest high school and letting St. HOPE, an organization run by Kevin Johnson

Kevin Johnson

Kevin Maurice Johnson is the current mayor of Sacramento, California. He is Sacramento's first African American mayor. Prior to entering politics, Johnson was a basketball player in the NBA, playing point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns...

 a former NBA star who is now Sacramento's mayor take it over. Due to his support of the conversion, Fong had a recall drive looming against him by the Take Back Our Schools Committee.

Other Community Service

Fong has served as the president of the Asian American Bar Association of Sacramento. He also served on the Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce board of directors. He was also a board member of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.

2004 Election

Fong declared his candidacy for the 4th district council seat which covers much of the Land Park area of Sacramento after Jimmie Yee, who had served on the city council since 1992 except for a brief stint in 2000 announced that he was not going to run again. Fong faced minimal opposition, garnering 77% of the vote to his opponent, Joan King's, 23% of the vote. Joan King, a PR consultant was one of the people who attempted to pursue the recall bid against Fong for his actions on the school board.

Arena Tax

Fong was a big proponent along with then mayor Heather Fargo

Heather Fargo

Heather Fargo is a former Mayor and former City Council Member of Sacramento, California. She was sworn in as Mayor in November 2000, replacing Jimmie Yee, and served until December 2008, when she was replaced by Kevin Johnson.-Early life and education:Heather Fargo grew up in Davis, Santa Maria,...

 of Measures Q and R which were on the 2006 ballot that would have levied a sales tax against Sacramento residents in order to build a new arena for the Sacramento Kings

Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...

 at the Railyards in Downtown Sacramento

Downtown Sacramento

Downtown Sacramento is the central business district of the City of Sacramento. Downtown is generally defined as the area south of the American River, east of the Sacramento River, north of Broadway, and west of 16th Street. The central business district is generally defined as north of R Street,...

.

2008 Election

Fong faced no opposition in his bid for reelection in 2008. The race that garnered a significant amount of attention in Sacramento was the mayoral race between Heather Fargo

Heather Fargo

Heather Fargo is a former Mayor and former City Council Member of Sacramento, California. She was sworn in as Mayor in November 2000, replacing Jimmie Yee, and served until December 2008, when she was replaced by Kevin Johnson.-Early life and education:Heather Fargo grew up in Davis, Santa Maria,...

 and Kevin Johnson

Kevin Johnson

Kevin Maurice Johnson is the current mayor of Sacramento, California. He is Sacramento's first African American mayor. Prior to entering politics, Johnson was a basketball player in the NBA, playing point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns...

. Fong decided to support Fargo, the incumbent,