Education
Antioch University.
Antioch University.
He is a Democrat and a fourth-generation Japanese American. Furutani was elected in a special election in 2008. Prior to being elected to the Assembly, he served on the Los Angeles Unified School District and then the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees.
In 1987, he became the first Asian Pacific American ever elected to the LAUSD and was the Board"s President in 1991.
He graduated from Gardena High School in 1965. He attended several community colleges, and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Antioch University.
On June 15, 2011, during an Assembly debate on a redevelopment bill, Assemblyman Donald Wagner remarked that the bill was like something he had "seen on The Sopranos" and likened the author of the bill to Tony Soprano. After Assemblyman Anthony Portantino told Wagner to apologize for the remarks, Wagner replied that he would "apologize to any Italian-American who is NOT in the Mafia or involved in insurance scams".
Within seconds, a verbal confrontation erupted on the Assembly floor between Wagner and Furutani and the two had to be separated.