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When Deborah Lewis-Virges and her husband, who grew up in East Palo Alto, moved to the city in 2015, she began attending her father-in-law’s local congregation, Saint Mark AME Zion Church. It was in the small, white building that Lewis-Virges received her call to ministry — she felt compelled to serve.
She was a local minister for two years before becoming a pastor at Saint Mark church in 2017.
Through volunteer work, from serving free meals to working in an adult literacy group, Lewis-Virges said she quickly took to the community.
“I saw hurting people, I saw people with real needs and I wanted to help,” she said.
She went on to serve on East Palo Alto’s Public Works and Transportation Commission, the Community Safety Team and as a member of the Climate Change Community Team.
With a track record of local civil work and a career in business and marketing, Lewis-Virges, now running for a seat on the East Palo Alto City Council, believes she can do more than make promises — she can take action.
Lewis-Virges grew up in Detroit, received her undergraduate degree at Wayne State University then moved down to Southern California where she received a master’s degree at Fuller State University. She remained in the region for 20 years, working in sales, marketing, tech, product management and eventually, she created marketing company Lewis and Lewis with her sister, which helps develop local small businesses.
During that time, she also developed a shopping center that housed over 60 small businesses, she said, until the building was red-tagged due to the Northridge earthquake.
Still, her passion for local business, which she calls the backbone of a community, remains, and is one of her priorities as a candidate. She hopes to help promote development of various businesses rather than just a few major ones.
“We have a tendency to put all of our eggs in one basket,” she said. “Target come. Target go. We’re devastated. Target shouldn’t determine our future.”
Each building in the Ravenswood shopping center — like Home Depot and Target — she said, are owned by separate entities with no “overarching oversight agency.” This, she said, causes the community to suffer more when businesses close.
Instead, she conceptualizes a marketplace, housing over 40 local businesses under one roof, she said, which would provide “critical” services such as an office supply store, barber shop, nail salon or children’s clothing stores.
Business development, she said, also encourages local employment.
Unification, be it toward business or housing, is a driving force in her campaign – and she aims to avoid a “tribal” type of operation.
“We need housing, but not just for homeless folks,” she said. “We need housing for everyday working people, two-income parents who are working and can’t afford to stay in their place.”
Building a mix of condominiums and townhouses along with apartments, Lewis-Virges said, can cater to the diverse needs of residents — especially those who want to become homeowners.
“I think that’s a more affordable model that doesn’t violate the rights of current homeowners,” she said.
In an article with the San Francisco Chronicle regarding East Palo Alto’s historic year with no homicides, Lewis-Virges said that development or gentrification hasn’t always had a negative impact on the city, welcoming new Black, Latino and Asian homeowners.
Lewis-Virges has also served on the city’s Public Works and Transportation Commission for six years, she said, allowing her to familiarize with city logistics and how to put concepts into local action – even in minor forms like increased garbage cans at trail sites, dog waste stations or city roundabouts.
Those actions, she said, have been a testament to her understanding of forward movement.
An active part of the Climate Change Community Team, Lewis-Virges has set out to help residents with flooding and is an advocate for a healthier tree canopy, better air quality and maintaining local natural resources.
Lately, she’s worked at the Cooley Landing site with the climate change team, she said, protecting endangered species, cleaning, planting and educating the community on the environment. But in the past, following the 1998 flood, she set out door-knocking and helped distribute power packs and generators to residents.
Lewis-Virges does not define herself as a rubber stamp for City Hall or any special interest group, she said. Rather, she makes decisions based on people.
During the pandemic shutdown, she said, she helped provide MacBooks through her church for local students to engage in distance learning, as well as hosted the Senior Gala for three years, inviting more than 200 seniors to a black tie event with free gifts.
She’s been able to do this, she said, by pooling local resources.
“Everyone can have vision, anyone can have a good idea,” she said. “But do they have real, tangible experience in making it happen? That’s what I bring to the table.
