 Russo presents
the city budget.
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Richard
Nixon's opposition to the Clean Air Act made
Russo politically active at eleven, as he worked
to get local churches to recycle. By then, the
young Russo had entered into the world of
liberalism. Russo went to Yale University and
became chairman of the Yale Liberal Party. But unlike his wealthier
classmates, Russo says he paid for his education
with scholarships and financial aid. His father
gave him as much as he could — $500 a year.
At one point, Russo also worked on campus as a
dish washer.
When he
graduated from college and New York University's
law school, Russo says he thought politics was
"dirty and compromising." He became a
legal aid in St. Louis, a job he thought he could
use to help the poor. Pretty soon her realized
that legal aids don't bring about social change.
He moved to Oakland in the summer of 1987.
By December,
Russo was working for Jesse Jackson's voter
registration campaign. Russo says he collected
46,001 signatures. "I knew nobody here back
then, but I just wanted to get to know the
city," says Russo.
Russo was also
getting to know local politicians. Although he
lost a bid for the city council in 1990, he
prepared to run for city council for a second
time in 1994.
Russo was
elected in 1994, beating Lily Hu for the District
2 seat, where Asian Americans comprise a third of
the residents.
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