Sam Sang Yoon (born Yoon Sang-hyun on January 10, 1970) is a former at-large member of the
Boston City Council
The Boston City Council is the legislative branch of government for the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is made up of 13 members: 9 district representatives and 4 at-large members. Councillors are elected to two-year terms and there is no ...
. He later served as the executive director for the Council of Korean Americans in Washington, DC. He was the first
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...
to hold elected office in Boston.
He is a member of the
United States Democratic Party
The Democratic Party is one of the Two-party system, two Major party, major contemporary political parties in the United States. Founded in 1828, it was predominantly built by Martin Van Buren, who assembled a wide cadre of politicians in eve ...
.
Early life and education
Born in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, his family moved to the United States when Yoon was ten months old. Raised in
Lebanon, Pennsylvania
Lebanon () is a city in and the county seat of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,814 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Lebanon is located in the central part of the Lebanon Valley, east of Harrisbu ...
, he became an American citizen at ten years old. He received an undergraduate degree from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
. 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
The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
.
[ While at the Kennedy School, he worked with the Dudley Square Merchants Association to help them earn a Main Street designation.
]
Career
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.
He later worked at the Community Builders, the nation's largest non-profit developer. Yoon also spent time working for Abt Associates, a public policy think tank, before becoming the Housing Director for the Asian Community Development Corporation.
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 the first attempt. Yoon won despite having lived in the city only for one 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. Yoon's election was hailed by the local media[ 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.
Yoon was re-elected in November 2007, after receiving endorsements from many prominent Massachusetts politicians including Governor ]Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...
and four other City Councilors, including Felix D. Arroyo
Felix D. Arroyo (born Apr 16, 1948) is the Register of Probate for Suffolk County, Massachusetts effective 2018, and a former at-large member of the Boston City Council.
Early years
Arroyo was raised in a public housing project in Puerto Rico by ...
and Chuck Turner
Charles Turner (June 10, 1940 – December 25, 2019) was an American politician and activist, who served on the Boston City Council representing District 7. Turner was a member of the Green-Rainbow Party Massachusetts affiliate to the national G ...
.
Yoon chose not to run for re-election in 2009 in order to run for Mayor of Boston
The mayor of Boston is the head of the municipal government in Boston, Massachusetts. Boston has a mayor–council government. Boston's mayoral elections are nonpartisan (as are all municipal elections in Boston), and elect a mayor to a four- ...
.
Asian Political Leadership Fund
Yoon is a co-founder of th
Asian Political Leadership Fund
a federally designated 527 group
A 527 organization or 527 group is a type of U.S. tax-exempt organization organized under Section 527 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (). A 527 group is created primarily to influence the selection, nomination, election, appointment or defeat ...
whose purpose is to promote political leadership from within the Asian-American community.
2009 Boston mayoral campaign
On February 8, 2009, Yoon announced he would be running for Mayor of Boston.
Yoon ran on a platform that advocated transparency and accountability at City Hall. He proposed eliminating the Boston Redevelopment Authority
The Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA), formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), is a Massachusetts public agency that serves as the municipal planning and development agency for Boston, working on both housing and commercial de ...
(BRA), an organization responsible for planning and development in Boston, and replacing it with community-focused development agency. Yoon also proposed overhauling Boston's transportation infrastructure, advocating a plan that would increase bike accessibility and would promote rapid transit.
Yoon's consultants included 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 was his lead fundraising consultant; Joe Trippi
Joseph Paul Trippi (born June 10, 1956) is an American political strategist who has worked on several gubernatorial, United States Senate, and Congressional campaigns, including Jerry Brown for Governor of California and Doug Jones for U.S. Sen ...
, a social networking specialist who was the former campaign manager for Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, lobbyist, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 200 ...
's Presidential Campaign. Yoon's pollster was Tom Kiley, who previously worked for Deval Patrick
Deval Laurdine Patrick (born July 31, 1956) is an American politician, civil rights lawyer, author, and businessman who served as the 71st governor of Massachusetts from 2007 to 2015. He was first elected in 2006, succeeding Mitt Romney, who ...
and Joe Kennedy.
Yoon's strategy was to mobilize progressive voters in Boston who may have voted for Deval Patrick and Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
, but who do not participate in municipal elections, which traditionally have low turnout. On July 11, Yoon's campaign had a volunteer recruitment session with Joe Trippi which detailed Yoon's strategy for winning.
Yoon’s campaign was the first Boston mayoral campaign by a candidate of East Asian descent.
Yoon placed third among four candidates in the September 22nd primary, receiving 21.16% of the vote. Only the top two finishers advance to the general election. After the election, second-place finisher Michael Flaherty and Yoon announced they had teamed up with Yoon becoming an unofficial running mate to Flaherty, with Flaherty promising to appoint Yoon "deputy mayor" if he won. The City of Boston government charter does not officially include a position of deputy mayor. What Yoon as deputy mayor might have done, including how he might have been paid, was never officially announced. Critics charged that this was a cheap political move by Flaherty designed to bring in minority and other voters that might not otherwise vote in the general election. Others praised it as a savvy strategic decision to bring more inclusiveness to City Hall.
Michael Flaherty and his unofficial running mate Sam Yoon went on to lose to incumbent Mayor Thomas Menino
Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...
in the November 3 general election with 42.43% to Menino's 57.27%.
Post-Campaign
After his defeat, Yoon said that the Boston establishment shut him out, and he was unable to find work. He announced his decision to leave Boston for Washington, D.C. on June 29, 2010. In Washington, he briefly served as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Department of Labor. He was previously executive director of NACEDA, and was appointed in 2012 as the first full-time Executive Director of the Council of Korean Americans (CKA).
Personal life
Yoon and his wife live in the Washington, D.C. area with their children.[https://www.wbur.org/inside/staff/sam-yoon]
References
External links
Official site
City of Boston page
Asian Political Leadership Fund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoon, Sam
1970 births
American politicians of Korean descent
Asian-American people in Massachusetts politics
Boston City Council members
Harvard Kennedy School alumni
Living people
People from Lebanon, Pennsylvania
People from Seoul
Princeton University alumni
South Korean emigrants to the United States
Massachusetts Democrats