Living Rooms to Lasting Record: The Inspiration Behind Contra Costa HerStory

Contra Costa Herstory

Women Leaders Writing Political History in Contra Costa County

March 17, 2026 - Sunne Wright McPeak

Genesis of Herstory Project

In 1999 a number of women planned a surprise gathering to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of me being sworn in as a Contra Costa County Supervisor. It was hosted inspired by the women who had been my close colleagues and long-time volunteers, many of whom were Founding Mothers or early leaders of the Contra Costa National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC). It was hosted by Louis Aiello at her Martinez home and included: Ginny March; Jane Emanuel; Taalia Hasan; Dorothy Elsenius; Judy Coleman; Aurora Rodriguez; Carmen Gaddis; Bobby Arnold; Mary Rocha; Lucia Albers; Lillian Pride; Naomi Zipkin. Distinguished reporter Pat Keeble also attended. As we reminisced about what we had accomplished together, it occurred to me it all stemmed from the founding of the Contra Costa NWPC in 1973 with a purposeful focus on increasing the number of women in appointed and elected office. We decided that the history needed to be recorded and preserved for future generations. That was the genesis of the Contra Costa Herstory Project.

The original concept was to write a book; each of us would write a chapter; we would collect photos and images from all the boxes in our garages; and Pat Keeble and Mary Lou Lucas, both accomplished writers with perspective and humor would be the editors. We collected donations and Jane Emanuel volunteered to serve as the treasurer. We decided to meet again at the home of Paula Schiff who had hosted the founding meeting in 1973 of the Contra Costa NWPC. Karen Mitchoff volunteered to help manage the Project. Melody Howe Weintraub, Guyla Ponomareff, Naomi Zipkin, and Peg Kovar were part of the original meetings. We began to organize and then life journeys began to take precedent—Karen was elected to the Pleasant Hill City Council and then the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors; I was appointed as Secretary of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency; and others had family obligations. We reinstated meetings in 2007 with a standardized framework for each person's Herstory. We recognized that technology had caught up with us and that a website could be a preferred publishing platform: would lend itself to updates and additions--could evolve over time and become a "living" Herstory.

Yet again, everyone's lives presented challenges and the Project went dormant, although a number of people had submitted their Herstories and collected photos and other collateral. I started to write my Herstory with the intent to recognize the people who made my election possible and what we were able to accomplish together as a County Supervisor. I periodically would carve out time to write another section about the journey. But, time slipped by. In 2011 Jane Emanuel notified me that she recommended we close out the bank account that she had opened years before to void paying more monthly fees. I was not willing to give up on the Herstory Project—although some suggested we just abandon the idea—so I had the funds transferred to a legacy bank account with no fees that I had opened in 1980 for the Peripheral Canal Referendum). I still chuckle about Naomi's comment about me when I insisted on continuing to work on the Herstory Project: "This woman is crazy!" Indeed. My long suit is that I'm just too dumb to give up.

Then, in November 2024, John and I were at a Celebration of Life for Norma Griffin—Norma and Ralph Griffin were very active in the Kennedy-King Memorial College Scholarship Fund. When Ralph passed, Norma asked John to speak at his services. Norma and Ralph also were founding members of the Black Families Association. Norma had joined Ada and James Cole to host the very first fundraiser for me in 1977. As I looked around the room, I spotted Jane Emanuel and Elaine Jegi, a NWPC Founding Mother who has hosted in 1974 the first NWPC fundraiser that I ever attended. I decided that I had to follow through on the Herstory Project to honor these women and all others in the room whose lives they had touched.

Elaine agreed to host a gathering at her home for the "re-launch" of the Herstory Project on January 11, 2025. Karen Mitchoff helped organize the event. 20 women attended: Paula Schiff; Jane Emanuel; Linda Best; Lucia Albers; Phyllis Gordon; Mary Rocha; Beverly Lane; Nancy Parent; Gail Murray; Cathryn Freitas; Laura Hoffmeister; Cindy Silva; Kerry Hamill Katz; Christine Colarich; Diane Burgis; Kristen Connelly; and Shanelle Scales-Preston. The photo from that gathering is so symbolic of the legacy of NWPC in Contra Costa County. The current young elected women—Diane and Shanelle (County Supervisors) and Kristin (County Clerk-Recorder Kristin), were in the front row with the rest of us in the background. Each of them said that they were the living legacy of all those efforts over 5 decades of women leaders in Contra Costa County.

I am grateful to our son who volunteered to develop the Herstory Project website and do all the content entry. Todd has expressed gratitude for the opportunity to make this contribution to "Preserve History" and Inspire Leadership" as he describes it. It may be karma that Todd was born in the first United Nations International Women's Year.

We are launching the Herstory Project website on March 17, 2026, at the request of the Supervisor Diane Burgis, Chair of Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, in a celebration of the 2026 International Women's Day. It definitely is a "work in progress" and intended to be a living and evolving archive of women making a difference in Contra Costa County. We all have a sense of urgency to make public this effort at a particularly pivotal point in the nation's history after 250 years of women seeking equal rights. Younger and future leaders—women and men—deserve to know how hard-fought was all the progress and how fragile it is without sustained vigilance.

I am sharing my Herstory in the long version (original 2007 framework) in an attempt to thank and recognize everyone who made such a difference in my opportunity to serve in appointed and elected office with the privilege to contribute a little to making the world a better place.

I am eternally grateful to everyone with whom I had the opportunity to work.

- Sunne Wright McPeak

♦

This is my Herstory

When did you move to Contra Costa County and why?

When we graduated from UCSB, I had been accepted to the Masters of Public Health (MPH) program at UC Berkeley and John had taken a job with Pacific Bell in Sacramento. Contra Costa County was the best middle point for us to live—it was the farthest that the Greyhound Bus came out from Berkeley so that I could use public transit for school and John had a little less of a drive for work. Also, as a farm girl from the San Joaquin Valley, I far preferred the warm summers in the Diablo Valley over the foggy weather around the inner Bay.

EXPERIENCES THAT SHAPED YOUR PERSPECTIVES ON POLITICS

What kind of experiences growing up most influenced who you are today?

What education experiences formed your perspectives?

What family, home or workplace experiences formed your perspectives?

I grew up on a small dairy farm in the San Joaquin Valley (rural area near town of Livingston in Merced County)—fairly isolated from others and always was encouraged by my parents to think positively without being limited by stereotypical expectations. I was the first born and as a child did everything that my younger brother did—farm chores during the summer, drove a tractor at age 5, and got my first shot gun (4-10 with a cut-off stock) for my 6th birthday.

My parents always told me and my brother that we could become anything we wanted to be, do anything that we set our mind to—and we believed that because there was no other frame of reference. Our childhood was anchored by basic, simple, solid values—family first and caring for one another, hard work and honesty. On the farm you have to make things “work”—because there is no alternative if you want to eat—so I learned early that “failure is not an option”—which is why I often quote and reference Gene Kranz (who worked for NASA mission control during Apollo 13 and wrote the book with that title).

My Mother sent me to Sunday school to “socialize” me to get ready for kindergarten, but I got religion (my personal faith) along the way. I came to believe that “with God, nothing is impossible.” My parents highly valued education. And, although they didn’t get to go to college, that always was their dream for us. (My Dad did attend a semester at University of California, Davis before volunteering for the Army Air Corps in WWII.)

When I was in high school it became increasing apparent that my parents weren’t going to be able to afford to pay for college, so I focused on trying to keep up my grades and extracurricular activities in order to be able to qualify for college entrance and be competitive for scholarships. However, I was frustrated by many aspects of high school, including the social cliques, so I petitioned the School Board and was granted permission to graduate early at the end of my junior year, only to realize that I didn’t have sufficient time to apply for financial aid (but was accepted at UC Davis). Thus, I decided to return to high school for my senior year and applied for scholarships, which required letters of recommendation and evaluation of my abilities from teachers. I noticed on the evaluations shared with me that some teachers didn’t rate highly or didn’t know about my leadership abilities, which made me question that trait as well. Although I had convinced my classmates to sponsor the education of an Indian child through the Save the Children Federation as a class project, was involved in lead roles in the band (first clarinet, head majorette, and even drum major when needed), had participated in Model United Nations for several years, and represented the school in Future Business Leaders of America competitions, I wasn't involved in student government, which apparently was what teachers perceived to be the definition of “leadership” in high school. So, I decided to test my “leadership abilities” in college.

I was very fortunate to receive both a California State Scholarship and a Regents Scholarship to the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). When I was interviewed for the Regents Scholarship by the Dean of Students Upton S. Palmer, he asked me, "Why should we give you a scholarship, you're only going to get married and have children?" I was so naive, I didn't know enough to be insulted. I answered directly, "I may marry and have children, but I do intend to change the world." That apparently was convincing because Dean Palmer awarded me the Regents Scholarship, which was immensely validating. Dean Palmer became a wonderful advisor and mentor. Although Regents Scholars were encouraged to wait to declare a major (to benefit from the fully exploring academia), I started on a pre-med course of study. I also decided to run for Freshman Class Secretary and took on the challenge with unusual vigor to buck the trend of the cutest sorority girl being elected to that position; I was neither (I was neither in a sorority or cute). I even worked the dorms going door-to-door to solicit votes, forced a run-off out of a field of about 11 candidates, and then won. As Class Secretary, I became the “organizer-secretariat” for the Class of ’70, getting our student government to launch the Indian Project to focus on Native American issues and studies. Fortuitously, the Chairman of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Ed Olivas, came to UCSB at that same time to ask for help in getting water to the Santa Ynez Reservation. We formed a partnership that lasted for the 4 years while we were at UCSB. We also organized forums and conferences, engaged the University of California Office of the President to consider establishing a studies program on Native Americans, and wrote to UC Regents and Legislators requesting support and donations. That experience provided substantive leadership training for all of us who volunteered. It also caused me to petition UCSB for an Individual Major in International Medicine, which was granted by Dean Palmer and allowed me to further pursue cross-cultural relationships in conjunction with healthcare policy.

I was easily re-elected as Class Secretary for our Sophomore year. But, then the group of involved students changed and the field opened up for our Junior year. With the encouragement and support of John (now husband—we were married between our Junior and Senior years in college), I made a the decision to run for Class President and won. It was not very common in those days for women to run for, let alone be elected to, the top positions in student government. John placed an ad in the college newspaper that won the hearts of the voters titled "That's My Girl" which extolled my commitment and work ethic Moving into the top leadership position presented a whole different perspective on leadership and responsibility. The first task was to eliminate a deficit in the class treasury, which John erased by showing the film “Endless Summer” at Campbell Hall and raised more than enough to provide a little operating capiour Junior Year we forged an alliance with the Black Student Union, MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan), and Asian Student Union to develop a course on racism for high school students. The effort was pursued as an “independent studies class” for all participants to receive course credit and organized in honor of John Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert Kennedy. This was one of my first efforts to build diverse coalitions with shared values for common purposes.

I also worked during two summers in a food processing plant to earn additional money for college. My Father was the head of transportation for Banquet Foods in Turlock and I was offered the opportunity to work in the laboratory to test bacteria in TV dinners. The plant was unionized and I became a member of the Teamsters. But, at the end of each summer, I petitioned the Business Agent, a large man who went by the nickname of “Tiny,” to refund my dues to help me with college expenses, and he did—very nice gesture from the first labor leader I knew in my career.

Our senior year at UCSB—1970—was one of the most tumultuous in the history of the campus—numerous demonstrations for civil rights, several protests against the Vietnam War, burning of the Bank of America branch in Isla Vista coupled with a fatal shooting of a student on the steps of the bank, occupation by the National Guard and curfews in Isla Vista, and a bomb at the Faculty Club that killed a janitor. As a result, the Administration cancelled graduation. As Class President, it was my job to negotiate it back by reaching agreement among the same student organizations that had forged an alliance to counter racism that we would collectively guarantee that there would be no disruption of the ceremony. Once again, Dean Palmer took a gamble on me and approved the reinstatement of graduation. We even went so far to foster good will as to collectively write a single speech with 4 different students representing various sectors of the campus population (selected through open tryouts) delivering sections of it to underscore our shared commitment to a better future. John was one of the 4 speakers. It was a wonderful celebration that all the student organizations appreciated—and, indeed, there were no incidents. Our families were so pleased and proud. I became the first person in our family to graduate from college because the taxpayers and the University of California invested in my education. And, although I received thousands of dollars in financial aid for college, in all of my working years, I've paid back in taxes many-fold that amount—a pretty good return on investment for taxpayers.

My experiences in leadership positions at UCSB were transformative and foundational for the rest of my life. By the time we graduated, I was confident that I could be a leader. I also was certain that each of us had to take responsibility and be prepared to lead to achieve the vision and promise of the democracy that we thought was possible.

HOW AND WHY YOU GOT INVOLVED IN WOMEN’S POLITICS

What motivated you to get involved in women’s politics?

• What were your significant Contra Costa County experiences – personal, work, family, civic and political that caused you to want to become involved?

What did you want to see accomplished?

I was very fortunate again that my first boss in a paid position after receiving my Masters of Public Health (MPH) from UC Berkeley was a strong woman, Lillian Pride, with a passion for making the world better. She also had an acute attention to accuracy and precision in writing. She was a true mentor, roll model, and my champion to apply to become the founding Executive Director of a new Model Cities Project in Pittsburg, the Community Health Center (CHC), which was sponsored by the Pittsburg Community Hospital District. Lillian became the Executive Director of the Health Policy Board, another Model Cities Project, which was housed at the CHC.

Working as the CHC lead executive (and at a relatively-young age), I quickly came to realize how political healthcare was. I complained to my husband, who suggested that if I really wanted to make a difference, I should “opt into politics”. He didn’t mean run for office (although now he says he did), but rather he was telling me to get to know local elected officials so that they would “take my call” and I could provide input about healthcare policy. I watched for announcements in the local papers and went to a forum sponsored by the Democratic Central Committee and heard Marcella Colarich for the first time speak about being a volunteer in a campaign. Marcella was District Director for Congressman Jerry Waldie and a powerful role model who became my “Political Godmother.” When we launched the Community Health Center, Lillian suggested we make it a big event by having the Pittsburg Police Department block off Railroad Avenue in front of the building for a stage and guest seating for a dedication ceremony. It worked and everyone showed up: Congressman Jerry Waldie; Senator John Nejedly; and Pittsburg City Council Members. With the success of that one gathering, thereafter, interacting with elected officials became fundamental to me in advancing good health policy.

The CHC experience inspired me to volunteer for Jerry Waldie’s Gubernatorial Campaign in 1974. So, I met with Marcella who had become the Campaign Headquarters Manager to discuss ways for me to help. To my surprise, she put me in charge of coordinating all the “Citizen for Waldie” (CFW) groups in Contra Costa County, of which there were 14, from Richmond and El Cerrito in West County, to Orinda and Walnut Creek in Central County, to Danville in the San Ramon Valley, to Antioch and Oakley (which conducted all meetings in Spanish) in East County. The Contra Costa CFWs were responsible for recruiting volunteers and raising money to support the statewide effort, so I had to learn quickly how to organize and not take “no” for an answer when it came to fundraising. Marcella always had a suggestion for how to raise funds—wine and cheese receptions with guest speakers, art shows, garage and bake sales—she kept everyone going by making the tasks seem doable—and not taking "no" for an answer or any other excuse.

It was through the Waldie Campaign that I met community and civic leaders throughout Contra Costa County that became the foundation for everything else I did in politics. Everyone I met through volunteering for just one campaign led to opportunities that I otherwise would not have had or imagined.

Lesson Learned: Step up and volunteer—and then do the homework to show value in making a contribution. It will be recognized (if not always rewarded appropriately.)

For example, Bette Boatmun of Concord, a Board Member of the Kennedy-King Memorial Scholarship Foundation, worked for the YWCA (headquartered in Richmond with a branch office in West Pittsburg) and Mollie Fujioka was on the Board. They recruited me to serve on the YWCA Board and I met many other women leaders, including Ada Cole who was the CEO. Ada and James Cole, along with Norma Griffin, founding members of the Black Families Association, hosted the first fundraiser for me when I ran for Supervisor. Mollie and George Fujioka were active in the Japanese Americans Citizens League (JACL) and recruited me to participate in the mock hearings for Congressional proceedings on reparations in the early 80s. I had grown up in Livingston attending JACL social events with my schoolmates, but came to truly admire and appreciate the JACL pioneering work on civil rights because of my involvement with the Contra Costa JACL (I am a Life Member)—all because of the people that I met by volunteering.

It was Marcella Colarich who first told me about the Kennedy-King Memorial College Scholarship Fund and described it as a "must-attend" event for elected officials. We first attended in 1973. John later served on the Board and was President for almost a decade, also serving as MC for the Annual Scholarship Awards Dinner, including for the 50th Anniversary. We thought we had "arrived" in Contra Costa social circles when we were invited to attend the pre- and post-dinner gatherings at Bette Boatmun's home.

The Kennedy-King Memorial College Scholarship Fund was established in 1968 following the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy by young civic leaders, primarily in Walnut Creek who also knew one another from the Democratic Club, although it was bi-partisan from the beginning. It is still all volunteer and provides scholarships to students graduating from the 3 Colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District so they can attend a 4-year institution. The founders are listed as: Louis Bernstein (architect); James Boman; Frank Bryant (architect); Arthur Caines; Art Carter (head of the Central Labor Council), Lawrence Crochett (DVC Professor); Harley Hull; Tim Lynch (student who is now on the Board again); Ed Regalia (attorney); Robert Schroder (Walnut Creek Councilmember who also was active in the Republic Party); and Fortney "Pete" Stark (founder of Security National Bank and referred to as the "hippie banker" who later was elected to Congress). It is notable that none of the wives were considered "founders." although I assure you from my personal knowledge that Lillian Bernstein, Bette Boman, Sue Bryant, Gwen Regalia, and Fran Schroder (probably others) very much were involved and present at the organizing meeting in the backyard of Sue and Frank Bryant. Further, all of these women already were active in the community—but it was not customary for women to be recognized in prominent leadership roles. It would be just 5 years later that NWPC was founded in the same neighborhood and supported by the same women.

The Kenney-King Scholarship Foundation is another dimension to the Contra Costa community fabric that allowed me to network with people willing to support my candidacy for Supervisor. It is worth nothing that over the years, transformative community leaders, such as Ralph and Norma Griffin, Harriet Garelis, Jim and Janet Kennedy, Perfecto Villareal (and now his son, Joseph), Greg McCoy (Gagen-McCoy law firm), Ernie and Peggy Hartz, Joe and Virgie Fitzpatrick, Ron de Golia and Diane Longshore de Golia served on the Board and were active supporters.

Lesson Learned: Community connections are very interwoven and the astute public servant recognizes and honors them.

It also was Marcella who told me about the effort to establish a local chapter of the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC) and the organizing meeting at Paul Schiff's home in Walnut Creek during the summer of 1973. I still remember vividly that unforgettable occasion that had so much positive energy and excitement with Iris Mitgang and Guyla Ponomareff standing in the middle of Paula's living room trying to get everyone's attention to call the meeting to order—not an easy task. That was the founding of the Contra Costa NWPC. Those of us who signed the petition to be officially recognized by the national NWPC call ourselves the "Founding Mothers." There also were other women who joined soon thereafter and took leadership roles in the early formative years that contributed just as much to shaping the impact of NWPC.

NWPC that was the catalyst force that changed the face of politics in Contra Costa County. To be sure, there long-time members of other women's organizations, such as the League of Women Voters, American Association of University Women (AAUW), and National Organization for Women (NOW), who had been on the forefront of advocating for women's rights, including the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Soroptimist Clubs in Contra Costa County were quite active in representing women in business. YWCA was prominent in serving girls and women. Pioneers had started organizations to provide safe places for battered women and to support victims of rape. But, it was the founding of NWPC that coalesced all the energy at a moment in time with the confluence of leaders from all of these organizations coming together that was the tipping point for women in public office in Contra Costa County.

