Mayor Liccardo is a long-time San Josean, and the 65th Mayor of our city. Since taking office in 2015, he has worked diligently to build a safer, stronger, and more prosperous city. In 2018, San Jose residents re-elected Sam to serve San Jose for four more years.

In Sam’s prior public service, he prosecuted a range of felony cases as a federal and local criminal prosecutor, from sexual assault and child exploitation to international narcotrafficking. In 2006, voters elected Sam to the first of his two terms on the City Council, where he led efforts to revitalize its downtown, preserve San José’s hillsides and open space, create an inclusionary housing policy to boost funding for affordable housing, and open a world-class soccer stadium for the San José Earthquakes. He served as a founding board member of Cristo Rey San Jose High School, an innovative Jesuit school that propels students from low-income immigrant families to college and beyond.

Sam serves on a number of boards, including the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Valley Transit Authority (twice as Chairperson), and serves as co-chair for Joint Venture Silicon Valley. He is a senior fellow for the American Leadership Forum-Silicon Valley, and is a Rodel Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Sam graduated from San José’s Bellarmine College Prep and from Georgetown University, where he was captain of the heavyweight crew. He received a law degree from Harvard Law School, and a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Sam and his wife, Jessica, live in the Northside neighborhood, north of Downtown. They live within blocks of Jessica’s childhood home, the home of three of Sam’s grandparents, and the neighborhood grocery store that Sam’s grandparents owned and operated in the 1950’s. Sam descended from Sicilian and Irish immigrants, as well as from the first Mexican settlers in the Bay Area.

Responsible for developing more than $3.5 billion in real estate projects, including over 2,300 residential units in the California Bay Area, Hayden has experience in acquisition, contract negotiation, due diligence, risk assessment, financing, construction, and disposition of multifamily, single family and large mixed-use and master planned developments. He maintains relationships with a broad network of property owners, enabling him to identify and acquire prime investments. Hayden also has expertise navigating projects through the entitlement process by working with elected officials, community groups, and political organizations to gain support and get projects approved.

As Director of Real Estate Development, Dixie compiles and presents comprehensive deal analysis packages, and underwrites and assesses risk associated with acquisition opportunities for Eden’s Executive Team and selected review committees. Additionally, she participates in high level project structuring and strategic planning, including business plan development and implementation strategies for the Real Estate Development Department. Projects may include new construction, acquisition and rehabilitation, portfolio syndication and joint ventures with other developers.

Dixie joined Eden Housing in 2018, bringing nearly 30 years of real estate industry experience in affordable and market-rate multifamily management, development, compliance, asset management and financing. She has participated in the development process of more than sixty transactions across the states of California, Hawaii, Arizona, Missouri, Texas, Illinois and Florida totaling approximately $2B in total development costs.

Dixie Baus has a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and numerous professional affiliations including SV@Home and their Coalition of Housers (COHO) Working Group, the Sacramento Housing Alliance Affordable Housing Committee, and East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO) Oakland committee member. Previously she was an Affordable Housing Representative for both the City of Gilroy General Plan Advisory Committee and the City of Santa Clara General Plan Steering Committee.

I have deep experience in residential, retail, commercial, and mixed-use real estate development in urban places with an emphasis on transit adjacency. I shepherd projects and teams from property acquisition through grand opening. I advise private owners and corporations on planning, project design, transportation demand management and real property development - plus I advise public agencies and municipalities on growth strategies and partnering with private partners. I have decades of experience hiring and managing teams of all sizes and am fostering excellent relationships with local and regional government officials. Committed to adapting our built environment to enhance community health, diversity, and long-term economic sustainability. I'm an experienced board member and volunteer, with outstanding community relations skills and political acumen. My specialty is figuring out how to optimize a path toward the best possible sense of place and well-being in a community - and doing it on time and on budget.

