November 2, 2007

Craig Mann announces candidacy for San Jose City Council District 8

Cites ‘Experience for Evergreen’

Santa Clara County Board of Education Member Craig Mann, 48, will be a candidate for San Jose City Council District 8 to replace Vice Mayor David Cortese who cannot run again due to term limits.

Craig Mann

“I am a candidate for City Council because my extensive experience both in the public and private sectors is what Evergreen needs to follow the path left by Councilmember Cortese,” Mann said.

Currently teaching elementary school in the Ravenswood City School District, Mann also sits on the Santa Clara County Board of Education. Mann previously served as a Trustee for eight years on the East Side Union High School District Board. He is also a past Chair of the San Jose Human Rights Commission, a former Chief of Staff to a San Jose City Councilmember, and a former member of the San Jose Independent Police Auditor Advisory Committee.

Mann brings wide-ranging experience to the City Council race. Not only has he been extensively involved in managing public budgets and local school issues, he brings with him 20 years of experience in private industry.

Mann wants to help streamline city government, making it more efficient, transparent and accountable to the public. In community service, Craig helped lead the successful bond Measure A to build Evergreen Valley High School and the successful bond Measure G to improve Silver Creek, Mount Pleasant and other district high school facilities. In addition to his serving on local school boards, Mann also has been involved as a board member of the Mexican American Community Services Agency (MACSA), Workforce Silicon Valley, and the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative.

Mann holds a BS in Business Administration from San Jose State University as well as an MBA from the University of Phoenix. He resides in Evergreen with his wife Leila Welch, a principal in the Evergreen Elementary School District. He has two adult daughters, a school social worker and a college student.