"Public service is a very noble profession, I would like to see more young people get involved," says Gordan Quan, former mayor pro tem of Houston. May Zhou / China Daily

Even though he is no longer an elected official, Gordon Quan, co-chairman of Foster Quan, LLP and vice-chairman of Asia Society Texas Center, stays actively involved in politics and his community.

During the course of an interview with a reporter recently, Quan was interrupted twice by calls he had to take - they were about that evening's fundraising event he and other community leaders were hosting for Congressman Mike Honda of California.

In 1999, Quan was elected Houston City Council Member At-Large, making him the second Chinese-American city council member after Martha Wong and the first one elected to an at-large, citywide position.

Quan was appointed as Mayor Pro Tem by Houston Mayor Bill White in 2002 and served in that position until his term ended in 2006.

A top immigration lawyer by trade, Quan got involved in community service at an early age, thanks to the example set by his parents.

"My family moved to Houston in 1951 and my father had a grocery store. As one of its founding members, my father was very active in the Chinese American Citizen Alliance (CACA). My parents were also members of the Chinese Baptist Church. They taught me that it is important to get involved in the community. I saw that when I was still a boy," Quan said.

In 1961, Quan, an honor roll student in junior high, was selected to go to Rice Stadium to hear a speech by former president John F. Kennedy. "He was talking about going to the moon," Quan recalls. "And I was very inspired. I was thinking: 'It's a new age, a new president who has new ideas about government'."

When Quan went to the University of Texas, the Vietnam War was underway, but there was also a hippie anti-war movement. "People believed that we could change the world, that we could make a better world. That also made an impression on me," he said.

After graduating from college, Quan became a teacher in a poor black neighborhood school for three years while working on his master's degree at the University of Houston, wanting to make the world a better place.

"My master's degree was in guidance counseling. Eventually I said to myself, I will only changing one child at a time, but I want to change the system to give them all better opportunities. I thought I could make a bigger difference with a law degree," he said.

While in law school, Quan was asked to be a secretary in CACA and did it for six years. "When a shopkeeper got shot and we needed to talk to the government, when people had a problem, they would come to me and say, 'You are a lawyer now, maybe you can help us'. So, there has always a need for representation in the community," he said.

A practice in immigration law turned out to be a big help in Quan's pursuit of public office later. "I got to meet a lot of people from India, Pakistan and other countries who were fresh to the US but later became leaders in their respective communities, and they helped me to get elected because I had known them since they were young students," he said.

Quan's first try for public office was in 1988. Hannah Chow, the first elected Chinese-American judge in Harris County, encouraged Quan to run for State Representative and he did.

"However, later I withdrew from the race because I wasn't prepared," he said. "I did not understand the issues involved, I did not know how to be a good candidate."

A few years later, the Asian American Coalition (AAC) was formed and helped Martha Wong become the first Chinese American elected to the Houston City Council. "I supported Martha in her race and when her term was ending, she recruited me to run. Martha wanted to continue the Asian representation and not lose the gains we had made."

With a successful law career under his belt, Quan thought it was all right even if he were to lose the race. "At least we would show that Martha was not just an anomaly, that Asian Americans want to participate in the government," he said.

A lot of people Quan helped to immigrate over the years wanted to be involved. "They would say, I know that guy, he was my lawyer, not just another white guy or black guy. I really felt good about it," he said.

Quan's candidacy brought people who usually did not vote into Houston's political scene. A lot of citizens started to donate to his campaign and voted for the first time.

"I remember one City Hall insider came up to me and said, 'Who are those people? They have never been involved in politics before.' I felt good that I did not need the downtown establishment to win the race," he said.

Quan recalled one conversation that occurred later on the steps of the City Hall. "It was Ramadan festival and I was there to participate in the celebration. One Asian American came up to me and said: 'Mr. Quan, before you were elected, we did not know where the City Hall was, now we feel like we own it.' I replied: 'You are right, you do own City Hall, you own the government, and you can tell the government what to do.'"

During his six-year term, Quan continued Martha Wong's efforts to ensure that Asian Americans get fair representation in city contracts, promotions in city departments and positions on civic committees and boards. He also served the general population by ensuring city services to all residents regardless of their immigration status, helped to build more apartments for senior citizens and assisted the unprivileged by promoting affordable housing for the poor.

Quan was doing a balancing act between his public duty and law practice by working two days at his firm and the rest of the week at the City Hall and going into the communities. "I was happy to be a tool, a conduit to help people. It's a service to the community and I enjoyed it," he said.

Since Quan left office in 2006, Asian representation continued at Houston City Council with Richard Nguyen from the Vietnamese community as a current member. "We have had an Asian on the City Council continuously for 20 years now," he said. "I think we in Houston are setting a model for the rest of country."

In 2010, Quan lost the race for Harris County judge but he has not ruled out running again in the future. "Public service is a very noble profession, I would like to see more young people get involved," said Quan.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com