Former Mayor visits Pleasanton

Former Mayor visits Pleasanton

Floyd Mori was in town over the Labor Day weekend to attend the Commemoration of Life celebration for his brother, Tom, who passed away recently and had lived in Pleasanton for the past 50 years. Their parents were immigrants from Japan, farming in Utah and there were eight siblings.

Floyd was a 33 year old, teaching economics at Chabot College in Hayward, when he decided to do what he was teaching his students, that they should prepare themselves for community service. Without any prior experience, he decided to run for the Pleasanton City Council in 1972, walked to a lot of houses and defeated two incumbents, becoming the top vote-getter out of a field of 12 candidates in the election. His family was one of about six Asian families in the city. There were 25,000 residents in Pleasanton at the time and he ran on a balanced growth theme.

After a year on the City Council, he was elected Mayor, at that time the city council would elect the mayor from among themselves. Two years later, with an opening in the California State Assembly, he was elected to represent the 14th Assembly district for the next six years.

He moved to Washington, DC as executive director of the Japanese American Citizens League for 7 years and was CEO/President of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS), which helps Asians preparing for Leadership across the country. As one of the top Asian leaders in the country, he met frequently with congressional and executive leaders in the country, including the President and Ambassador from Japan.

While he was in Pleasanton, he met and talked politics and the history of Pleasanton with Craig Eicher, currently a City Council candidate in District 2. They drove through downtown, and Floyd pointed out where the first signal lights went in on main street. The city hall and police station were in the building which is currently the Museum on Main. Dean’s Café was a thriving business and one of the few restaurants in town, along with Haps. Mr. Mori said that Pleasanton is still a beautiful city with a nice downtown, but a lot more restaurants and a lot more traffic. They discussed some of the current issues in the city: public safety, water and budget. Floyd Mori is now 85 and living in Salt Lake City. He told Craig “If I lived here, I’d walk precincts for you”.

Craig Eicher is a 32 year veteran of the Pleasanton Police Force. He joined as a volunteer, was later hired, and moved through the ranks, retiring as Captain serving as Interim Police Chief for six months curing the Covid crisis. He is currently running as a City Council candidate in District 2. He believes “It’s Time for a Change”, there are many issues facing the city including, Public Safety, Budget Crisis with the City asking for a sales tax increase and water issues and the current city council majority is not equipped to solve these problems.

His campaign website is www.EicherForPleasanton.com.