Transit Executive | Real Estate Strategist | Environmental Innovator

With over 25 years at the intersection of real estate, multimodal planning, land use, and clean energy, I bring deep expertise in delivering complex transit and infrastructure projects from concept to close. I’ve led $500M+ in high-impact transactions- driven by sharp negotiation, creative problem-solving, and a focus on performance and execution.

At Valley Transportation Authority, I lead Multimodal Planning and Real Estate initiatives - including Transit-Oriented Development and right-of-way acquisition - to unlock the full potential of our property portfolio. My mission: to build affordable, walkable communities that increase ridership, support capital project delivery, and advance bold environmental goals. I thrive on turning long-term visions into actionable, measurable outcomes.

Fun or unique facts:

I have 8 children, 5 grand children

I started my career as a park ranger

I have run a marathon

Tony Mirenda, a seasoned Construction Executive with over 42 years of experience in the Bay Area, has been instrumental in leading and growing businesses across multiple market sectors, including mixed-use, multifamily residential, affordable housing, and education. His leadership has resulted in the successful completion of numerous high-profile affordable housing/mixed-use projects such as the Gateway to Millbrae Station (Millbrae BART), College Terrace Centre (Palo Alto), and Casa del Pueblo (San Jose). Mirenda’s extensive expertise spans all phases of contract delivery, and he has been a key player in public education construction for over 27 years. Throughout his career, Tony has built a robust network of relationships, serving on various industry and nonprofit boards, including chairing the San Jose Chamber of Commerce. With a passion for mentoring, Tony has dedicated 15 years to designing and building stage sets for his alma mater’s drama program and is deeply involved in community service, including youth coaching. Recently, Tony joined Kitchell CEM as Executive Director South Bay where he continues to drive innovation and growth.

Jeff oversees the asset management, leasing and operating teams for Federal’s West Coast portfolio, which comprises nearly 6.5 million square feet of some of the best retail and mixed-use real estate in the country.

Prior to his current role, to which he was promoted in 2023, he served as senior vice president, West Coast Leasing. Prior to joining Federal in 2011, Jeff was the principal in charge of leasing for the CIM Group where he was responsible for formulating the leasing strategy on CIM’s commercial portfolio of approximately 12 million square feet. Prior to that, he was vice president of development and operations for Regent Properties, Inc. and before that, he formed and operated Vision Property Management, Inc., a full-service real estate development, leasing and management company. Jeff has over 30 years of experience in leasing, entitlements, property and asset management with an emphasis on redeveloping and repositioning underperforming and functionally obsolete assets.

Jeff received his undergraduate degree in real estate finance, his master of business administration and his master of real estate development from the University of Southern California. In addition, he holds the Certified Leasing Specialist (CLS), Certified Property Manager (CPM), Senior Certified Shopping Center Manager (SCSM), Certified Commercial Investment Manager (CCIM) designations, and retains his position as adjunct faculty at the University of Southern California, teaching Retail Development in the Masters of Real Estate Development program.

David Mulvehill moved to the Bay Area from Ireland in 2001. He is proud to be a downtown San Jose resident and feels very lucky to be welcomed into this friendly and diverse community. David comes from the countryside of Ireland and even though San Jose is a big city, he says the hospitality of the downtown businesses and residents give it a small town feel. He operates a portfolio of downtown San Jose restaurants and bars including O’Flaherty’s Irish Pub, Five Points, Hella Good Burger, Dr. Funk, Playback Coffee and The Pressroom.

Razmig co-manages RPP and is specifically responsible for asset management and capital markets. Prior to RPP, Razmig, a serial entrepreneur, co-founded several companies and practices, including Roland Berger Strategy Consultants’ Middle East practice and served as Partner and Saudi Arabian Country Manager. Within six years, Roland Berger was ranked one of the top five consulting firms in the Middle East, managing over fifty consultants. Razmig started his career at Booz & Co. and Deloitte Consulting.

Razmig is a graduate of American University of Beirut, Carnegie Mellon University, and Harvard University.

Alex Shoor is a civic entrepreneur and community advocate driven by two interconnected goals:

a) make Silicon Valley communities more equitable, affordable, vibrant & sustainable, and

b) make government as responsive, cost-efficient, & innovative as possible.

