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A new Alameda County supervisor was sworn in Tuesday morning and took her seat on the dais following the death of her predecessor in February.
Elisa Marquez was a Hayward City Council member before being chosen to replace the late District 2 supervisor Richard Valle, who died Feb. 8 after battling prostate cancer. The District 2 seat includes a portion of Sunol in the Tri-Valley, as well as Hayward, Union City, Newark, portions of Fremont and unincorporated areas.
Marquez was chosen from among three other candidates who were interviewed by the board’s four other members March 28. Marquez was selected over Ariana Casanova, who was Valle’s choice to succeed him.
“I’m excited” about the work, Marquez said in a brief interview Monday.
Tuesday morning after her swearing in, she said wants to carry on Valle’s work.
She will continue as chair of the board of directors for the East Bay Community Energy, which provides clean energy to several cities and rural areas in Alameda County and in Tracy. Marquez said she wanted to remain as chair before the Board of Supervisors interviewed her last week.
Board of Supervisors President Nate Miley said he will be appointing Marquez to the county’s Public Protection Committee and among others, its Ad Hoc Committee on Reparations.
Marquez will replace Supervisor David Haubert as the county’s representative with the Association of Bay Area Governments.
Miley said Tuesday that his first choice was Casanova. He chose Marquez and Casanova in the first round of voting.
Miley thinks Marquez may have a steeper learning curve in some respects than Casanova would have because of her work with county workers.
Casanova is a political coordinator and field representative for Service Employees International Union Local 1021. She has held that position since 2009.
Miley said Marquez’s work ethic is admirable. She did a good job preparing for last week’s interview, he said. Miley was very interested in having another woman on the board and a woman of color.
“I’m happy that we made a decision,” Miley said in an interview Monday.
Marquez will fill Valle’s seat until next year’s election when the winner could unseat her. She said during her interview that she is planning to run in that election.
Casanova said last week that she will be running, too. Casanova was not immediately available to say whether the choice of Marquez last week has affected her decision to run.
Two other applicants with elected experience in the region — Fremont City Councilmember Teresa Keng and Chabot-Las Positas Trustee Harris Mojadedi — were also interviewed for the open supervisor position, but were not among the top-two candidates under final board consideration.
Keng has been a city councilmember in Fremont since 2018. She served as vice mayor from 2018 to 2020.
Keng and her husband own Milk and Honey Cafe on Fremont Boulevard in Fremont and she would bring a customer-first mentality to her role as supervisor, she said in a phone interview before the board meeting. She would seek to bring more revenue into the county to remedy a county budget deficit, which is looming. She suggested supporting small businesses so people will come here and spend money.
Mojadedi is a Union City resident and a dean at the University of California at Berkeley. He is also trustee of the Chabot-Los Positas Community College District and previously held two other elected positions.
Public safety, housing affordability and economic development were the top three issues plaguing District 2 residents, Mojadedi said during his interview. Multiple generations are living in one home because of the lack of housing affordability, he said. With respect to economic development, he said the district needs more investment and good-paying jobs.
Hayward Mayor Mark Salinas also applied initially for the supervisor seat but decided to withdraw from the process before the interview stage.
When the District 2 seat is on the ballot for short-term election in 2024, whoever is elected will have to run again in two years to stay on the board under District 2’s regular four-year election cycle. Term limits do not apply to Alameda County supervisors.
Based on everything she has heard, Supervisor Lena Tam said of Marquez, “She is going to be a tremendous asset to our board.”