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Susan Hammer was born in 1938 in Altadena, CA. She is a
graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. Ms. Hammer
was elected the 62nd Mayor of San Jose in 1990, and easily won
re-election in 1994. President Clinton recognized her leadership
talents and ability to forge consensus between the public and private
sectors when he appointed her to the President's Advisory
Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. She was the first
elected official and the first woman to chair the prestigious panel.
San Jose's changing skyline clearly reflects Ms. Hammer's
economic achievements while serving as mayor. Sony, Adobe
Systems, Fujitsu, Cisco Systems, IBM, Hitachi, Xerox and Syntex
all established new or expanded operations in San Jose.
While crime and gang violence scar many American cities, San
Jose has remained one of the safest major cities in the country.
During her tenure, Ms. Hammer created the Mayor's Gang
Prevention Task Force. It brought together city and county
officials, law enforcement agencies, community service
organizations and former gang members to counter gang activity
in the city.
Ms. Hammer has prepared the city for the 21st Century with an
array of visionary and progressive programs. For example,
Project Diversity brings a broader range of residents to serve on
city boards and commissions; Recycle Plus is a nationally
recognized program which is moving the city away from the
practice of dumping refuse in landfill; the San Jose Education
Network reflects an unprecedented degree of cooperation
between City Hall, local schools and private business; the
Greenline Initiative is a progressive planning measure designed to
permanently preserve hillsides for open space; and the New
Realities Task Force has proposed major governmental reforms
concentrating on organization, personnel and revenue issues.
Philip Hammer, a San Jose attorney, is the former Mayor's
husband. They have three children and two grandchildren. | 
