The Sam Yoon Record

Sam Yoon was first elected as an At-Large member of the Boston City Council in 2005. He was re-elected citywide in 2007. In just three short years, Sam has put together an impressive record of accomplishments on behalf of all the neighborhoods of Boston.

Public Safety & Crime Prevention

• Sam proposed the “Nickel for Public Safety” Program – a modest half-percent increase in sales tax – that would bring the city $35 million to prevent crime and violence on our streets. This money would be dedicated exclusively to prevention, police and prosecution. As councilor, Sam has advocated and fought for this because he knows the city has a responsibility to provide safe streets.
• Sam held a hearing to review the city’s practice of using police details. Despite a push-back from City Hall, Sam worked to ensure that the public is informed about this program – its costs and benefits in terms of taxpayer dollars, utility rates for residents and safety on our streets.
• Sam understands that violence is both a public safety and a public health issue. Realizing that the city is woefully unprepared for the aftermath of a homicide, he worked to have the city develop a coordinated trauma protocol for the hours and days after a homicide. Sam knows that the time immediately following a homicide is the time that trained professionals should be involved. Because policing and prevention must go hand-in-hand to make our city safer, Sam has always brought the youth of Boston to the table, and listened to their concerns.
• Sam proposed legislation that would increase the penalty for not reporting a lost or stolen firearm.
• Sam stood up for our firefighters and for the safety of Boston residents following the recent equipment failures in the Fire Department. He called the meeting that revealed that the current administration has no preventative maintenance plan for its emergency vehicles – it simply fixes them as they break. This is unacceptable to Sam and unacceptable for Boston.
• Sam worked with his colleagues to improve community awareness of the dedicated line to report after-hours parties that get violent, or create a disturbance in the neighborhood. Sam knows that many in the neighborhoods mostly affected by violence are not connected to city government, so he worked to ensure that these residents were made aware of how to report after-hours parties.
• Sam understands that street memorials are the symptom of the real problem – that young people are dying on our streets. He assembled a diverse group individuals to discuss how to deal with the emotional issue of street memorials. Because there are so many views and opinions on this subject – and because violence affects all of us – Sam pulled together youth, leaders from the churches, community leaders, business people and the police to craft a protocol that was acceptable to all in the neighborhood on this emotional issue.
• Sam’s intervention saved the jobs of security guards at public housing for the elderly and disabled. Sam fought the Boston Housing Authority’s attempts to replace security guards with cameras, because he believed that seniors deserve to feel safe in their own homes.

Open Government, Transparency & Accountability

• Even before he was elected to the Boston City Council, Sam has consistently called for a 311 system for Boston. In one of his first acts as a Councilor, Sam brought his colleagues to the Somerville City Hall to see first-hand how 311 and CitiStat could fundamentally improve how city government works for people. Sam has held multiple comprehensive hearings with department heads and the Mayor’s technology team to improve the city’s use of technology in delivering services and saving taxpayer money.
• Sam held ten neighborhood meetings on the city’s budget so that residents could see how the process worked and could voice their priorities for city spending. Sam followed up on this process of opening -up government by developing and conducting an online survey to inform our budget priorities. Thousands of Bostonians participated.
• Sam fought for public posting of agendas, minutes, reports and the membership lists for the city’s numerous boards and commissions. The more transparency in government, the better. The council passed Sam’s resolution.
• Sam led the charge in the council to adopt Performance Based Budgeting, a practice being used in most major cities, and a means to understand and improve our city’s $2.4 billion budget. He knows that real performance measures should drive decisions about how we spend taxpayer dollars. Are we closing the achievement gap? Are our streets cleaner? Are we solving homicides? Sam believes these should be performance measures, not just political points.
• Sam filed a Home Rule Petition to enable Boston to begin paying off our $3 billion debt in post-employment benefits. Forward-thinking cities have already begun to pay into Post-Retirement Liability Funds and Sam’s actions spurred the state to finally enact statewide standards on this important issue.
• In order to improve the city’s pothole maintenance, street cleaning and litter basket program, Sam ordered a hearing to expose the conclusions of an outside audit of the Public Works Department. He also tracked the city’s response to the audit’s charges.
• In the wake of public scandals related to pension fraud and a growing backlog of unresolved cases costing taxpayer money, Sam held a hearing on the Boston Retirement Board. Sam believe it was unacceptable that the retirement board continued to operate with almost no accountability.
• Sam has proposed that all Boston City Council minutes be produced in plain language and posted online. He also filed an ordinance to revoke the 1947 law that prevents publication of city council debates.
• Sam proposed the use of modern technology – such as email and text messaging – to inform voters of snow emergencies, street cleaning and other city services. Sam’s proposal was partially adopted by the city. If elected Mayor, Sam will fully implement this simple, yet effective program.
• Sam has consistently fought for equal ballot access. He has been at the forefront of the efforts to require the state to respect voting rights fully and to provide bilingual ballots for the Asian community in Boston.
• Sam’s actions led the city to agree to shelve any plans to adopt Electronic Voting Machines. He contended that they did not leave a paper trail and had not proven to be reliable.
• Sam ordered reviews of the city’s fleet and fuel usage and the city’s payroll audit function.

