Candidate for
City Council Member; City of El Dorado Hills

Born and raised in San Francisco, I moved around the Bay area after marrying, finally settling in Pleasanton. My first job after having three children was as Executive Director of the East Bay Zoological Society which operated the Oakland Zoo. I seriously believe that running a zoo qualifies one for almost any job!

My husband and I started a food concession business which expanded into catering. I branched out by purchasing a coffee supply service, selling it after one year of operation for three times what I paid for it. Wanting to remain close to home as the children grew older, I opened a home interior studio. After it became successful, I sold out to my partner and established a janitorial service which allowed me to be away from home only occassionaly. That business ended with a merger.

When the last child was out of high school, I took a full-time position as Executive Director of the Danville Chamber of Commerce. As such I wrote a program for the downtown merchants and applied to the newly created Main Street program sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the State of California. Our project was not selected, but the newly incorporated Town of Danville, hired me away as Community Development Director with the job of implementing a similar program. I informed the City Manager that I had no specific training in the planning, public works, or building fields. He replied that there were other staff members to teach me those things who did not have my communication skills.

That was the start of my 20+ career in community and economic development, working with both large (200+) and small(5-10) committees to plan street improvements and parking facilities, manage special events, create incentive programs, design new legislation to create special tax districts, develop beautification plans, write marketing plans, negotiate cooperative agreements between school districts, city governments and developers, etc.

Over the years I have done improvement projects for many California cities, including Danville, Pleasanton (recipient of the coveted League of California Cities Helen Putnam Award), Hayward, Fremont, and Visalia. In addition, I consulted with other cities and participated in workshops sponsored by the International Downtown Association, finally ending my career with a three year development program in Danville, VA. Interesting coincidence!

Now retired and, believing my ability to listen to people and gain their confidence can be useful in the creation of our new city, I am looking forward to dedicating my full attention to the city where I have settled.