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== Boston Mayoral Campaign ==
== Boston Mayoral Campaign ==
{{See also|Boston mayoral election, 2009}}

On February 8, 2009, Yoon announced he will be running for Mayor of Boston.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/02/yoon_announces.html |title=Yoon announces candidacy for mayor |first=John C. |last=Drake |work=The Boston Globe |date=February 8, 2009 }}</ref> The announcement was promoted on YouTube.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J-yK0Eyx6o</ref>
On February 8, 2009, Yoon announced he will be running for Mayor of Boston.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/02/yoon_announces.html |title=Yoon announces candidacy for mayor |first=John C. |last=Drake |work=The Boston Globe |date=February 8, 2009 }}</ref> The announcement was promoted on YouTube.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J-yK0Eyx6o</ref>


Revision as of 03:12, 29 September 2009

Sam Yoon
At-Large City Councilor, Boston, Massachusetts
Personal details
Born (1970-01-10) January 10, 1970 (age 54)
Seoul, South Korea
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseTina Yoon
Children2
ResidenceDorchester
Alma materPrinceton, Harvard
ProfessionPolitician
Websitewww.samyoon.com

Sam Yoon (born Sang Hyun Yun on January 10, 1970) is an at-large member of the Boston City Council. He is the first Asian American to hold elected office in Boston.[1] He is a member of the United States Democratic Party.

Biography

Born in Seoul, his family moved to America when Yoon was ten months old. Raised in Lebanon, Pennsylvania,[2] he became an American citizen at ten years old. He received an undergraduate degree from Princeton University. After graduating, he spent two years teaching math at urban public schools in New Jersey.

He earned a degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University [1]. While at the Kennedy School, he worked with the Dudley Square Merchants Association to help them earn a Main Street designation.[3]

After graduating from the Kennedy School, Yoon spent time working as a community organizer in Boston, providing housing for low income seniors and individuals coping with mental illnesses.[4]

He later worked at the Community Builders, the nation’s largest non-profit developer.[5] Yoon also spent time working for Abt Associates, a public policy think tank, before becoming the Housing Director for the Asian Community Development Corporation.[6]

He and his wife Christina have a son and a daughter and they live in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.

Boston City Council

In 2005, Yoon became the first person in the history of Boston municipal elections to win an at-large council seat on their first attempt. Yoon won despite having lived in the city only for 1 year prior to his run. After placing 5th in the preliminary election, Yoon received 14.96% of the vote in the general election, placing third among eight candidates for four positions.[7] Yoon's election was hailed by the local media[1] as an important sign of the emergence of "New Boston", in which the city's traditional insider politics are becoming less important than before.

In his first term, he was praised for his efforts to secure $5 million in funding for programs to prevent youth violence. As a result of Yoon's efforts, hundreds of students rallied in the City Council Chambers during the 2006 budget hearing in support of the funding increases. When the measure was rejected and the students were expelled from the Chambers, Yoon voted against the budget. He also voted in favor of a salary increase for government employees, which he said would make positions more desirable for qualified candidates. The increase, which passed, included raising City Councilors' salaries from $75,000 to $87,500. Critics alleged that he did not regularly attend Wednesday Council meetings.[8]

Councilor Yoon was re-elected in November 2007,[9] after receiving endorsements from many prominent Massachusetts politicians including Governor Deval Patrick and four other City Councilors, including Felix D. Arroyo and Chuck Turner.

Asian Political Leadership Fund

Yoon is a co-founder of the Asian Political Leadership Fund, a federally-designated 527 group whose purpose is to promote political leadership from within the Asian-American community.

Boston Mayoral Campaign

See also: Boston mayoral election, 2009

On February 8, 2009, Yoon announced he will be running for Mayor of Boston.[10] The announcement was promoted on YouTube.[11]

Yoon is running on a platform that stresses transparency and accountability at City Hall. He has proposed eliminating the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), an organization responsible for planning and development in Boston, and replacing it with community-focused development agency.[12] Yoon has also called for an overhaul of Boston’s transportation infrastructure, advocating a plan that would increase bike accessibility and would promote rapid transit.[13]

Yoon’s consultants include: Jim Spencer, of the Campaign Network, a direct mail specialist who was the chief strategist on Yoon’s city council runs; Jeff Hewitt, a media specialist who is the lead fundraising consultant; Joe Trippi, a social networking guru who was the former campaign manager for Howard Dean’s Presidential Campaign. Yoon’s pollster is Tom Kiley, who previously worked for Deval Patrick and Joe Kennedy.

