MEET SAM

Councilmember Sam Liccardo represents San José's downtown district, District Three, on the San José City Council.

Initiatives and Accomplishments
In his tenure in office, Sam has played a leading role in initiatives to:

• extend BART to San José (2008 Measure B, and 2000 Measure A);
• launch “1,000 Hearts for 1,000 Minds,” to encourage hundreds of adults to tutor struggling students in public schools throughout Silicon Valley;
• employ dozens of homeless residents in cleaning San José's Coyote Creek in exchange for permanent housing, as part of an innovative partnership with Downtown Streets Team;
• embolden San Jose's plan for its future growth, by co-chairing the Envision 2040 task force, leading to adoption of a General Plan that emphasizes the primacy of smart growth, urban villages, and auto alternatives over sprawl;
• reduce parking and business fees as an incentive to help lure over 55 new employers Downtown in 2011, and to retain dozens more that renewed their leases;
• make San José the largest City in the nation to implement a citywide inclusionary zoning ordinance, in order to boost the production of affordable homes for Silicon Valley’s workforce, seniors, and persons with disabilities;
• eliminate single-use plastic and non-recycled paper bags in San José stores; 
• encourage higher bicycle usage through the introduction of the Bay Area’s first bike-share program (due to launch in 2012) and safer, uniquely marked bike lanes and facilities;
• introduce a private-sector-sponsored car-share program Downtown (due to launch in 2012);
• prepare City and community efforts to support the privately-funded construction of a potential major league baseball stadium in Downtown;
• approve the development of a privately-funded $60 million major league soccer stadium in his district;
• build new parks (e.g., Newhall Park) with an innovative financing system that avoids increasing maintenance costs on the City’s General Fund;
• engage in long-term leases with non-profit organizations to keep parks open without additional city spending (2008 Measure M);
• create a novel City investment policy to incentivize banks to provide foreclosure mitigation for San Jose residents (a measure on which San Francisco subsequently modeled its revised investment policy);
• boost countywide revenues for street repair and maintenance (2010 Measure B);
• encourage entrepreneurial and start-up businesses to locate Downtown, resulting in the arrival of such innovative models as NextSpace, TechShop, and the Irish Innovation Center;
• co-found “Downtown for the Holidays,” to help save “Christmas in the Park” and other holiday events that attract 500,000 visitors Downtown each year;
• initiate and support a community-led effort in 2007 to engage dozens of Downtown homeowners to aggregate their purchase of solar panel installations at a “group discount”;
• affirm San José’s policy to serve all of our community, regardless of anyone’s immigration status, to minimize fears by undocumented residents that might inhibit their willingness to call the police or fire department in an emergency; and
• reduce City fees on Downtown events, to help support the Downtown’s unique role as San José’s gathering place and cultural center.

Boards and Committees
On the Council, Sam leads several key legislative bodies, which influence decisions made for the City and its neighborhoods:

• Chairperson of the Council's Transportation and Environment Committee
• Vice Chair of the Community and Economic Development Committee
• Co-chair of the Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan Update Task Force

Sam also holds leadership positions on several regional agencies, as:

• President of the Cities Association of Santa Clara County (CASCC)
• Board Member of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
• Board Member and past Chair of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)
• Executive Board Member of the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)

Work
In addition to his Council duties, Sam serves as a lecturer at San José State University, teaching an upper-division political science course.  Prior to winning election to City Council in November of 2006, Sam served as a prosecutor of sexual assault and child exploitation crimes in the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. He previously worked as a federal prosecutor, and at private law firms. Sam's previous work in the community included tutoring homeless children, serving on the boards of several affordable housing organizations, and advocating for a successful countywide transit ballot measure in 2000. 

Education
Sam graduated from Bellarmine College Prep in San José, and attended Georgetown University, where he enjoyed his four years studying government and economics, and rowing on the heavyweight crew. Sam graduated from Georgetown magna cum laude in 1991. Two years later, he enrolled at Harvard Law School and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, graduating cum laude with a law degree and a master's degree in public policy. Sam returned to the Bay Area in 1996.

Downtown Resident
Sam and his partner, Jessica Garcia-Kohl, live in Downtown's Northside, which boasts San José's oldest neighborhood association, a diverse, community-spirited group of residents, and many historic Craftsman and Victorian homes.