Candidacy Statement

All politics is local. 
Local politics drives the environment.
Our environment is local.
And the environment drives local politics.

The Town Council’s highest priority is the protection and promotion of the health and safety of Portola Valley residents. Your vote for me in November will allow me to continue to more effectively advocate for Fire Safety, responsibly manage Town Open Spaces, improve and maintain our excellent natural surface trails system, protect the precious environment and rural nature of our town, and stay ahead of the requirements for equitable affordable housing. I promise a receptive and attentive ear on all issues.

 My husband, Daniel Alegria and I raised two Hispanic sons in Portola Valley. They attended public and private schools and we watched them with pride progress through an outstanding education at Stanford. But it was not without its rough moments, and I know with a mother’s heart what it feels like to be overlooked or stereotyped because of a last name or the color of your skin. I am deeply committed to strengthening community through diversity. I can bring a sense of reality and an appreciation of the dilemmas of a community struggling to change its demographics.

My heart is with the environment as we face Climate Change and Sea Level Rise. Portola Valley is uniquely situated to help with Climate Change by stewarding its properties large and small, working towards a carbon neutral footprint, protecting and enhancing our watershed, and allowing only safe, responsible, and considered development.

Jasper Ridge, where I have been a docent for 30 years, provides Portola Valley with models to understand how Climate Change will affect our vegetation and risks for Fire. I can bring foresight to decision making, without a specific political outside agenda, and with a lifetime in ecology and biology. 

I hope to bring attention to our indigenous predecessors, the Muwekma Tribe, in our Open Spaces and Town Tales. The lands we live on were stewarded by one of the most densely populated tribes of indigenous people in California. I would hope to recognize their knowledge of these lands, history and prehistory within our town.  

In 2020 I was integral in bringing neighbors together as “Portola Valley Neighbors United” to deepen the community investment and understanding of the issues of Fire Safety, Open Space Stewardship and Affordable Housing. I hope to continue to bring more voices to the table and promise an inclusive, efficient, civil and open reception at Town Hall. We can all begin now to gather round the table with ZOOM.

For timely evacuation and fire planning we will need a Safety Director to orchestrate and follow through to a future with less anxiety and uncertainty. Our rolling black outs without internet, phone or electricity have shown us vividly how vulnerable we are.  COVID has made both Fire and development more dangerous to people and to the lands and animals we steward.

Though I am humbled by the huge gift of time and hard work the Council and all the Committee members give to the town, I am ready for the challenge of leadership in these uncertain times. Thank you for your vote!