The distinguishing focus of NWPC was to increase the number of women in appointed and elected office as critical path to achieving women's rights. The Contra Costa Chapter began raising funds for women candidates through luncheons at which guests were asked to contribute to NWPC and to individual candidates. I was invited to a luncheon in fall 1974 hosted by Elaine Jegi who still lives on Salem Street in Concord. Jane Emanuel lived next door and Bette Boatmun lived across the street. Lillian Pride, then running for the Pittsburg Community Hospital District Board (an election she won), attended that luncheon as a candidate. That event is still vivid in my mind. Elaine served quiche (which I had never had before and thought was so elegant and delicious). Thus, it was fitting that Elaine hosted on January 11, 2025 a gathering of 20 women—Founding Mothers, long-time leaders, elected officials—to re-launch the Herstory project—and, she made quiche!. The photo from that gathering is so symbolic of the legacy of NWPC in Contra Costa County. The current young elected women—County Supervisors Diane Burgis and Shanelle Scales-Preston and County Clerk-Recorder Kristin Braun Connelly, whom I first knew when she was in pre-school, were in the front row (because they could more easily sit on the floor)—with the rest of us in the background. Diane, Kristin, and Shanelle all said that they were the living legacy of all those efforts over 5 decades of women leaders in Contra Costa County. They are living proof! (And, it is worth noting that the re-launch of Herstory came about because Elaine, Jane and I all were at a Memorial Service for Norma Griffin in November 2024 and I decided that I owed it to Norma and the other wonderful women whom I was blessed to know and call colleagues and friends to finally share the stories as part of a continuum of a struggle for basic fairness and justice.)

Former County Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, who served as my second Chief of Staff when I was a County Supervisor, helped organize the gathering at Elaine's home and has been essential to the Herstory project (we started when she was she was on the Pleasant Hill Parks and Recreation District Board of Directors (before she was elected as a City Councilmember or County Supervisor). Other NWPC members, civic leaders, and elected officials who attended the "re-launch" event hosted by Elaine included: Paula Schiff; Jane Emanuel; Linda Best; Kerry Hamill Katz; Lucia Albers; Phyllis Gordon; Christine Colarich (Marcella's daughter); Mary Rocha; Beverly Lane; Gail Murray; Cathryn Freitas; Laura Hoffmeister; Cindy Silva; and Nancy Parent, who at 90 is again elected as City Treasurer for Pittsburg, having been the first women elected to the City Council in 1982, served 5 terms (1982-1990, 2002-2014), and was the first female Mayor. (Lillian and I used to frequent the Parent hardware store owned by Nancy's brother, Jim, to buy supplies for the Community Health Center—small world.) All of those women who gathered at Elaine's home in January 2025 have decades of community service and civic leadership—all remarkable role models of carrying the torch in many different ways to light the path for younger women and men.

My experience when I left the Community Health Center because of the birth of our first son was quite instructive about the realities of women in the workplace. The Hospital District ended up hiring 2 men to take my place—and paid them more. That deepened my commitment to working for equality and I became more involved in NWPC.

Lesson Learned: When money is involved, the rubber hits the road for women in terms of equal pay and comparable worth.

In 1975, the United Nations International Women's Year, NWPC proposed that the County establish a Commission on the Status of Women, which some elected men liked to refer to as "SOW" for the play on words. The incumbent Supervisor from East County even conducted a poll as to whether or not the public wanted to fund a Spay-Neuter Clinic or the SOW—and, then when asked about the survey would quip "[DEROGATORY PHRASE REDACTED]." NWPC mobilized countywide—with women from West, Central, and East County coming together as never before—with the YMCA being the catalyst that not only caused women to cross perceived geographic boundaries, but, even more importantly, to cross racial and ethnic lines. That coalescing of women regardless of demographic backgrounds became the foundational strength of the Contra Costa Chapter of NWPC. When the Board of Supervisors considered the proposal for the Commission on the Status of Women in April 1975, there was standing room-only in the Board Chambers for an evening hearing. All the seats were filled and I had to sit on the floor. When the Board voted 4-1 against a Commission, something galvanized in my gut and I vowed that I would do nothing else in politics until I had changed the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. While it was not well understood or appreciated by the elected men and prominent male business leaders, the Board defeat of the Commission is what provided an infusion of energy with momentum to change the face of politics in Contra Costa County. That countywide coalition of diverse women became the backbone of NWPC who rose repeatedly to the occasion to make the difference.

In 1975 I was asked by Eric Hasseltine and his wife (at a Kennedy-King Scholarship Dinner) to run his 1976 campaign for County Supervisor against that East County incumbent Supervisor. I had met Eric when he chaired the San Ramon Valley Citizens for Waldie Committee 2 years before. John and I decided to take on that challenge—even though we were expecting our second child—with the following conditions: no money would be raised without my knowledge; and no policy position would be released without my approval. Remarkably, Eric agreed and that is how I learned about the next layers of politics in Contra Costa. It also was in that campaign that I met Linda Best and we have been colleagues and friends ever since.

That campaign also presented a moral dilemma because another candidate for Supervisor was Antioch City Councilwoman Louise Giersch, first elected in 1968 and first female Mayor (1970-1971, 1975-1976). Several of us struggled with whether or not to support the woman in a race regardless of the circumstances. However, I had made the commitment to Eric when he was planning to run against the incumbent before the election opened up, so I followed through.

Louise was quite a remarkable person, having studied chemical engineering in college, a pilot who flew the family plane, appointed to the Antioch Planning Commission in the 60's, and then elected to the Council when there were only a few women in public office (Louise passed away in 2023 just shy of her 98th birthday). Although a trailblazer, she wasn't known for being active in circles supporting other women—it just wasn't part of the consciousness in her generation who had to strike out on their own to fulfill their interests and talents.

While women had started to run and be elected to School Boards in the 60's, very few were elected to City Councils, although there was some early exceptions—Mattie Chandler was elected Mayor of Richmond in 1926 followed by Rosemary Corbin in 1993 and Irma Anderson in 2001; Grace Castner was elected City Clerk in El Cerrito in 1917, Laura McNeil was appointed to the El Cerrito City Council in 1941 to replace her deceased husband, and Doris Hormel was elected in 1956; Rosalie Sher was elected to the Concord City Council in 1968 and June Bulman was elected in 1976 and became the first female Mayor in 1987; Peg Kovar, who had led an initiative for open space and was the first Chair of Save Mount Diablo, was elected to the Walnut Creek City Council in the early 70's and became the first female Mayor in 1975; and Dione Mustard was elected to the Pleasant Hill City Council in 1976 and served as Mayor in 1978. It was Dione who led the effort to focus on child care in Pleasant Hill and convinced the City Council to engage my consulting firm, McPeak Associates, to conduct the study which produced a comprehensive report that informed for years my work on child care as a Supervisor.

At a Pleasant Hill City Council Meeting for which I was on the agenda to report to the Council on the Child Care Study, I was in the audience when an appeal on a decision by the Planning Commission to approve a group home for seniors was being heard by the Council. I was appalled by how residents were testifying against the land use complaining that they feared that older people would be peering over the fence into their backyard bar-be-ques. I was taken aback by the lack of a sense of community and caring for one another—quite the opposite of my experience growing up on the farm in rural Livingston where neighbors (albeit living a half mile apart) always pulled together to help each other. That prompted me to approach the City again to say that I was willing to serve on the Planning Commission. I had been offered a position on the Planning Commission 4 years earlier after having served on the Pleasant Hill Cluster Housing Committee—and I turned them down. At the time I had just accepted the position as Executive Director of the Pittsburg Community Health Center and was concerned that I couldn't do a good enough job of both positions. That was so typical of many women who are overly conscientious. I also was very naive about politics and I didn't understand that I was being offered the "cherry appointment" at a relatively-young age. Sarah Young, a prominent civic leader in Pleasant Hill became a champion for my appointment (she later worked in my Supervisor's Office).

Serving on the Planning Commission—2 years as Chair with the men on the Commission (including Bob Oliver who later agreed to serve as Treasurer of my campaigns) being totally supportive of my ability to lead meetings and facilitate deliberations asking me to serve a second term in that role—was foundational for learning about housing, land use, and real estate development. I was Chair of the Planning Commission when I ran for County Supervisor.

After being elected, but before being sworn in as a Supervisor, both the City and developer of the signature project on the nostalgic Ellinwood "cabbage patch" asked me to continue presiding until the Commission had acted. The property was referred to as the "last farm" left in Central County, but it was not very viable commercially and the daughter of the owner inherited it after he died and she had to sell it to pay the taxes. However, the entrance to Ellinwood was on Contra Costa Boulevard that already was busy. The key to making the traffic pattern workable was designing a mixed-use project (both affordable housing and jobs with neighborhood-serving retail) to reduce trip loading onto that major arterial at the peak commute times. That land use concept was innovative and literally groundbreaking at the time. We were able to facilitate consensus among the stakeholders and decision-makers. Ellinwood is a very successful project to this day.

It is worth noting that I had volunteered in 1971 to serve on the Pleasant Hill Cluster Housing Committee after seeing an article in the City newsletter that was just left in the mail tray of our apartment building. Approximately 26 people applied and the City Council appointed all of us. A year later, there were only 6 of us still serving—5 men over the age of 40 and me. I had earned my stripes by doing the homework. I was allowed to write a paper called "The Philosophy of Housing" that became the first Housing Element of the Pleasant Hill General Plan. The State had passed law in 1969 (became effective in 1970) requiring Cities and Counties to include a Housing Element in their General Plans and Pleasant Hill took this novel approach to satisfy the requirement.

Housing is a very personal issue for me. When I was born my parents had a very small house on the farm that was 12' x 15' (footprint of 180 square feet). It was 2 stories—basically 2 rooms—a kitchen downstairs and a bedroom upstairs in which 4 of us slept until I was about 5 when a mirror addition was built to make 4 rooms with a living room and bedroom for my parents. My grandfather had built the little house for him and my grandmother while he built the "big house" which was 1,200 square feet—nothing was exactly to code. We were fortunate to have indoor plumbing—my aunt and uncle who lived on the neighboring farm had a proverbial 2-seater outhouse until I was 7 (it was always dark, smelled, and was filled with cob webs—I hated to use it). However, the bathroom in our house was so small that the toilet was installed with the water tank against the outside wall and the front of the toilet was flush against the inside wall—such that one had to sit sideways to use it. I didn't realize what the proper way was to sit on a toilet until I was sent to Sunday School and the bathroom stalls in the church basement were so narrow that one could only sit front-wise. My Mom always wanted a descent house, which she didn't get until we bought it for her and my disabled brother in 1994 after my father had passed away.

My service on the Cluster Housing Committee and Planning Commission in Pleasant Hill garnered enduring support from City staff. Planning Department Secretary Barbara Connors, who took the minutes for all the Planning Commission meetings, invited me to join the Pleasant Hill Soroptimists and became a long-time volunteer and friend—she was born in the same year as my Mom, but really was a "peer" in community service. Planner Tommy Angove and his sons volunteered to put up yard signs and were asked so often "Who the heck is Sunne McPeak" that they had a T-shirt made for me with that saying. I still have it. Planning Director Jim McLaughlin and City Manager Jim Alkire (and wife Margie) also were supportive, spreading positive words behind the scenes.

Each of these volunteer experiences were fundamental to learning deeply about issues that County Supervisors need to know. It also was relatively easy to volunteer for something and then demonstrate ability that led to other opportunities.

Nancy Fahden of Martinez was the first women elected to the Board of Supervisors in the primary of 1976. Eric Hasseltine was elected to the Board in the general election in 1976 after a run-off with Louise Giersch. Eric became the leading champion on the Board for children and women, including proposing a travel ban to states that had not ratified the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Serving as someone's campaign manager or volunteering on a campaign are viable avenues to have more input to policy in shaping the direction of a community. Access is power.

After the Hasseltine campaign, I continued my consulting business and applied for a few appointed positions, including the Concord Hospital District Board of Directors and the Contra Costa County Human Relations Commission. I wasn't appointed to either, but gained valuable experience about what it meant to put yourself out there to be vulnerable to public rejection—an ever-present facet of public office. Wanda Stanley was appointed to the Hospital Board—and she deserved it for many other years of volunteer service. Later, Wanda and her husband, Mac, became loyal supporters and Father Mac was the "unofficial" chaplain of the McPeak campaigns—although I was honored to have many different spiritual leaders over the years deliver blessings to open our events. Had Supervisor Warren Boggess appointed me to the County Human Relations Commission, I might never have decided to run against him in 1978. I was simply looking for an opportunity to make a difference.

Lesson Learned: Recognize talent and bring energized people into the fold, even if there are differences of opinion and approaches at the beginning—try to find common ground.

In the meantime, the success of the Hasseltine campaign gained the attention of others. I was so excited when Pat Keeble, the highly-respected and powerful reporter for the Contra Costa Times who covered the Board of Supervisor, called and asked to have lunch. It was my first experience of meeting with an skilled journalist and trying to be forthcoming in answering questions without saying things on the record (or off) that were "too much information." I should have learned more from that meeting. I think Pat was actually fairly gentle—and, was just doing "background" research. Over the years she became a dear soul in covering women, loved cats, and was a Master Gardener (she gave me an exquisite pair of professional pruning shears). When we launched the Herstory Project, I thought that Pat Keeble and Mary Lou Lucas (who has an unparalleled sense of humor) could just do the writing and editing. They were willing, but they did need content from the rest of us—which was very slow to get generated because we all were still very busy trying to change the world. Now, technology has caught up with our vision, and we have the Herstory website to be the ongoing archive for why it is important for women to be involved.

In 1977 I began to think about running for Supervisor and started talking to NWPC Members. There was interest, but a lot of questions about how to challenge an incumbent. For me, that rather long, several-month conversation with lots of people was very helpful in being able to think about what it would take and for me to internalize what it meant to put oneself out there without any assurance of success—although I needed to be able to explain to prospective supporters a plausible scenario for winning. One of the easiest rebuffs by civic leaders when one asks for support or contributions is to question if there is a poll that shows vulnerability of an incumbent. But, a poll takes money and we didn't personally have the funds nor had we started fundraising because I hadn't yet decided to run—a "catch-22" situation. So, we figured out an alternative approach. Based on the projects that had done through McPeak Associates (and my strong math educational background), I designed a poll and developed a methodology for reliable (and defensible) statistical sampling, recruited volunteers, and obtained a significant contribution from Wanda Harris, a leader in Business and Professional Women, who had a phone bank at her home for her marketing business—what an amazing resource that she allowed us to use. Volunteers did the calling, I compiled and analyzed the results, and with this innovative approach, we had a poll to show people—which, of course, surprised folks and was a factor as to why people started to take me seriously. This is another example of my farm upbringing—there always has to be a way to get something done without spending a lot of money (and certainly not wasting it).

I credit my math teachers—especially Mitsue Takahashi in Livingston Elementary School District and Henry Bergman at Livingston High School (Merced Union High School District)—for giving me the confidence to use math to support politics and to not allow men to intimidate me with numbers or other technical references. I also had a solid educational grounding in science—thank you, Nolan Wingo, my High School basic science, chemistry, and physics teacher who also was a fan of Dave Brubeck—a jazz innovator from Concord—Mr. Wingo played his albums in class—how prescient for being elected year later to represent Brubeck's hometown (and to connect with Carl "Jeff" Jefferson, the founder of the Concord Jazz Festival). My public school teachers from a small town in the San Joaquin Valley gave me the confidence to have a reasonably-technical discussion with most people—quite helpful to me as a woman, particularly as a young female in a male-dominated arena. In fact, after being elected a County Supervisor, whenever we would receive a report from staff that had figures or data calculations, I would immediately use a hand calculator in front of them to start checking the math—surprisingly, there often were errors—mostly typos with decimals in the wrong place—but, over time, staff and consultants came to know that I would check their figures for accuracy and could spot things that just didn't make sense. I continued that practice as the CEO of the Bay Area Economic Forum and Bay Area Council, Secretary of Business, Transportation, and Housing, and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund. It has become more than a tactic, but is a fundamental practice for professional integrity—I need to make sure that I understand the numbers. It is disconcerting that many policymakers and regulators just accept reports they get without checking the logic or veracity of the numbers. And, to this day, when younger male techies try to give me some glib explanation for why the technology is not working, I will stop them and say "What you're saying doesn't make sense—it is just "0s" and "1s" and you have to make me understand—aren't you smart enough to do that?" That changes the "respect" dynamic in conversations, especially when sexism and ageism have begun to creep in.

Armed with the results of a poll that showed there was openness by voters to considering candidates other than the incumbent for County Supervisor, we set about recruiting volunteers and developing a prospective campaign committee.

I also attended every possible community event to meet people and recruit supporters. At a League of Women Voters gathering in Lafayette, 3 women approached me about managing my campaign: Lori Steere Griggs, LaVonne Craig, and Betsy Paige (dba "Interface Associates"). Typical of me, we negotiated a very frugal contract (with a performance incentive payment for winning in the primary—quite unrealistic, but the way I ran community health programs and my business in those days) and a modest campaign budget (about $20,000—which seemed like a lot of money to me in those days, but rather skinny for what was needed to run a competitive race). We conducted a number of "listening sessions" hosted by several people in their homes, which culminated with a final "campaign exploration" meeting among about 40 key activists hosted by Bette and Chuck Boatmun (on Salem Street in Concord where I had attended the first NWPC luncheon in 1974). Everyone was enthusiastic and stepped up to take specific responsibilities—and 2 people independently came to the meeting with the same concept for a campaign logo that I would never have selected on my own, thinking it might be "too cute for a woman"—but, everyone liked it, so I decided to go with the "wisdom of the group" and have used the logo ever since: a sunrise over a mountain (to represent "Sunne McPeak" with the slogan "A New Day"). The logo resonated with residents because of the prominence of Mt Diablo (that also had spiritual significance for Native California Tribes and was once visible to about 40 Counties on a clear day). That logo has become my personal emblem for courage—my husband had a lovely stick pin made for me and cuff links made for himself with the logo. I wear it for "extra strength" when taking on major challenges or going into meetings for which I need positive reinforcement.

In September 1977, California hosted in San Jose the National Convention of the National Women's Political Caucus. We all mobilized to attend because Iris Mitgang was running for Vice President and we were campaigning for her election. (We also learned to wait to get to the venue to blow up balloons—we naively inflated them in a hotel room and then had to stuff them into a car to transport them to the Convention—not bright, but a comical scene to say the least).

The Convention was quite an experience with Jill Ruckelshaus delivering a moving keynote speech, Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug, Maxine Waters making fiery remarks, and Holly Near being the headliner entertainer. I had never heard of Holly Near, but a few years later learned that she was from Potter Valley in Mendocino County and often quoted her song "The Speed of Light" as a kind of anthem for the women's movement. At the Convention, Holly sang "Imagine My Surprise" and there was some discomfort in the audience about the topic of lesbian relationships.

It definitely was a different time and early in the "Women's Movement"—or more accurate historically, the "third wave" of the Women's Movement. The "first wave" were the women helping found the country who were strong and self-sufficient with Abigail Adams so aptly reminding her husband, John, in writing the Constitution to "remember the women," which, of course, the men in Philadelphia did not heed. Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman fought not only for the abolition of slavery but also for women's rights. The "second wave" was to secure the right for women to vote (Women's Social and Political Union and Suffragettes) that ended in victory with passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and ratification by ¾ of the states in 1920. After securing the right to vote, women had to vote mostly for men for 6 decades. The "third wave" followed women being in the workforce to help win World War II and then returning to being homemakers with a growing sense of not being fulfilled that was captured by Betty Freidan in "The Feminine Mystic" which I was assigned to read in a Sociology class at UCSB.

There are many notable women trailblazers—Alice Paul (drafted the Equal Rights Amendment), Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks (NAACP Montgomery bus protests), Dolores Huerta (United Farm Workers). And, while Freidan was writing mostly about white middle-income women, her book gave rise to a new conversation that became the watershed we are still experiencing as women have become more prominent in every dimension of society, business, and public life. However, younger women today may not fully understand how fragile are the hard-fought gains in equal rights. We must be ever vigilant. This is another purpose and motivation for the Herstory project.

Jill Ruckelshaus was the head of the White House Office of Women's Programs for Presidents Nixon and Ford, and a Founder of NWPC, ensuring that it was bipartisan from the beginning. I am moved to this day by Jill's address titled "Everything You Have" at that 1977 Convention, which is why some of us have persisted in finally publishing the Contra Costa Herstory:

Everything You Have

Jill Ruckelshaus

September 10, 1977 — National Women’s Political Caucus, San Jose, California

Sisters, you were all here because you are smart. You are committed to an idea that is much larger than ourselves or the length of our lifetimes. You want to elect women to public office because we want to gain some control over the issues that affect our lives.

