Former San Jose Mayor and House of Representatives member Sam Liccardo attended the Associated Student Government’s weekly meeting on Feb. 19.

Rep. Liccardo was born in Saratoga, attended Bellarmine Preparatory Academy in San Jose, went on to Georgetown University and graduated from Harvard University in 1996. Liccardo served on San Jose’s City Council from 2007 to 2015, and was elected Mayor of the city from 2015 to 2023. On Jan. 3, Liccardo was elected to congress as a Democrat to represent California’s District 16. 

Liccardo reached out to ASG advisor Blake Balajadia, proposing a 15-minute session where he would listen to students’ most pressing concerns.  

“One of my advisors, he’s been on campus for about eight to nine years, and he said he’s never seen a congressman come to a student government meeting,” ASG President Priyam Tated said, expressing what a proud moment it was to have a congressman on campus.

When the student government received the news about a week before the meeting, they convened to decide on the most important issues for students that they would bring up.

“We wanted to make sure those 15 minutes were very effective,” Tated said. 

The most pressing issues for students were housing availability and workforce opportunities for associate degree holders. 

According to the 2021 State Assembly agenda, one in five California community college students have experienced homelessness, and only 12 of the 116 community colleges in the State have student-housing programs.

Many students, including Sharon Cabello-Flores, ASG’s director of communication, struggle with housing

“[Housing] has been an issue for me since I got here.” said Cabello-Flores, an international student from Mexico.

Liccardo addressed this concern, informing the students that he is on a committee for housing on a federal level and will have important news to share in April.

Another pressing concern was workforce development and internship availability for students with an associate degree. Many internships and work opportunities for students require a bachelor’s degree, but there are not as many opportunities for students with only an associate degree. 

The National Center for Education Statistics states that bachelor’s degree holders make $66,600 on average a year, while associate degree holders make $49,500. That’s 35% more in earnings. 

“As community college students, we should understand that an associate degree is equally as important [as a bachelor’s degree],” said Tated. “Students who have reasons not to continue to obtain a bachelor’s should be given the opportunity to earn money.”

Liccardo told students that he would work on getting more career opportunities for associate degree holders, and that he would keep them up to date on that issue. 

There were other concerns that students, such as Cabello-Flores, had, one of them being employment for international students. Because of the limited time, there was no opportunity for this issue to be brought up to the Congressman. 

“I’m an international student, so the only working options that I have are on campus,” Cabello-Flores said. “There are only two departments that offer jobs for international students.”

International students are only allowed to work off campus in fields related to their area of study. Therefore, they have very limited options when it comes to employment. 

Even though the allotted time with Liccardo was only 15 minutes, students felt well-represented, as the issues that were brought up affect so much of the student body.

ASG hoped that more students could have attended the event.

They want SJCC students to feel they have a voice in school politics, as well as influence to create real change. “I think a lot of work has been done behind the scenes, so this definitely displays the amount of importance students are getting, the amount of hard work the administration is doing for the students, just to make sure that their voices are being heard directly.” said Tated, “I think it displays a very positive message, saying that students feel recognized.”