By Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 17, 2006; B01
A far-reaching collection of Maryland's Asian, Latino, black and women's rights leaders denounced Comptroller William Donald Schaefer yesterday for what they called a series of intolerant public statements -- and they told the former governor that it is "time to go."
Schaefer (D) has inflamed these disparate groups, most recently Korean Americans, and his words have mobilized a political force to register voters so they can participate in the fall elections.
"When he insults one of us, he insults all of us," said Gloria Marquez Sundaresan, a Filipino American who is a leader of the Coalition of Asian Pacific American Democrats of Maryland.
Those who gathered yesterday at a community center in Wheaton were united in urging Democratic voters to choose someone other than Schaefer for state comptroller in the Sept. 12 primary. The women's rights leaders went so far as to call for his resignation.
The groups were reacting to Schaefer's remarks this month that seemed to connect North Korea's test-firing of missiles with the mostly South Korean immigrants who are among the students learning English in Maryland's public schools.
Schaefer's comments came during a July 5 meeting of the Board of Public Works, at which a $2.4 million contract to create a proficiency test for the 30,000 students in Maryland taking English language classes was discussed.
In the course of his freewheeling commentary, Schaefer said: "Oh, we don't worry about any of those things like money. Or illegals crossing the border. That's nothing. That's just a given. Oh, come on. Korea is another one. All of the sudden, they're our friends, too, shooting missiles at us."
Spokesman Laslo Boyd said yesterday that the comptroller "misspoke" and that he is "quite aware of the difference" between the communist government in North Korea and the capitalist government in South Korea, having visited the latter as governor in 1994. The comptroller, Boyd said, only meant to express frustration with the costs state governments bear in the absence of an effective federal immigration policy.
In a letter to newspapers to clarify his intentions, Schaefer said: "I realize that I may have conveyed the impression that I do not support education for everyone in this country. My concern is: who pays for the education?"
But the groups criticizing Schaefer said yesterday that his response falls short of an apology and that it is part of a pattern of "intolerance and indifference" to immigrants, women and minorities.
Schaefer sparked a controversy two years ago when he complained about an interaction with a Latino worker at a McDonald's restaurant who had trouble speaking English. More recently, he drew widespread criticism for ogling a young female aide to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) as she walked away from him during a public meeting in February. He later apologized.
In his quest for a third term, the 84-year-old former Baltimore mayor and two-term governor faces two Democratic challengers in the primary: Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens and Del. Peter Franchot (Montgomery).
Schaefer is struggling to retain support among female voters in Maryland, according to a recent Washington Post poll. Fifty percent of the registered voters surveyed said they had a favorable view of the comptroller, while 34 percent said their view was unfavorable. Among women, 43 percent favored Schaefer; 41 percent did not.
Duchy Trachtenberg, president of Maryland National Organization for Women and a candidate for Montgomery County Council, called for Schaefer's resignation yesterday and said her group will send a letter to him this week. Korean American leaders, who organized yesterday's event, demanded a public apology from Schaefer and said that when they meet with him tomorrow, they plan to suggest that he and other state employees enroll in a cultural sensitivity class.
"It's important that we come together as a unified voice, that these types of debasing comments should not be tolerated and to send a message to other elected officials," said Chung Pak, chairman of the League of Korean Americans of Maryland.
Leaders of the National Capital Immigrant Coalition have their eyes on more than 277,000 black, Latino and Asian residents who are eligible to vote but have not yet registered.
"We have the power, we have the capacity, to remove the policymakers who hate us," said Gustavo Torres, executive director of CASA of Maryland. "And let me tell you, we are going to do this."
Schaefer's spokesman said the comptroller has a long record of supporting women and Korean Americans and has no intention of dropping out of the race.
"We have elections so people get to make choices," Boyd said. "He's always gotten support from a wide variety of voters across the spectrum, and he's hoping to get that same support this year."