We want the women of America to understand what it is to be raised female in a society where we have met the government and it is not us. Somebody is making laws in this country that affects our legal rights, even our basic right to control our own bodies. And there are not enough of us among those somebodies.

We’ve learned that we have to win our fight, then win it again four years later, and four years after that. . . We are in for a very, very long haul. I am asking for everything you have to give… We will never give up. You will lose your youth, your sleep, your patience, your sense of humor and occasionally . . . the understanding and support of people that you love very much. In return, I have nothing to offer you but… Your pride in being a woman, and all your dreams you’ve ever had for your daughters, and nieces, and granddaughters. . . Your future and the certain knowledge that at the end of your days you will be able to look back and say that once in your life you gave everything you had for Justice.

The opening festivities of the 1977 NWPC National Convention included receptions at art galleries in San Francisco—very classy. I remember being concerned about what to wear that would be appropriate and selected a suit that I had designed and that my grandmother had made (she made most of my clothes in High School and many for college—including my wedding dress)—it worked. In one of the galleries I ran into Ben Russell, who at the time was head of the Contra Costa County Retirement System. I first met Ben in 1971 when he was on the Contra Costa Comprehensive Health Planning Board of Directors, run by Joe Hafey. While I had been assigned by U.C. Berkeley School of Public Health to do my field work at the Contra Costa County Health Department, my mentor, Jim Henderson, assigned me to many different experiences, including to Joe, who in turn sent me to Pittsburg to work with Lillian Pride.

Lesson Learned: There are lots of intertwined relationships within a community—pay attention and respect everyone—you are likely to run into them in another context.

When I told Ben that I was running for County Supervisor, he asked me to pin to his shirt pocket (polyester blue short-sleeved shirt he always wore) one of my business cards to remind him to send a donation. A few days later, a donation of $50 showed up in the mail—that was huge. So, with a budget of just $20,000, I thought that I just had to get 399 more people like Ben Russell to support my campaign. It is hard to describe how energizing it is to get a substantial donation early in a campaign. I had the same reaction when Guyla Ponomareff wrote me a check for $1,000 and Barbara Cross donated $5,000 when I ran for State Senate in 1988—I was astounded that people were willing to put that much faith in me. Ben was named the first all time "Good Guy" by NWPC.

Ben recommended that I meet Louise Aiello, a young County executive interested in policy and politics. Louise grilled me about a spectrum of issues during our first meeting and then, somewhat to my surprise and much to my delight, became a key supporter, valued colleague, and special friend. Louise did know a lot about politics—her father, Salvedor "Red" Aiello was the long-time President of Local 1, an independent union representing a large number of County employees, and her mother, Lydia Vecchi, born in Pacheco, was part of a prominent Martinez family, and had several relatives who worked for the County. Louise became a strong and forceful NWPC leader.

Ben and Margaret Russell became long-time supporters and dear friends—they also were champions for mental health services. I was honored to be given the inaugural "Ben Russell Award" by Phoenix Programs, Inc. in 1993. The award was established by CEO Stuart McCullough. I first met Stu during the 1978 primary campaign for Supervisor when he mobilized non-profit organization leaders to support me. Given my experience at the Community Health Center, I was sympathetic to the challenges faced by non-profit organizations and very appreciative of their roles as partners to the County to deliver cost-effective services for the community. (Stuart became CEO of Youth Homes, Director of the Contra Costa County Alcohol, Drugs, and Mental Health Program, and is on the Board of the Martinez Community Foundation; he was married to Barbara for 38 years before she passed away in March 2025. (John, taught math to Barbara's twin sons at Northgate High School--another example of intertwined relationships within a community.)

I did the first public announcement of my candidacy at a Holiday Party in December 1977 at the home of Ginny March and Joe Crawford who lived in Pleasant Hill near the Contra Costa Country Club. Ginny had started an organization called "People Over Planes" and had grilled me earlier in the year about my positions on controlling noise from Buchanan Field, a general aviation airport owned by the County that was the 17th-busiest in the nation ("busy" is measured by take-offs and landings and Buchanan had 4 fixed-base operators who taught flying, which resulted in a lot of planes dong "touch and goes" with increasing levels of noise as more people began flying more often). Ginny endorsed me, managed the Campaign Office in the general election (we used homes for organizing volunteers in the primary), and served as my first Chief of Staff. Given our focus on Buchanan Field and commitment to control noise, my office received a copy of every complaint letter and reply from the Airport Manager during the entire time that I was a Supervisor so that we could monitor how the County interacted with the public. I also learned more about community noise-equivalent levels (CNELs) and how people perceive sound than I ever wanted to know.

Being able to announce my candidacy at Ginny and Joe's home with several civic leaders who belonged to the Country Club provided credibility that counted for a lot—although it was a scary experience to stand on their hearth facing all those important people to state with conviction what I was doing—many of whom were friends or acquaintances of the incumbent. Among those in attendance were Ginger and Jim Marsh—prominent business leaders and members of the Country Club with a lot of golf buddies. Ginger was active in Concord Soroptimists and led that organization to be the primary sponsor to found SHELTER Inc. which was jumpstarted with seed capital from our "Hands Across Contra Costa" fundraiser in 1986. This is another very good example of intertwined community relationships that lead to a "critical mass" of folks who can change the course of history. As cultural anthropologist Margaret Meade so infamously said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has". This quote so captures what NWPC did—and so many other significant defining initiatives in our communities—started with a few dedicated individuals who became a movement. I have been blessed to know and work with more than a few dedicated individuals who have made such a difference in Contra Costa County and California.

Ginny also became a stalwart leader for NWPC and is still a dear friend, although she retired from the County in 1988, married Ron Bales, moved to San Diego, worked for a San Diego County Supervisor, organized a homeowners' association, bought and remodeled the house next door to improve their neighborhood, and now lives in Albany—still organizing people (Super Seniors at her housing complex). When Ginny retired, Karen Mitchoff became my Chief of Staff.

There were a total of 5 candidates for District 4 Supervisor in 1978—the incumbent, Warren Boggess, running for his third term, 3 other men, and me. District 4 included Concord, Pleasant Hill, Pacheco, Clyde, Naval Weapons Station, and the unincorporated area around the Pleasant Hill BART Station. My platform was about cost-effective governance and higher returns for taxpayers in the form of more effective services—all going back to my experience in running the Pittsburg Community Health Center at which I was stunned by the amount of bureaucracy involved with government that had little relationship to improving services to the community or taxpayers. That theme had traction with the voters as 1978 was the year that the Jarvis-Gann initiative to roll back property taxes qualified for the June ballot as Proposition 13. While I also proposed a solution to reduce and control increases in property taxes—similar to a proposal that then-Assemblymember Dan Boatwright had crafted—Proposition 13 was less fair and passed because politicians let a growing problem go unaddressed too long. As in nature, politics abhors a vacuum. Too few Counties and elected State Officials were paying attention to a real problem—seniors were being taxed out of their homes—so Proposition 13 passed overwhelmingly and we're still living with its inherent inequities and unintended consequences almost 5 decades later.

Lesson Learned: Pay attention to what is important to the public and address problems before they become a crisis. Listen to people talking at the grocery store or coffee shop.

As word circulated that I was running for Supervisor, unions started to reach out to me to meet and interview me. Dick Bepler of Communications Workers of America (CWA) was the first to reach out and to endorse me. That led to meetings with the Central Labor Council headed by Secretary-Treasurer Tony Cannata and Warren Jackman, head of the Building and Construction Trades Council. Warren was from IBEW Local 302, as was Steve Roberti, who became a close advisor for years through all the big battles. I was given a fair hearing by labor leaders and received endorsements from both Councils and several other locals, including Retail Clerks (now United Food and Commercial Workers) led by Bill Henderson. I do think that Diane Roberti, Sue Cannata and Della Jackman had some influence behind the scenes to give their husbands more encouragement to endorse a woman for Supervisor—a first! Firefighters Local 1230 endorsed me (John Stiglich led the effort). IBEW 1245, representing PG&E workers, also supported me and donated printing as an offset to Operating Engineers Local 3 (infamous its printing presses) who supported the incumbent, as did Local 1 Public Employees Union.

It became clear that although I had become established as a credible candidate, the dominant civic and business leaders were still supporting the incumbent and the path to victory required grassroots mobilization. NWPC fully mobilized and fielded volunteers to walk precincts every weekend, all organized by Jane Emanuel. I walked door-to-door on week days. Numerous home coffees were hosted to meet constituents and listen. Even with the limited campaign budget, we made the unusual decision to purchase a few billboards—one that was very prominent on I680 that had a huge impact for increasing awareness—the name of the game always is "name ID" and half the people asked about whether or not they had ever heard of "Sunne McPeak" who said "yes" said "yes, I think I've heard of him." That strategic move paid off and heightened the buzz among voters and energized the enthusiasm of volunteers.

Another segment of the population who became involved were students—many not old enough to vote, but interested in politics and who were willing to volunteer. Members of the Concord Youth Commission, including Melody Howe, Jerry Weintraub, and Rollie Katz (whose father worked for Local 1) interviewed me (at Rollie's home) and decided to support me. Clay Smith from Clayton nd Tim Farley from Martinez got involved. Dru Cox, a senior at College Park High School, quizzed me on my positions at a Scholarship Dinner for graduating students and then volunteered to walk precincts—she was very dedicate in spite of being bitten by a dog on her nose while leafleting. There were forums at Diablo Valley College; students and faculty welcomed a challenger. We sought support and endorsements from all corners and segments of the community.

Although the Contra Costa Times endorsed the incumbent, the Editor of the Concord Transcript, John Leykam, took a risk in breaking from the parent company by endorsing me. That was a another huge boost given that Concord was the largest City in the District.

On primary election night in June 1978—hosted by Local 1245—my parents and grandmother showed up to surprise me—I was totally blown away (and, seeing them became more emotional than I had braced myself for). I still remember my Dad saying that he expected women to support me, but he just couldn't get over all the men (especially labor leaders) who were supporting me. That night he became a "true believer" in me being in politics. When all the votes were counted, much to my disappointment (because I just could not fathom that evening what it would mean to have to organize all over again for the general election), I had a plurality of 2 votes—just 2 more votes than the incumbent. Warren and I together had about 92% of the vote—and the other 3 men split the balance. That margin of 2 votes was amazingly powerful psychologically and demoralizing to the other side. Of course, everyone claimed to be 1 of those 2 votes, which they had a right to do. Had any 2 people who went to the polls that day decided to stay home, the outcome would have been much different.

We did learn that at least 1 of the votes was cast by the brother of Tim Farley who had gone to the County Election Office that day and had mistakenly been given a ballot for District 4—he lived in District 2. He took advantage of the government's mistake and voted for me. Elections are not perfect to be sure. But, given that neither the incumbent nor I had a majority of votes and we were headed for a run-off in the fall, no one called for a recount.

The very next day after the primary, all 3 of the other male candidates endorsed the incumbent—casting the die for a test of how we women (and the NWPC) could overcome politics as usual. By the next day, I was re-charged and prepared for 5 more months of campaigning, saying to supporters and the media that we had beat the 4 men before, and we were just going to do it again in November—fairly bold rhetoric not really knowing how we were going to do it nor how we would raise the money that would be needed.

The 2-vote plurality had other positive results. More people in the establishment, who had supported the incumbent in the primary, began to reach out to me—they decided to hedge their bets. I took the approach that I understood they were in a difficult position because they had to work with Warren and make a living in the realities of County politics, so I didn't want them to change their position (or endorsement) necessarily, I just wanted them to split their contributions between Warren and me so that we could have a competitive chance (and consider a dual endorsement if that was possible). That strategy worked. A particularly satisfying experience personally was when I was interviewed by the Contra Costa Board of Realtors Political Action Committee and later that day received a call from Bill Anderson (his wife Wilma always was very nice to me) telling me that they were impressed with my positions and they were going to contribute $250 to my campaign (I think they still donated more to Warren, but their contribution spoke volumes). Merle Hall was the Chair of the Board of Realtors at the time and I was further energized when I attended their charity bowling tournament in the fall and, as I was walking in, a beautiful young woman, Bonnie Timms, said to me "my boyfriend, Merle Hall, really likes you"—what a boost that gave me. Bonnie and Merle have been married more than 40 years and are dear friends to this day.

I was very honored that Clark Wallace, then Chair of the California Board of Realtors and a prominent developer in the Lamorinda area, called me to his office and made a donation. Over time, Clark and Gerry became wonderful friends, although while I was a Supervisor he proposed several controversial developments that the Board had to consider and that I voted upon—never winning many friends. Sue McNulty Rainey, elected to the inaugural Moraga City Council in 1974 when it incorporated, and the only woman to serve as Mayor of 2 Cities—Moraga and then Walnut Creek after marrying Sheriff Richard Rainey—a champion of women in the Sheriff's Department—said at Clark's memorial service in 2025 that he was responsible for the incorporation of 2 Cities—Moraga and Orinda. I noted in my remarks that Clark's developments that residents once railed against had become signature structures that most people have come to admire (often the case in real estate development, although a lot of crap gets built that should have had more quality design). Clark and I served together on the Bridge Housing Board of Directors. Years later when he was Chair of the National Association of Realtors, one day he showed up in my Supervisor's Office with a new coffee pot because he thought we served lousy coffee and he just wanted to help. (Yes, I did report the gift to the FPPC.)

Lori Steer Griggs was the only partner in Interface Associates willing to run my campaign in the run-off election for County Supervisor in 1978, which ended with me winning 53% to 47%. Volunteers came from everywhere—Antioch City Councilmember Tom Torlakson and Donald Freitas walked precincts. Labor mobilized. Concord Mayor Bill Dixon bucked the rest of the Council and joined Pleasant Hill Mayor Dione Mustard in endorsing me—a powerful headline to have both Mayors endorsing me. But, it primarily was the dedication of NWPC that made the difference—and Lori's enduring hard work (she more than earned her incentive bonus).

The general election night gathering was at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 159 (UA Local 159). As election results established the trend that I was winning, Warren Boggess called to congratulate me—my first experience of a class act from someone who just lost an election. He was gracious, but also said "you're very young and have a lot to learn." While sounding somewhat patronizing to me at the time, he was right. There always is a lot to learn—which I keep in mind to this day. Supervisor Boggess even supported me as Supervisor-Elect to convene hearings on skilled nursing facilities to address the needs of patients and the imperative for reform of long-term care. I delivered the report to the Board soon after being sworn in. As fate would have it, Warren, who was very handsome, started working in Hollywood. One Friday after meetings in Los Angeles, I got on the plane and was sitting with my eyes closed waiting for take-off, and there was a tap on my shoulder. I looked up, and it was Warren saying hello, coming home from a commercial shoot. I said to him, "There is justice in this world, Warren—you look great and I look like a disaster and am so tired." We laughed and had a bonding that is rare in politics among opponents. Years later, there was a development in the San Ramon Valley that involved his son. I cast the deciding vote to approve it on its merits, but it would have been a true financial hardship on the family had I been vindictive or yielded to the majority of the people who testified and not done the right thing.

My election as Supervisor in 1978, indeed, was a direct result of NWPC targeting, engaging, organizing, mobilizing, and going the extra measure to support me. While NWPC previously had endorsed other candidates and NWPC members had worked on the campaigns of other women, my candidacy became a symbol for directly challenging the powers that be and confronting the establishment status quo. Jane Emanuel, who was the Precinct Walking Captain, recently shared the following memories with me:

There are so many memorable events of the campaign and your incredible win and the great feeling that we could pull that off. I am still pleased as punch and am grinning about it as I write. As Precinct Walking Chairperson, I called the names on my thick stack of 3 x 5 cards each week and then had to listen to all the excuses on Saturday why people couldn't join in. But, I had the pleasure of coloring the map for each precinct that was walked—I am proud that we filled in the entire map! At the victory party we all were cutouts of your face.

I was blessed with NWPC being a valuable source of advisors and allies after being elected, with very capable women continuing to take responsibility to lead the organization. One of those key leaders was Taalia Hasan who became CEO of the Youth Services Bureau based in West County (retired a few years ago). Taalia worked with Ada Cole at the YWCA when I was on its Board and then for the Children's Council. We first bonded over shoes. Taalia always was exquisitely dressed with matching heels. One of the many differences between men and women is that women can be talking public policy, cut to shoes, and back to policy without missing a beat (perhaps stemming from society's conditioning of women to function as multi-taskers).

WOMEN AS LEADERS IN PUBLIC OFFICE

As an elected or appointed official, what issues were most important to you?

What actions did you take or are you taking, successful or not, to further these issues?

What is left to be done to address your priority issues?

Counties are political subdivisions of the State of California and responsible for implementing most of the services on behalf of the State—from health and human services, to land use and infrastructure, to law enforcement and the justice system. In fact, Counties deal with everything in the federal government arena, except for national defense and international relations. However, given that I represented the Concord Naval Weapons Station, I also was introduced to military relations and actively worked with the Commanders on the base. Most residents and voters don't have an understanding of the immense breadth of responsibilities of Counties—which is what I found so fascinating. While I first considered running for County Supervisor because of my background in public health issues with efficiency in administration by focusing on outcomes, volunteering in Pleasant Hill gave me a lot of depth on housing and land use. And, my involvement with NWPC capped my conviction to fight for basic fairness.

My parents and John's parents were in the audience in January 1979 when I was sworn in as a Supervisor. Eric Hasseltine was elected Chair. There was a bit of drama behind the scenes because Eric wanted to have me elected Vice Chair, but it was Nancy's turn. I did some quick negotiating to have the Board establish a 3rd Standing Committee on Water Policy with me as Chair and elect Nancy as Vice Chair, which surprised County Administrators and clearly signaled a "New Day" for the County. Everyone settled down for the moment—although I perceived that Nancy always held a little resentment that she no longer was the only woman on the Board.

Government Efficiency and Value for Taxpayers

I was appointed to serve on the Finance Committee with Bob Schroder as Chair, which provided numerous opportunities to advance efficiency in government. I also secured the appointment to the County Supervisors Association of California (CSAC—now called the State Association of Counties, but the same acronym). These appointments provided appropriate platforms to carry out the agenda that I had set forth as a candidate. I attended my first CSAC Conference in November 1978 as a Supervisor-Elect and met the incoming President, Riverside County Supervisor Clayton Record, who was a dairyman (had been President of the California Dairy Association and was a past President of the California School Boards Association). When he learned that I had grown up on a dairy, he said "he could always trust a girl who knew cows" and appointed me to negotiate on behalf of CSAC with the Legislature for a "long-term solution" to "bail out" Local Governments following the passage of Proposition 13. It was quite remarkable that Clayton trusted me with that assignment—and, it is how I began immediately to interact with policymakers in Sacramento as a newly-elected County Supervisor. It was in this context that I first met John Garamendi, who was Chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, which oversaw the County services that needed support. That led to a lifelong alliance and friendship with John and Patti Garamendi and their family. I worked for decades with John on water issues and had the opportunity to work directly with Patti when I became Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing (BTH) in 2003—she was one of the BTH Deputy Secretaries from the Davis Administration.

During the first year on the Finance Committee for Budget deliberations, with the tolerance and support of Chair Bob Schroder, I asked the head of each Department to delineate 3 outcome metrics that they thought were the most appropriate performance measurers and indicators of productivity for their Department. It was a foreign topic to most of them and they struggled to answer—we asked them to confer with their teams and come back with proposed metrics. To be sure, Bob's cooperation was key—he was a principled force on the Board as well a gentleman (and thoughtful—he brought me a birthday cake in 1979 during Budget hearings). After a couple of years we started publishing an annual report on performance for public accountability, which helped change the County culture. We even advanced Civil Service Reform and got it passed by the voters in 1980 (I appointed Eizo Kobayashi to the Merit Board and he still serves to this day). We also got CSAC to launch a "Performance Efficiency in Government" (PEG) campaign to cut red tape (complete with buttons) and sponsored legislation authored by John Garamendi.

Public Health Policies and Initiatives

Contra Costa County was a trailblazer in public health and human services during the years that I served on the Board (1979-1994). We established the Contra Costa Health Plan, the first publicly-sponsored, federally-designated health maintenance organization (HMO) with a State license to operate as a health insurance program. There are now 16 other County Health Plans in California. I had been assigned by Joe Hafey while doing my MPH field work to determine the feasibility of such a plan and had concluded that the County would lose less money by establishing a pre-paid health organization with a contract from the State for Medi-Cal patients. As a Supervisor, I was able to make it happen. We also were among the earliest governments to take on the tobacco industry, establishing the first regulation of indoor smoking and second-hand smoke in the state. The tobacco industry referred to me as the "lunatic fringe"—which I relished as a badge of honor and validation for being a trailblazer. It also was Contra Costa County who forced action nationally on nutrition labeling showing calories for the fat content in food by introducing a bill in California, a strategy that is quite effective to spur federal enactment because industries want to avoid 50 different sets of regulations on consumer safety.

