Candidate for
Council Member; City of Healdsburg

Brigette Mansell was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 14, 1960. As a child of a SAC Air Force pilot and the fifth out of six children, Brigette learned, early on, the value of communication, self expression and the need to reach out and create community. Her family moved to Austin, Texas; Roswell, New Mexico; Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Rye Beach, New Hampshire; and, finally, to Merced, California where she graduated from Merced High School in 1978.

Brigette moved to Santa Barbara to attend SBCC then to DeAnza College and moved north to Sonoma State University where she graduated with a B.A. in English. One year later, she earned her secondary teaching credential and, at the age of 20, was hired to teach at Piner High School on the west side of Santa Rosa. After twenty-two years at Piner, she applied for a transfer and has taught at Maria Carrillo High School for the past nine years. All along the way she has taught language arts and an elective class called Oral Interpretation--she has coached high school speech and debate for thirty years.

Taylor and Savannah, Brigette's twenty-one year-old boy-girl twins, graduated from Healdsburg High School in 2011 and are both graduating from their respective college/university this Spring of 2015. Savannah attends Occidental College and is earning her B.A. in English with the intention to teach high school English (like her mother) and Taylor, at University Hawaii, Manoa, is earning a BS in microbiology. Raised in Healdsburg, both Savannah and Taylor played sports and worked jobs both on the Plaza and on an Alexander Valley family-owned farm.

Still an active teacher, Brigette brings vital skills to the city council as a skilled reader, writer, and communicator. Her experience in the high school classroom and as a participatory citizen will serve the Healdsburg City Council as our town continues to provide services for its local people as well as our increasing number of visitors. Brigette deeply cares about Healdsburg and the unique beauty and natural resources of the Russian River, Fitch Mountain, the Northern Open Space Ridge Reserve among other places to cherish and protect. The arts are a particular passion for Brigette. At the Raven Performing Arts Theater, Brigette played the role of Miss Maudie in the production of the play To Kill a Mockingbird and has volunteered as a set painter and MC for fundraising events. Her love of theater and visual arts and dance deepens her commitment to Healdsburg artists, emerging and established.

Taking a measured, yet enthusiastic approach, Brigette Mansell invites her fellow residents to participate and question and engage. One voice. Your vote. It is time.