Yoon’s strategy is to mobilize progressive voters in Boston who may have voted for Deval Patrick and Barack Obama, but who do not participate in municipal elections, which traditionally have low turnout.[14] On July 11, Yoon’s campaign had a volunteer recruitment session with Joe Trippi which detailed Yoon’s strategy for winning.[15]

Yoon is a proponent of charter schools, supporting Governor Patrick’s move to lift the cap on funding for charter schools.[16] On Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 Yoon presented a term-limits proposition that would ask the legislature to amend the city’s charter and cap the number of terms a mayor can serve at two.[17] That same day, Yoon offered a ‘Greenprint’ for the city, a set of proposals aimed at creating green jobs and reducing Boston’s carbon footprint.[18] He has also criticized Tom Menino for failing to agree to participate in more debates and forums.[19] On July 28th, Menino aides disrupted a town hall meeting Yoon held in Mattapan.[20]

Yoon’s website actively promotes his candidacy through social networking sites. Yoon is active on Twitter, updating frequently from the campaign trail under the handle @samyoonformayor.[21] Yoon posts updates on Facebook and is connected on LinkedIn. Yoon has also posted on Daily Kos, participating in online Q and A’s with Kos readers.[22]

Fmr. State Senator Bill Owens endorsed Yoon on August 6th, 2009.[23]

Yoon was subsequently endorsed by long-time political activist and former mayoral candidate Mel King on August 10th, 2009.[24]

On August 12th Yoon's campaign launched 'YoonTube', a social media portal that is an addendum to their website.[25] The site was designed to allow the campaign to share video updates from the campaign trail. Guests can also upload their own videos.[26]

In an effort to make City Hall more accessible to residents, Yoon proposed extending hours on August 18th. Under Yoon's proposal, City Hall would be open until 8:30PM on Wednesdays and would close at 2:30PM on Fridays.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b c Allis, Sam (December 18, 2005). "The New Kid". The Boston Globe.
  2. ^ Viser, Matt (April 12, 2007). "Descendants debate". The Boston Globe.
  3. ^ Official Site [1]
  4. ^ www.samyoon.com/meet-sam
  5. ^ www.samyoon.com/meet-sam
  6. ^ www.samyoon.com/meet-sam
  7. ^ [2]
  8. ^ Thang, M. (September 1, 2006). "Boston's First Asian Councilor: 8 Months Later". Sampan.
  9. ^ 2007 Boston City Councilor At-Large Election Results
  10. ^ Drake, John C. (February 8, 2009). "Yoon announces candidacy for mayor". The Boston Globe.
  11. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J-yK0Eyx6o
  12. ^ http://www.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view.bg?articleid=1179165&srvc=next_article
  13. ^ http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/06/sam-yoon-running-for-mayor-in-boston-on-transportation-reform-agenda.php
  14. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/19/flaherty_yoon_pin_hopes_on_new_voters/
  15. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/12/yoon_ushers_in_new_wave_of_volunteers/
  16. ^ http://www.dotnews.com/litdrop/2009/bernstein-gets-results
  17. ^ http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/20090730sam_yoon_files_for_limits_challenger_targets_terms/
  18. ^ http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2009/07/29/yoon_to_propose_green_tax_incentives_for_hub/
  19. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/24/challengers_will_get_3_opportunities_to_debate_menino/
  20. ^ http://dotnews.com/2009/yoon-menino-aides-clashes-mattapan
  21. ^ http://twitter.com/search/users?q=sam+yoon&category=people&source=find_on_twitter
  22. ^ http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/8/751330/-Beating-Machine-Politics-in-Boston
  23. ^ http://www.samyoon.com/media/news/2031
  24. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/08/mel_king_endors.html
  25. ^ http://www.samyoon.com/category/yoontube
  26. ^ http://www.thebostonchannel.com/politics/20387983/detail.html
  27. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/08/yoon_proposes_e.html
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