Dozono Hopes to Become Portland's First Minority Mayor
The campaign frontrunner and head of Azumano Travel recently recommitted himself to the race after facing setbacks.
Sho Dozono's professional resume is filled with a series of "firsts." In his hometown of Portland, Oregon, he became the first minority chair of the chamber of commerce in its 110-year history. When his public school system talked about thousands of teacher layoffs, the former high school social studies teacher was the first to say, "no way!"
Now, Sho is hoping to add another "first" to his record - he's running for mayor. If elected in May, he said he could be the first minority mayor in Portland's history.
"I think it's huge," said his daughter Kristin Dozono, who is also helping with the campaign. After her father made history at the Portland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce in 2002, she remembered staring at a wall filled with photos of past presidents at the chamber office.
White male. White male. White male.
It was like staring at the way of the world, she said. "At that time I was extremely shocked and a little sad to think, wow, this was a 'first' to be taken?"
A Moral Obligation
"It's my time. I'm 64. I could retire or take on the challenge to be mayor of Portland," said Sho by phone from his Portland office where he's been running Azumano Travel for over 30 years.
The businessman was born in Japan, where his mother Yoneko worked as an interpreter. Sho arrived in Portland at 10 not speaking a word of English. But Portland quickly became his home. It was where he met and married Loen Dozono, earned his master's degree in education and worked as a social studies teacher.
It was also where he grew a successful business empire. In 1976, Sho left teaching behind to dabble in his father-in-law George Azumano's travel business. Eleven years later, he took over the company as president and chief executive officer.
Along the way, Sho was active in the JACL, first as a Junior JACLer and then as chapter president in the late 1970s. He was tapped to be a commissioner of the Port of Portland and worked on several community organizations' boards.
"These leadership roles prepared me for high office," he said. But he never really considered running for any office until he received encouraging words from another Asian Pacific American community leader named Sen. Daniel K. Inouye.
Inouye, who has worked with Sho, challenged the Sansei generation to engage in politics especially since the Nisei leaders were retiring. It was like a moral obligation. People have encouraged Sho to run for office before, but he never really gave it too much thought. But when the senator speaks, people tend to listen.
Last September, Portland Mayor Tom Potter, who received a civil rights award from the Portland JACL in 2005, announced that he would not be running for reelection. Behind the scenes, Sho said several of Potter's staff members began pushing him to enter the mayoral race dominated by Sam Adams, a current city commissioner.
Sho was traveling through Japan on business when Inouye's words slipped back into his mind and inspired him to take a chance. In January, Sho officially announced his decision to run, and has since emerged as a major contender by picking up key endorsements including one from Potter himself.
In early March Potter, whom many local pundits say is a political adversary of Adams, formerly endorsed Sho in a press conference calling him "a proven leader [and] a successful businessman with a big heart."
Campaign Theme: Overcoming Adversity
But with the May 20 election day drawing near, the politics and media scrutiny that come with a high-profile race has already caused some turbulence in Sho's bid for mayor.
He spent the recent Easter weekend reassessing whether he would stay in the mayoral race. He had asked for up to $150,000 in public campaign financing through Portland's voter-owned elections rules, but a state administrative law judge ruled that he was not eligible because he had accepted an in-kind donation of over $25,000 in the form of a poll.
That violated the $12,000 limit on goods or services that a candidate participating in public financing can receive.
"It was a shocking announcement," said Sho, who emphasized that he followed the rules from day one.
Then six-year-old allegations reemerged accusing Sho of transferring money from the trust fund of a business associate's son to companies he controlled.
"Every dollar was accounted for," said Sho, who was the trustee. "It was an unfortunate accusation."
In retrospect, he regrets not fighting the accuracy of the allegations six years ago. He knows this is a part of his profile now, something that will likely come up again in the heat of the campaign.
"I've learned from those mistakes and I moved on."
But as he reassessed his decision to run for office, calls and e-mails poured in from supporters. He emerged on March 24 ready to continue the fight.
"This really is the opportunity to focus on issues," he said.
Supporters say they admire Sho's ability to unify.
"Sho is able to bring diverse groups of people together to work on common problems," said Marleen Ikeda Wallingford.
The theme of their campaign may be "overcoming adversity," said Loen. In their almost 40 years of marriage, she has never seen her husband back away from a challenge.
She remembers a time when a young Sho, who was serving a three-year stint in the U.S. Army stationed in Vancouver, told her that he had lost his platoon in a battle simulation. What if this were real?
"He was devastated," she said tearfully.
Since then, Sho always made sure no one was left behind. Azumano Travel was one of the first corporations to sponsor same-sex rights, said Kristen.
During the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks, Sho and Loen watched the destruction from their hotel in Brussels where they were attending a travel conference. Sho's immediate reaction was: what can we do?
The couple rallied 1,000 Oregonians in a "Flight For Freedom" to New York to show support for the victims of the attacks. In 2004, after a tsunami devastated parts of Thailand and Indonesia, the Dozonos organized a similar "Flight Of Friendship" to Thailand.
"He sees so far past himself," said Kristen about her dad. "He says he running [for mayor] for his children and his children's children."
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