When I was working in community health programs before being elected to the Board, I was struck by how the people we were trying to assist with a health problem also had other inter-related challenges, usually including not having sufficient income, which leads to a whole host of other issues, including mental health, substance abuse, and involvement with the justice system. These factors often compound one another in a downward spiral that ends with children becoming part of the foster care system. Further, if families try obtain available services, it is almost a full-time job going from one government agency to another to receive assistance. Government agencies too often function for their own convenience as bureaucratic silos with insufficient coordination, let alone integration of services in teams working with the families as integral members. Having been blessed with loving parents that always were there for me and my brother, even if we didn't have much money, and witnessing the importance of families being able to take care of themselves and one another, when I became Chair of the Board for the first time in 1982, I declared it the "Year of the Family" and encouraged each Supervisor to organize an event and plant a "family tree" somewhere in their District to promote the concept. It was more than a symbolic gesture, it was the launch pad for working with County human services departments to better coordinate the delivery of services in consultation with families for improved outcomes.

However, various factions of women accused me of "selling out to the right" by talking about the "value of families" (and keeping them together) to improve the effectiveness of health and social services, as if "family values" are in conflict with being a feminist championing women's rights—a premise that I reject—but I still experienced the public slings and arrows. It was another reminder that people deal in symbolism as much as substance in politics, which I still find disappointing. Although, I still think that voters do see through superficial talk without results. When working for the State, I was amused at how often the most meritorious proposals got reduced in discussions within the Governor's Office as to what are the "optics"—another reason why politics is a terrible business, yet necessary corollary to advancing effective policy. We did have coffee mugs made with the Year of the Family logo and they were appreciated by the members of the McPeak Breakfast Club and volunteers. I still display that mug in our home to remind me that it is important to do what you think is right rather than what plays well in politics. Of course, it is best if one can align policy and politics, but we don't always have that luxury in elected office.

My family joined me to plant the District IV family tree at the Contra Costa County Central Library in Pleasant Hill. I periodically visited it for years and then notice that it had died. Supervisor Karen Mitchoff (with the help of Jim Kennedy as I understand it) had a replacement McPeak Family Tree planted in front of the new Pleasant Hill Library. I was so pleased to see it when the new Library was dedicated and to discover a plaque memorializing a donation that John had made.

Fairness and Equality for Women

As a County Supervisor, I came to understand at a much deeper level the importance of women being in the room when policy and budgets are being decided, especially in the confidential discussions behind closed doors (Closed Sessions) for deliberations on personnel and litigation. I observed how much of a difference collective bargaining made in labor negotiations. When the management negotiators were only men, there wasn't an appreciation for what it meant to be a woman or mother working outside the home —men simply didn't and don't have the same experiences as women. Further, there was a difference in valuing the contribution of female-dominated vs. male-dominated classifications, which had other dimensions of historical tensions. Female-dominated classifications were represented mostly by Service Employees International Union (SEIU), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and California Nurses Association (CNA) vs. male-dominated classifications represented by Local 1 (an independent union that affiliated with AFSCME in 2016). The Deputy Sheriff's Association also was and is independent, representing workers who were mostly men, but there was a growing number of women officers in addition to the emergency 9-1-1 dispatchers who are mostly women.

When I introduced the issue of comparable worth (based on my own experiences) and proposed a study, the concept was enthusiastically supported by SEIU, AFSCME, and CNA (although I had not consulted them in advance—should have), and Local 1 expressed support in concept, but stated concern that it was not necessary and was going to waste time and resources, a public position to mask the underlying concern about the balance of power among the unions and inside communication channels with management (I also should have discussed this matter with Local 1 and DSA—it is never a good idea to surprise stakeholders). In addition, given that Local 1 was closely aligned with Nancy Fahden, finding a majority of Supervisors to support the study was more problematic.

Tom Torlakson, elected in 1980 to replace Eric Hasseltine who ran for the Assembly, often was the second vote for my proposals, but then the challenge became whether or not the issue aligned with Bob Schroder's values and/or was perceived by Tom Powers to be viable politically. Either way, it meant that we always had to build community support for any proposal—nothing was easy. Of course, support from NWPC and several other women's organizations was essential. After a lot of internal conversations with County Administration to secure their cooperation, the Board agreed to conduct a study on comparable worth to measure the differential in compensations associated with the value of contribution to the functioning of the County.

The Contra Costa County Comparable Worth Study was the first by a large public employer, so sparked a lot of interest statewide. The findings resulted in an adjustment to female-dominated classifications that immediately put an additional $14 million (as I recall) in the pockets of the employees in the female-dominated classifications with an ongoing adjustment that increased compensation going forward. While the matter of "equal pay"—compensating women the same as men in any given job—largely has been accomplished, "comparable worth" remains more elusive and gender discrimination is more insidious. An astute top executive leader in any given organization can facilitate an environment that achieves equity—leadership always is the single most-significant factor and the experienced executive usually doesn't need an expensive study to do the right thing. However, when bureaucracies resist change, a default position is to ask for a study in hopes that it will be too expensive. Thus, champions for fairness and equity should be ready to set forth a research framework and methodology that is as cost-effective as possible. Again, a level of comfort with math (and statistically-reliable sampling) was quite helpful.

When the Contra Costa County Comparable Worth Study was completed and the Board had acted to make appropriate adjustments in compensation, I reached out to the State Commission on the Status of Women to request the opportunity to present the results to them, which I was granted. When I testified, I urged the Commission to sponsor a study for the State and other interested jurisdictions. I also proposed that the Commission sponsor an Equal Rights Amendment to the California Constitution, given that the ERA had failed nationally to be ratified by ¾ of the states. The Commission did neither.

Contra Costa County also raised awareness statewide about the need to enforce court-ordered child support payments. This issue came to my attention in 1988 while walking precincts for the Senate campaign because it was the most frequently-asked question in all regions of the County. After losing that race, I brought the issue to the Board of Supervisors. We launched our effort with the first countywide broadcast of Contra Costa TV featuring the "10 Top Deadbeat Parents" in the County, which caught the attention of media around the world. I was invited to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show and to accompany the daughter of the only deadbeat mother on the list.

I had assured Harpo Studios that I would be fine flying overnight to Chicago because I had a commitment to emcee the evening before an event honoring Angie and Pete Coffee. They acquiesced. Whether or not it because I was tired or just not thinking, I slipped up and called Oprah "Opal" which not only was embarrassing, but a big disappointment to my Mom and Brother who never missed an Oprah show. Oprah was gracious and the child support issue got a statewide and national (and international) spotlight. Fortunately, there were others who could speak about to problem, such as Karen Mitchoff, who did a television appearance in Los Angeles. Contra Costa County again sparked a change in State policy and actions.

Housing and Land Use

Housing is the linchpin of smart growth and sustainable communities. And, as explained earlier, it is very personal for me. Thus, immediately after being sworn in as a County Supervisor, I reached out to the Contra Costa Board of Realtors, Building Industry Association, and labor to organize and convene forums on housing. The gatherings mostly were listening and learning sessions, although we developed recommendations for action that prioritized affordable housing as a policy focus for the County. The forums also deepened my understanding of the issue, building upon my experience in Pleasant Hill on the Cluster Housing Committee and Planning Commission.

In 1980 I was called to a meeting with Deputy Public Works Director Bill Gray and Deputy Planning Director Harvey Bragdon in Harvey's office. They explained an idea (that Bill had brought back from a conference) to develop a transit village around the Pleasant Hill BART Station, an unincorporated area in my District. They described their approach to prepare a Specific Plan overseen by a Steering Committee comprised of representatives of the County, BART, and surrounding Cities. They said that the cost of doing the Plan could be recouped by establishing a redevelopment agency for the area to capture the value of the public investment in the Station and to leverage the power of tax-increment financing. I immediately saw the genius in their proposal and we set about implementing their idea. BART, Pleasant Hill, and Walnut Creek accepted the invitation to participate; Concord declined. The BART partnership was the linchpin: BART joint development executive Katharine Ogden helped craft the concept with County staff; BART Director Barclay Simpson, an astute business leader and exception civic leader, was the key to collaboration and my primary partner in reaching consensus. Gail Murray represented Walnut Creek. Each jurisdiction was given an equal vote in the process. The Walden Homeowners Association complained, contending that participation in public meetings was insufficient. So, we added the Association as a 5th co-equal member of the Steering Committee, shifting their perspective from being potential "victims" to a "co-leader" responsible for the destiny of the community which minimized their fears and helped them understand that the more successful economically the project, the greater the value of their properties, aligning interests for the public good. The Steering Committee met monthly, studied technical reports, received input from experts, and listened to the community. The Specific Plan incorporated several innovative features, strategically identifying them as "mitigations" for potential environmental impacts which could be supported through the redevelopment agency, such as building a child care center and establishing a business association to operate shuttles to reduce vehicle trips. The Specific Plan was prepared and adopted unanimously in less than 2 years. It has been recognized nationally as a model and has received numerous awards, being the first transit village for the BART system and in the state. I also negotiated a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the Building and Construction Trades Council (Local 159 led)—which was one of the first in the state and survives to this day.

However, no good deed goes unpunished. Further, implementation of visionary land use plans often requires patience to align investors with market realities, during which there are trying transitions. For example, parking ratios in the Specific Plan worked overall for a mixed-use development, but depended on a jobs-housing balance, and there are different kinds of investors and developers for residential and commercial properties and timing doesn't always align. During times of market downturns, property owners, a number of whom were major contributors, proposed land-use changes to make some money and cut their losses; we had to turn them down. Today, Contra Costa Center at the Pleasant Hill BART Station is a model transit village. Much of the credit for success goes to Jim Kennedy, head of the Contra Costa County Redevelopment Agency, who was diligent in implementing the Specific Plan and very skilled in working with multiple stakeholders. We dedicated together the opening of the Child Care Center. In the meantime, my opponents for re-election in 1986 and 1990 announced their candidacies at the development, trying to make it a symbol of failure. Thus, I often quip that "all the red stuff on the ground at the Pleasant Hill BART Station is my blood."

Contra Costa County was a trailblazer in the state on growth management that linked housing and transportation improvements. Bob Schroder kept warning the rest of us that transportation was becoming an important issue. He was right. We both thought it was ironic that years later I was appointed California Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing. Fortunately, I had been tutored by Bob and had a lot of experience as President and CEO of the Bay Area Council. In the mid-80s, unrest by Contra Costa County residents over growth and traffic congestion was becoming prevalent. I led the effort for the County to update the General Plan with an advisory task force that included all the Cities and stakeholders. Although my colleagues thought the process was unwieldy, and there were lots of cross-currents, tensions, and trying conversations, it gave rise to a workable Growth Management Plan that included drawing an Urban Limit Line that accommodated housing needs for the next 20 years while preserving 2/3 of the County land mass in open space. When in 1986 the County and Cities (through the Transportation Authority) proposed a sales tax measure to fund transportation improvements (Measure C), I argued for linking it to Growth Management to ensure the voters did not perceive transportation investments as inducements for more traffic . The "boys" who called the shots in putting up the money for the campaign) rejected the idea; Measure C lost. The redrafted proposal on the ballot in 1988 incorporated Growth Management and passed. That 1988 ballot measure became the model for the State to pass law establishing Growth Management Agencies throughout California, but unfortunately didn't include essential performance measures aligned to economic realities. Contra Costa County subsequently adopted "21st Century Conditions of Approval" for developments that included measures to reduce traffic congestion, increase energy efficiencies, and promote advanced telecommunications. Tom Torlakson, who was elected to the Assembly and Senate (where he chaired Transportation Committees), and then State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has shared with me that when he looks back, he thinks we were visionary and cutting edge. These intense (and painful) efforts informed my subsequent work, particularly as a Cabinet Secretary to advance groundbreaking initiatives. There is no substitute for experience.

More recently, I've had the honor to work with California Community Builders (CCB) founded by John Gamboa (who also founded the Latino Issues Forum and Greenlining Institute) and The 200 (a group of knowledgeable civic and business leaders, many of whom are trailblazers among Latino communities), chaired by Joe Coto, former Assemblymember and Superintendent of East Side Union School District in San José. CCB focuses on homeownership as a cornerstone for building wealth and developed a "New Paradigm" for community investment which reflects some of the approaches we pursued in Contra Costa County and that I implemented as Secretary. Noerena Limon has shared a study by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals that shows the highest rate of Latino homeownership among Bay Area Counties is in Contra Costa, which is validation of the wisdom of the Growth Management Plan and Urban Limit Line adopted by the Board of Supervisors on which I served. I fear that the County and Cities have been "living off" that past capacity for housing that we accommodated and they need to update plans.

Protecting the Delta: Water Policy and Resource Management

As Chair of the Water Policy Committee, I represented the County in all hearings related to SB200, introduced in 1979 with the support of Governor Jerry Brown to authorize the Peripheral Canal to take fresh water from the Sacramento River east around the Delta directly to the State and federal pumps at Clifton Court Forebay, threatening freshwater flows in the estuary for fish and water supplies. Notwithstanding fierce opposition from several Northern California stakeholders, the bill continued to wind its way through the Legislature and was scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee in June 1980. I had concluded that we were not likely going to be able to stop it, but potentially we could expose the hypocrisy of the sponsors by offering an amendment to test whether or not they would operate the Peripheral Canal only to take "surplus" water, which would require surface storage. SB200 named 2 storage facilities (Los Vaqueros and Los Banos Grandes) that could function to accept more water south of the Delta during times of more rainfall and snow melt, but there was no commitment in the bill as to when they would be built. Thus, I asked the Board to authorize me to offer an amendment at the Committee hearing that said Contra Costa County would go "neutral" on SB200 if the Peripheral Canal would not be operated until at least 1 of those 2 storage facilities (which we refer to as "water banks") was built and came online. The Supervisors authorized unanimously to offer that position. When I testified and put the amendment on the table, the Committee Chair looked past me and to the sponsors, Metropolitan Water District (MDW) of Southern California, if they would accept the amendment; Chairman Earl Blaise shook his head "no" which confirmed their real intent (and the purpose of offering the amendment). That night at Frank Fat's (an historical restaurant frequented by politicians and lobbyists), Mr. Blaise came over, patted me on the head, and said "nice try" to which I replied that he had no idea what he had just done.

The passage of SB200 forced serious discussion about alternatives to stop the Peripheral Canal. I asked to meet with Governor Brown, which he granted, and the meeting was between just the 2 of us—no staff in the room. I pleaded with him to veto SB200 or, at least, allow it to become law without his signature to preserve his integrity regarding the environment. We also began to consider a referendum, which required gathering signatures to place the issue on a statewide ballot. We held a gathering one Saturday morning of Northern California leaders (including Humboldt County Supervisor Danny Walsh and prominent San Joaquin County water attorneys Tom Zuckerman and Dante Nomellini who represented several Delta island reclamation districts) at the Contra Costa Water District (although the District supported SB200). Even East Bay Times publisher Dean Lesher attended and expressed his opposition to a referendum—a very powerful voice to say the least. He and George Miller both feared that we would lose the referendum and thereby limit other strategies to stop the Canal. We discussed the conditions under which a referendum would be viable: (a) the Attorney General would provide wording for the opponents to have the "No" side of the vote; and (b) we raised $100,000 in a week. As noontime approached, Danny Walsh stood up and said "I've always trusted Sunne, so I suggest we authorize her to make the decision about a referendum based on the criteria." People generally agreed and left for lunch. A week later we had confirmed that opponents to the Peripheral Canal would be voting "No" which was a huge advantage, but we had raised only $30,000 ($25,000 from Mitch Jenkins and $5,000 from the Sierra Club—Environmental Defense Fund CEO Tom Graff, one of the few environmental leaders to oppose SB200, somehow secured the donation. Further, while the required number of signatures for a referendum are the same as for an initiative, the allowed time for collecting them is much shorter. The total days allowed for the entire process to qualify a referendum, including receiving title and summary from the Attorney General, printing petitions, gathering signatures, and submitting them to each of the 58 County Registrars of Voters to be counted, is equal to the time allotted for just gathering signatures for an initiative. Thus, it was a very tough call to decide to go forward to launch a petition drive—and, we really didn't know what we were up against—at least, I didn't.

We got wind that Jerry Brown was going to hold a press conference on Friday evening, July 18, 1980 at 6PM to sign SB200 and that it would be broadcast only in the Los Angeles media market. We decided to fight. We asked Senator John Nejedly to reserve a conference room on the bottom floor of the State of California building downtown Los Angeles. Jerry Brown held his press conference and signed SB200. Then, the cameras cut to us and we announced the referendum. We had the petitions printed over the weekend and conducted another media conference on Monday morning at San Francisco City Hall where Mayor Dianne Feinstein was the first person to sign the referendum. (We also had invited Board President Quentin Kopp to join in the event; he declined and wasn't happy that we had gone to Dianne first.)

Given that we were in the middle of summer and had only a few weeks for signature gathering, we hired a prominent firm (Butcher Ford) based in Orange County to do paid signature gathering in Southern California and ran a volunteer signature gathering effort in Northern California. Lori Steere managed the Stop the Canal Campaign, although we did engage a few other consultants. While we kept a running tally as best we could, signature gathering was rather organic in Northern California. Volunteers just started showing up and taking petitions out to various events and venues to get signatures. When it came time in September to organize submission of all the petitions to the Counties, we owed $75,000 to Butcher Ford, who refused to turn over the petitions unless we paid them. We did not have the funds and I had only 1 day to secure the money. The next morning, I drove to Pittsburg and showed up unannounced at the Seeno Construction Company. Albert, Jr. and Tommy saw me, listened to my saga, then left the room and returned with their father, Albert, Sr., along with a check for $25,000—huge and amazing help. With that check in hand, I drove to Concord to the Hofmann Construction Company and asked to see Ken. Ken listened, left the room, and returned with Bob Carreau to tell me that they wouldn't donate, but would counter-sign a personal loan to me for $50,000 from Diablo Bank located in Danville (they already had contacted the bank manager). That afternoon I personally borrowed $50,000 (which was scary because we weren't worth that much) and we were able to pay the $75,000 owed to the firm to get all the petitions released to us. When all the signatures were counted, we actually had twice as many as were needed to qualify for the ballot. That accomplishment did not go unnoticed by the other side.

We were able to raise the funds to repay the loan within about 90 days, to the surprise of those who had countersigned the bank note. Diablo Bank later was acquired by Bank of America that has continued to honor the original "no fees" accounts, which I still have. Ironically, it is that account to which we transferred Herstory donations ($1,150) in 2011 at the recommendation of Jane Emanuel who previously had opened a separate account that had fees.

We urged the Governor to call a Special Election so that we didn't have to remain in a campaign mode for 20 more months (while I also was running for re-election). The other side lobbied for the measure to be on the June 1982 ballot, thinking they would have a better chance with higher voter turnout in a regular election. Jerry Brown sided with the pro-Canal forces. We didn't expect to win in Southern California, but we understood mathematically that we needed to secure at least 35% of the vote, depending on voter turnout in Northern California. Although it was not what we wanted, I think in retrospect we benefited greatly by having more time to raise funds and to educate voters. And, I was lucky to not be opposed for re-election as Supervisor and could focus on the Peripheral Canal campaign. The election results were unprecedented: from Santa Clara County north to the Oregon border, people voted 90% or more against the Peripheral Canal—Marin County voted 97% "No." We got about 40% of the Southern California vote—adding to a clear victory of 62% vs. 38%—becoming the first successful statewide referendum in 30 years.

