San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and City Manager Jennifer Maguire express support for Ukraine Tuesday
San Jose City Council adopted recommendations proposed by council members and other city officials on March 2 to support Ukraine as Russia continues its military invasion of the country.
Councilmembers adopted symbolic solidarity actions including lighting City Hall’s Tower and Rotunda in the colors of the Ukrainian Flag, preserving the sister-city relation with the west-central Russian city of Ekaterinburg and sending a letter to the city’s citizens.
“I appreciate that we’re all trying to just find ways in which we can be of some use in . . . a horrible situation of threatening and military aggression against innocent civilians,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said.
About 2 million refugees have fled Ukraine as of Tuesday, according to the United Nations (UN) Refugee Agency.
Since Russia attacked on Feb. 24 to March 6, 406 Ukrainians were killed, 27 of whom were children, and 801 civilians were injured, according to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported in a Monday statement.
Russian officials proposed a ceasefire that would start today at 10 a.m. Moscow time and said humanitarian corridors will be provided in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Mariupol and other towns negotiated with the Ukrainian side, according to a March 8 CNN report.
Sylvia Arenas, San Jose District 8 councilmember, proposed suspending the sister-city relationship with Ekaterinburg, located in west-central Russia.
“Ending a sister-city relationship over political matters of national governments is not a normal action, but across the globe each and every organization that interacts with Russia is asking themselves what their formal relationships communicate in this moment,” Arenas stated in her memorandum.
Liccardo did not agree with Arenas’ view and said in his memorandum that suspending “the sister-city relationship would be an act of ‘empty symbolism’. ”
Victor Magallanes, SJSU aviation senior, said he believes San Jose should have temporarily suspended its partnership with the Russian city. He said San Jose should ban any entities which are linked to Putin’s government and welcome as many Ukrainian refugees as possible.
“If we do this, other cities would soon follow and would be setting the bar on what the local folks can do on Putin’s war of aggression,” Magallanes said.
Tim Quigley, president of the Ekaterinburg city program, said the City of San Jose shouldn’t end or interfere in the 31-year old partnership during this “critical time.”
“Today in our efforts to support and help those who are under assault, the people of Ukraine, we must not demonize or make the situation more difficult for those who are being oppressed, the people of Russia,” Quigley said.
Arenas clarified during the meeting that her intention was not to end the cities’ communication but to show a united stance with Ukraine locally. She said if the city decides to keep a privileged link with the Russian city, we should explore a new partnership with an Ukrainian one.
Sergio Jimenez, district 2 councilmember, asked to change the recommendation, which initially suggested sending “two letters which express concern over the Russian’s government’s actions and consider suspending the sister-city relationship with Ekaterinburg (Yekaterinburg), Russia.”
He said this “government to government letter” will impact San Jose city officials’ willingness to stay open to the sister-city relationship.
Jimenez said the city should instead write a letter to Ekaterinburg’s citizens to express San Jose’s support to those standing against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government. This amendment has been approved by the City Council, and San Jose will preserve its relationship with its sister city Ekaterinburg.
If the majority of the adopted recommendations are symbolic– including the lighting of city hall– District 4 Councilmember David Cohen said in a post-meeting email that they also decided to evaluate if there are Russian investments from which the city can divest.
Cohen said the city values its sister-city relationship with Ekaterinburg and stands with the people of Russia who are also “victims of Putin’s autocratic rule.”
“We must never forget that our freedoms here in the United States can be eroded without an engaged citizenry and to dedicate ourselves to support those abroad to do the same,” Cohen said.