By Sonia Herrera. Bay City News.
The double lives of some Santa Clara County politicians are very interesting, as political advisers and researchers by day and elected officials by night.
omar din, JR Fruen and Lucas Ramirez they help San Jose council members research and implement policy, while also governing the cities where they live. Din is serving as Deputy Mayor for Sunnyvale, Fruen as Councilmember for Cupertino and Ramirez as Councilmember for Mountain View.
These officials believe that their day jobs at the San Jose City Council help their leadership roles in their hometowns by giving them a deeper perspective on how political decisions can affect their cities.
Growing up in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Din was strongly drawn to politics and advocating for the rights of Muslim Americans and other minorities.
"Coming from that identity, you're almost unintentionally politicized," Din said, recalling going with his family to protest the Iraq war and getting up early on weekends to create posters with his sisters.
Although Din just started as council policy assistant to San Jose Vice Mayor Rosemary Kamei this year, she gained a deeper understanding of what an elected official needs to know before voting on issues. Din is able to study issues in depth and provide relevant information to Kamei, a different approach than the way he works as an elected official in Sunnyvale, he said.
"If you want to implement better policy, you need that deep understanding that comes with seeing how the bureaucracy works," Din told San José Spotlight.
Fruen also works for Kamei as a legislative and policy director. He met her as the policy director for Cupertino for All, a housing advocacy group. Kamei sought the organization's endorsement in his run for District 1 City Council.
The Cupertino councilman said he became interested in politics after seeing public reaction to a mixed-use project that was proposed to replace the now-defunct Vallco Shopping Center in 2006.
"Seeing it turn into an empty shell was a sad experience, and it was already very bad in 2006. It seemed like this was something we should want to happen," Fruen explained to San José Spotlight. "I was proven terribly wrong."
Fruen previously ran a private practice as a trademark prosecutor, but wound up his business while focusing on his run for Cupertino City Council. Soon, he needed a new full-time job. He heard that Kamei was looking for policy staff, and since Fruen was already familiar with San Jose's problems, he thought he would be a good fit and applied.
"It's been a mutually beneficial relationship in terms of cross-pollinating ideas and experiences," Fruen said.
Ramírez works for San José Councilman Sergio Jiménez as a legislative and policy analyst. The Mountain View councilman and former mayor said it's a challenge to keep up with the work in his dual roles, but he believes experience gives him an advantage.
"I'm doing work here that has relevance to the work I'm doing in the city of Mountain View," Ramirez told San Jose Spotlight. "It's demanding, there's a lot of work outside of business hours... but personally I've found it very useful."
Ramírez had no immediate job prospects after graduating from college with a music degree. But he volunteered with local political campaigns in hopes of connecting with a full-time job.
The political world in Santa Clara County is small, Ramírez said, in part because the cost of living is so high. Those who may be motivated to try to solve some of the region's problems simply don't have the means to stick around long enough to make a career out of it.
"They don't have the ability to raise a family here or buy a house," he said. "So they end up leaving the community, unfortunately."
Jiménez said he chose Ramírez as a member of his staff in 2017 because of his intelligence, deep knowledge of politics and work ethic. Although Jiménez hired Ramírez before he became a Mountain View councilman, he said there are benefits to having another elected official on his staff.
"When he wanted to run for the Mountain View council, he was very excited," Jiménez told San José Spotlight. "When we come up with a particular problem and we're trying to figure out how to solve it, I often ask him, 'Hey, what are you guys doing in Mountain View?'"
Din said she finds it hard to imagine working in a career outside of politics.
"If it couldn't improve people's lives, it would no longer serve any purpose," Din noted. "I am very happy and grateful to have this opportunity through Sunnyvale and San Jose to impact so many people."
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