The success of the referendum opened several doors for a new conversation about water. Having made the agonizing decision the to play the "politics of No" which is 10 times easier than the "politics of Yes" but never is the final answer, I felt an even deeper responsibility to secure a workable solution to protect the Delta and assure an adequate supply of clean water for fish, farms, factories, and families throughout California. No region is secure if any one region is vulnerable. Thus, I and Contra Costa County went about the work of forging consensus among all the stakeholders in the state, which has resulted in reaching landmark agreements multiple times with tangible progress, only to see the State and federal governments fail to follow-through on implementation in timely manner with the right constellation of actions. Contra Costa County sponsored a bill in 1983 authored by Phil Isenberg to authorize construction of Los Banos Grandes as an essential water bank, which is still on the books. The President of the California Council on Environmental and Economic Balance (CCEEB), Michael Peevey, who led the pro-Canal campaign, (of which I was not even aware at the time) reached out to see what we might do together to take a positive step forward. I immediately welcomed the overture, leading to co-sponsoring the Coordinated Operations Agreement between the State and federal systems. CCEEB played a pivotal role to facilitate early North-South collaboration. I came to respect the genesis and potential power of CCEEB and was honored to serve recently as Board Chair.

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors sponsored the establishment of the Committee for Water Policy Consensus comprised of 12 Bay-Delta Counties. That was possible because the County had a Water Agency that received a small allocation from the property tax. Public Works Deputy Director David Okita (who became General Manager of the Solano County Water Agency and a consultant to the California Department of Water Resources) oversaw the administration of funds, which were used to engage Lori Steere to staff the Committee that functioned for years, forging a working relationship with the Southern California Water Committee, chaired by Ventura County Supervisor John Flynn. Together, we co-led a very productive working relationship that resulted in numerous breakthroughs, ranging from a compact on urban water conservation, to consensus with the California Farm Bureau on agriculture conservation (and common sense management of groundwater), to a detailed plan for water recycling that were adopted by policymakers and regulators. However, the matter of a conveyance facility remained elusive and we were not able to reach consensus on that essential component (non-isolated and/or isolated) of a workable water management program to protect and restore the Delta while ensuring adequate water deliveries for the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.

Unfortunately, when we did reach statewide consensus through CALFED Bay-Delta Project, Delta Vision Task Force, California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, and California Fix, the State Administrations fell short of effective implementation.

Redistricting to Align Community Interests, Not Select Voters

Counties are required to do redistricting every decade following the census. Drawing boundaries for local, State, and Congressional Districts is one of the most political things done by elected officials. Both parties have perfected the art of selecting the voters they want to preserve power, although there is law that is supposed to guide the process to align communities of interest. As the Board of Supervisors began to develop the redistricting process following the 1980 census, Bob Schroder asked me to support him in keeping his District intact and I agreed, appreciating how he had faithfully represented his constituents and always was fair to me on considering my proposals. Then, when we held public hearings, and I began to realize that I was wrong. The issue was whether or not the San Ramon Valley should remain a part of the same District with East County—which had been the case when Eric Hasseltine and Tom Torlakson were elected, but both regions also had experienced a lot of growth and population had to be equalized.

Tom Torlakson (from Antioch in East County) proposed a major redrawing of the lines and leaders from the San Ramon Valley presented testimony as to why they had more in common with Walnut Creek, which Bob represented. I decided that I needed to change my position and called Bob, suggested he should have his Chief of Staff Ginny Ramelli (now 105) present to witness the meeting, and met him at his District Office in Lafayette. Bob was such a gentleman—listened to me—and although not happy because it meant that he would give up Lamorinda to District 2 (Nancy Fahden), he also was not vindictive as the Board went through the redistricting process. He could have engineered a political alliance to break up my District, but didn't because it wouldn't make sense for the public. I do want to note that Bob did an excellent job of representing the San Ramon Valley and was able to preside over a lot of quality developments and community services in that region, including overseeing the expansion of Bishop Ranch (Sunset Company owned by Masud and Alex Mehran) and introduced me at the groundbreaking of Bishop Ranch #7 to Mickey Mantle (the "original #7 for the Yankees), my Dad's baseball hero (Mickey signed a ball for my Dad and another for me that says "Sunne, It's Pussy, Mickey Mantle"—there is a story about that one). And, Nancy adjusted quickly to serving Lamorinda. It worked out, but was such an agonizing decision for me.

After we both had left the Board, Bob would address me with affection when we ran into each other, saying "hello, sweetheart"—neither Fran nor John objected and understood the enduring mutual respect. When Bob passed away, his family asked me to deliver one of the 3 eulogies—quite an honor and an example of how those of us who serve in Local Government cross party lines to do what is best for the public. At his celebration of life, I told the redistricting story and said having to change my commitment to Bob was the most difficult thing I ever had to do as a County Supervisor. His response illuminates the kind of special person and public servant he was

NWPC Tipped the Political Scale that Led to Groundbreaking Policies and Programs

All of these notable accomplishments by Contra Costa County required many people to come together at the right time to achieve victory. By the same token, they also were a direct result of NWPC supporting me to be elected Supervisor because I had the opportunity to be in the arena for the fight. So, if you subscribe to the "butterfly effect" phenomenon (a butterfly flaps its wings a continent away and it becomes a tornado elsewhere), then the Contra Costa NWPC "butterflies" emerged from our chrysalises and caused a tidal-wave storm of change. It was my honor and privilege to ride the wave to represent the people and to serve the public.

Politics Is a Terrible Business

Politics is a terrible business. I often express it more bluntly: Politics is a "shitty" business. And, having grown up on a dairy farm, I know manure when I smell it and try not to step in it. Public service is honorable and laudable, and I have great respect for those who are willing to step forward to stand for election. But, too often, policy debates default to transactional negotiations rooted in the preservation of power rather than doing the best for people.

Since leaving the Board of Supervisors, a condition of my employment with non-profit organizations has been to avoid partisan and electoral politics. I often say "I do policy, not politics." However, I have all the scars to show for having battled in the arena of politics.

If one ever gets a thick skin in politics, it is from scar tissue building up from the inside out. But, I am not naive. One cannot advance good public policy without being mindful of how to navigate the politics, even if one is not engaged directly in the partisan and electoral campaigns. I do want to clarify that as a private citizen, I continue to contribute to organizations that support the election of women, which does not violate the understanding with my employers. Further, John is totally independent and makes his own decisions about candidates. Having watched politics up close and witnessing my experiences, he has gravitated to supporting mostly women (especially female veterans). We know first-hand how every contribution makes a difference.

Imperative for Continuous Fundraising

Following the election to the Board of Supervisors, we knew that folks would watch to see if I stumbled and that we had to continue to raise funds to establish a power base, which also allows an elected official to exercise independent leadership. While it was common for several of the elected men to have a group who regularly contributed to their re-election campaign, that had never been done by a woman. With the same NWPC members who had worked on the campaign and Lori Steere, we organized the McPeak Breakfast Club that was chaired by Marcella Colarich and Ben Russell. Members contributed $100 (and paid for their own meals); we met 3 times a year with guest speakers and a report from me on progress in achieving what I had pledged to do. In 1987 we started the "Summit Circle" for those who contributed $500 per year with Ron Bales, Ginny March's husband, as the first member. We organized annual "Birthday Parties" and charged half the amount of my age for 1 person (equal to my age for a couple)—which always was a rather modest amount even as I aged in office. We held the events in novel venues with a theme for what people should wear to generate enthusiasm—a "fiesta" at Fitzpatrick Chevrolet Showroom; a rally to fight the Peripheral Canal at the Contra Costa Country Club (Congressman George Miller was the guest and signed the referendum petition—huge support); Ken Hoffman's Little C Athletic Club; an unfinished retail place in The Willows Shopping Center (Los Angeles Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Tom Bradley was the guest and more than 1,100 people attended); a Reynolds and Brown building under construction to which everyone wore hardhats; a 49ers celebration in a hanger at Buchanan Field with Bill Walsh as the guest; and several gatherings at the Pleasant Hill Community Center with various themes: favorite political T-shirt; a sock-hop (with wild and political socks); favorite logo hats; and a "tea party" with a revolutionary theme to which everyone brought a tea bag to affix to a poster protesting the State imposition of unfunded mandates. We often had Diablo Valley College culinary students do the catering to support that program. We often had people bring canned goods to gatherings to donate to the Food Bank.

As we prepared for a re-election campaign in 1982, we decided to hold a large dinner, which had never been done before by a woman. We priced tickets at $75 per person. We began to get feedback from some supporters that they thought it was too much. Some of those who were disgruntled, including labor leaders, had just attended a cocktail party for Tom Powers for which they paid $75. I reached out to Tony Cannata and Warren Jackman and asked them to join me for a breakfast meeting along with any others they wanted to include. They accepted and we had a large group of labor leaders who showed up—I think I was the only woman in the room. I thanked them, acknowledged that they had been wonderful supporters and mentors, taking a big gamble on me in the election 4 years earlier, but now seemed to have a double standard for men and women when it came to fundraising, which I reminded them was not consistent with the legacy of labor fighting for fairness. They were gracious, agreed, stepped up, and we were able to fill the largest banquet room at the Sheraton Inn (now Crown Plaza). We even had wine glasses made with my logo as a gift for each guest—another first for a fundraiser in Contra Costa County. Having that direct, candid, heart-to-heart conversation with the labor leaders was pivotal to ensuring an enduring working relationship for the future. Pulling off a very successful fundraising dinner was a show of force that probably caused would-be opponents to think twice—I ran unopposed. In fact, confirmation of this dynamic was stated by an opinion article by Tony Cannata in April 1982 in "Labor News" in which he was very supportive and stated "The fund raiser in February on Sunne's behalf was one of the largest ever held at the Sheraton Inn, 600 plus, and tickets were not cheap, $75.00 per person. Most certainly, someone as talented and popular as Sunne McPeak is bound for bigger things. She has a bright political future."

One of my most surprising and favorite memories is from that first fundraising dinner. I arrived early at the Sheraton to prepare for the reception and went into the banquet room to check on how things were going. The banquet staff, under the supervision of Barbara Smith, were busy setting the tables and putting out the logo wine glasses. When they saw that I was in the room, they stopped and applauded. I had never experienced such a spontaneous show of support—nor had I ever felt a stronger bond with the people that I served or received a higher honor. Barbara worked as the banquet manager for all the time that I was a Supervisor and for years afterward. She always was so kind and often brought special meals to our sons it they were with us—there was one day when we were there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner events.

Fundraising requires a lot of volunteers. Fortunately, Lori Steere took the lead for the first term, Ginny March provided invaluable support on non-County time, and NWPC members always stepped up. We were blessed with several people who took major ongoing responsibilities: Dorothy Elsenius, leader among mobilehome park residents and President of the Pacheco Town Council, always addressed invitations and staffed the check-in table; Adele Marcus maintained donor records; Steve Marcus managed the bar at events; Linda Tiller and Nancy Justin prepared gift baskets for raffle prizes; Kathy Oliver and Mary Randall helped with Thank You Letters, although I handwrote most of them). We worked hard to have a majority of contributors be smaller donors as we sought larger donations from all possible sources. Everyone needs to be asked. I credit Marcella Colarich with teaching me about all the fundamentals of campaigning and fundraising. Indeed, she was my Political Godmother. It is so fitting that her daughter, Christine, is part of this Herstory project.

(There was another wonderful woman with a beautiful dog who regularly came into the office to get volunteer assignments and I am racked with guilt that I can't remember her name. I was shocked when I saw her name as an endorser of Boatwright in the 1988 Senate race and never could get her to talk to me again about it—and, no one in my campaign had an explanation. I do think I wrote her to express my apologies for whatever happened. But, I clearly failed her in some way and will keep searching for her name to pay tribute to all her loyal service before 1988.)

Lesson Learned: Recognize and honor all those who help you. But, uou are likely to disappoint some supporters without intended to do so or even knowing about it.

Involvement in Politics and the Democratic Party

My involvement in politics beyond serving as a Supervisor and active participation in the Democratic Party was an organic extension of my focus on County policy issues and program. It was not an explicit personal agenda, but evolved from my interaction with State and federal elected officials about County matters. This is in contrast to those who love political strategy and tactics—who follow elections, know the data, and study voting patterns. However, after meeting with a Legislator or other policymaker, the next thing I knew is that I would be contacted to help raise funds for them. In the first month that I was a Supervisor, Eric Hasseltine invited Assembly Speaker Leo McCarthy to a Contra Costa annual "state of the economy" event. As fate would have it, the dais had seats for only 4 Supervisors, so I was seated in the audience. Almost as an apology, Eric went out of his way to introduce me to Leo and we immediately connected. Soon thereafter, I was invited by his campaign to help raise funds for a dinner that March in San Francisco. It was my honor to work with Leo McCarthy for years and to call Jackie and Leo friends.

A priority for me when I ran for Supervisor was active representation of Contra Costa County in the California State Association of Counties (CSAC—then called the County Supervisors Association of California—same acronym). We even went to CSAC to get the attendance record of incumbent Warren Boggess, who was the appointed representative for Contra Costa to the CSAC Board of Directors—a never-before-request that took CSAC by surprise and revealed that he had less than 50% attendance which we used in campaign literature (Gary Gartner took on that assignment and was very persistent in getting the information from Muriel Stacpoole—who became a very close ally and friend during my tenure with CSAC. Thus, I was very excited to meet incoming CSAC President Clayton Record (Riverside County Supervisor) at the first CSAC Conference I attended in 1978 as a Supervisor-Elect and to be appointed by Chair Hasseltine to represent the County on the CSAC Board. Given that Clayton had assigned me to represent CSAC in negotiations on the post-Proposition 13 "bailout" bill for Local Government (AB8), the CSAC staff immediately taught me the ropes in the Capitol and instructed me on how to talk to Legislators. I was so new and naive that I forged ahead as if all Legislators should meet with us—and, most did. Within the first few months of 1979, I had met with all the key Legislators and had established a working rapport.

Further, given my interest in public health, I volunteered to serve on the CSAC Health and Welfare Committee. Again I was fortunate and blessed to have 2 women leaders, Merced County Supervisor Ann Klinger, who had served in City government previously and was a pioneer in my home County where I grew up, and Sutter County Supervisor Mary Knapp, the first woman elected to that Board, take me under their wings and include me in all policy deliberations and strategy discussions. Eric Hasseltine had been active on this Committee and had established the credibility of Contra Costa County as visionary on health issues. With the addition of the voices of Supervisor Barbara Shipnuck, first woman elected to the Monterey Board of Supervisors (1978) and Yolo County Supervisor Helen Thompson (1986, then served in the Assembly and returned to the County Board in 2002), CSAC had an exceptional brain trust on health and social services. It is why CSAC was able to negotiate a workable plan for Program Realignment with Governor Wilson and his Administration in 1991. It is important to add that the first 2 women CSAC Presidents, Sandy Smoley from Sacramento County and Terry Cook from Placer County, along with Besty Marchand, the first woman elected to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors and who, at the time, was the longest-serving female Supervisor (elected in 1972, served 24 years, and passed away in October 2025), also were very supportive of what we women were doing on health issues. It is important to note that there also were wonderful male Supervisors who supported our work, making CSAC a respected force within the Capitol.

In 1981 I decided to run for 2nd Vice President of CSAC to get into the rotation to become President—that was my idea of statewide office and the platform for change that appealed to me. CSAC is organized into 3 caucuses depending on the size of the County: Rural; Suburban; and Urban (which included Contra Costa County and 9 other most populous Counties). There is an established rotation process such that each caucus has a President every 3 years, who usually starts as being elected the 2nd Vice President at the Annual Conference. I began by reading the CSAC Bylaws to understand how the election process really worked and discovered that officers are nominated by their caucus and then elected by the full Board of Directors. I started by talking to the Urban County Directors and then all other Supervisors who on the Board—often calling several Supervisors in a County to cement a Board position. Then, Orange County Supervisor Harriet Weider, a Republican, announced that she was running for 2nd Vice President.

Adding to the drama was the qualification of the Peripheral Canal Referendum the year before that was a continuing debate throughout the state. Given that we were not able to get Governor Brown to set a special election, the cross-currents of the Peripheral Canal colored everything else I did for 24 months. I anticipated that Harriet and I would split the Urban Caucus and each receive 5 votes, throwing the decision to the Board of Directors. I again called Suburban and Rural County Supervisors on the Board, a majority of whom were Republican, but also from Northern California and largely against the Peripheral Canal. I focused on what I would do for CSAC and did not play on water politics in CSAC, although many County leaders were well aware of the dynamics. Harriet activated the Republican Party network to apply pressure to Republican Supervisors. (Make no mistake, although Local Government elected offices are non-partisan, there is no such thing as a non-partisan campaign.) The race of CSAC 2nd Vice President began to attract statewide attention and media showed up at the 1981 Annual Conference in Fresno to cover the election—never before and never since has that occurred. Indeed, the Urban Caucus voted 5:5 which threw the election to the Board of Directors. I was elected with the vast majority of the other Counties supporting me. A number of the Republican Supervisors who voted for me, such as San Joaquin County Doug Wilhoit, paid a heavy price back home. Thus, I treasure that Doug and I are still good friends and kindred souls in pursuit of honorable service to the community. Other Republican Supervisors that I recall standing firm to support me include Rolland Starn (Stanislaus), Mick Jones (Modoc—the first Mick Jones), Jim Eddy (Mendocino) Bill Coates (Plumas), Les Brown (Kings). Women and Democratic Supervisors delivered the landslide—157 Supervisors publicly endorsed me (53% of the 296 Supervisors representing 78% of all 58 Counties).

But, as I was sworn in as 2nd Vice President, instead of joy, I felt an overwhelming heavy weight knowing that it would take a lot of work to heal the bruises and overcome the split in CSAC. Indeed, I was right; there were rocky times and it took years to overcome hard feelings. I think a turning point in healing came when Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenny Hahn attended the 1983 CSAC Annual Conference in Shasta County (Redding) and listened to my remarks when I was installed as CSAC President (according to Mono County Supervisor Tim Alpers (as in Alpers Trout—wonderful friend to this day). Kenny became supportive and always welcoming. He was legendary, had photos in his office of himself with every President going back to FDR, and was the father of Los Angeles City Former Mayor Jimmy Hahn (with whom I worked when I was BTH Secretary) and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn. Also, I am very glad that Harriet and I had the opportunity to work together in later years on water issues (and she actually endorsed Bill Clinton for President).

The other CSAC Officers allowed me to establish a Commission on Public-Private Partnerships (later called Council on Partnerships) which brought together business leaders and public officials, including Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing Agency Kirk West, who later was CEO of the California Chamber of Commerce. Participation by Secretary West was very attractive to companies to support the effort. CSAC Executive Director Denny Valentine hired Richard Butrick, former CORO Executive Director, as his Deputy to promote external relations, and assigned Muriel Stacpoole to staff the Commission. Richard's relationships from CORO were a huge asset. Leaders who were the glue of the Commission included: Andrea Van de Kamp, prominent among Southern California public relations corporate executives (Carter Haley Hall, Sotheby's, Independent Colleges of Southern California); Jim Parrish (General Telephone); Tom Cook (Pacific Bell); Bruce Corwin (Metropolitan Theatres); Phil Halstead (Clorox); Mike Hertel (Southern California Edison); Val Marmillion (Marmillion Hunt); and Dr. Warren Schmidt (University of Southern California School of Public Policy and the father or a dear classmate at UCSB (Jackie Schmidt Posner). I am forever grateful to Denny Valentine, Richard Butrick, Muriel Stacpoole, and Larry Naake (who succeeded Denny Valentine as CSAC Executive Director and later became the head of the National Association of Counties) for supporting the work of the Council. Shasta County Supervisor and CSAC President following me, Steve Swendiman, always was an ally (and later effective CSAC and NaCO executive). Former San Benito County Supervisor and CSAC Past President Michael Graves built upon the private-sector participation in the Council on Partnerships to develop a powerful group of business partners and contributors to CSAC. I've also had the good fortune to work with Denny and Sheliah Valentine's daughter, Zabrae, for the past 2 decades—and witness the legacy of civic leadership passed from one generation to the next.

Success Opens Doors and Invites Harder Decisions

The referendum on the Peripheral Canal and victory in June 1982 came with a lot of other unanticipated dynamics, opportunities, and overtones. The first was a call the day after the election from Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, who had won the Democratic Party primary for Governor the night before. I had never met Mayor Bradley. In fact, I had accepted the role of statewide co-chair of John Garamendi's campaign for Governor as another vehicle to advance the anti-Peripheral Canal cause. I had been recruited for that role by San Joaquin County water attorneys Tom Zuckerman and Dante Nomellini, and accepted it willingly given my respect for John and affinity to their strategy. Thus, I was exceptionally surprised to be called to the phone by the County Administrator's Office (I was in Martinez for a meeting). Mayor Bradley said that his team had studied the Bay Area election returns for Governor and noticed that Contra Costa County stood out because of the majority votes for John, which they attributed to me; and he asked me to chair his gubernatorial campaign in the County for the general election. I replied: of course, I would be supporting him in the general election, but that the vote for John was not because of me, but a reflection of the depth of concern about the Peripheral Canal and water. I also told him he already had chairs of his campaign in Contra Costa County and that I was happy to assist them, but could not take their place. He thanked me and asked what he could do for me. I asked that he listen to me about water policy and offered to take him fishing on the Delta. He agreed.

