Former county supervisor and two-time East Palo Alto mayor Rose Jacobs Gibson is on a mission to create well-rounded candidates for office and to increase voter turnout through the nonprofit she founded in 1994 called Hagar Services Coalition.
Gibson served on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors for nearly 14 years but has returned to Hagar full time since was termed out of office in 2012. The agency offers individuals living in the district she once represented the tools needed to run for elected office in the future.
In February, the nonprofit awarded certificates of achievement to 11 individuals in the agency’s 2016 Candidate School.
People are “becoming less and less engaged in civic involvement,” she said about the need for the program.
“There is a void of emerging leadership programs and the goal is to help individuals be better prepared for leadership roles,” Jacobs Gibson said.
The Candidate School gives participants “a good sense of what’s required and what to expect” when it comes to civic participation.
Participants in this year’s class represented the communities of East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, East Belle Haven, Palo Alto and North Fair Oaks areas. Attendees learned about the characteristics of strong leadership, decision-making skills, questions to ask yourself before seeking elected office, meeting facilitation, ethics required of public officials, the Brown Act and other issues.
“It is important to share the knowledge I have accumulated,” she said about her time in public service. Jacobs Gibson was appointed to the Board of Supervisors in 1999 after serving on the East Palo Alto Council starting in 1992.
Recommended for you
She recently developed the Initiative for Leadership Engagement and Development, or ILEAD, to provide practical information and training for youth, adults and families about local government, civic engagement and leadership development.
It is a “call to action” in response to the need for increased voter turnout, better qualified candidates, greater resident civic participation and the knowledge of how local government works.
ILEAD will partner with school and college districts to utilize an online downloadable curriculum created by the Institute for Local Government that educates students on how local government works.
The project has been in planning stages for a while, she said.
“Now it’s about identifying the targeted groups and audiences I want to introduce it to,” Jacobs Gibson said.
At the Candidate School this year, guest speakers included Henry L. Gardner, board chair for the Institute for Local Government; Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park; county Supervisor Warren Slocum; state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo; Don Cecil, chief executive of MC2 Bay Area; and staff from the San Mateo County Registrar and Elections Division.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.