As his final term ends, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo talks about what he’s most proud of and what he wished he’d done better, while supporters and critics weigh in.
Plaques still line the sill along the tall windows of departing San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo’s City Hall office overlooking downtown: commemorating his service on the local transit board, a BART station groundbreaking, appreciation by the city’s Ethiopian Community, the opening of a senior apartment project.
Under Liccardo, the city settled its dispute with employee unions over benefit costs that were gobbling the city’s budget, a move supporters say freed the mayor and the City Council to focus on longstanding efforts to build up a world-class downtown while alleviating poverty in immigrant communities east of Highway 101.
Bob Brownstein, strategic advisor at Working Partnerships USA, a labor-affiliated think tank, said Liccardo’s pension reforms pushed San Jose police officers to seek more lucrative jobs elsewhere and made the city less safe. He also said the mayor didn’t work with council colleagues effectively to deal with homelessness, affordability and poverty in immigrant communities.
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, right, smiles as a prototype for a tiny home is unveiled on Dec. 10, 2018, at San Jose City Hall. 80 of the tiny homes are expected to be placed on two sites in San Jose. Liccardo was first elected mayor in 2014 in a close race, promising to defend voter-approved pension reforms that city unions were fighting in court. The following year, he oversaw a settlement with unions that he said would deliver 80% of the original savings.
Asked about regrets, Liccardo cites the city’s failure to knock on doors to warn people in February 2017 before heavy rains flooded hundreds of homes along Coyote Creek. Residentsfor $750,000 with the city last year and for $8.25 million with the Santa Clara Valley Water District in May.
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