I also suggested that he might want to attend my Annual Birthday Party—one of the largest gatherings that would happen before the fall election. He accepted. As referenced earlier, more than 1,200 people attended that event—perceived to be a major political coup. Years later, the Mayor's Chief of Staff Ray Remy (as CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce while I was at the Bay Area Council) shared with me that he and the campaign team couldn't believe it when an event called "McPeak Birthday Party" showed up on the Mayor's schedule, thinking it was just a social event, and then they were blown away that we hosted the largest Northern California gathering for Bradley's campaign for Governor. And, Mayor Bradley (accompanied by Los Angeles City Councilmember Dave Cunningham) came fishing with me on the Delta—I caught the first fish (a striped bass—for years I always had a current fishing license with a striped-bass stamp)—they thought it was staged—wish I were that clever. I became close to Tom Bradley and consider his loss of the 1982 campaign for Governor as my greatest personal political loss. (The unexpected election of George Deukmejian was the result of an unprecedented mobilization of absentee voters by the Republican Party that generated 600,000 additional ballots that had to be counted after election night—I was in denial for 3 days about this turn of fate.)

Had Tom Bradley been elected Governor, everything would be so much different today in California. Mayor Bradley was very clear in his commitments to me and other Northern California leaders about implementing the right water policy and resource management actions. Of course, things also would be much better had John Garamendi won the 1982 primary or subsequently been elected Governor. The continuing water crisis in California would have been resolved with protection and enhancement of the Delta, construction of essential off-stream storage facilities, and security of water supplies for the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. It is worth noting that John's bold move to run for Governor elevated his profile statewide and was an effective complement to the Peripheral Canal opposition campaign.

I want to acknowledge that Governor Duekmejian accepted my input to appoint David Kennedy as the Director of the Department of Water Resources (Dave was MWD Assistant General Manager; he and I had debated each other frequently during the Peripheral Canal campaign; I came to respect his integrity as well as expertise and thought we needed a Southern California leader to help forge consensus). However, the Governor and his Administration just couldn't see clearly enough the path forward nor value sufficiently what we could bring to the table to forge consensus. Contra Costa Water District veteran General Manager John DeVito coined the phrase "Policy Before Plumbing" and told me to use it as the battle cry, first announcing it in August 1982 at a water conference at the Del Coronado Hotel in San Diego (one of the first appearances by Dave Kennedy after being appointed as DWR Director), forcing the Administration to reply asserting "Policy and Plumbing Go Hand in Hand" to which we agreed, but still the Governor didn't understand either policy or plumbing sufficiently to negotiate the solution.

In the end, all of us who had fought the Peripheral Canal also opposed "Duke's Ditch"—a scaled-down version but not coupled with other policies and actions—although I was the last key leader to conclude that we were not going to be able to negotiate with the Deukmejian Administration—it was deja vu of the Jerry Brown Administration. I maintained communications with the Governor on other fronts and he attended my last CSAC Conference as President—I escorted him into the room and to the podium. (I appreciated that years earlier as a State Senator from Long Beach that he had sent a donation to the UCSB Indian Project that I was leading.)

After the 1982 primary, John Garamendi stated publicly that he never again would run against Tom Bradley for Governor. Thus, when Tom decided to do another run in 1986, my husband and I met with him and Ray Remy (just the 4 of us) in a room at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco so that I could reaffirm his commitment from 1982 to implement the Contra Costa County position on water. He agreed and I pledged my support. A few months later, I was invited to Sacramento to have lunch with John Garamendi—it was just the 2 of us in his Senate Office with a lovely lunch. John asked me to support his 1986 run for Governor. I had to turn him down. That was the second-hardest thing that I ever had to do in elected office (the first was telling Bob Schroder that I had to change my position on redistricting). I had the opportunity to campaign again for John in 1990 to become the first elected California Insurance Commissioner and then worked with him in his second stint in that position when I was BTH Secretary (we negotiated a good public benefits agreement when United Health acquired Pacific Care that provided $5M each to UC Merced and UC Riverside for medical education). As I said earlier, I adore John and Patti—they are the "real deal"—devoted to family, honest as the day is long, and genuinely committed to public service.

The good news is that Leo McCarthy was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1982 (and served 3 consecutive terms). However, another wrinkle adding to the political drama and tensions was that Dan Boatwright considered running for Lieutenant Governor that same year although he had just been elected to the State Senate (odd numbered Senate District incumbents have the luxury of being able to run for statewide office without giving up their Senate seats and, therefore, always have both an edge in fundraising and a "fall-back" position it they don't succeed). Ken Hofmann and a few other businessmen in Contra Costa County already had contributed to Dan's campaign and he had launched a statewide fundraising committee. However, already was part of Team Leo. I gathered the majority of prominent elected Local Government Democrats at a breakfast at the Holiday Inn to announce our endorsement of Leo, which tipped the scale for Dan to drop out. Afterwards we patched things up and Dan was the guest speaker at my 1981 Birthday Party that Ken hosted at the Little C Athletic Club.

Lesson Learned: Politics has many twists and turns that we can't anticipate. Always try to maintain relationships and keep talking to negotiate solutions if at all possible.

Apparently running unopposed for Supervisor, having a successful large fundraising dinner with the full support of labor, the success of the Peripheral Canal campaign, and my relationships with elected officials in Sacramento caused concern among some people locally that I might run for higher office in 1984, although I had no such plans. Dan van Voorhis of the politically-active law firm of Van Voorhis and Skaggs (became McCutcheon, Doyle, Brown & Enerson in 1985 and later Bingham McCutheon) asked me to meet with him and Dan Boatwright to discuss politics. Ironically, the meeting was the Saturday morning in August following my annual "Birthday Party" fundraiser that had drawn a large gathering with Tom Bradley, which Dan Boatwright attended and was introduced. It was a power-play meeting for which I should have been better prepared. Dan van Voorhis explained that he thought it was best if I didn't run for the State Senate in 1984 and instead waited until 1988 in which Dan Boatwright would retire and both of them would support me. Given that I wanted to accomplish many things as County Supervisor and President of CSAC, and had no such intentions of running for another office in 1984, it was easy to agree to that understanding, although it had the feeling of an unseemly "political deal." Dan Boatwright was very quick to reinforce his commitment to just serve another term and appeared sincere that he would support me in 1988 (perhaps the large turnout the night before with whom appeared to be the next Governor of California gave him a little more motivation to say anything to secure his re-election in 1984). Dan Van Voorhis even recorded the commitment on his infamous yellow legal pad and had each of us signed it—again, I thought it was not quite right, but didn't decline to sign it. He gave both of us copies and kept the original. I think I wanted to suppress the feeling of dirty politics so put my copy in a dresser drawer instead of campaign files, but then couldn't find it in 1988—and neither of Dans would acknowledge they had made that commitment nor did they keep their word, which is a large part of why I decided to run for the State Senate in 1988.

By 1984 a lot of my supporters and political pundits were urging me to run for the State Senate, saying that my political currency was never going to be higher—which was probably accurate, but I had given my word. On the last day to declare one's candidacy in February 1984, I even went by the Elections Department in Martinez on my way back from Sacramento meetings headed to an Executive Seminar at St. Mary's College. I sat in the car outside for a long time, pondering whether or not to file a declaration. In the end, I decided that I never would be happy with myself if I didn't keep my word. I also knew deep down that I couldn't count on a politician to keep their word.

Politics Often Overshadow Policy

The victory in defeating the Peripheral Canal also brought speculation about my political future in the media. The California Journal, the most influential publication about Capitol politics in its day, featured on the cover of the November 1982 issue the pictures of 5 "rising stars" in California politics: John Garamendi; Assemblymember Richard Robinson (Orange County); Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky (now at UCLA); Orange County Supervisor Bruce Nestande (previously in the Assembly); and me. It was a total surprise when I saw the publication—I had not been contacted in advance by The California Journal. While it was flattering, it also was distracting from my work on serious issues and stirred suspicions about my motivations. Interestingly, none of the major media organizations interviewed me about how to solve the water crisis and the solutions we had set forth before having to default to the referendum. While newspapers did publish my opinion articles with that substance, there was no sustained media focus. I wrote detailed chapters for books (Achieving Consensus on Water Policy in California – The Edmund "Pat" Brown Institute of Public Affairs, California State University, Los Angeles; Water More or Less: Glass Half Full of Half Empty Depends on Action and Leadership – Water Education Foundation with beautiful art by Stephanie Taylor) compiled by Rita Schmidt Sudman, the extraordinary CEO of the Water Education Foundation during all of the "water wars" and who navigated troubled waters among the stakeholders with ease and grace—truly a trusted voice in this arena. I still chuckle about being interviewed by Rita in the 1980s and said that I thought it was relatively easy to resolve California's water problems; and, while maintaining her professional neutrality as a chronicler and historian, she did a momentary double-take with a little shake of her head and blink of her eyes as if to be incredulous. I almost burst out laughing, but we both maintained our composure and got through the interview—the video probably exists somewhere in an archive. I deeply appreciate all of Rita's dedicated research, astute diplomacy, and executive leadership to facilitate shared understandings and forge common ground.

The experience with the media and pundits being more interested in my political intentions than my policy positions is a another reason why I call politics a terrible business. I often joke that I clearly am/was the slowest "rising star" in the history of California.

There were County Supervisors who did invite me to speak about water resource management to their supporters: Riverside County Supervisor Melba Dunlap; Kern County Supervisor Pauline Larwood; Sonoma County Supervisor Bob Adams. When I served as Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing for Governor Schwarzenegger and was assigned to lead the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, with the assistance of Fritz Grupe (Stockton-based pioneering real estate developer and farmer) and Pete Weber (Fresno civic leader), we were able to forge consensus regarding a water solution among all 8 Counties in the San Joaquin Valley, with Kern County Supervisor Ray Watson exercising bold and courageous leadership. Pete and Fritz continued to work with me on "The Water Fix" staffed by the Delta Vision Foundation (Charles Gardiner still serves as Executive Director and I am the Chair evolving from the Delta Vision Task Force because Phil Isenberg delegated the responsibility to me when he accepted the position to chair the Delta Stewardship Council). Solano County Supervisor John Vasquez was a faithful participant in The Water Fix. We all are still available to support an Administration willing to implement the key actions that were on the table in 1980. By far, I would have preferred to reach agreement 45 years ago than to have been forced into the referendum, notwithstanding the notoriety that came with the victory at the ballot box.

In 1984 I was at a dinner meeting with the CSAC team at a restaurant in Old Town (Sacramento) when Larry Margolis came over to the table and said that State Treasurer Jesse Unruh (legendary former Speaker of the Assembly referred to as "Big Daddy" because he was a master of power politics) wanted to meet me—he was at the bar. (I had worked with his daughter, Linda, who was Chair of the California Young Democrats, but never met him.) I followed Larry to meet Jesse, who typically had enjoyed a lot to drink, and he began to rant about why I "gave away the Assembly seat to Bill Baker" when I declined to run in 1980. I attempted to explain the circumstances in 1980 (see below), but he already was "3 sheets to the wind" and not hearing any of it. So, I said, "Mr. Unruh, I'd be happy to have a conversation with you when you are sober" and returned to my table. That was not a calculated power move on my part, but not many people dared say that kind of thing to Jesse —apparently he respected it. He and I established a close working relationship. He was the Guest Speaker at a fundraising dinner for me in 1985 (he characteristically quoted his favorite politician—himself—and complained that we served white Zinfandel). However, he always took time to read my proposals about how to further leverage his power as Treasurer to accomplish the things we were trying to do in Contra Costa County and CSAC. In retrospect, that was fairly presumptuous of me because he already had developed the Treasurer's position into a major force on Wall Street, let alone in California—I think he was somewhat amused by my ideas (he and Larry called me "prolific" with proposals). But, that was during the last 3 years of his life—and time ran out. At his funeral, I was honored to be asked (by his driver) to sit with the family.

Jesse invited me as CSAC President to be part of a "Study Tour" to Europe about high-speed rail and waste-to-energy that he led in September 1984 for the California Foundation for the Environment and Economy (CFEE), which had been started by CCEEB CEO Mike Peevey (who by then was an executive at Southern California Edison; Peter Feary was CCEEB CEO and Patrick Mason was the head of CFEE). I was encouraged to include another County Supervisor and I invited Riverside County Supervisor Kay Ceniceros, the next CSAC Urban County President. The Tour was quite instructive about high-speed rail (which I drew upon later as Secretary ). It also was a great opportunity to learn from Legislators on the trip: Assemblymembers Jack Knox (Ret.) and Lou Papan and Senators John Foran and Bob Beverly. I met transportation expert Donald Camph, whom I've consulted many times since then (and dragged into several of my projects), and forged plans for collaborating with CCEEB (Peter) on water and with CFEE (Patrick) on public-private partnerships. While the CFEE delegation was in Paris, Jesse and his long-time companion and second wife-to-be (married in 1986) stayed at the E.F. Hutton apartment and was able to get reservations for the group at the best restaurants —another manifestation of his ease in moving among the powerful without being intimidated by it. He told me on that trip that he invited me because he wanted me to see access to power without being corrupted by it.

Lesson Learned: Don't be distracted by the "shinny objects" or seduced into thinking that the powerful care about you. Establish independence and exercise your power to do good.

The 1984 trip was the second CFEE Study Tour that I was invited to join. I was part of a delegation headed by Assemblymember Sally Tanner to study hazardous waste management in Europe in 1983. Assemblymember Tanner previously had authored 2 unsuccessful bills on hazardous waste and this was an attempt to find a breakthrough among stakeholders. Unfortunately, Sally became ill and couldn't travel. That is how I met Michael Peevey and had an opportunity to discuss how we could work together on water issues. I also learned a lot about hazardous waste management and returned to launch an initiative in Contra Costa County that reduced hazardous waste by 50%. On the flight home, I witnessed the representatives of Chevron, Environmental Defense Fund, and Sierra Club outlining a bill that Assemblymember Tanner carried for the third time and got passed. The Tanner legislation called for each County to develop a Hazardous Waste Management Plan. As CSAC President I was able to lead an effort that engaged and supported development of the Plans, and all 58 Counties prepared and adopted Hazardous Waste Management Plans within a year. I became a true believer in the power of bringing people together, breaking bread, and forging consensus with the vision and skills of leaders such as Michael Peevey and organizations such as CCEEB. However, I think the leaders of CCEEB thought that I was a little too "intense" as a delegate on a Study Tour because I actually wanted to get things done when we returned to California. They never would have invited me to join them in 1984 if Jesse hadn't insisted.

I was not asked on another CFEE trip until 2005 when I was Secretary of Business, Transportation, and Housing and CFEE CEO Patrick Mason needed a State Official as a figurehead in the delegation to study renewable energy. The Study Tour included several Legislators: Senators Mike Machado and George Runner, with wife Assemblymember Sharon Runner who succeeded him in the Senate; and Assemblymembers Carol Liu, Joe Canciamilla, Lloyd Levine, Sam Blakeslee, and Nicole Parra (daughter of former Kern County Supervisor Pete Parra with whom I had worked years earlier). I was forced to join this trip a few days late into the itinerary because I was sent to Baja California by the Governor's Cabinet Secretary Terry Tamminen at the same time the CFEE left for Europe. I decided to pack very light to minimize save time in managing luggage. That turned out to be not a great decision. About 3 days into the CFEE meetings, Michael Peevey, whose wife Carol Liu was arguably the best-dressed Legislator, told me that everyone was getting tired of seeing me in the same clothes. I had to borrow a coat from Celeste Cremen (long-time CFEE executive who is the wizard on planning Study Tours with amazing access to officials in other countries), and a sweater from Senator Machado. I bought a few other things to not embarrass other delegates. At a lovely dinner in Copenhagen, Nicole Parra rose to do a toast to me, saying that she wanted to recognize my pioneering role as a woman in elected office and salute the way in which I had gracefully aged. Oh, my. Nicole was so cute in that gesture and really meant it as a compliment, but it was a sobering reminder that I once was the young woman leader on those CFEE trips and that "time flies even if you're not having fun." The irony in this experience is that years later in 2018 at the retirement celebration for Patrick Mason, Nicole came up to me and said, "Do you believe how young all these Legislators and staffers are? (referring primarily to the other women in the room). I put my arms around Nicole and told her about her toast to me in 2005. We commiserated together in the reality that time is fleeting.

Also on that CFEE Tour was Energy Commissioner Jackie Pfannenstiel with husband Dan Richard, a PG&E executive who had served on the BART Board of Directors. I had worked as a County Supervisor with both Jackie and Dan long before they met and married. Jackie worked for PG&E when Contra Costa County in 1982 (under my first chairmanship) sponsored a pioneering rate case before the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to establish the first time-of-use rate for residential customers in the state (but only for PG&E service areas at the time). Both PG&E and TURN (founded by Sylvia Siegal originally as "Toward Utility Regulatory Normalization" and now called "The Utility Reform Network" under the leadership of Mark Toney) opposed that effort. After 3 years in the proceeding, Contra Costa County prevailed with a unanimous vote of the CPUC Commission under the leadership of Don Vial who had become President. After leaving the Commission, Don serve for years as Chair of CFEE. Don became a close ally on many energy and telecommunications issues and Rosemary Vial is a fiercely-independent woman while being a wonderful loving wife and mother. Dan Richard continues to be a visionary leader on energy, including latest-technology nuclear power. While both Don and Jackie sadly have left this world, their legacies are imprinted on California policy although most policymakers and regulators today have no idea of their contributions.

While In Dublin, Dan and Mike Peevey decided to buy real Cuban cigars for me to take back to Governor Schwarzenegger. They told me that the store owner immediately guessed that they were for Arnold. Interesting (small world). And, then I was naive (or dumb) enough to actually bring them home in my luggage, but was lucky to get them through customs to deliver them to the Governor. He appreciated the gesture. Overall, that CFEE 2005 Study Tour was another amazing learning experience in energy policy. In Dublin, Ireland's Minister of Energy Noel Dempsey presented me as the head of the delegation with a beautiful painting that hung in our Sacramento condo for 19 years; we've now passed it on to Pat Mason and Chris Bjorkland to take custody of that special memento of what happens when you bring people together to bond and learn.

Lesson Learned: We're all just in a relay race, passing the torch to those that come after us, and are not likely to be the one who carries it across the originally-envisioned goal line.

Political Opportunities Often Present Moral Dilemmas

The 1980 election for the Assembly (the subject of Jesse Unruh's ranting at me in 1984—above) was triggered by Senator John Nejedly announcing in 1979 that he would retire in 1980 and Assemblmember Dan Boatwright immediately announcing that he would run for his seat. Eric Hasseltine then announced he'd run in the Boatwright District (10th). In April 1979—when I had been a Supervisor for less than 4 months—I was called to the Capitol to meet with Speaker Leo McCarthy and his right-hand man Howard Berman. Paul Kinney and a few other campaign strategists were in the room. They said they had done a poll in the 10th District and that I had the highest name recognition with the lowest negatives—not a surprise given that I had just run for Supervisor in November 1978 and had not been in office long enough to have a record. Nevertheless, the wanted me to consider running instead of Eric, who had built up negatives during the last 4 years. I informed them that I did not live in the District—that I lived in Assemblymember Jack Knox's District (11th)—they had failed to check that fact. I also said that I would not get in the way of Eric's career—and, that I had run for Supervisor because I wanted to serve in County government, especially to address healthcare issues. Ironically, Republicans Marian Bergeson of Orange County and Chuck Imbrecht of Ventura County also approached me about running in the 10th Assembly District in the Spring of 1979 before they learned that I was a registered Democrat. I was complimented that they considered me worthy and it was validation of being able to work across party lines. I later worked with Chuck as Chair of the California Energy Commission and with Marian as a member of the California Transportation Commission.

