Candidate for
For Member, City Council; City of Alameda

I was born in San Francisco, and with the exception of two years , I have lived my entire life in Alameda. My grandparents came to Alameda in 1908. My mother grew up and attended schools here. Like my mother, I attended Mastick, Washington and Alameda High Schools. I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in History and, after an additional year in the Graduate School of Education, received a Secondary Teaching Credential. I returned to Washington School where I taught for two years. A few years later, I was on the original faculty of Encinal High School.

I was at home for about 15 years caring for my seven children. I subsequently returned to graduate school and earned a Masters Degree in English with a specialization in English as a Second Language. I taught ESL at the Alameda Adult School for ten years. In 1976 I joined the ESL faculty at City College of San Francisco. In 1979, I was appointed Resource Instructor to 300 ESL instructors. In 1985 I was appointed Associate Director by the San Francisco Community College Board of Governors and served in this capacity until 1992. I am currently affiliated with Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment Systems (CASAS) designing education assessment systems for adult schools as well as business and industry training programs throughout the country.

During those years at home, I was active in parent groups first at St. Joseph Grammar School and later at Franklin, Wood, and Encinal High Schools. In this period, I was co-chair of Alamedans for an Elected School Board, a group that was formed in an effort to give parents and other Alameda citizens a greater voice in school issues. Our goal, which was successful, was to change the governance of Alameda public schools from an appointed to an elected school board.

I worked with a group of PTA members appointed by the Alameda PTA Council to convince the City Council to establish a Social Services Human Relations Board. This effort, too, was successful. It was a pleasure for me before leaving the Adult School to introduce a group of newly arrived Vietnamese refugees to the first members of the SSHRB. The two fold goal for my students was to raise the awareness of Board members to the presence of many new Alamedans from Vietnam with unique problems of adjustment and to give my students a sense of local government especially as it related to the needs of immigrants and others with special needs.

Along with my late husband John Doherty, who was Alameda's Citizen of the Year in 1994, I was a member of Alamedans for a Better Community (ABC) and the original HOPE (Housing Opportunities Provided Equally). The concerns facing HOPE in the mid 60's were not dissimilar to concerns of today - the impact on Alameda families of the demolition of housing stock which resulted in many families being forced out of the city. Redlining of homes for sale and discrimination in rentals were both issues that HOPE dealt with. Within the last few months, some speakers at public hearings have verified the fact that discrimination is still with us and that certain segments of our population still do not have equal opportunity or access.

I am an active member of St. Barnabas Parish where I serve as Director of Volunteer Ministries, as a member of the Parish Team and the Justice and Outreach Committee. The St. Barnabas Community takes seriously its responsibility to serve those most in need. We consider chronic hunger, limited access to appropriate health care, homelessness and inadequate housing to be moral issues; we speak out on these issues and all issues of social justice. In February 2000, I was one of three people in the Oakland Diocese to receive the Ujima Community Service Award.

My involvement over the past two years as an advocate for affordable housing stems from my commitment to issues of social justice here in Alameda. As a member of the City Council, I will commit myself to working for the good of all citizens - especially those who feel disenfranchised. My vision is for a city that welcomes everyone and celebrates its diversity, and where elected officials are open and accountable to the electorate.