There was a political fire of sorts in San Jose on Thursday.
At two events involving firefighters, opinions about Sam Liccardo were made known. The former mayor and current candidate for Congress was praised at one event and condemned at the other.
Dozens of San Jose firefighters gathered outside city hall to protest claims made by Liccardo in his run for Congress against Assemblyman Evan Low. Jerry May, president of the firefighters' union, led a scathing attack against Liccardo, who almost simultaneously was attending a new fire station groundbreaking at another location.
The firefighters said they’re upset Liccardo has claimed credit for building up public safety during his time as San Jose's mayor. They said it's just the opposite.
"We’re down 500 cops, he laid off 49 firefighters," May said. "We’re struggling to do our job. These are the repercussions from his actions and his policies."
The attitude toward Liccardo was much more upbeat at the fire station groundbreaking.
"My predecessor and friend and mentor, former Mayor Sam Liccardo, was really the driving force behind Measure T," current San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said.
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Liccardo shrugged off the firefighter union's criticism.
"I know there’s a lot of revisionism of history," he said. "There’s a lot of discussion of what happened before I became mayor. And certainly, yes, we lost more than 500 police officers before I became mayor. When I became mayor, we worked very hard to bring people together to the table to work through differences and to rebuild our public safety departments."
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In a statement, Low said 16th district voters should heed the first responders’ warning as they consider who to vote for in the November election.
The firefighters said they plan to have more events focusing on Liccardo the candidate, but how that might impact public opinion is not as certain.