Jack Knox then decided to retire from his Assembly seat and he called me into his office and said that he would endorse me if I were willing to run—quite a generous offer to say the least. I thanked him and said that I already had turned down the Speaker for the 10th District and that Bob Campbell, who lived in Richmond, the heart of the 11th District, was preparing to run and he should have his turn. Jack Knox remained a mentor and appointed me to Chair the Long-Term Care Subcommittee of a Medi-Cal Reform Task Force. His wife, Jean, a professor at Contra Costa College, always was supportive. After leaving the Assembly, he continued as a powerful voice in policy as a partner in the Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliott law firm (now Nossaman LLC)—he was on the CFEE 1984 Study Tour led by Jesse Unruh. Jack and his colleagues John Foran (Democrat) and Bill Bagley (Republican), who also joined his firm, were the epitome of statesmen who worked across party lines. Jack chaired the Local Government Committee under Republic Speaker Robert Monagan, who asked him to author the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). I always found it amusing when Jack was representing a client before the Board of Supervisors on a land use issue that was being challenged on a CEQA matter and he would come to the podium and start by saying, "Now, I authored CEQA, and we never intended it to be interpreted in this manner." He said the same thing about the Native American Cultural Act when representing a tribe. As President and CEO of the Bay Area Council, I recruited Jack Knox and Bob Monagan to serve as Honorary Chairs of a CEQA Reform Report, which has been used by several Governors as a seminal foundation for tackling CEQA, but the Legislature has not been able to resolve for decades except to pass targeted exemptions.

During 1979 the matter of retaining the 10th District continued to be a focus of concern for Speaker McCarthy. There came a point in November when Eric decided to drop out and told me to get ready to run—as did the Speaker. I had an unseasoned loyalty to the Speaker and the Democratic Party, so John and I abruptly disrupted our family life, sold our home in Pleasant Hill (the first home we owned and had put our heart and sweat into renovating), and bought an acceptable house in the 10th District. A good real estate colleague of Marcella's who had become a great supporter in my Supervisorial campaign, W.F. Hayes, helped us find a place in Concord that we could afford and quickly completed the transaction. John, Joe Campbell, and Joe Crawford moved us in one day right before Christmas 1979 while I was at a CSAC meeting in Sacramento. They had to pack up everything, including my clothes, to move us into the Concord house. That was unbelievable friendship. But, by the end of January 1980, Eric changed his mind and was back in the race. And, I always regretted that I had mistakenly thought that I was so vital to the Democratic Party that I put such a personal hardship and financial burden on my family.

The Speakership fight between Leo McCarthy and Howard Berman added another dimension to the 1980 political dynamics in Assembly races throughout the state and on other issues, including the launch of the Peripheral Canal referendum. Howard decided in December 1979 to challenge Leo for Speaker of the Assembly—apparently he thought that Leo was intruding on his territory in raising funds for his 1982 run for Lieutenant Governor. In fact, on the night of December 11, 1979, I was at the Jewelry Center in San Francisco for Dianne Feinstein's Election Night Party in the run-off with Quentin Kopp for Mayor (Dianne had been Acting Mayor for a year following the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk). While voting returns already had established her as the winner, there was a delay in her coming down in the elevator with Willie Brown to address the crowd. And, there was no Leo McCarthy with them as had been expected. It turns out that was the day that Howard had informed Leo of his proposal to switch places—for Howard to become Speaker and Leo his lieutenant; unknown to most of us, the drama was playing out that night in Sacramento. Leo did not step down as Speaker and there was open warfare, with Leo and Howard each fielding their own candidates in the Assembly Democratic primaries. Eric stuck with Leo—perhaps, in part, because I made it clear that was my expectation for all that I had been through. But, a lot of other Democrats were caught up in the turmoil, which contributed to a vacuum of folks to lead on the Peripheral Canal issue. I simply was available to focus on water issues. Linda Best ran Eric's campaign. However, the November 1980 election was a sweeping Ronald Reagan victory for President with coattails that probably helped Bill Baker win the general election. This led to an inebriated Jesse Unruh ranting at me in 1984 and accusing me of losing the seat to the Republicans. (By the way, I always liked Bill Baker as head of the Contra Costa Taxpayers' Association; we had respectful conversations—he always is willing to engage in civil discourse. Further, no one is more fiscally prudent that I am; I also know the value of investing in people and infrastructure today vs. paying a higher price tomorrow.)

State Politics Led to Involvement in the National Democratic Party

My involvement in California politics organically evolved to the Presidential race in 1984 with the Gary Hart Campaign inviting me to participate in various forums in which I interacted directly with the candidate. I was advocating for Dianne Feinstein to selected as the Vice Presidential candidate regardless of the nominee, which seemed to "align with the political stars" because the Democratic National Convention was scheduled in 1984 to be held in San Francisco. That also was an unusual primary for the Presidential nomination in that the names of a slate of delegates were listed on the ballot in each County instead of just the candidate. For some unknown reason to me, Democratic heavy-hitter fundraiser, Duane Garrett, who was backing Walter Mondale, made it known to Party activists that I was not to be on the ballot for Mondale. In Contra Costa County, former California Democratic Party Chair Bert Coffey—literally "Mr. Democrat"—was at the head of the Mondale ticket. John and I knew Duane and his wife, Patti, from student government at UCSB, but never had any conflicts to my recollection. (I asked Duane about this matter years later—we were at their home in Marin County for a gathering with Bruce and Hattie Babbitt—which he deflected.) Out of the blue, I received a call from the Gary Hart Campaign asking me to be a delegate for him on the June 1984 ballot. I said I would do it as long as they could just put my name of the ballot without me having to attend a caucus. They said they could, so I replied "I in." To everyone's surprise, the Gary Hart slate got the most votes in that election.

In the meantime I was asked by the Hart Campaign to represent the candidate in a number of events and to emcee a large rally in San Francisco at Union Square leading up to the primary. That was an interesting experience with thousands of people attending and being given directions from the Campaign and orders from the Secret Service.

In addition, the media identified Contra Costa County as a demographic microcosm and bellwether for national political trends, which put more of a spotlight on that primary to select delegates. That led to the Hart Campaign inviting me to be 1 of their 5 representatives on the 15-member Platform Drafting Committee, which was chaired by Geraldine Ferraro. The Committee was structured with 15 delegates—8 Mondale, 5 Hart, 2 Jackson—such that even if the Hart and Jackson representatives joined forces, we always would be out-voted by the Mondale folks. The Hart delegation was headed by Congressman Tim Wirth and included Senator Chris Dodd. When they had to leave to vote in Congress, Tim left me in charge of the Hart delegation. Further, for some reason, the Hart Campaign assigned me several times to advance their positions, which often was to argue the economics of various planks, including international relations, nuclear weapons de-escalation, and partnerships with the private sector investment. (The Hart Campaign was a forerunner to the Democratic Leadership Council that included Bill Clinton and Ron Brown to chart a new unifying agenda for economic prosperity as foundational to the Democratic Party, which resonated with me.) The first meeting of the Platform Drafting Committee was on a Monday morning in Washington, D.C. I had to take a red-eye after delivering a graduation speech at St. Mary's College—went directly to the airport and never was so cold on a flight—the plane (old World Airways) ran out of pillows and blankets and I didn't have a coat with me. I arrived early at Baltimore and went directly to the meeting venue—the first to arrive. The only other people in the room were Connie Chung, whom I knew from Southern California media, and her film crew. We had a good chat that may have led to more attention to what I had to say—being the one Californian on the Platform Drafting Committee. I was assigned by the Hart Campaign to propose a challenge to the first plank introduced by the Mondale Campaign and offer a substitute, which I dutifully did. During the debate, Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Mondale delegate, proposed that the Platform preamble include a quote from John Kennedy about the credit going to the person in the arena, not the critic. I replied that I always like that quote, but that President Kennedy actually was paraphrasing Teddy Roosevelt. When Senator Moynihan expressed skepticism, I pulled out of my briefcase and read the exact quote (which I had with me because I had included it in my speech at St. Mary's College the day before). He seemed to be so impressed that he gave me a courtesy vote on what I had proposed as a substitute for the Mondale-proposed plank. That caused a stir and an abrupt early adjournment for lunch. When we reconvened, Senator Moynihan announced that he had been informed that he had voted incorrectly before and would have to change his vote, which he did. And, while that meant that the Hart position had been overturned, it also was clear that the Hart delegation had made our point and that Senator Moynihan and I had established mutual respect.

While the Committee deliberated publicly on various selected planks, the staffs of the 3 Campaigns were busy behind the scenes actually writing the Draft Platform to be considered by the full Platform Committee (more than 100 delegates) at the end of the week. In the larger Platform Committee, I again was assigned by the Hart Campaign to argue unresolved key issues. One of them was whether or not the Platform would include the words "gay" and "lesbian" as being advocated by the Hart Campaign or just reference "gender equality" as preferred by the Mondale Campaign. It was my task to sit across the table from Congressmember Barney Frank (before he came out in 1987—although it was generally accepted that he had a partner) on behalf of Mondale and argue for including references to "gay" and "lesbian" in the Platform; Barney had to argue against it. To be sure, there was an element of the Hart Campaign staff just trying to be an irritant to the Mondale folks by raising these issues, but it was an ironic twist in history that I was assigned that job to debate with Barney. We prevailed and the 1984 Democratic Platform explicitly commits to protecting gay and lesbian rights.

The Democratic Convention in San Francisco was quite an experience. It is my first and only National Convention. We had so little money that one night I slept in my car in the garage at Union Square under where I had emceed a rally of thousands or people just a few months before (and freshened up in the morning at the St. Francis Hotel). I borrowed an unused corporate sponsor room another night. A day into the Convention the Hart Campaign summoned me and said they wanted me to represent them the next day on the Podium to introduce the Platform. (That was a big deal but short notice.) I was informed that Barney Frank would represent Mondale and Walter Fauntroy would represent Jackson (Walter was 1 of the 2 Jackson delegates on the Drafting Committee). We were scheduled to go on stage mid-afternoon, but the program ran behind such that we appeared around 6PM in prime time as the national networks began coverage. We were in the green room for hours (I had quality time with Andrew Young). As we were being escorted down the stairs to the stage, Jessie Jackson and his entourage were coming up, and there was a security alert that ordered us to hold-in-place. I was immediately opposite Reverend Jackson; it was the first time that I had an opportunity to talk with him—but not the last. Barney and Walter actually were quite cute—and even perhaps a little nervous in realizing we were going on the national stage at prime time (although they were far more experienced than me). They asked "what shall we say and do?"—we decided that each of us would make brief remarks and then hold hands with raised arms saying something such as "we are united." They also were rather gentlemanly by putting me in the middle. The photo of that moment is an image for the ages.

The 1984 Platform was sound policy that holds up to this day with these opening commitments:

For the economy, the Democratic Party is committed to economic growth, prosperity, and jobs. For the individual, we are committed to justice, decency, and opportunity. For the nation, we are committed to peace, strength, and freedom.

In the future we propose, young families will be able to buy and keep new homes—instead of fearing the explosion of their adjustable-rate mortgages. Workers will feel secure in their jobs—instead of fearing layoffs and lower wages. Seniors will look forward to retirement—instead of fearing it. Farmers will get a decent return on their investment—instead of fearing bankruptcy and foreclosure.

Small businesses will have the capital they need—instead of credit they can't afford, People will master technology—instead of being mastered or displaced by it. Industries will be revitalized—not abandoned. Students will attend the best colleges and vocational schools for which they qualify,—instead of trimming their expectations. Minorities will rise in the mainstream economic life—instead of waiting on the sidelines. Children will dream of better days ahead—and not of nuclear holocaust.

I had credentials as a delegate, but getting floor passes for guests was a hot commodity. Somehow we were able to get 2 for specific nights—one went to Richard Sakai (son of Quintus and Jean and requested by Mollie Fujioka) and the other to my husband so he could be there to witness Geraldine Ferraro being nominated for Vice President on the Mondale ticket. Later that evening, John and I went to Jack's for dinner. Gary Hart was there with 2 other people at a small table. There were no mobs clamoring for his attention as had been the case just a few months before with thousands cheering for him in Union Square.

Lesson Learned: Political fortunes shift quickly. Never be fooled into thinking that you'll always be riding high—political popularity is fragile and fleeting.

I continued to engage with the Hart Campaign and was planning to work for his nomination in 1988. And, then the Monkey Business story broke in May 1987; I decided that I was done with national politics and the hope of a presidential standard bearer who embodied the right mix of values, experiences, and approach to integrated investments in people and infrastructure that would lift up the whole country. I returned to focusing only on the County and California.

Enduring Commitment to Contra Costa County and California

Political fortunes do change. Over time, especially when trying to make big changes, one ruffles feathers and gathers opponents and has a voting record that always can be attacked by someone. And, there always are opportunistic folks waiting in the wings for an opening. That resulted in a 1986 opponent for re-election who announced his candidacy at the Pleasant Hill BART Station as an example of what he asserted was a mistake—history certainly has proven him wrong. By then, Lori Steere had taken a full-time position at East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and was not available to manage my campaign. However, Young Democrats Melody Howe Weintraub and John Gilkison, who were in high school when I first ran in 1978, had formed a political consulting firm, Winning Results, and they took on the campaign manager job. We endured ugly attacks, but won re-election comfortably.

By 1986, the homeless issue had begun to emerge. This matter was first brought to my attention by Concord Councilmember Diane Longshore. Diane was an ally from my first campaign, was elected to the Concord City Council and served as Mayor, married Ron de Golia in 1992—Ron became a member of my Breakfast Club Summit Circle and a leader in the Kennedy-King Memorial Scholarship Fund with John—and was key staff for Richard Rainey in both the Assembly and Senate. Diane and I formed a Homeless Task Force led by family and children's advocate Mary Lou Laubcher that produced an action plan that has made a real difference in Contra Costa County.

I had worked previously in Democratic politics with the organizers of Hands Across America and was able to get permission as the only local effort allowed to use the registered name to launch "Hand Across Contra Costa" by agreeing to donate 10% of what we raised to the national effort. Antioch City Councilmember Barbara Price and Concord educator and community leader Julie Hernandez came forward to co-lead Hands Across Contra Costa. (Julie's sister, Sybil Boutilier, was a long-time leader in San Francisco Library services, with whom I later worked on Digital Inclusion).

We originally tried to organize people to hold hands from Richmond to Byron, but ran into several hurdles with law enforcement agencies regarding safety and impacts on traffic, so we regrouped and gathered people to hold hands around EBMUD Lafayette Reservoir. We were joined in recruiting volunteers by Concord Soroptimists led by Ginger Marsh, other non-profit community organizations, including the Food Bank led by Larry Sly, and Local 1 Employees led by Henry Clark. Sunset Development CEO Alex Mehran volunteered his Bishop Ranch buses to shuttle people from San Ramon Valley. More than 2,000 people turned out, including Margaret Lesher. Being forced to take this alternative approach was a blessing because we would have needed a lot more than 2,000 people to stretch across Contra Costa County. But, we were able to have a successful celebration by easily encircling the Reservoir. We raised $22,000 which was split 3 ways: $10,000 to the Food Bank; $10,000 to Concord Soroptimists to found SHELTER, Inc; and $2,000 to the national organization. I have hanging in my home the HandsAcrossAmerica record jacket that was framed for me by Mike Price, then-husband to Barbara and an official in Professional Firefighters 1230—fond memories.

The People vs. The Power Brokers

In 1987, word starting coming back to us through various channels that Dan Boatwright had changed his mind and was going to run for re-election in 1988. Most of were not surprised that he wasn't keeping his word, but had to think long and hard about what it meant to take on an incumbent a Democratic Party primary election. We actually had no idea what we would face. For me, there were both the consideration of principle—we had to hold powerful men accountable for their 1982 commitment—and, the vision of what I knew was possible in serving all of the people in the County—from Richmond to Byron—actually leveraging the power of the State to improve the economic opportunities and lives of our residents. Bob Campbell considered running for the Senate, but that would mean giving up his Assembly seat, so he pledge to support me. I was energized by what could be done. And, unlike 1979-1980 when I had high ID and positives in the polls, but less experience, in 8 years I had been in the trenches and done by homework; I had the experience to lead with more impact to change the destiny for so many residents.

Steve Roberti, head of the Contra Costa Central Labor Council was one of my closest confidants and he knew the real story leading up to our decision to run for the State Senate in 1988. He and Bert Coffey accompanied me to Sacramento a couple of times to meet with the Legislature's Leadership to convey the depth of our conviction about the need for change—plus to let them know that the incumbent had broken his word to not run for re-election in that year if everyone supported him for re-election in 1984.  That was a hard lesson for all us--not that a politician wouldn't keep their word, but that the Leaders of the Legislature would tolerate it.  There was an infamous incident in the office of Senate President Pro Tempore David Roberti (no relation to Steve) in which Steve and Dan Boatwright got into a physical confrontation--surprising everyone—Senator Henry Mello backed away and left the room—saying he had no previous knowledge of the history and wanting to disassociate himself from pressuring us. Steve had put down his foot and there was no doubt about his position.  I always shall treasure that memory of Steve rising to defend me--and the commitment we shared to make things better for working people.

When it came time to declare my candidacy in February 1988, I still had not made a decision. John and I and our boys sat at home on the sofa debating whether or not to take out papers. As the clock ticked toward the 5PM deadline, still undecided, we got in the car and drove to Martinez. As we approached the Elections Department, we saw that a crowd had gathered to see what I would do. We drove around the block and parked and continued to discuss the matter. Finally, my family said "go for it." While the crowd cheered when we walked into the building, there stood Republican Bill Pollacek, waiting to see if I took out papers; in which case he was going to take out papers for the Republican primary, with the thinking being that a Democratic primary fight would give a better chance to a Republican in the general. That really upped the stakes in terms of me being responsible for possibly losing the seat to the other party. I was never so nervous and unsure in my life—I hardly could see straight to sign the papers—but, followed through. When I met with reporters in leaving the Elections Department, I seized upon an unplanned and unrehearsed slogan saying the campaign was "The People vs. The Power Brokers" which very appropriately captured the experience that unfolded. When I got back home that evening, the first call I made was to Dan to let him know personally that I had taken out papers. He was not there. The second call I made was to David Roberti; Dan was with him. Both men proceeded to yell at me and make threats, including that they would not tolerate any Member of Congress supporting me—targeting George Miller who had planned to join me in taking out papers. That night, Senator Roberti called U.S. Congressional House Speaker Jim Wright to deliver the message. I was told that Speaker Wright was out of the country and Tony Coehlo took the call. Assembly Speaker Brown joined Senate President Roberti in ordering legislative staff to take time off payroll to get on buses to come to the County on weekends to walk precincts for Boatwright because they could not recruit enough local volunteers. Both David and Willie told me that no outsider was going to threaten their power—reinforcing the aptness of "The People vs. The Power Brokers" slogan. For years afterwards, legislative staff came up to me in the Capitol to apologize for having to follow their boss's orders. I assured them that I understood how the system works and that we were glad we had stood up to their threats—it was liberating to have the guts (if not the brains) to pursue a primary challenge based on the principle of leaders keeping their word. They got the message about what it means to have courage in the face of power over one's job or career.

The 1988 Senate primary battle became one for the record books—the most money spent in a Legislative primary election up to that point. The Power Brokers recruited renowned consultant Richie Ross to run the campaign against me. Melody Howe Weintraub and John Gilkison agreed again to run my campaign; Mary Lou Lucas headed up fundraising (and worked through breaking her foot); Don Solem and his team consulted with us; journalist Kerry Hamill (later married Rollie Katz) joined the team; and many others stepped up in courageous ways that are hard to believe, even more so in retrospect. I had an original budget of $250,000; we raised more than $720,000; women's organizations around the state cleared out their treasuries to support me. Women, such as Guyla Ponomareff wrote checks for $1,000 or more and Barbara Cross, a County Mental Health executive and West County community activist, wrote a check for $5,000—I was blown away that so many women donated as much as they could afford—sometimes using grocery money.

That election involved a process of Democratic Party Caucuses in each District in which Central Committee Delegates had to attend, listen to the candidates, and then cast their votes by standing up and announcing their position. In the Senate District 7 Caucus, I received 79% of the votes—I was astounded by the willingness of Delegates to stand up in front of Dan and cast a vote for me. I still have this image of Tom Koch—very sophisticated and savvy politically—being one of those votes cast for me, which had a real potential impact on his career and standing in the Party.

