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Using technology to connect elected officials and their constituents is one way Celeste Brevard plans to serve the community if elected as San Mateo County Board of Supervisor for District 4.
Brevard, a project manager for Stanford University and a resident of Redwood City, said she contacted the district’s supervisor, Warren Slocum, but he never called back. Slocum terms out of his role at the end of the year. After talking with her friends and family, she decided to run for his seat.
“I feel very strongly that there is a lack of faith and excitement in the county and the country for the democratic process,” Brevard said. “I don’t have a political background, but I want to get people interested in community involvement. I want to educate and increase transparency; it should not be a mystery to people in America of what these people do or how to get involved.”
While Brevard has no political experience, she’s worked in various fields. She’s a former United Nations employee, who’s also worked for several nonprofit organizations on policies, humanitarian aid and job training programs.
Focused on community involvement, technological advancement, affordable housing, the unhoused and rising sea levels, Brevard said the county needs to work more cohesively because many people are working on similar issues.
“I have the background to connect people to streamline the issues,” Brevard said.
Community
Brevard said she has not heard back from Slocum but believes there are better ways to communicate with elected officials. She suggests that if she were the supervisor, she would use CivicBell, an application Brevard said is similar to Nextdoor. The app allows officials to communicate with their constituents, which she believes is vital to talk about issues and recognize the people she would serve as concerns.
Flooding and sea-level rise
Last year’s winter storms caused flooding and power outages that lasted days. Brevard said using researchers and nonprofits to help find a solution would best fit the district.
“It costs more money to implement quick fixes and patches rather than mitigating the issues in the first place,” Brevard said.
She added she suggests constructing porous pavement and adding vegetation could help mitigate flooding risks by absorbing water that would otherwise cycle back into the sewer system that can be prone to flooding.
“I don’t think we are picking the best cost-effective or climate-resilient solutions right now,” Brevard said.
Brevard said power outages could be fewer if the electrical grid weren’t strained, adding that apps like OhmConnect help monitor homes’ electrical use, and by using innovative technology, the app can take major appliances offline for some consumer’s money and help prevent blackouts.
“It could save them money and solve a problem,” Brevard said. “Some of those outages have lasted days and it blows my mind.”
Affordable Housing
Brevard said that more affordable housing is needed in the district and must be accessible for constituents to find easily. She suggests that the county build a database to make it easier for people to access the location, price and application for affordable housing listings.
She also believes that continuing to build affordable housing with builds requiring 10% of new developments to be reserved for affordable housing compounds the issue.
“We need to look at the empty spaces — if it’s empty longer than a year, the price should go down,” Brevard said.
She said she would support a developer requirement to increase the affordable housing builds to 30% for new development builds.
“It’s something they already do in New York – and many people hesitate to ask for that,” Brevard said. “But the people that have this in place enjoy it.”
Unhoused
Brevard said she disagrees with the county’s Hopeful Horizons ordinance that will issue misdemeanors to unhoused individuals who refuse a bed at a county shelter.
“We can’t criminalize it,” Brevard said. “People are unhoused. And we need places here to house them.”
Brevard also would like to advocate for job training and noted that many solid companies and educational institutions in the area can help with training, volunteering, internships and apprenticeship programs.
“It is statistically proven that people like it when corporations get involved in the community. We need ways to educate the public on how they can get involved,” Brevard said. “It’s essential that we connect those people so they can get the jobs and training they need to improve their lives and careers.
Education and immigration
She said there needs to be more access to education in the district. She suggests creating language salons, places where people can go, like an after school program, to learn or practice a language.
She also said the county needs to offer the information it relays to the community in various languages so everybody can fairly participate and receive information.
Brevard joins Maggie Cornejo, director of government and community relations at Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula; Antonio López, East Palo Alto council member and current mayor; Lisa Gauthier, council member of East Palo Alto; and Paul Bocanegra, Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Commissioner and legislative coordinator for San Mateo County in the race to replace current Board Supervisor Warren Slocum who has reached the end of his term limit.
The primary election is set for March 5, with a possible general election on Nov. 5 if no candidate secures more than 50% of the primary vote.
For more on her campaign, go to celestebrevard.com.