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October 17 -- A martial artist trained in Asian sword play, Mona Miyasato doesn’t need a sword to make a point. The City’s new spokesperson is imbued with plenty of people skills and a knowledge of municipal government that comes from working in three different departments. The once-aspiring journalist hopes her diverse life and work experiences will promote “community building,” rather than “community relations’’ and help cut
The soft-spoken descendent of Hawaiian parents, Miyasato has been putting in long hours since taking over her new post last month from Judy Franz, who had been the voice of the City since 1997. Like her predecessor, Miyasato will oversee CableTV programming, City publications, media relations, customer service and community outreach. She also will serve as a liaison to neighborhood organizations and handle communications during crisis. “Her broad knowledge of city operations and policy, municipal finance, housing and redevelopment, grants management, and social services will serve her well in working with the media and community on a broad range of issues,” Franz wrote in a departure letter. “Her early journalistic training is reflected in her writing, speaking and presentation skills,” she said. From her first City post in redevelopment, where she helped purchase 13 acres of RAND property at the Civic Center, to her most recent assignment with Human Services, where she played a key role helping steer homeless issues, Miyasato brings a unique perspective to her new job. “It’s been great working in the various departments because I’ve gotten to see what people are doing down in the trenches,” said Miyasato, whose most recent job was in the City Manager’s office in Management Operations. “On a human level, it has really opened my eyes to the difficulties these people have. It’s a valuable perception to have.” Miyasato also has been on the other side of the pen, so to speak, once writing about government, rather than serving in it. Originally interested in a career in journalism, she was a staff writer for the Daily Californian (the Cal student newspaper) and held internships at the San Francisco Chronicle and at the Washington, D.C. bureau of NBC News. “I always thought I wanted to be a journalist,” Miyasato said. “Even as a kid in high school, I was editor of the school newspaper.” After covering countless government meetings, Miyasato “jumped the fence” while at Harvard graduate school, where she would receive a master’s degree in public policy with an emphasis on community development. She surmised she might be more effective than those she was writing about, Miyasato said. “Basically I thought I could do better than they could,” said Miyasato, who also has a dual degree in political science and economics from the University of California at Berkeley. If her stint in journalism should help her better relate to the media, her study of Asian sword fighting styles – she took up nearly five years ago – has helped shape her world view, Miyasato said. “When you look at martial arts, it is not about aggression,” she said. “It stems from how you interact with the world around you.” And how she interacts with all facets of the community – whether residents, businesses, the press or people in City government – depends on the relationships grown and nurtured over time, especially when it comes to dealing with such hot-button issues as development and homelessness, she said. Miyasato has not gone home earlier than 7 p.m. on recent nights, making for long workdays. She starts her day at around 5 a.m. by meditating and walking her dog. But the long hours come with the territory, she said, because relationships take time. “I strive for balance in all things around me,” she said. “You can’t really be of service to others unless you are grounded yourself.” |
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