Candidate for
Council Member; City of Goleta

Cynthia is married to Dr. Phillip Walker, professor of anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has one daughter, Melissa, who attended Dos Pueblos High School and currently lives in Michigan with her husband and Cynthia's six grandchildren.

Cynthia earned a BA in Communications Design from the University of Illinois, Chicago, in 1975. She worked in advertising and public relations before moving to Goleta in 1980. She was employed for many years at Delco Electronics in the Technical Publications Department as an illustrator, graphic designer and department manager. She has been an instructor in UCSB Extension's Visual Communications Certificate Program.

Cynthia is a founding member and past president of the Santa Barbara Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. She served on the international board of directors of the Society for Technical Communication and is an Associate Fellow of that organization.

Cynthia was elected to the City Council in the initial 2001 cityhood election and served as Mayor in 2004-2005. During her first term on the council she has dealt with every aspect of municipal government. She has represented the City on the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District Board, and served as Vice-Chair and Chair of that Board. Currently, she serves on the board of the Santa Barbara County Community Action Commission. Cynthia served as the chair Goleta's Planning Agency and is currently the chair of the city's Redevelopment Agency

Before being elected to the Goleta City Council, Cynthia served as the Santa Barbara Shores Homeowners Association president, Citizens Planning Association board member, Highway 101 Design Review Team third district appointee, a member of the Goleta West Sanitary District Citizens Advisory Committee, and was a founding board member of Friends of the Ellwood Coast. She was a participant in Common Ground 2000, the Goleta Roundtable, and the Community Housing Action Group.

She was a founding member of the GoletaNow! Cityhood Committee that worked to bring a fiscally responsible and politically successful self-governance proposal to the voters of Goleta.