League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA June 3, 2008 Election
	Craig Mann Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of San Jose; Council District 8

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What experience related to city government would you bring to the City Council?

The Evergreen community has trusted me for over 10 years as an elected school board member having served as a Trustee for the East Side Union High School District from 1998-2006 and having been elected in 2006 to the Santa Clara County Board of Education. Over this period I have been responsible for overseeing over $2 billion dollars of taxpayer dollars and more importantly, the education of our children.

Additionally, I served as a Chief of Staff in City Hall managing a council member's staff and providing high degrees of constituent services for the district. I also served as Chair of San Jose's Human Rights Commission from 1995-1998.

Currently I am a Classroom Teacher, but for 20 years I was a Silicon Valley High Technology Manager having worked for FMC Corporation, Hitachi Data Systems and Solectron.

In summary, I have the necessary combination of public and private sector experience to transform City Hall's focus from politics as usual to real solutions that benefit our neighborhoods.

2. What concerns are of particular importance to the city and how would you address them?

I am concerned with refocusing City Hall on the basics: Reducing traffic congestion, improving public education, enhancing public safety and improving neighborhood services. I will address them by ensuring that our finite budget resources are values aligned, increasing operational efficiencies and effectiveness and by working with our city employees in a collaborative effort to fix the structural budget deficit.

3. How would you balance the needs of the City as a whole with groups' interests?

My votes, positions will always be in the best interests of Evergreen residents and San Jose at-large. Individuals and interests groups are entitled to their First Amendment rights to petition their government and I will listen to the views of each giving each equal footing and equal consideration. I have been known to be an independent thinker, making thoughtful decisions for the people I serve.

Please go to http://www.sanjoseca.gov/clerk/ and click on "Campaign Reports" to see who (what groups) are financially supporting my campaign. You'll notice I'm being supported by everyday people like you and I. By doing so, I don't owe developers and corporate interests anything in return.

---

Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Candidate Page || Feedback to Candidate || This Contest
SmartVoter Home (Ballot Lookup) || About Smart Voter

---

Created from information supplied by the candidate: May 7, 2008 23:40
Smart Voter <http://www.smartvoter.org/>
Copyright © League of Women Voters of California Education Fund   http://www.lwvc.org
The League of Women Voters neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office or political parties.