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Why San Jose voters should re-elect Mayor Sam Liccardo
By: Mercury News Editorial Board The Mercury News Sam Liccardo has done a superb job in his first term as mayor, resolving San Jose’s decade-long pension battle, positioning the city to bring Google to San Jose and raising the minimum wage for low-income workers. It’s...
Mayor Sam Liccardo discussions his opposition to ICE raids
By: David Louie ABC7 News SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) – There are shades of gray when it comes to enforcing the law. How many times have you gotten away with jaywalking? Law enforcement officers and prosecutors are allowed to exercise discretion and judgment in when to...
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris Endorses Sam Liccardo for Mayor
U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) announced today that she is endorsing San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s campaign for re-election. “Sam is leading the fight to make San Jose safer, stronger and more united while investing in a brighter future for our next generation,”...
Liccardo’s ambitious climate plan is right move for San Jose
By: Mercury News Editorial Board Mercury News When President Trump goes low on the environment, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo goes high. His Climate Smart San Jose proposal going before the City Council on Tuesday would make San Jose one of the first major cities in the...
Mayor Sam Liccardo pledges support to immigrants
By: Matt Keller ABC7 News SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) – San Jose's mayor is warning residents of potential federal immigration raids. He's the second mayor in the Bay Area to do so. Mayor Sam Liccardo wanted to address the fear he says is intensifying in San Jose about the...
How San José Launched its Autonomous Vehicle Vision
By: Nancy Torres Data-Smart City Solutions 50 cities around the world are already testing autonomous vehicles (AVs) and several others are starting to plan for the influence autonomous vehicles will have on jobs, transportation, and more. Yet, according to...
How San Jose Can Build Housing Our Children Can Afford
"If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!" - Benjamin Franklin The Silicon Valley Dream has become a housing nightmare for too many of our families floundering to stay afloat, or fleeing the region altogether. With the help of community partners, San Jose has...
Preparing for the Rain and Potential Flooding
As the New Year brings a steady stream of welcome rain, it also provides a sober reminder of the dangers that winter storms pose to our community. Eleven months ago, we experienced the worst flooding in a generation, forcing thousands from their homes and wreaking...
Tiny Homes: It’s Time to Act to Confront Homelessness
“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.” -President John F. Kennedy Every night, more than 4,300 individuals in San Jose must find a place to sleep in our creeks, parks, and freeway...
What you should know about the “senior homes” initiative
Last month, lawyers hired by wealthy developers filed “notice of intent” with the City Clerk to begin collecting signatures for a ballot measure that they call the “Evergreen Senior Homes Initiative.” The proposal claims to create affordable housing for seniors and...
Mayor Sam Liccardo Unveils 15-point Housing Plan
Mayor sets an ambitious goal to construct 25,000 new homes – including at least 10,000 affordable homes – over the next 5 years to help address the region’s growing housing crisis Mayor Sam Liccardo has unveiled a 15-point plan to help accelerate the development of...
Sam Liccardo’s Statement on Re-Election Campaign
Our world has changed dramatically since I announced my campaign for Mayor four years ago. Our nation now daily endures a spate of frenzied rhetoric emphasizing all that divides us, while public civility and trust in our national institutions continues to deteriorate....
Mayors commit to uphold Paris Climate Agreement
Mayor Sam Liccardo issued the following statement regarding the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Accords. Below is an open letter from The Climate Mayors to President Trump that Mayor Liccardo signed on to: “Today’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Accords represents...
Join Our Community Wide Campaign to #BeautifySJ
In my State of the City address this past February, I spoke of our recent progress in bridging political divides to resolve pension reform battles, pass a countywide traffic relief and road repair measure, and raise the minimum wage regionally. I laid out ambitious...
Let Consumers Choose to use Clean Energy & Save Money
All too often, calls for environmental sustainability resemble a doctor’s advice — urging that we indulge less, sweat more and take bad-tasting medicine. Fortunately, life sometimes gives us happier options. The San Jose City Council faces such an option this May,...
A Message from Sam: After the Flood
“If you have never seen a flood, you do not know what awful is.” - Will Rogers “No tengo manos sino suyos.” (“I have no hands but yours.”) -Inscription under a handless statue outside of a San Diego church Dear Friends, On Feb. 21, San José experienced its worst...
Confronting the Costs of Retirement Benefits
Despite the pitched battles on the national political landscape, San José has launched into 2017 with the wind at our back. Recent rains have provided a reprieve from a seemingly chronic drought. Local job growth continues at a pace that the rest of the nation envies....
A Message from Sam: A Tale of One City
The holidays give us an opportunity to enjoy time with family and loved ones, and to reflect on the blessings of our past year. I feel blessed to serve San José’s incredible community. Like every big city, we have daunting challenges to confront — among them poverty,...
Un Mensaje de Sam: Los vamos a respaldar
Los hechos recientes han dejado a miles de nuestros residentes de San José — alrededor del cuarenta por ciento de los cuales nacieron en un país extranjero — con miedo. Algunos de nuestros vecinos, amigos y familiares temen los cambios en las reglas de inmigración que...
A Message from Sam: We’ve Got Your Back
Dear Friends, Recent events have left many thousands of our San José residents — about forty percent of whom were born in a foreign country — in fear. Some of our neighbors, friends, and family fear changes in immigration rules or enforcement that could separate their...