Candidate for
Member, Board of Supervisors; County of San Francisco; Supervisorial District 8

Alix was raised with a strong commitment to civic engagement, having grown up in a small town in California, where her mother served in public office and on the board of the local League of Women Voters, and where her parents both volunteered at Planned Parenthood.

Alix has been in public service for most of her life, including internships in the Clinton White House, at NARAL and in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services while she attended Northwestern University. During her internships, Alix learned the value of hard work; she held jobs in the service industry at Disneyland, and as a waitress in Southern California and in Washington DC. After graduating from college, she worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aide to Senator Barbara Boxer, where she learned the importance of constituent services and the difficulties of and how to successfully navigate government and legislative bureaucracy.

In 1995, Alix lost her uncle Cameron to AIDS-related cancer. It was a devastating loss to her family, and it forged Alix's passion to fight against the kinds of discrimination that kept Cameron from being open about his sexuality. When San Francisco took the revolutionary and courageous step of marrying gay and lesbian couples , Alix was among the first volunteers to serve as a witness for the marital ceremonies that took place in City Hall. As a zealous advocate for women's rights the related issues of LGBT rights and gender equality, Alix finds an outlet for her civil rights advocacy as President of the National Women's Political Caucus (San Francisco Chapter).

Upon graduation from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1999, and in love with San Francisco from an early age, Alix eagerly accepted the offer to work at San Francisco's Thelen Reid & Priest, LLP. Specializing in commercial litigation and real estate, she represented numerous pro bono clients in eviction cases, guardianships for indigent children, and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. She currently works as a Deputy City Attorney in Oakland, serving as General Counsel to the Oakland Army Base. In this role, she is shepherding the Army Base over complicated environmental, regulatory and political hurdles, and into the beginning stages of dynamic urban re-use.

In 2001, Alix navigated the difficult home buying experience in San Francisco, as she was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to purchase her apartment from her landlord. Having represented both commercial landlords and residential tenants in her professional life, and having served as both tenant and homeowner in her private life, she has a deep understanding of the imbalances of power in the landlord-tenant relationship.

Alix's most challenging role in government was her experience serving as Vice President and President of the San Francisco Elections Commission in its turbulent first few years. At the time the Commission was created, the Elections Department was under fire for serious management issues, including cost overruns and ballot boxes found in the San Francisco Bay. On the Commission, she made difficult decisions in the face of intense political pressure, and she made tough choices to get the department on track. This experience helped to hone her leadership skills and steeled her commitment to making the right decision in the face of withering criticism.

A survivor of domestic violence in San Francisco, Alix is determined to reform the City's handling of cases of violence, and provide leadership where the City's agencies fall short. Alix has volunteered for the Legal Community Against Violence in its lawsuits against gun manufacturers, and she served as Treasurer for the Ban Handgun Violence campaign (Prop H) in San Francisco in 2005.

Every summer, Alix travels to the Burning Man arts festival in Nevada's Black Rock Desert. Alix has found a home in the Burning Man community here in San Francisco, and applauds its emphasis on self-reliance, civic responsibility and participation. She is proud to serve on the advisory board of the Black Rock Arts Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Burning Man organization that brings to San Francisco many temporary art projects including the Temple at Hayes Green, "Flock" at Civic Center Plaza, and "Passage" at Pier 14.

Alix lives in Ashbury Heights with her partner, Steve Jones, and their dog Martha. Steve's kids Breanna (16) and Cicely (12) live with them part time.