Tag Archives: The Ethiopian American Council (EAC)

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San Jose Mayoral Candidate Liccardo Releases Amharic Campaign Literature

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Friday, May 23rd, 2014

San Jose, California (TADIAS) — It’s pleasantly surprising to see that San Jose, California Mayoral Candidate Sam Liccardo has released an Amharic version of his campaign literature entitled “Meet Sam Liccardo” (Sam Liccardoen Yitewawequ) targeting the city’s vibrant Ethiopian community. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey California is one of eight states where Amharic tops the list as the most commonly spoken African language. Mr. Liccardo has already received the backing of the Ethiopian American Council (EAC) which is headquartered in the city.

The document, that is also translated into Spanish and Vietnamese, highlights the candidate’s biography as well as his position on various issues pertinent to the residents of San Jose — ranging from public safety to the economy, making government more responsible and responsive, better transportation, smart environmental policies, and building partnerships to improve schools.

The English translation posted on Liccardo’s campaign website notes that “He represents San José’s Third District on the San José City Council, one of the most diverse communities in our city. Prior to winning election to City Council, Sam served in the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor of sexual assault and child exploitation crimes and as a federal prosecutor. Sam’s work in the community includes teaching government and political science at San José State University, co-founding an innovative program to mentor children, serving on the boards of several affordable housing organizations, and advocating for a successful countywide transit ballot measure in 2000 that is helping to bring BART [Bay Area Rapid Transit] to San José.”

The biography states: “Sam and his wife, Jessica García-Kohl, live in downtown’s Northside, which boasts San José’s oldest neighborhood association and the city’s most diverse group of residents. Sam and Jessica live not far from where Sam’s grandfather founded and ran a neighborhood grocery store, which was a center of life and assistance for generations of long-time residents and new arrivals to San José. After graduating from Bellarmine College Prep in San José, Sam attended Georgetown University. Sam graduated magna cum laude in 1991, and two years later, he enrolled at Harvard Law School and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. After graduating with a law degree and a master’s degree in public policy, Sam returned to the Bay Area in 1996.”

The primary election is set for June 3rd, 2014. Stay tuned for our interview with Sam Liccardo.

Click here to read Sam Liccardo’s Amhraic message.


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Related:
Amharic Most Commonly Spoken African Language in Eight U.S. States
Ethiopian American Council Endorses Sam Liccardo for San Jose Mayor
EAC to Endorse Tom Hucker for Montgomery County Council Seat
Isiah Leggett’s Press Conference with Ethiopian Media

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Featured

Ethiopian American Council Endorses Sam Liccardo for San Jose Mayor

Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff

Published: Wednesday, May 7th, 2014

San Jose, CA (TADIAS) — The Ethiopian American Council (EAC) announced that it will be supporting Council Member Sam Liccardo in his bid to become the next Mayor of San Jose. Liccardo represents San Jose’s downtown neighborhood (District Three) in the San Jose City Council and he is is one of five candidates running for the city’s top position. The primary election will take place on June 3rd, 2014.

“The EAC endorsement joins those of organizations and individuals who recognize the need to sustain and grow small businesses in the area,” the Ethiopian American Council announced in a press release. “Many Ethiopian-Americans in San Jose are entrepreneurs and small business owners.” EAC added: “Two of Liccardo’s catch-phrases are “Small Is Beautiful” and “Start Up San Jose.” His “Start Up” initiative focuses on improving the relationship between City Hall and small businesses with a focus on enabling entrepreneurs to procure vacant business spaces in the downtown area.”

Liccardo states that his efforts as a councilman include making San Jose a safe place to live and do business. “I wrote the plan to make San José safer not by spending more, but spending smarter: using pension savings to hire 200 more cops, implement cost-saving technologies, and restore community policing. Without increasing city spending, I’ve launched successful efforts to cut red tape to create middle class jobs, provide tutoring for hundreds of youth, install energy-efficient streetlights, and improve parks,” he noted in a statement posted on the city’s election website. “Our campaign for a smarter, more innovative government has earned the support of over 100 Silicon Valley tech leaders [and] former Mayor Susan Hammer.”

In its press release EAC, which raised over $5,000 as a contribution to Mr. Liccardo’s mayoral campaign last month, also highlights that the candidate’s “focus on environmental and traffic problems in the city has also gained him the endorsement of the Sierra Club.”

“He is also looking for ways to recycle industrial or factory sites in the city, increase the ability of the local airport to be a jobs engine, and other initiatives, such as decreasing the time for business permits, to grow the ever-important small business sector that contributes so much to a city’s economic vibrancy,” EAC emphasized. “His social concerns regard leveraging libraries and community centers as job training centers; he wants to make San Jose a place that grows its own talent, especially among “the thousands of kids trapped on the wrong side of the achievement gap.” His ideas and his focus on small businesses, increasing employment, revamping the city’s aesthetics, and lowering crime appear to make him an excellent leader and servant for entrepreneurial immigrant populations.”

Before his election to his current post in 2006 Liccardo (age 44), who is a graduate of Georgetown University and Harvard University Law School, served as a criminal prosecutor in the District Attorney’s office. “My grandparents started a small grocery store here in the 1940s,” he shared in his statement. “I was raised to love San José as they did, and will lead our city with honor.”


San Jose Mayoral Candidate Sam Liccardo. (Photo: Courtesy The Ethiopian American Council – EAC)
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You can learn more about Councilmember Sam Liccardo at www.samliccardo.com.

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