Started in his living room in December 2016 with four people, Alex Shoor is the co-founder and Executive Director of Catalyze Silicon Valley. In prior roles, Alex was a policy aide for Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager and Director of Government Affairs for a Bay Area nonprofit organization. Alex managed community engagement for the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) on extending its transit service in Silicon Valley and on California’s high-speed rail project. Before pivoting to policy, Alex worked in communications in New York City. He started his career as a political staffer on Capitol Hill and a grassroots organizer on a US Senate campaign in Alaska.

Raised in Silicon Valley, Alex came home in 2012 after a dozen years away. Alex lives off The Alameda in San Jose and is active in his community, launching a farmers market in his neighborhood, teaching cooking classes to affordable housing residents, and founding the successful effort to get a San Jose street named after Barack Obama. Alex is currently serving on the Santa Clara County advisory board for the homeless service provider PATH. Previously, he served for a decade on the Advisory Board of the New Leaders Council’s Silicon Valley chapter and two terms, including time as Chair, on San Jose's Housing and Community Development Commission.

Alex studied Political Science and African American Studies while earning a BA from Vanderbilt University and holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. Alex is a foodie who loves to cook creative comfort food, which he is forced to counterbalance by regularly exercising.

Patrick Otellini is the National Affordable Housing Director with Swinerton and leads their affordable housing efforts in Company-wide. Prior to joining Swinerton, he served as the Chief Resilience Officer and Director of Earthquake Safety for the City and County of San Francisco under Mayor Edwin Lee and was responsible for the creation and implementation of the city’s resilience strategy: Resilient San Francisco – Stronger Today, Stronger Tomorrow. He received his Master of Construction Management from New School of Architecture and Design and his Bachelor of Political Science from Westmont College.

Jen Baker is the Director of the City Manager's Office of Economic Development and Cultural Affairs.

Baker began her career in 2004 as an International Trade Policy Expert with the U.S. Department of Commerce. There, she developed her acumen in negotiating bi- and multi-lateral trade agreements and served as a negotiation and compliance lead. She facilitated the delivery of millions of dollars in trade capacity-building programming to priority U.S. trading partners. In 2005, she served as a Trade Capacity Building Director for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Baker worked as a consultant from 2008-2011, which took her to Ethiopia where she produced best practice materials for analyzing the country’s existing trade law framework, and then to Port Vila, Vanuatu, where she prepared Island Country stakeholders with trade impact and policy considerations in the lead up to bilateral trade negotiations with Australia and New Zealand. From 2011-2018, she was promoted from Economic Development Manager to Deputy Director, then Acting Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration in Portland, Oregon. During this time, she supervised a team of subject matter experts across three departments, raising brand visibility and ensuring delivery of quality programming that bolstered small businesses’ access to capital and capacity building; she mentored a multi-departmental team that grew the lending portfolio 275%, from $220 million to $609 million.

Baker most recently served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Columbia River Economic Development Council (CREDC) in Vancouver, Washington, in the state’s fastest-growing county. She developed and mentored the CREDC Business Development team to grow a sophisticated workflow for site selection, outbound prospecting, strategic incentives, partnership development, and prioritization of local infrastructure investments. The CREDC team’s successful business attraction pipeline and a technology-informed outbound recruitment workflow added $1.69 billion to the county and 3,926 jobs from 2021-2024. She represented Pacific Northwest economic policy interests as part of the Silicon Forest semiconductor and microelectronics ecosystem, with industry drivers such as Shin-Etsu Handotai (SEH) America, TSMC Washington, Hewlett Packard, nLight, ZoomInfo, AbSci, Vigor Industrial, and Analog. She also served as an appointed advisor to Governor Ferguson’s Semiconductors Workgroup.

Baker holds a Bachelor of Arts in International and Modern Studies from Pacific University, Oregon, and a Master of Arts in International Policy Studies in International Trade and Development from Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.