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On Aug. 25, U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo hosted a Town Hall in Portola Valley drawing over 200 people from across San Mateo and Santa Clara counties to the town’s Community Hall. He responded to questions pertaining to national concerns about Gaza, state redistricting and immigration.
Liccardo represents a long stretch of Silicon Valley including Mountain View, Palo Alto, Woodside and coastal communities such as Half Moon Bay and Pacifica. Formerly the mayor of San Jose, Liccardo is one of the newest members to the House of Representatives, taking over the seat long held by Anna Eshoo.
Portola Valley Mayor Judith Hasko thought that bringing Liccardo to a small town in the Peninsula would be beneficial for him to be in that environment and for the community to be able to share their concerns.
“It’s important for him to realize people here in our world are still thinking about big policy issues that are being set in Washington D.C. and giving him feedback…democracy, at the moment, needs more of the opportunity to be heard, and that’s part of what this was,” Hasko said.
The evening town hall was attended by residents from Portola Valley, Woodside, Los Altos, San Jose, Palo Alto and Menlo Park.
Liccardo’s messaging
As the Republican Party holds a slight majority in the House of Representatives, Liccardo is focused on passing bills that address common concerns between Democrats and Republicans.
“We are not going to make America great or make America better, as long as we continue to believe that the only way we’re going to win is by conquering the other half of America,” he said. “I firmly believe that, and as divided as we are, we’ve got to find better ways to communicate.”
At this time, Liccardo said he and other congressmen are working on “legislating, litigating and communication,” attempting to overcome the challenges of reaching a broader audience.
Liccardo said he has been traveling to conservative regions to share messages about how communities are currently being affected by the administration with a strong focus on one thing: how families are struggling to pay bills and what needs to be done to help them.
His tactic for communicating with Republican voters is to be strategic and focused on how the Democratic Party communicates with opposing voters and to focus on issues that they care about such as high cost of living.
Local people, national concerns
A Los Altos Hills resident questioned Liccardo’s approach, explaining that his message needs to be sold with a more emotional angle rather than pointing out surface level concerns.
Liccardo responded that with the recent passing of Trump’s budget bill, it’s important to be having discussions about the suffering of families through loss of health care, access to food and increasing costs of groceries.
“We’re just telling you now, so there’ll be a lot of suffering as a result of these actions, and we need to present a counter case about what we need to be doing to address that,” said Liccardo. “I know that doesn’t necessarily have emotional appeal, but it matters a lot when you’re struggling like hell to pay rent.”
He acknowledged that Democrats have failed to convey the message that “America needs to win,” not just as a country but in the widespread battle against climate change, economic divide and job insecurity and displacement by technology.
A 13-year-old stepped forward to ask Liccardo questions about his thoughts on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approach to fighting the gerrymandering in Texas by proposing the redistricting of California.
In response to Texas Republicans’ proposed redistricting map, the California Legislature approved Newsom’s proposal for a special election to place a ballot measure that would redraw congressional districts to add five more seats to California on Aug. 21.
Liccardo said although he hates the idea of gerrymandering and redistricting, he believes that this is a necessary approach for the entire country that will be temporary for the duration of Trump’s presidency.
“I understand that this is a necessary step we have to take when confronted with what I regard as an autocratic takeover of the Legislature, because these maps that they’re drawing in Texas were literally redrawn in the White House and the executive office,” he said.
Town hall attendees also attempted to gauge Liccardo’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, as one resident asked what bills he would be supporting to block the sale of weapons to Israel.
Liccardo said he is currently supporting the Silver Shield Act, an existing law that he sees as not being upheld by the federal government. The Silver Shield Act monitors and ensures that the country’s use of arms and military aid are not being misused in violation of human rights.
Rather than proposing new laws, Liccardo believes that a more effective approach would be to point out that an existing law is not being enforced.
A San Jose resident asked Liccardo if he recognizes the genocide in Gaza and the white supremacy inherent in the U.S. Liccardo responded that although he condemns the actions of the Israeli and U.S. government’s failure to support Palestinians, he would not use the term genocide to accurately describe the situation. He expressed his beliefs that recognizing it as a genocide is also not effective in bridging the political divide.
“What’s important to me is what works, and it doesn’t save a single life in Gaza to simply label folks as purveyors of genocide when there’s absolutely nothing that happens except the deepening of a division,” Liccardo said.
As the town hall came to an end, many hands remained up as residents attempted to continue the ongoing discussion with the congressman. He took the conversation outside of Community Hall to answer further questions.
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