Housing & Economic Development

• Sam was first to hold a public hearing to address the foreclosure crisis in the city. His proposed public-private partnership with banks to develop affordable housing is now embraced by the administration.
• There is no easy way for residents to see what companies are receiving tax breaks from our city. Sam is fighting to make these tools available. While he believes that businesses that provide jobs to our residents should be eligible for tax relief, it is important that the public is made aware of these tax breaks – and that the city track the progress and promises of these companies in our city.
• Sam has spoken out forcefully about the need to streamline and de-politicize the permitting process in the city. Sam believes that this process must be revamped for the good of both residents and business. It will be a priority of his as Mayor.
• Sam saved seniors money by proposing an amendment, which was adopted, to the tax-deferral rate to provide property tax relief. He proposed the change, and the Mayor adopted it within days.
• Sam organized meetings between developers and housing activists to explore solutions to housing the city’s neediest residents and proposed the use of trained mediators in tenant-landlord disputes.
• Sam fought to ensure that developers obeyed the spirit – and not just the letter – of the law of the Inclusionary Development Policy. The policy, one of the tools available to the city to ensure that affordable housing is included in development, was unjustifiably weak. After Sam’s hearing, appropriate changes were made.
• Sam fought to save tens of thousands of units of affordable housing in Boston put at risk by landlords opting out of public subsidy programs. He has worked, building by building, together with housing advocates to lead the fight to pressure the state legislature to solve this problem.
• Sam ordered a public hearing on the sale of city-owned Winthrop Square garage on behalf of the city’s taxpayers. His work ensured the sale of the garage would benefit future affordable housing in the city.
• Sam helped countless constituents who desperately needed fuel assistance during winter months. He worked with both the state and federal government to ensure that the most vulnerable in our city can afford to heat their homes.

Education, Schools & Youth

• Sam has fought for – and will continue to fight for – great schools in every Boston neighborhood. Parents should have the right to choose a high-quality school that their children can attend.
• Sam stayed ahead of the cuts that Boston’s schools are facing. Anticipating a massive budget shortfall, Sam started a dialogue with parents, teachers and children to get their input on a situation that clearly affects us all.
• Sam fought to have the city re-establish the Youth Activities Commission. This commission, started by Mayor Ray Flynn, recognized the explosion in Boston’s young population. By having cabinet members meet regularly with youth-serving organizations to evaluate their department’s spending, Sam believed that city government could start to work proactively and comprehensively on the range of issues facing young people today.
• Sam co-sponsored the successful legislation that brought back a civics curriculum to Boston Public Schools.
• Sam called for improved mental health and trauma counseling at Boston Public Schools. Sam believes that schools are a place that government can make a real difference and touch families where they are. As a former teacher and as a parent, he knows first-hand the importance of education and schools in the total health of a community.
• Sam led the fight that restored funding to TAG (Talented & Gifted Latinos). Sam fought and delivered for TAG because it was a program that worked, preventing drop outs and closing the achievement gap for our most vulnerable students.