Women (mobilized by NWPC), labor officials and members, and Young Democrats walked precincts for me each weekend. Fundraisers were held throughout the County and around the state, including major support from Peter and Kirsten Bedford and Barclay and Sharon Simpson. Although George Miller remained neutral, he encouraged Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer to endorse me and attend events. San Francisco former Supervisor Louise Renee mobilized other women. Steve Roberti and President of the Central Labor Council Margaret Shallada forced a floor fight at the State Fed Convention (when Jack Henning was still the head the California AFL-CIO) and secured a dual endorsement of Dan and me. That was unheard of before and since then. Married couples often split their loyalties—with the wife having a yard sign for me and the husband posting one for Dan (such as Lillian and John Whalen). Spouses (such as Fosca Zandonella) of prominent businessmen, who knew Dan personally, supported me—breaking with the social norm. Although very few Legislators were enthusiastic about the incumbent and several privately told me that they admired our guts in challenging him, only 2 Legislators stood up to David and Willie to support me: Senator Diane Watson and Assemblymember Gwen Moore—women from Los Angeles County. I forever will be honored by their endorsement and impressed by their independence. Lieutenant Governor Leo McCarthy also stood by me.

Several Richmond women leaders, including Taalia Hasan, Bobbie Arnold, and Barbara Cross, accompanied me to a particularly memorable meeting with a group of ministers (some from their own churches) who fell in line behind the strong-arming (and under-the-table donations) of Richmond Firefighters Local 188 political operative Darrell Reese. Darrell sat in a corner of the church hall under a fan wearing a Panama hat—a surreal scene reminiscent of plantation politics—during which my supporters stood up to speak to the ministers—that definitely was speaking truth to power. Taalia invited a Boatwright backer outside for a potential physical confrontation—just as Steve had done in the Capitol. In contrast, a very respectable group of ministers—who received their donations in the church collection plate—endorsed me. Richmond City Councilmembers Nat Bates, Jim McMillan, and Lonnie Washington formed a political alliance called "BMW" (initials of their last names). BMW decided to leverage their political power by supporting the incumbent. They recruited Jesse Jackson to endorse Dan and speak for him at an event in Richmond—I also was on stage and spoke. Before the program began, Barbara Cross took Jesse aside to tell him what really was happening; at the end of the event he came over and gave me a hug. The BMW illusionary association of Boatwright with Jackson became the subject of a complaint filed with the Federal Elections Commission.

A few weeks later I was at a fundraiser in Los Angeles at the home of Lynne Wasserman, which Southern California Edison President Michael Peevey co-hosted with Former Governor Pat Brown as a special guest. Governor Brown asked me in a Q&A session whom I was supporting for President; I answered that I was focused on my own campaign and not involved in the Presidential race, and then added that I identified with Jesse Jackson as the underdog, which surprised many people because they were supporting Dukakis. Seeing their surprise, I quickly quipped that I was candid because I already had all their donations—they laughed and didn't hold it against me.

I had an occasion to talk with Jesse Jackson again in 2010 when we were on the same cruise ship—he was doing a seminar series with Peter Yarborough for The New Republic magazine and we were attending a comedy tour organized by Louis Black. We chatted about political struggles at the bar at the end of one evening. I respect how he focused on the people's cause, not his political career; he was pivotal in the civil rights movement and instrumental in opening doors for many others.

As election day drew near, Melody and John told me they expected a last-minute hit piece and we needed to do another mailing which would cost $90,000. They recommended that I take out a personal loan. Mary Lou arranged for 2 counter-signers to secure it—Alex Mehran and Al Wilsey. So, for the second time in my life I borrowed more money than we were worth to advance a political cause. They were right. And, as we discovered later, Ken Hofmann move $110,000 from Alta Mortgage to Dan's campaign after the last reporting period to fund the hit piece. On election night we got about 47% of the vote—respectable, but very disappointing to those who had put so much on the line—and I had a $90,000 debt. When it became clear mathematically that there was no chance of winning based on the remaining votes to be counted, I addressed my supporters (we again held our election night gathering at the Local 159 hall as we had done in 1978), tried to get Dan on the phone to concede the election, and then, when we couldn't reach him, John, Eric Hasseltine and I went to his victory party to see him in person—he already had left to return to Sacramento, but we were able to speak with his long-time staffer Tim Shelley.

The next day we began closing down the campaign and planning an event to raise funds to repay the loan. Our dear friend Sam Vassiliou agreed to host a gathering at The Savoy restaurant. Of course, I asked Ken Hofmann to step up to help—which he did. By the end of the Summer, we had raised enough to pay back the loan and all other expenses. I arranged to have lunch with Alex and Al—each separately. I think that both expected me to ask them to forgive the loan; both seemed genuinely surprised and impressed that I handed them the paid note.

Having the courage of my convictions—based on principles and not politics—in the face of immense political pressure and threats—although losing the election—was quite liberating. However, I am very sorry and deeply regret to this day that I couldn't deliver for everyone else who put themselves on the line for me. As I said earlier, failing to win the election was not my biggest personal loss—that was the 1982 lost of Tom Bradley for Governor. But, there is no way that I can ever thank enough everyone else who stood with me. Even more sad, not much changed in how Contra Costa County was represented in the Legislature—the People lost.

Lesson Learned: Those who bet against me are betting against themselves. However, the Power Brokers never see it in advance and rarely realize it in their hollow victory.

The Genius of Willie Brown

A few days after the 1988 election, I received a call from Willie Brown. He commended us on the hard-fought campaign and told me that I should not consider his door closed (I think he said I shouldn't consider him the enemy). I was polite, but probably could have been more contrite. I did say that he and David now were stuck with the election results. What I have concluded in hindsight is that Willie told Richie to do just enough to win the election without destroying me. When Richie was hired to run the Transportation Measure C in the Fall of 1988, I had the occasion to share that perspective with him—he just smiled at me in response.

There have been several other opportunities since then for me to work with Willie Brown. No one is a better master of politics nor more brilliant in strategy than Willie Brown, all honed with the wisdom of time. A remarkable and improbable fact of history is that Willie and Jesse Unruh both were from Mineola, Texas—Jesse considered Willie his protege. Who would ever predict that 2 kids from modest means in a little Texas town would rise to be the among the most powerful politicians in California and both would serve as Speakers of the Assembly?

While I had worked with Speaker Brown, who had orchestrated his rise to that position in 1980 following the Speakership battle between Leo McCarthy and Howard Berman, we didn't bond until I was serving as CSAC President in 1984. That year I arrived as an event as Speaker Brown was leaving. He greeted me by saying: "Here comes the leader of Counties"; I retorted that "Counties don't have a leader, they have someone they blame." He was surprised at my candid humor and said "touche"—no more needed to be said. In 1991 I was appointed (along with Supervisor Barbara Shipnuck) by CSAC President Rolland Starn to negotiate Program Realignment with the Administration and Legislature. Speaker Brown and President Pro Tempore David Roberti relied upon me to reassure them that the Counties of San Francisco and Los Angeles were going to be protected. When Willie became Mayor of San Francisco, as President and CEO of the Bay Area Economic Forum, I was invited to speak at a Mayor's Forum on the Economy and started my remarks by saying that I had never seen so much power and brilliance gathered in one room except when Willie Brown dines alone (paraphrasing President Kennedy at a White House dinner for Nobel Laureates in referencing Thomas Jefferson). He was cited by the Chronicle as the quote of the event—I did notify them to explain that I was paraphrasing the President. I even won a bet with Bay Area Council President and CEO Angelo Siracusa as to whether Willie would make good on a commitment to speak at an Outlook Conference—he did show up and on time! Angelo gave me a bottle of Grand Marnier that I still serve for after-dinner drinks on special occasions. When I was President and CEO of the Bay Area Council following Angelo's retirement, we worked together with his good friend Ron Cowan (whom I came to adore after we reached an understanding with Willie's facilitation) on the Bay Area Water Transit Study and establishment of the Water Transit Authority. While some day I have to get confirmation, I suspect that Willie may have been consulted by Arnold Schwarzenegger on whether or not to appoint me as Secretary of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. He was closely advising Arnold at the time and he certainly could have vetoed my appointment.

Please Note: My Herstory is a work in progress. Future content will include:

• 1990 Re-Election Campaign and the Garbage Wars
• Decision to Leave Public Office
• Experience as President and CEO of the Bay Area Economic Forum Bay Area Council
• Appointment as Secretary of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
• Life After Politics (an elaboration on perspectives)

Life After Elected Office

When I left the Board of Supervisors to become the CEO of the Bay Area Economic Forum (BAEF), a partnership between the Bay Area Council and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), I was resigned to the fact that I had to walk away from working on water issues—indeed, I was sad about not having fully succeeded on securing consensus on the full solution to manage California's water resources. However, much to my surprise, there were several business leaders, such a Bank of America CEO Dick Rosenberg and Federal Reserve Bank President Bob Parry, very interested in water policy, especially water marketing, which I argued has a role but was not the full solution. As the stalemate over water deepened between the State (Governor Pete Wilson) and the federal government (President Bill Clinton), we recruited 11 CEOs (which I called a "banker's dozen") from Northern and Southern California to sign a joint letter to the Governor and President urging cooperation in resolving water management issues. That letter had impact.

Clinton's Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, former Governor of Arizona, sent his emissary, Assistant Secretary Betsy Rieke (a widely-respected water rights attorney), to explore whether or not we could help facilitate a breakthrough. They were seeking a voice for the economy to alter the historical dynamics among urban water districts, agriculture, and environmental organizations. I commended their strategy, but flagged that Governor Wilson was not likely to welcome my involvement.

I had worked closely on behalf of CSAC with Governor Wilson in his first year as Governor to address a $14 billion deficit which involved a "7&7 solution"—(a) $7 billion in cuts through Program Realignment of 16 health and human services for operational savings in return for more flexibility for Counties in managing to outcomes; and (b) $7 billion in new revenues, including more revenues for both Counties and Cities from vehicle license fees (VLF) through slowing the depreciation schedule and a half cent sales tax increase. Program Realignment was the most significant government reform in the last 35 years. It was proposed by the Wilson Administration and the Legislature Leaders (Willie Brown and Ross Johnson in the Assembly, David Roberti and Ken Maddy in the Senate) cooperated with the Governor (called the "Big 5") in an unprecedented manner, with CSAC invited to be an integral player. The Assembly and Senate Health and Human Services Committees held weekly joint meetings for 6 months with 2 Supervisors sitting at dais with them to hear witnesses. CSAC President Rolland Starn, a Republican from Stanislaus County, appointed Monterey County Supervisor Barbara Shipnuck (who had defeated him for CSAC President a few years earlier) and me to represent the organization. (Years earlier, Rolland and Pat Starn "adopted" me because I had been born in his District in Turlock, although grew up in Merced County—Rolland made me an "honorary member" of the San Joaquin Valley Association of County Supervisors.) When some Supervisors expressed concern that Rolland had appointed 2 Democratic women, he told them to sit down and shut up, that he was sending in "our best" for CSAC. Rolland was an effective bipartisan leader who was always calm and often rather quiet, but effectively used his power As fate would have it, I was in 3 meetings with the Big 5 to explain Program Realignment (Barbara had schedule conflicts). I was impressed by how Governor Wilson understood the details and that the Legislators were willing to accept my word that their Districts were not going to be harmed (key to making everything work politically—Willie and David had tried to kill me off in 1988, but I survived which resulted in a different kind of relationship built on respect). It is worth noting that even after sitting with the Legislators and working with the Administration for 6 months, I strongly recommended that CSAC not accept the deal unless it was guaranteed with a Constitutional Amendment because I knew the pattern of the State not keeping its word to Local Governments, especially Counties. This time, Rolland told me to shut up and ruled that CSAC would support the agreement based on the good faith we had garnered.

In the following years, the State imposed more unfunded mandates and Contra Costa County sued the Wilson Administration. Pete called me a "scofflaw" which I had to look up in the dictionary. A few years later when a Budget surplus developed, Republican Legislators wanted to enact tax relief by cutting VLF instead of their own revenue streams (exactly what I had feared). Indeed, Counties got screwed again. Even more ironic, the Legislature committed to backfill VLF funds for Local Government with the General Fund (never reliable) and incorporated a "trigger" for a Governor to restore the VLF schedule if needed. That sowed the seeds of the recall of Gray Davis years later, who exercised the trigger to address a Budget deficit exacerbated by the energy crisis, providing a tangible issue for Arnold Schwarzenegger to be elected Governor in 2003.

Based on this history, I explained to Betsy Rieke that I doubted that the Wilson Administration would want to work with me. Then California Secretary of Resources Doug Wheeler called me and explained that he and Secretary Babbitt had the idea of a Bay-Delta Advisory Committee to what became known as "CALFED" and that it would be chaired by Mike Madigan from San Diego (close to Governor Wilson and "the leader" repeatedly called upon to implement complex projects—from the trolley system to the baseball stadium and whom I knew from the California Water Commission) and I would be the Co-Chair. I told Doug that I thought it was "cute" that they envisioned South-North, boy-girl, Republic-Democrat, but I doubted the Governor would ever go for it. He told me to leave that to him.

I was appointed as Co-Chair and for 5 years had the privilege of sitting next to Mike and watching him skillfully preside over a group of about 70 stakeholders. When I asked him how he thought we'd get to consensus, Mike said "through exhaustion" (he has a great sense of humor) and explained that we would let everyone vet their fears, peeves, and perspectives, and we'd keep pushing for solutions. Mike also gave me considerable latitude to facilitate discussions around various components of the solution. As is typical of these kinds of stakeholder processes, early on participants got into a theoretical debate over what constituted a "consensus" and whether or not it just meant a majority. We explained that it is more of a qualitative concept that can be judged by the participants themselves, but generally we're looking for a super majority to agree—>70%-80%. And, when there was a lack progress, Mike and I reminded them that in the absence of the group reaching agreement, consensus would be what the 2 of us recommended. The CALFED Bay-Delta Advisory Committee reached consensus on a very workable Plan that became the Record of Decision. The Plan included optimization of all conservation and water reuse strategies along with construction of water banking facilities (off-stream reservoirs to capture and store water at times when it is most abundant to recharge aquifers and meet water demands) and a resolution regarding Delta conveyance: improved through-Delta non-isolated transfer (increasing the capacity of Middle River) and construction of a 5,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) isolated pipeline for redundancy in times of emergency, coupled with construction of a strategic levee system in the Delta. This is the only approach that actually works physically for both the Delta and rest of California, and it is the only one that works politically. Both Governor Wilson, with active involvement of his Chief of Staff (COS) George Dunn, and Secretary Babbitt accepted the Plan. In the last year of his tenure, Governor Wilson addressed the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) at a conference in Monterey and quoted 2 people regarding water: Ben Franklin and me (quite a turn-around from him calling me a scofflaw).

Our task then turned to convincing Governor Gray Davis to support the CALFED Plan. I had become the President and CEO of the Bay Area Council and we took the lead to develop and publish an unprecedented joint statement in support of the CALFED Plan along with a comprehensive set of policies and actions from the business community statewide, including: Associated General Contractors; California Building industry Association; California Business Property Association; California Business Roundtable; California Chamber of Commerce; California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance; California Farm Bureau Federation; California Manufacturers Association; Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce; Los Angeles Great Area Chamber of Commerce; Orange County Business Council; Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group (now Leadership Group); Southern California Water Committee; and Western Growers Association.

Unfortunately, environmental organizations who once had supported the Peripheral Canal proposal in 1980 (when Gray was COS for Jerry Brown) to build an unlined isolated channel around the eastern edge of the Delta (a big ditch that would have been 3 stories deep, 400 feet wide, with a capacity of almost 22,000 cfs and the ability to take in those days 70% of the fresh-water flows of the Sacramento River), lobbied the Davis Administration to take out the 5,000 cfs pipeline from the Plan. Further, the Davis Administration was too slow to implement the Plan with fidelity and diligence, which led to criticism of the Plan instead of recognition that the problem was the lack of leadership—State and federal. That situation also gave rise to Jerry Brown as Governor the second time around proposing another isolated conveyance facility involving 2 tunnels, each 4,500 cfs (total 9,000 cfs) which continues to be controversial with Governor Newsom backing a 1-tunnel solution that is a little too small for operational flexibility.

In the meantime, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed a Delta Vision Task Force and Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman strongly recommended that I be appointed. Mike and I worked closely together on several matters when I was in the Cabinet, including the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley for which the 8 Counties (from Kern to San Joaquin) reached agreement on water policy, foundational for statewide consensus. The Delta Vision Task Force was chaired by Phil Isenberg. After 2 years of study and deliberations, the Task Force delivered a report setting forth 12 Integrated and Linked Recommendations consistent with the CALFED Plan to achieve 2 Co-Equal Goals which have been codified: (1) Protect, restore, and enhance the Delta Ecosystem; and (2) Provide a more reliable water supply for California. The Task Force recommended the establishment of an independent body to achieve the 2 Co-Equal Goals and implement the Recommendations, which became the Delta Stewardship Council. Phil was appoint Chair of the Delta Stewardship Council. However, he had secured a foundation grant to establish a Delta Vision Foundation, which he then assigned to me to take over. We hired Charles Gardiner as Executive Director and produced annual report cards for a number of years. We also convened statewide stakeholders again to advocate for a "Water Fix" with Pete Weber and Fritz Grupe joining me to lead those conversations.

Lesson Learned: Political chickens eventually come home to roost: there are unintended consequences to unprincipled political settlements; someone always has to pay the piper.

FAVORITE QUOTE(S) ABOUT WOMEN IN POLITICS

“A woman has to work twice as hard to be thought half as good as a man—

fortunately, it isn’t difficult.”

This is the saying on the plaque that my Mom gave me after I was elected to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. While it was a quote with which I was familiar from the women’s political movement, I was very surprised that she personally found it and got it for me. It was the first time that she explicitly acknowledged that there might be different kinds of challenges for women in politics than for men. It wasn’t that she was unaware or unsympathetic, it was that she (as all the women in my family) had always just done whatever had to be done without comment or complaint. And, although she and my Dad had always told me that I could be anything I wanted to be, they were not thrilled when I decided to opt into politics as an avenue for making a contribution to the world. So, it was very touching to me that she gave me a tangible token of appreciation and approval for the path I was walking. The plaque hung in my Supervisor’s Office as a tribute to her and a reminder to me to always try to do my best until the day I left office.

Years later after I had served in many other positions and become the President and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund, my Mom gave me for Christmas a plaque that so resonates with my experiences as a women in business, elected office, and public service that reads:

Three Wise Women would have . . .

Asked for directions

Arrived on time

Helped deliver the baby

Cleaned the stable

Made a casserole

Brought practical gifts.

And,

There would be peace on earth.

I always really like a slogan that I think I first saw Mary Stanley sell on buttons at a NWPC Convention (Mary was an active member of the Republic Party in Fresno and a staunch advocate for women—and, always present for NWPC throughout the state):

“A woman’s place is in the House and the Senate.”

Concord Mayor and City Councilmember Dan Helix share this Goethe quote with me in 1977—it helped make the decision for me to run for County Supervisor in 1978:

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it,"

Shirley Chisolm said: "Service is the rent we pay for the privilege of living on this earth."

Women Leaders Are the DNA and Heart of California

Accepted lore is that California was named by Hernán Cortes after a fictional island in a 1510 novel by Garci Rodriguez de Montalvo titled “Las Sergas de Esplandian” (“The Adventures of Esplandian”).

The fictional island was named for its fearless black virgin leader Queen Califia. California was inhabited only by women and had only gold as a metal.

Montalvo wrote:

“Know that on the right hand from the Indies exists an island called California very close to a side the Earthly Paradise; and it was populated by black women, without any man existing there, because they lived in the way of Amazons. They had beautiful and robust bodies, and were brave and very strong.”

There is a 1937 mural by Lucile Lloyd depicting Queen Califia in the Capitol Senate Hearing Room on the 4th floor.

Whoopi Goldberg starred as Queen Califia in the Disney film “Golden Dreams” about California history.

The Seal of the State of California features Minerva, the Roman Goddess of wisdom—and handcrafts, art, and later war (sometimes we have to fight for fairness and justice).

Minerva’s Greek Goddess “sister” is Athena. Women Leaders are the Heart of California. Always remember it is California’s DNA and our calling to lead the way to a fair and just future— to achieve Equity for all Women and all Californians.

Celebrate Women Who Make a Difference.