22 Facts About Michael Yaki

Michael Yaki was born on 1961 and is an American attorney and politician.

Michael Yaki served as a Commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights, succeeding Christopher Edley, Jr.

Michael Yaki was a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, serving from his appointment by then-mayor Willie Brown in February 1996.

Michael Yaki ran for election and won in November 1996, and served until his election defeat in 2000.

Michael Yaki's family lived in the Philippines, Taiwan, Jakarta, Indonesia, and Ottawa, Canada.

Michael Yaki was asked to by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi to work for her as her District Director.

In that capacity, Michael Yaki supervised her San Francisco office but began advising her on the whole range of issues facing the Congresswoman.

Michael Yaki became her liaison to the City and County of San Francisco, but was active in her policies regarding China, transportation, and the conversion of defense installations at the Presidio of San Francisco, the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, and Treasure Island.

In that role, Michael Yaki was her primary staffer, working closely with then-candidate Clinton's campaign in the drafting and passage of the Platform.

In 1995, Michael Yaki was asked by Willie Brown, the Speaker of the California State Assembly to help him with his run for mayor.

In Brown's first news conference, he announced that he was appointing Michael Yaki to fill the unexpired term of Supervisor Terence Hallinan, who had been elected District Attorney.

Michael Yaki was sworn into the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on February 6,1996, succeeding Terence Hallinan who was elected to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.

Michael Yaki took over Hallinan's position on various committees, including: Government Efficiency and Labor; Health, Public Safety and Environment; and the Select Committee on Public Power.

Michael Yaki was elected to a full four year term in November, 1996.

Michael Yaki was well known for his ability to broker compromises and make difficult deals, particularly when it came to thorny development issues in San Francisco.

Michael Yaki served as a Director of the Golden Gate Bridge District, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the San Francisco Public Employees Retirement System.

Michael Yaki served as a member of the Executive Committee of the California State Association of Counties.

Michael Yaki was appointed by the Congress to the Commission on Civil Rights in 2005.

In 2009, the Republican majority on the Commission began attacking the Obama Administration for its decision in the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case where Michael Yaki was adamantly opposed what he believed was a "partisan" and "kangaroo court" approach to the case by the majority.

In 2012, Michael Yaki called for the Commission to launch an investigation into Stand-your-ground laws in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting.

Michael Yaki is of mixed Chinese, Japanese, and Hawaiian ancestry.

Michael Yaki's mother's father was a senior diplomat for the government of China at the League of Nations, and his father retired as a senior diplomat for the US State Department.