Full Biography for Barbara Apffel Pierce

Candidate for
Council Member; City of Redwood City

I appreciate this opportunity to introduce myself to people in the community. I would like to share with you some of my background and to let you know my goals for Redwood City.

I've lived in Redwood City for about 20 years with my husband and our two children. Our daughters attended the local public schools and were involved in sports, Girl Scouts, and music-- helping us to feel a part of our community. My involvement in community issues really began in the schools, progressing from working with individual students to eventually planning and working to create partnerships to benefit the entire district of 15 schools and approximately 9,300 students. I became involved, like many other people, because I saw a need and I felt I had the skills to help make things better.

Though I am perhaps more widely known as president of the Redwood City Education Foundation, I've also worked other community organizations including: Redwood City - San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, Redwood City Civic Cultural Commission, Redwood City 2000 Performing Arts and Youth Master-plan Committees, Woodside High School Shared Decision Making Council, and as a co-leader of two Girl Scout troops since 1989. In each of these activities I helped develop solutions to problems through collaboration and creating partnerships.

My work experience as a Rehabilitation Counselor (specializing in Deafness) and as a Spanish speaking Social Worker in East Palo Alto improved my listening skills and ability to work with sensitive issues, assisting clients in learning the skills needed to solve their own problems and to become self-supporting. Working collaboratively with a variety of different agencies to create effective and efficient partnerships was vital with our limited resources. My success in my work depended upon my personal integrity, ability to develop and maintain trust and communication and following through on commitments.

In our upcoming City Council election, community members from throughout Redwood City will determine what our city will be like in the future and how our city will involve community members in determining this future. We depend upon our City Council representatives to set priorities, expect them to show leadership and make decisions for the common good. Broad community involvement and support enables our leaders to act in the best interests of the entire community.

Specific priorities I have include: Updating city's general plan; Prioritizing developments that include provisions for additional housing; Expand regional collaborations to further address transportation issues; Promote community involvement in budget, safety and recreation decisions; and Foster additional collaborations to help improve local schools.

As a result of my background and community experience, I offer skills to the Council which would help increase community involvement in government planning for the future and decision-making, promote partnerships to bring more resources to address community concerns, and foster cooperation between diverse members of our Redwood City community. These skills would be helpful in a variety of settings facing the Council: working with community members regarding neighborhood concerns, problem solving with merchants and extended community concerning downtown revitalization plans, or working with staff, community members and Council to revise our general plan.

I will also use these listening and collaboration-building skills to ensure that the concerns of our neighborhoods are heard by the Council. I invite you to contact me with your suggestions for making your neighborhood even better at #368-6246 or email Barbara.Pierce@altavista.net. Please visit my