Now Yoon faces the spotlight

Sam Yoon woke up in the spotlight yesterday. He spoke with the mayor. Radio stations wanted him for their drive-time talk shows. He barely finished hurrying his 3-year-old through a breakfast of blueberry yogurt and Kix before the television news cameras came knocking. After ducking out to Cambridge for a quick lunch with his wife and parents, he raced back to Dorchester for another interview blitz in the afternoon.

Whether or not he likes it, Yoon is now a symbol in Boston. The first Asian-American to be elected to the City Council, he has become a hero to some or a signal that the growing numbers of Asians in Boston will at last have a voice in city government. On the campaign trail, Yoon repeatedly asked to be judged for his ideas, not his heritage. But he is also embracing his new role, under all that scrutiny.

''The way I interact and behave is going to educate people about what the Asian-American community is," he said. ''I want to show we are much more diverse as a community than people might have thought previously."

The child of Korean immigrants who arrived in America when he was a baby, Yoon said he plans to play a ''front and center" role in addressing immigrant issues. As councilor at large, he also wants to pay special attention to the city's various Asian communities.

For example, he said, he wants to make sure that the Vietnamese community in Fields Corner participates fully in the Boston Redevelopment Authority's planned renovation of Dorchester Avenue, which some fear could lose some of its unique ethnic flavor in the process.

''I want to and expect to play a role in making that happen," said Yoon, who lives a few blocks away.

After a decade of soul-searching after college, Yoon now calls politics his calling and he said he expects his victory Tuesday could shine a national spotlight on him. His campaign generated excitement among Asian-American organizations around the country, and many contributed to his campaign.

''Clearly there is going to be interest in my role as an Asian elected official outside of Boston," he said. ''I'm going to have to balance those opportunities and pressures with my primary role" as a city councilor.

Political observers at City Hall will pay close attention to how Yoon, the only new member, operates on a council that has been criticized for its unwillingness to confront Mayor Thomas M. Menino, now heading into a fourth term. For several years, the council has been dominated by a group of councilors known as the ''Young Turks." A smaller group of more provocative councilors has frequently opposed the mayor, but often unsuccessfully.

Yoon's predecessor on the council, Maura A. Hennigan, was part of that group, often aligning herself with Felix D. Arroyo, the city's first Hispanic councilor, and Councilors Charles Yancey and Chuck Turner, the two African-Americans, on everything from backing rent stabilization to opposing the construction of a high-security biolab in the South End.

Yesterday, Yoon said he has a ''natural alliance" with Arroyo, Yancey, and Turner. They share similar liberal politics, and the three incumbents endorsed him, which Yoon said was ''critical to my success" in winning the trust of African-American and Latino voters.

But he also said that, as a 35-year-old father of two, he also expects to bond with the so-called Young Turks. He said he would choose his battles carefully.

''Taking on the mayor will only be effective depending on who's standing behind you," he said. ''I'm not interested in doing that for the sake of picking a fight and seeking the spotlight."

He would not say whether he planned to support Michael F. Flaherty if he seeks reelection to the council presidency in January. Yoon said that he has spoken with Flaherty and that ''it's something I have to decide."

Yoon's top agenda items for his freshman term are not flashy, he said. He would like the council to take a hard look at retooling the city's revenue structure, which he said is constraining its ability to finance better services.

His first concrete goal is building support for a 24-hour 311 complaint line that would allow residents to report problems with city services and get an immediate response without having to dial an emergency number.